ACADEMIC STAFF
Admissions
We admit around eleven students each year in total to study History, Ancient & Modern History, History & Economics, History & Politics, and History & Modern Languages. We do not at present admit students to read History & English.
The Course
The first part of the History course, leading to the Preliminary Examination at the end of the first year, comprises four papers, chosen in each case fromThe first part of the History course, leading to the Preliminary Examination at the end of the first year, comprises four papers, chosen in each case froma wide range: British History; a thematic GeneralHistory course; a source-based Optional Subject;and Historiography (including a choice of papers based on foreign texts). The second part, called the Final Honour School, comprises a research-based dissertation; Disciplines of History (including historiography, comparative history, and source criticism); and four other subjects chosen froma wide range: British History, General History, asource-based Further Subject, and a Special Subject examined by means of an extended essay and a documents paper.
The dissertation gives students an opportunity to engage in primary research of their own choosing, and often proves to be the highlight of the course: in recent years topics have included the significance of goats in early medieval northern England; witchcraft and the devil in early modern England; changing notions of an ‘ideal’ woman in 20th century France; the charismatic authority of Vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh; and colonial impressions of Egyptian women’s dress in the 19th century. In 2020, two Brasenose History students won faculty-wide prizes for their dissertations in Black History and Modern European History respectively.
We encourage students to study a wide chronological range: during their three years at Oxford, students must choose at least one medieval, one early modern, and one modernWe encourage students to study a wide chronological range: during their three years at Oxford, students must choose at least one medieval, one early modern, and one modernpaper from the list of British and European andWorld History courses.
Teaching is by University lectures or classesTeaching is by University lectures or classesand by tutorials, in or out of Brasenose College depending on the choice of subjects, plus some College classes. The various joint schools combine elements of the History course with papers in Ancient History, Economics, Modern Languages, or Politics, as the case may be.
Brasenose has a strong tradition in History. There are two Tutorial Fellows. Dr Alan Strathern teaches European and world history of the early modern period while his research ranges across global history, especially concerning Asia. Professor Abigail Green specializes in modern European and international Jewish history. In addition, Dr Helen Gittos teaches early medieval history, shared with Balliol College.
The College also has a number of very good graduate students studying for the MSt and DPhil in History. There is also a vibrant student-run History society — the Ashmole Society — which organises events throughout the academic year.
Read more about History at Oxford.
Read more about History (Ancient and Modern) at Oxford.
Read more about History and Economics at Oxford.
Read more about History and Modern Languages at Oxford.
Read more about History and Politics at Oxford.
Careers
Those who have read History here in recent years have entered a wide variety of careers in the professions. A number have gone on to postgraduate research and now hold positions invarious British universities. We find, in common with colleagues in other universities, that employers value a degree in History very highly as a preparation for careers of every kind.