History

History is the discipline that investigates how human beings have lived, organised themselves, and changed the world over time. It is concerned not only with political events and the actions of powerful individuals but with the full range of social, economic, cultural, and intellectual experience, exploring how class, gender, race, religion, and technology have shaped human life in different periods and places. At its best, history develops a capacity for empathy and contextual thinking that is rare and genuinely valuable: the ability to understand how the world looked to people whose circumstances and assumptions were very different from your own.

The University of Kent offers this programme part-time, allowing you to study history flexibly around other commitments. At Kent you will explore over fifteen centuries of history in Britain, Europe, and across the world, from the fall of the Roman Empire to the twenty-first century, examining how political, social, and cultural changes have shaped questions of class, gender, race, injustice, and power. The part-time format suits those who are already engaged with the world professionally or personally and want to bring academic rigour to their understanding of it.

Kent's research strengths in modern history and its European orientation give the programme a distinctive comparative breadth.

History graduates are found across an extraordinary range of careers, precisely because the skills the discipline develops, research, critical reading, persuasive writing, and the ability to handle complexity and ambiguity, are so widely applicable. Teaching at secondary level is a significant destination; history teachers are consistently in demand. Journalism, publishing, the law, the civil service, heritage, museums and archives, and many other fields are well-supplied with history graduates.

The part-time format of this programme means many students are building on existing careers rather than starting from scratch, and the degree often opens new roles or promotions. Postgraduate study in history or a related field is available for those who want to pursue research or specialist careers.