Ancient History BA

Course overview

The Department offers modules that span over 5,000 years of history, with specialisms in the history of the ancient Near East, the Americas, the cultural and intellectual history of Europe, and imperial and transnational history.

BA Ancient History includes:

Compulsory modules in the first year.
A research project in the second year.
A dissertation and special subject in the third year.

Our modules involve project work, essay writing and active engagement with historical resources designed to encourage creative lateral thinking about the past. You will study key developments in the discipline of history from the ancient to the modern world, develop an understanding of the practice of history, and study the evolution of the discipline from Herodotus and Thucydides to the twenty-first century.

The flexible programme structure allows you to tailor the degree to match your intellectual interests. You can choose from various modules in ancient history, archaeology, anthropology, Greek and Latin, and classics as appropriate.

You will learn in a supportive and inclusive environment. Our first-year curriculum has been designed to support your transition into higher education, introducing fundamental historical approaches and giving you the tools to write, analyse and communicate history.

In addition to UCL’s museums, including the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, studying in London will give you access to some of the world’s premier cultural institutions and collections, such as The British Library and British Museum. You will use these resources as primary source materials as part of the degree, participating in a public history group project in Making History.

Our Ancient History BA provides a flexible degree taught in an innovative, inclusive, supportive environment. You can explore the wonders of ancient Greece, the imperial might of Rome, as well as the history of the Middle East and Egypt from the third millennium BC to late antiquity.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 4

The foundation of your career

UCL's History graduates have gone onto be successful in various occupations, including lawyers, financial advisers, stockbrokers, television producers, diplomats, journalists, bankers, teachers, health service, police and overseas development programmes, and academia. (Graduate Outcomes survey carried out by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), looking at the destinations of UK and EU graduates in the 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 cohorts).

Employability

The programme is designed to teach many transferable skills:

• How to gather and organise evidence,
• How to analyse evidence and present a structured argument, and
• How to express yourself clearly, both in writing and orally.

These skills make our graduates extremely attractive to employers across various sectors, including academia, law, journalism, media, creative arts, politics, health and education.