Classics, English & History  (CAS2)

This programme provides students with an in-depth grounding in three cognate subject areas: Classics, English, and History. Students who take this course will benefit from cross-disciplinary study of literature, history, and culture from antiquity to the present day. The first three years of the programme focus on training and building expertise and skills in the three disciplinary areas. In English students will learn the skills of close readings and textual analysis in different genres, in History they will study the working methods of historians in Ireland and the world from the fall of Rome to the modern period, and in Classics they will use literary and historical analysis along with the evidence of art and archaeology to reconstruct the lost worlds of the Greek and Roman past. It is expected that on completion of the third year students will have accumulated 45 credits in each subject area. Interdisciplinarity will be emphasized in Stage 3, with a core seminar on a key theme (e.g. writing lives, the idea of Europe, rhetoric, disasters, revolution and rebellion). The focus of the final year will be the dissertation, work placement or study abroad exchange. It is envisioned that the use of programme electives will enable students to graduate with the necessary 60 credits to satisfy Teaching Council requirements for all three subjects.

1 - Use skills of inquiry, research, critical thinking, and problem solving to pursue and evaluate knowledge.
2 - Challenge assumptions and develop creative solutions to problems including through the independent pursuit of knowledge and making connections between different disciplinary approaches and methods.
3 - Demonstrate effective communication, digital expertise, collaboration and leadership skills to convert decisions and commitments into action.
4 - Understand the ethical implications of ideas, communications, and actions including demonstrated awareness of the historical and cultural construction of knowledge systems and traditions
5 - Understand the relevance and contribution of the Humanities to contemporary society and cultural practice including an ability to articulate the links between past and present as well as the influence of the past on shaping community and societal structures and beliefs.
6 - Articulate advocacy of human, social and cultural values with a propensity towards and awareness of the value of life-long learning, an understanding of how to learn, including an appreciation of the complexity of ideas, of societies, cultures and language.

History is obviously an enormous subject - which is why some students choose to study it as a single subject. The range of modules takes you from the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of barbarian kingdoms to the impact of US foreign policy in the 20th century.

It is not essential to have studied History to Leaving Certificate. If you read widely and have a good interest in general knowledge, your overall examination performance in English, for example, will offer a fair guide to your aptitude for history. See subject description for History.

In your first year (called Stage 1) you take 12 modules over two semesters. You must study core modules in History and typically two or three other subjects including up to two modules from outside the BA Programme area.

Stage 2 students progress with a major in History. Students also take four elective modules from within or outside their main subject area at Stages 2 and 3 of their degree programme.

In Stage 1 you will be introduced to a range of modules focusing on European and Irish history across a period of almost 2,000 years.

In Stage 2 you will take six core (compulsory) modules and choose from a range of optional modules spanning the Rise of the Asian Tigers, 20th Century Italy, The Age of Mohammed, and a variety of Irish periods including the Vikings, the Normans, Cromwell and the Stuarts, Irish Emigration and the Celtic Literary Revival.

Stage 2 also includes a dissertation in an area of interest to you. You will be shown how to plan a research strategy, how to find primary materials and how to write a major (10,000 word) research dissertation. Completing a substantial piece of primary research is both a challenge and a reward.

Students will have access to both EU and non-EU destinations through a suite of programmes including Erasmus, Erasmus+ and the study abroad and partnership arrangements that UCD has with universities across the globe.

UCD is Ireland’s Global University and its largest university with a track record in empowering students to enter a diverse range of careers that reflects the most diverse curriculum on the Island of Ireland. Consistently, over 90% of graduates are employed or in further study or training 9 months following course completion. The QS World Ranking on Graduate Employability has placed UCD at number 1 in Ireland for Graduate Employability since 2018. On the global stage UCD leads the Irish higher education sector and is the only Irish university to be ranked inside the world’s top 80 for Graduate Employability.

At University College Dublin we are aware that for many students, programme outcomes in terms of graduate jobs and career options is important. The purpose of this statement is to help you understand and appreciate the range of skills you may develop during your time at UCD and how you may develop your employability. Visit the UCD Careers Networks website and MyCareer, the UCD Career management Platform, to access career information, internships and graduate roles as well as information about the range of initiatives, supports and events available to you.

 A strong focus on the fluent articulation and analysis of ideas means students on this course will gain numerous transferable skills that are highly valued by employers. These can be applied to a wide range of industries including: business, arts and heritage, civil service and the media.

This course prepares students for graduate study in many areas, including: Classics, English, History, Film, Drama, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, Education, Archives. Graduates are also eligible for MLitt and PhD programmes in Classics, English and History. 

UCD School of History

+353 1 716 8375

history@ucd.ie

Stage 1

Students are pre-registered to 10 core modules (50 credits). Students should then choose 1 option module (5 credits) and 1 elective module (5 credits).
It is recommended that students spread their credit workload evenly between Trimester 1 (Autumn) and Trimester 2 (Spring).

Stage 2

Students take 4 core modules (20 credits) consisting of one module from each of the pathway subjects. Students should also choose 6 option modules (30 credits), and may take 2 elective modules (10 credits) or 1 elective plus HUM20030.

Stage 3

Students who remain in UCD for the full year in stage 3 should select at least 15 credits in each pathway subject. In the case of History and English this means one 10-credit module plus one 5-credit module. For Classics this means one 10-credit module plus one 5-credit module or simply three 5-credit modules. Students may also choose one 5 credit module from the 'additional options' list of non-pathway modules or take an extra 5 credits in any of the three subjects. 10 credits remain for electives.


Any students on a trimester exchange or internship in stage 3 should choose a minimum of 5 credits from all three subjects for one trimester, to total 25 credits (5 credits remain for electives).


Students can substitute their elective allowance of 5 or 10 credits to take more options from their programme if they wish to do so.

Stage 4

Students can choose to take a 20 credit dissertation option (which comprises a 5 credit research skills module in either English or History AND a 15 credit dissertation) plus 30 credits of taught option modules, or simply 50 credits of taught option modules. Students must take at least 10 credits in two out of the three pathway subjects. In the case of English and History, this means one 10-credit module; in the case of Classics, this means two 5-credit modules. Students may take two elective modules (10 credits).

Students should have passed no less than 50 stage 3 credits to be eligible to take the history dissertation option.




All students are strongly advised to balance their workload evenly across both trimesters. This means you should pick 30 credits in Autumn (Trimester 1) and 30 credits in Spring (Trimester 2)