(BA) Bachelor of Arts
History with Human Rights
Current
University of Essex
University of Essex
Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)
Colchester Campus
Honours Degree
Full-time
BA V1L2
19/03/2014
Details
Professional accreditation
None
Admission criteria
A-levels: ABB-BBB
IB: 32-30 points
Entry requirements for students studying BTEC qualifications are dependent on units studied. Advice can be provided on an individual basis. The standard required is generally at Distinction level.
IELTS (International English Language Testing System) code
English language requirements for applicants whose first language is not English: IELTS 6.0 overall. (Different requirements apply for second year entry.)
If you are an international student requiring a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK please see our immigration webpages for the latest Home Office guidance on English language qualifications.
Other English language qualifications may be acceptable so please contact us for further details. If we accept the English component of an international qualification then it will be included in the information given about the academic levels required. Please note that date restrictions may apply to some English language qualifications.
Course qualifiers
A course qualifier is a bracketed addition to your course title to denote a specialisation or pathway that you have achieved via the completion of specific modules during your course. The
specific module requirements for each qualifier title are noted below. Eligibility for any selected qualifier will be determined by the department and confirmed by the final year Board of
Examiners. If the required modules are not successfully completed, your course title will remain as described above without any bracketed addition. Selection of a course qualifier is
optional and student can register preferences or opt-out via Online Module Enrolment (eNROL).
None
Rules of assessment
Rules of assessment are the rules, principles and frameworks which the University uses to calculate your course progression and final results.
Additional notes
None
External examiners
Dr Mark Stephen Rowe Jenner
Dr
The University of York
External Examiners provide an independent overview of our courses, offering their expertise and help towards our continual improvement of course content, teaching, learning, and assessment.
External Examiners are normally academics from other higher education institutions, but may be from the industry, business or the profession as appropriate for the course.
They comment on how well courses align with national standards, and on how well the teaching, learning and assessment methods allow students to develop and demonstrate the relevant knowledge and skills needed to achieve their awards.
External Examiners who are responsible for awards are key members of Boards of Examiners. These boards make decisions about student progression within their course and about whether students can receive their final award.
Programme aims
Enable students to study a range of historical topics, providing both an outline of the principal developments and focused study on a range of specific themes.
Enable students to examine historical events and changes in cross-national, thematic, and comparative perspective, with an understanding of political, social, economic and cultural contexts.
Develop students' understandings of the relationship between the past and the present.
Familiarise students with models of historical analysis and varieties of primary sources.
Enable students to design and conduct an independent study on a specialist topic of their choice.
Develop skills of research, analysis and argument that are valuable for a wide range of future careers, further study, and lifetime learning.
Enable students to develop an understanding of human rights theory and practice, and the historical origins and context of human rights theory and practice.
The outcomes listed below represent the minimum that might be expected of a graduate of the Department of History of the University of Essex; it is the intention of the Department that the vast majority of graduates will achieve significantly more.
These aims have been framed with due reference to the Quality Assurance Agency's benchmark for history.
Learning outcomes and learning, teaching and assessment methods
On successful completion of the programme a graduate should demonstrate knowledge and skills as follows:
A: Knowledge and understanding
A1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the making of the modern world 1789-1989
A2: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of thematic historical topics
A3: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of specialised historical topics in greater depth
A4: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of fundamental principles of historical analysis, such as concepts of continuity, change, and comparative analysis.
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of some historical, philosophical, political, sociological and legal perspectives on human rights in greater depth
A5: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the sources available for historical research
Learning methods
The structure of the degree is based on progression from outline topics in the first year (A1) to more specialised courses (A2 and A3) in the second and third year.
Knowledge of A1-A5 are acquired through lectures, seminars, independent reading and coursework.
A4 is developed in particular in the second-year course Making Histories: Concepts, Themes and Sources.
A5 is the focus of the third-year Independent Research Project.
Assessment methods
Knowledge and understanding of A1-5 is continuously assessed through coursework and examination.
Essays are the principal form of coursework assessment, supplemented by a range of other assessments which may include document analyses, book and film reviews, and other shorter assignments; assessed presentations and oral contributions; and in-class tests.
The independent project tests knowledge of A5 in particular through a dissertation of up to 12,000 words.
The ability to produce, under set time conditions and without access to notes, cogent arguments demonstrating the interconnectedness of themes, concepts and issues covered in the course components is assessed by end-of-year examinations in all years of the course.
Examinations are principally unseen, essay based, and of two or three hour duration.
B: Intellectual and cognitive skills
B1: Assemble, analyse and synthesise primary and secondary data
B2: Formulate and answer historical questions
B3: Evaluate and compare historical interpretations
B4: Explain historical events, contexts and change with reference to social, political, economic and cultural forces and factors.
Identify and interpret some of the historical dimensions of human rights issues
B5: Reconstruct the mentalities of past societies
B6: Formulate and present ideas and arguments, using historical evidence
Learning methods
All skills are introduced and developed through in-class discussions, essays, and other written and oral assignments.
The teaching environment of seminars, which emphasises student-focused discussion, enables students to develop all six skills through discussion and practice, and to receive feedback from peers and tutors.
Assessment methods
All skills are assessed through the usual means of coursework and examination: a variety of types of coursework across the curriculum assess skills specifically.
The ability to understand questions and produce answers under set time conditions and without access to notes is assessed by the first-year examination of the History pre-requisite module for the course.
C: Practical skills
C1: Critically read and evaluate primary sources
C2: Critically read and evaluate secondary sources
C3: Work in groups to consider a question or clarify a topic
Learning methods
Participation in seminar discussion, focusing on prepared readings or set questions, develops skill C3; preparation of written work and oral presentations develops skills C1 and C2.
The Independent Research Project enables students to take skill C2 and in some cases skill C1 to a higher level.
Students have one-to-one supervision on their IRPs but are required to conduct their own bibliographic research and formulate their own lines of investigation.
Assessment methods
All skills are assessed through the usual means of coursework and examination.
In particular, C1 is assessed by document analysis, C2 by essays, C3 in HR100 by an evaluation by seminar teachers of seminar participation, including working in groups.
The practical skill of working under pressure and without notes to produce cogent arguments in written work is assessed by examinations in all three years of the course.
D: Key skills
D1: Communicate ideas effectively using oral and written means including essays, other written work, oral presentations or contributions, and discussion
D2: Make appropriate use of information technology to research and present materials
D4: Analyse and explain data, understand and produce answers to essay questions, and manage work timetables
D5: Participate effectively as a member of a group to the benefit of oneself and others
D6: Use feedback from tutors to improve written and oral work and reflect on progress
Learning methods
D1 (verbal communication) and D5 are practised in seminars on all modules; D1 (written communication) and D4 are practised in all types of written assessed work (including exams); D2 is practised in all types of written work, including the IRP; D6 is encouraged through disucssion of feebdcak in seminars and by means of reflective types of assessment on HR101 and HR211.
Assessment methods
All types of written work (coursework; exams; IRP); all seminars (in some cases including formal assessment of participation and/or presentations); HR101 skills portfolio; HR211 reflective journal.