History

History is the study of human experience over time, examining how the past has shaped the present and how the present reshapes our understanding of the past. It is a discipline that develops critical thinking, careful reading of evidence, the ability to construct and evaluate complex arguments, and an awareness of how power, culture, identity and contingency have shaped the course of events across different societies and periods. These skills are as valuable in the workplace as they are in the seminar room.

At the University of Westminster the programme is part time and is taught with a genuinely global outlook, listening to previously marginalised voices and questioning established assumptions about power and identity. Rather than a single national or regional focus, you will engage with history across different contexts and geographies, with a broad array of topic choices that allow you to tailor your learning to the historical questions that matter most to you. The programme positions itself at the cutting edge of historical scholarship, drawing on diverse approaches that reflect the ways in which the discipline has expanded its questions and methods in recent decades.

History graduates are valued across a very wide range of careers precisely because the skills the discipline develops, close reading, evidence-based argument, the ability to hold complexity in view and communicate it clearly, are transferable to almost any professional context. Careers in the civil service, policy research, law, journalism, education, heritage, archiving, publishing, communications, international organisations and the charitable sector all regularly recruit historians. Postgraduate study in history, heritage, archiving, public history or related disciplines provides a natural further route for those wishing to develop specialist expertise.