History

History is the discipline through which we understand the past, not as a fixed set of facts but as an ongoing conversation about what happened, why it mattered and how the world came to be as it is. Studying history at degree level means developing the ability to work with evidence, to understand context, to construct arguments and to engage honestly with uncertainty and disagreement. It asks two fundamental questions: how do we make sense of the past, and how has the past shaped the present?

These are questions with no simple answers, and history trains you to approach them with rigour, imagination and intellectual humility.

At Loughborough, this three-year full-time programme offers a modern, global and relevant curriculum that ranges across British, European and world history. You will engage with a wide range of historical periods and places, developing your skills in archival and primary source research, historiographical debate, and the clear, well-structured writing that historical argument demands. The department takes seriously both the craft of historical writing and the relevance of history to contemporary questions, and the programme develops your capacity to apply historical knowledge and method to a diverse range of future careers.

History graduates are among the most broadly employed of any humanities discipline. The civil service and public administration, law, journalism, education, publishing, politics, the heritage sector, museums and archives, research, public affairs and business are all destinations where the analytical and communication skills the degree develops are valued. The ability to gather and evaluate evidence, to construct sustained arguments and to write clearly under pressure translates well across an enormous range of professional contexts.

Postgraduate study in history, law, journalism or education is a natural progression.