History (Ancient and Modern)

The Ancient and Modern History course enables students to study Afroeurasian history from the Bronze Age Mediterranean, through the Greco-Roman period, late antiquity, the middle ages and the early modern period, right up to British, European and World history in the present day. Fruitful comparisons between societies abound, and the methods by which we study them are mutually illuminating. You do not need to have a qualification in Latin or Greek to do this course and can learn either from scratch if you want to while here.

The extraordinary range of choices (more than 90 options) for this course reflects the breadth of interests of those who teach here. The Oxford Classics and History Faculties are world-famous for teaching and research. The people who will teach you here will often be leading researchers in their field, with lecturers encouraged to put on new courses which reflect their own interests.

A typical week

During the first year, you will be expected to:

• attend around four lectures each week
• participate in regular meetings with tutors to discuss work
• conduct independent research
• and write at least one essay a week.

In the second and third years you will have the opportunity to choose from an enormous variety of lectures. Your regular tutorials will be supplemented by faculty classes where you will discuss work with a larger number of students. The third-year thesis will give you the opportunity to engage in a piece of independent research.

Generally, students are very much in charge of their own timetable throughout their courses.

Tutorials are usually 2-4 students and a tutor. Class sizes may vary depending on the options you choose. There would usually be no more than around 12 students.

Most tutorials, classes, and lectures are delivered by staff who are tutors in their subject. Many are world-leading experts with years of experience in teaching and research. Some teaching may also be delivered by postgraduate students who are studying at doctoral level.

Visit our Academic Year page to find out more about how our teaching year is structured.

Courses

:

Assessment

:

Four courses are taken:

• One period of either Greek or Roman history
• One of the periods of European/world history offered
• The world of Homer and Hesiod; or Augustan Rome; or one of the History optional subjects
• A text-based paper on Herodotus; or Sallust; or Approaches to history; or Historiography: Tacitus to Weber from the History syllabus or a Greek/Latin language paper

First University examinations: four timed written exams

Oxford historians move on to careers in fields as varied as :