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.

The Single Subject Major in History is designed to provide students with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the past, and the research skills with which to pursue that knowledge and understanding. It is aimed at anyone who has an interest in history, and no prior qualification in the discipline is required. What we do expect is that students approach the subject in an inquisitive and critical way, and are prepared to consider the history of Ireland and the world from a variety of perspectives. A particular feature of the Single Subject Major is that students are introduced from an early stage to how professional historians conduct research, and given the opportunity to pursue their own research. 

The syllabus takes in the entire sweep of history, from the fall of the Roman Empire to the present, and embraces all aspects of human experience. This includes conflict and political change, the lives of individuals and the fortunes of nations and civilisations. It also includes how people lived, how they thought and how they expressed themselves. The study of history, then, overlaps with the study of such subjects as gender, medicine, the media, religion and literature. Students learn through a combination of lectures, seminars and independent study. Emphasis is placed on students working in small groups with active researchers in the field. 

The objective is not only to learn what happened in the past. It is also about identifying and evaluating historical evidence, and about posing questions and framing answers based their consideration. The Single Subject Major, therefore, allows you to deepen your study of history, while teaching skills that are valuable in any career you choose.

You may apply to study abroad for either a semester or a year through the Erasmus programme or on a non-EU exchange. UCD has over 200 Erasmus partners in Europe and an increasing number of non-EU exchange agreements with universities in the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and elsewhere.

Please click here to visit the Erasmus section of the International Office website.

The year abroad takes place when you have accumulated at least 110 credits and satisfied any subject prerequisites, adding a fourth year to the BA programme and turning it into a BA International.

A strong focus on the fluent articulation and analysis of ideas means students on this course will gain numerous transferrable skills, highly valued by employers. 

This programme prepares students for graduate study in many areas, including: Classics, English, History, Film, Drama, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, Education, Archives.

Graduates can find employment in:

 

• Broadcasting and Journalism


• Business


• Civil Service


• Law


• Publishing


• Public Relations


• Politics


• Research


• Teaching


• Marketing


• Policymaking


• Tourism


• Heritage

Graduates are also eligible to apply for UCD MA programmes in History, which include specialisms in Irish, European, International and Medieval History, Public History and History of Medicine.

UCD Arts & Humanities Programme Office,
Newman Building,
Belfield,
Dublin 4
Tel: +353 1 716 8321/8102
Web: www.ucd.ie/ahss

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 and Trimester 2.

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

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 three 5-credit modules. Students should also choose one module from the additional options list of non-pathway modules and may also take two 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.

All students take a core module (10 credits). 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 20 credits of taught option modules, or simply 40 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).



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)