History Dissertation

The history dissertation represents the culmination of the undergraduate history degree programme and offers an opportunity for students to deploy the ideas, methods and skills they have acquired during their studies to this point.

It affords students a chance to develop an in-depth and independent piece of work that should not merely summarize the existing state-of-the-field as other historians have rendered it, but which actively seeks to advance our understanding of a particular aspect of the past.

The selection, analysis and communication of appropriate primary sources are a fundamental part of the process. As such, the dissertation requires students to show maturity, independence and skill in the design and delivery of the project over the course of their final year.

In preparation for their dissertation, students will specifically be trained in research skills, building on those they have acquired over the preceding years.

Time will be spent considering the various online and offline research resources available for studying different periods of history, both as a group, in a seminar-style lecture, and individually, in tutorials, in response to their specific research challenge.