History and Sociology

History and sociology are disciplines that illuminate different but complementary dimensions of the same subject: human social life across time. History asks what happened, when, why and with what consequences, working from primary sources and evidence to construct accounts of the past. Sociology asks how societies are structured, how inequalities are produced and reproduced, how social change occurs and how institutions, culture and collective behaviour shape individual life.

Studying them together gives you a rigorous training in two modes of social inquiry and the ability to move between them productively.

At the University of Manchester, this three-year full-time programme provides a unique dual training that develops the skills and insights of both disciplines in parallel. History develops your ability to work with archival evidence, read sources critically, situate events in context and construct narrative and analytical accounts of the past. Sociology develops your capacity to use theoretical frameworks, design research, analyse quantitative and qualitative data and evaluate competing explanations of social phenomena.

Together they equip you to understand the world with unusual depth and rigour.

You will study historical periods and themes from modern European history, the history of empire and social movements, alongside sociological theory, research methods, the sociology of inequality, work, education, culture and globalisation. Both disciplines develop your analytical and communication skills in ways that are genuinely transferable.

Graduates go into careers in research, policy, education, social care, the civil service, journalism, charities and many other fields. The combination of historical and sociological thinking is valued wherever complex social questions need to be understood and communicated clearly. Many go on to postgraduate study in history, sociology, social policy or related disciplines.