History and International Relations

Overview

At the University of Reading studying the History and International Relations you can discover a thousand years of History whilst experiencing all the specialist areas on offer at the University of Reading. The History Department's expertise covers a wide and diverse range of regions, from Europe and Africa to America, South Asia and the Middle East. Module choices cover diverse periods and topics, from the Crusades to the 1960s, slavery in America to Tudor monarchy, and Cold War Berlin to medieval magic.

In your first year, your core courses will explore people, politics and revolution, finding out how people struggled for power in past societies; and the culture and concepts those societies developed. We will teach you the skills you need to study and research history through an individual project of your choice. This joint degree enables you to address contemporary issues and trace them back to their historical roots.

You will be taught in small interactive seminar groups, encouraging discussion and debate with teaching staff and fellow students. We place a great deal of importance on employability skills in both sides of your degree, and our modules "History education", "Discovering archives", and "Public history" all offer students short work placements and act as an introduction to career ideas.

By studying international relations, you will acquire a strong grounding in the fundamental elements of the subject such as political ideas and international relations theory. 

Your teaching staff have direct professional experience and act as policy advisers to the government as well as international bodies such as the EU and UN. You will have the opportunity to gain a broad overview of the subject through a wide range of specialist core and optional modules, which cover topical issues such as European political integration, international terrorism and the Middle East crisis.

You will have access to a number of unique resources. The University has three museums and several special collections for you to explore. In International Relations, we run model United Nations and Middle East simulations, which gives you the opportunity to get a feel of the political process and apply your knowledge and skills to a scenario that mimics real life.

You may study abroad for a term in your second year at wide range of universities from Istanbul to Melbourne and broaden your knowledge and experiences. The University also offers all students the chance learn a modern language alongside their core subjects.

What career can you have?

Throughout your degree you will complete career and skills related modules, encouraging you to think about what career you would like and what skills you will need. If you would like a career in teaching, or in archives or records management, try our optional third-year modules, "History education" and "Discovering archives and collections". 

We have had a high success rate from students who have completed "History education", with many of our graduates gaining places for Initial Teacher Training, Additionally, both these modules develop a wide range of interpersonal, organisational, presentational and research skills readily transferable to other areas of employment

As a graduate of this joint degree you will have a broad range of transferable skills, including the ability to think clearly and critically, to communicate with confidence and work effectively both individually and as part of a team. Recent employers have included The British Museum, The Football Association, House of Commons, Marks and Spencer, MI5, Morgan Stanley and Siemens Financial Services.

Past students have put their political analysis skills to direct use in the UK and European civil services, the armed forces, think tanks, non-governmental organisations and journalism. Others have gone into advertising, PR, media and banking.