History with Foundation Year
History is one of the foundational disciplines of the humanities, concerned with understanding the human past through the critical evaluation of evidence, the construction of well-reasoned arguments, and the interpretation of change over time. It draws on archives, material culture, quantitative data, and the accounts of those who lived through the events being studied, demanding both analytical rigour and imaginative empathy for people and conditions very different from our own. History teaches you to ask how and why things happened, to weigh conflicting accounts, and to communicate your understanding with clarity and precision.
Goldsmiths' four-year full-time integrated history degree includes a foundation year, designed for students who would benefit from additional academic preparation before entering the main degree. The foundation year builds your historical and academic skills in a supported environment, developing the critical reading, research, and writing abilities that degree-level history requires. Goldsmiths brings a distinctive intellectual character to history, with particular strengths in social and cultural history, the history of race and empire, and critical approaches to historical evidence and method.
You will engage with history across a broad chronological and geographical range, develop skills in primary source analysis and historiographical debate, and produce your own research and arguments through essays and extended projects.
History graduates go on to work in the civil service, journalism, law, politics, business, heritage, education, publishing, museums, and a wide range of roles where the ability to think analytically, research thoroughly, and communicate clearly is valued. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in history, heritage, archives, or related disciplines. Goldsmiths' critical tradition and its location in London provide particular connections with cultural institutions and media organisations that enrich the career pathways available to graduates.