text:
Jump to section menu Jump to content
The University of Kent The UK's European university
Open audience menu
Students Staff Alumni Contact us
Making a difference How our research contributes to positive change and innovation. Making a difference
Environment Supporting research: our facilities, funding and partnerships. Environment
People Meet some of the experts who are producing world-class research. People
Innovation and enterprise Capitalising on research: our commitment to enterprise. Innovation and enterprise
Undergraduate Degrees that offer inspirational teaching and great prospects. Undergraduate
Postgraduate Master's and PhDs within a world-leading research environment. Postgraduate
Other courses A variety of part-time degrees, short courses and summer schools. Other courses
International Discover our welcoming community for international students. International
What's on Public events: films, theatre, dance, art, lectures, sport and festivals. What's on
Our locations A guide to Canterbury, Medway and our four European centres. Our locations
Community Our work to connect with local, national and international communities. Community
Business services How our expertise and facilities can support your business. Business services
Undergraduate courses 2020
Course list Academic life Student experience How to apply Accommodation Visit us International Fees and funding
University of Kent Courses Undergraduate 2020 History and English Language and Linguistics
History and English Language and Linguistics - BA (Hons)
UCAS code VQ1H
All undergraduate All postgraduate Short courses
Planning to start this September? We may still have full-time vacancies available for this course. View 2019 course details.
See 2019 entry
Canterbury Contact Us Prospectus
Any study of history engages a natural human curiosity about the past. Studying History and English Language and Linguistics, you develop a broad understanding of changes the world has undergone, and how language powers our understanding.
Teaching and assessment
The School of History is one of the leading History departments in the country, recognised for its research excellence, flexible programmes and quality teaching. The diverse topics you encounter may include anything from the Crusades to the Cold War; from the impact of science on 19th-century culture to the totalitarian regimes of Stalin's Russia and Hitler's Third Reich.
Language is fundamental to everything we do: it helps us communicate ideas, express our feelings, persuade, and present ourselves to different audiences. English Language and Linguistics is therefore an ideal complement to subjects where an understanding of how language works is important.
In the English Language and Linguistics element of your degree, you explore both the structure of language and its relationship with culture, society, and the mind. A broad choice of theoretical topics encompasses such areas as syntax, phonetics and phonology, morphology, sociolinguistics, language acquisition, semantics, pragmatics, literary stylistics and critical and cultural theory. Modules in language learning and teaching, creative and media writing, and language and media have a more vocational focus.
Independent rankings
History at Kent scored 92 out of 100 in The Complete University Guide 2019 and was ranked 20th in The Times Good University Guide 2019. In the National Student Survey 2018, over 93% of final-year History students who completed the survey, were satisfied with the overall quality of their course.
Linguistics at Kent was ranked 5th in The Complete University Guide 2019 and 7th in The Times Good University Guide 2019.
Teaching Excellence Framework
Based on the evidence available, the TEF Panel judged that the University of Kent delivers consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students. It is of the highest quality found in the UK.
Please see the University of Kent's Statement of Findings for more information.
The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.
On most programmes, you study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also be able to take 'elective' modules from other programmes so you can customise your programme and explore other subjects that interest you.
Compulsory modules currently include
HI426 - Making History: Theory and Practice
This module has two aims: 1) to contribute towards equipping the students with the necessary practical and intellectual skills for them to think and write as historians at an undergraduate level; 2) to encourage them to think reflectively and critically about the nature of the historical discipline, its epistemological claims, and why we, as historians, do what we do in the way we do it.
It will focus on the process of 'getting used to' undergraduate history; the difference between university life from school/college. These sessions are reinforced with in-house study skills sessions. This will be reinforced through the seminar teaching in the remainder of the module.
The module identifies and explores three main areas of history, asking: what is medieval history; what is early modern history; what is modern history? Students will also explore different central historical themes and approaches in historical scholarship, such as Marxism or nationalism, thereby introducing them to history at university level at both a practical and conceptual level. This will cover the development of university history in the broad sweep of history from approximately the twelfth century to the late twentieth century. It will also consider the impact of the Social Sciences on the historical profession during the twentieth century.
The seminars will reinforce these sessions through discussion of selected readings on relevant topics. Students will also study how to use and analyse a primary source and a variety of historical methodologies.
View full module details
LL302 - The Structure of Language
This module will focus specifically on the level of language we call grammar. Each week students will focus on a particular aspect of English grammar (e.g. word classes, grammatical functions, sentence structure) from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Students will be provided with analytical tools for understanding and constructing arguments about linguistic structure (e.g. morpho-syntactic tests, constituency tests). Through being provided with a conceptual framework for description and analysis, students will gain a deeper understanding of English grammar, whereas practical application will enable students to be more critical of their own written work, and thus also to develop and hone their writing skills.
The module is particularly useful for students who are studying language or literature, as it enables them to compare styles in light of grammatical information and provides them with analytical skills for understanding language and language-related behaviour. Likewise, the module is also useful for students wanting to improve their writing in an academic context as well as those contemplating a career in publishing, journalism or teaching, in which the ability to express oneself accurately and succinctly is essential.
LL303 - Sounds of English
This module will begin by offering a basic description of speech sounds, with emphasis on those used in English and detailed descriptions first of consonants, and then of vowels. The gaps between sound and orthography will be highlighted as symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are learned. The course will then move from phonetics (the study of speech sounds) to phonology (the study of the sound systems in language), focusing on phonotactics and other phonological rules of English. At the end of the term, basic prosodic concepts such as stress, rhythm, intonation and phrasing will be discussed. The main focus of the module will be on the standard variety of English spoken in the UK (often referred to as Received Pronunciation, or RP), but phonetic and phonological variation in non-UK and non-standard varieties of English will also be discussed (rhotic vs. non-rhotic varieties; luck-look merger).
LL313 - Foundations of Linguistics
This module presents and discusses the properties of human language, explaining how the discipline of Linguistics investigates and theorises about these properties. It familiarises the students with the goals and principles of Linguistics, as well as their development over the years. Students will also learn about core concepts and debates (e.g. language universals, relationship between language and cognition).
Optional modules may include
HI430 - Modern British History
The course will provide a survey of the major events, themes and historiographical debates in modern British history from the early twentieth century to the 1990s. It will examine the roles of total war, imperialism and decolonisation, social welfare legislation, the advent of mass culture in shaping the nation. Subjects to be covered will include: crisis and reform in Edwardian Britain; politics and society in the Great War; stagnation and recovery in the interwar years; appeasement; the People's War, 1939-45; the welfare state; decolonisation; the affluent society and the politics of consensus; the end of consensus 1970-79; nationalism and devolution; Thatcher and the rolling back of the state; New Labour.
HI432 - New Worlds,Renaissance and Reformations: Early Modern Europe (1450-1600
This module will provide a survey of the major events, themes and historiographical debates in early modern history from the Renaissance to religious wars of the early seventeenth century. This period in European history witnessed the cultural and social upheaval of the Reformation, the advent of print and the intellectual changes associated with Humanism, the formation of recognisably 'modern' nation states, and the beginnings of Europe's troubled engagement with the wider world.
HI433 - Globalisation,Enlightenment and Consumption:Early Modern Europe (1600-1
This module will provide a survey of the major events, themes and historiographical debates in early modern history from the religious wars of the first half of the seventeenth century to the dawn of modernity in the second half of the eighteenth century. This period in European history witnessed the development of a system of nation states in Europe, the rise of Absolutism, the development of new European powers in Eastern and Central Europe, an expansion of European influence in the Americas and Asia (leading to a greater commercialisation of European society), as well as the fundamental shifts in European intellectual culture associated with the Scientific Revolution, overseas expansion and the Enlightenment.
HI434 - Ten Technologies That Made Us Modern
Over the past 500 years, inventions such as telescopes, robots and fridges have revolutionised our relationships with one another and with the natural world. This module engages with some well-known inventions since the so-called 'scientific revolution' (c. 1600), alongside some unexpected and surprising ones. It examines their making and their use, and explores how they have contributed to the distinctively modern European perspective that has come to be known as 'science'. This module approaches its topics from the perspectives of cultural and social history.
HI435 - A Global History of Empires: 1500-1850
This course explores the history of empires on a global scale. It challenges students to grasp the history of empires by examining their structures, instruments and consequences. The course will cover the history of empire from the sixteenth to the middle of the nineteenth century. Themes will include the expansion of European empires (Spanish, Portuguese, British, French, Dutch and Belgian) in the Americas, Asia, the global rivalry for empires among European nations in the eighteenth century, the commercial expansion of the East India Companies in the Indian Ocean,, the expansion British colonies in India, slavery and the Abolition movement and the Revolt of 1857. It will provide students with a critical historical knowledge of imperialism and globalisation.
This course explores the history of empires on a global scale. It challenges students to grasp the history of empires by examining their structures, instruments and consequences. The course will cover the expansion of European empires from the end of the nineteenth to the middle of the twentieth century, in the age of decolonization. Topics include the conquest of Africa in the age of the so-called 'New Imperialism', the French and British Civilizing missions in Africa and Asia, the emergence of modern ideas of race, immigration, freedom struggles in Asia and Africa, and postcolonial cultural and political developments across the world. It will provide students with a critical historical knowledge of imperialism and globalisation and enable them to form a deep understanding of the postcolonial world.
HI437 - War and Diplomacy in Europe c1850-2000
Subjects to be covered will include: The Crimean War; The Franco-Prussian War and German unification; the origins of the First World War; the Treaty of Versailles; the League of Nations; the origins of the Second World War; the Cold War in Europe; the origins of the European Union; from détente in Europe to the fall of Communism.
HI385 - Introduction to the History of Medicine
The module introduces students to a broad range of material and themes relevant to the history of medicine, highlighting changes and continuities in medical practice and theory as well as in medical institutions and professional conduct. The section on ancient medicine addresses the role of Greek writers such as Hippocrates. The section on medieval medicine focuses on major epidemics, the origins of medical institutions, and the role of medical care and cure in the context of social and demographic changes. In particular, this section addresses the role of the Black Death and subsequent plagues, as well as the history of hospitals. The section on early modern and modern medicine explores the development of psychiatry and the asylum system in the 18th century, the rise of public health and the welfare state, and the role of social Darwinism and eugenics in the 19th and early 20th centuries. For the late 19th and 20th centuries, the course will look at the role of gender and sexuality, medicine and modern warfare, health and disability, and modern medicine and medical ethics.
HI390 - The Emergence of America:From European Settlement to 1880
The module will focus primarily on the period from the 18th century onwards but will begin with an outline treatment of the British colonies in North America from initial European settlement. Interactions between Native American, African, African-American and European populations will be emphasised in the colonial period. Thereafter the module examines the first anti-colonial revolution in modern history and the creation of a new nation and concludes with the reconstitution of the nation after a bloody civil war and on the eve of large-scale industrialisation.
Themes include the causes and consequences of the Revolution, the new political system, the development of mass democracy, economic development and territorial expansion into the West, reform movements, sectional conflict between North and South, slavery, the Civil War and the re-establishment of a national order during Reconstruction.
HI391 - The Rise of the United States Since 1880
The module will introduce the students to the history of the U.S during its dramatic rise to industrial and international power. Beginning with the transformation of the U.S into an urban industrial civilisation at the end of the 19th Century, it ends with a review of the American position at the beginning of the 21st century.
Themes include early 20th century reform, the rise to world power by 1918, prosperity and the Depression, the New Deal, war and Cold War, race relations, Vietnam, supposed decline and resurgence from Nixon to Reagan, the end of the Cold War, and the Clinton Administration.
HI410 - Early Medieval Europe
Why did the Roman Empire collapse? How did Christianity and Islam become so influential? How violent were the Vikings? When did countries like England, France and Germany come into being? This survey module provides an introduction to the history of Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, examining the major political events and social changes that transformed the Roman world and the Near East between c.300 and c.1000. Along the way, we shall consider such topics as identity, warfare, gender, religious life, rulership and law. Students will obtain a clear understanding of the outlines of early medieval history between the later Roman Empire and the sweeping changes of the tenth century, as well as a sense of what daily life was like for most people and of the types of evidence historians can use to understand this period. The weekly lectures guide students through the module and their readings, while seminars provide opportunities to explore key historical problems and debates in more detail through the analysis of primary sources.
HI411 - Later Medieval Europe
This module is a survey of medieval Europe from c.1000 to c.1450. It includes elements of political, institutional, religious, social and cultural history.
The module is intended to provide students with a foundation that will allow them to make the most of other courses in European history, particularly those focusing on the Middle Ages and Early Modern period, by equipping them with a grounding in geography and chronology, as well as in a variety of approaches to the study of history.
Lectures will provide an overview of some of the period's defining features including the feudal system; kingship; the crusades, warfare and chivalry; popes (and anti-popes); monasticism and the coming of the friars; heresy; visual culture; women and the family; and towns and trade.
HI416 - Victorian Britain: Politics, Society and Culture
This module examines the principal themes of the political, social and cultural history of Britain during the Victorian era (c. 1830 –1900). This period saw the building of one of the world's greatest empires, the transformation of Britain from a rural society into the world's first and leading industrial nation, and the development of a modern state and new forms of democratic participation.
HI425 - Revolutionary Europe 1700-1850
The first section of the module will focus on the impact of the Enlightenment, and revolutionary approaches to social change, in France and Russia. In the final seminars, the wider impact of revolutionary ideas, including the concept of nationalism, will be explored in a wider European context. Topics covered will include: the Enlightenment; the French revolution; Jacobinism; the Napoleonic Empire; Russia under Peter the Great and Catherine the Great; the Decembrist revolt in Russia; nationalism in Europe; the revolutions of 1848
LL304 - Language, Self and Society
The course offers an introduction to major themes in sociolinguistics. It will begin by exploring how our notions of 'language', 'dialect' or 'style' are constructed, and from there explore notions of 'correctness' in language, and their origins. It will then consider how social relationships are reflected and encoded in different languages, for example in kinship terms, terms of address, or politeness forms, and how individuals are placed – or place themselves – socially through their linguistic choices.
The middle part of the module will explore language variation and change, and the social parameters which correlate with them. It will conclude by analysing issues arising from the interplay between language and identity in multilingual societies: bi- and multilingualism, code-switching, language death and its causes, language revival and language revitalisation.
LL305 - Meaning and Discourse
This module introduces linguistic approaches to the study of meaning and communication, emphasising the processes of decoding and inference through which interpretations are constructed. Relevant theoretical work in the fields of semantics and pragmatics is outlined, discussed and evaluated critically. Students explore intersections and differences between verbal meaning and meaning construction in both spoken and written discourse. The module also explores controversies over utterance or text meaning, connecting debates about how meanings are constructed with questions pertaining to boundaries of reasonable or warranted interpretation.
LL307 - Tackling Text: Explaining Style
The module introduces students to the study of Stylistics as a systematic way to explore and analyse literary texts. Particular aspects of the structure of English will be related to literary texts from the three main genre. The first block considers linguistic choice and its relation to style and meaning, the levels of language, sound meaning and effect in poetry and figurative language and metaphor; the second block examines style and style variation in prose fiction, point of view and speech and thought presentation; the third block examines conversational structure and character, discourse structure and strategies, and impoliteness and characterisation in drama text. The lectures introduce theoretical and methodological material and the seminars enable the student to produce their own analyses with reference to specific stylistic features.
LL309 - Global Englishes
This module focuses on the global spread of the English Language as an aspect of historical and contemporary cultural and commercial events. Students will get the opportunity to compare varieties of English both in Britain and other English speaking countries, examining the features that distinguish them from each other. These varieties will include British, American and Australian English in addition to other colonial and pidgin and creole varieties. The descriptive focus of the module will also give students the opportunity to apply the knowledge they have gained in other modules, in particular: language analysis, phonetics and phonology, morphosyntax and sociolinguistics.
LL312 - Grammar for Everyone
This module will introduce students to key concepts in grammar, especially as exemplified by Latin and English and with reference to other languages as appropriate. The module will cover topics such as verbal tense and aspect, nominal case and gender, agreement, and word order. Students will be provided with the terminology and skills to describe these concepts as they encounter them in language samples. Students will not be required to learn the Latin language, but to understand the grammatical features they encounter during the course of the module. Students will also learn about the development and meaning of grammatical terminology. Skills and knowledge gained on this module will be of use in language learning and in linguistic description and analysis, and for that reason it is recommended for those taking modules in English Language and Linguistics, Classical and Archaeological Studies, or Ancient History.
PL602 - Philosophy of Language
Groups of marks or bursts of sound are just physical entities but, when produced by a writer or a speaker, they are used to point beyond themselves. This is the property of aboutness or intentionality. Other physical entities generally do not have this property. When you hear a sentence, you hear a burst of sound, but typically you also understand a meaning conveyed by the speaker. What is the meaning of a word – some weird entity that floats alongside the word, a set of rules associating the word with objects, an intention in the mind of the speaker….? What is the difference between what your words imply and what you convey in saying them? How are words used non-literally, how do hearers catch on to the meaning of a newly minted metaphor? How can we mean and convey so much when uttering a concise sentence? When someone says something offensive, is it part of its meaning that it is offensive, or just how it is used? In this module we shall try to find some answers to the questions listed above.
LL552 - Language Variation and Change
This module will explore the reasons for the initial exclusion of extralinguistic (i.e. social) data from linguistic theory, and the limitations of traditional dialectology, before exploring some early variationist studies by Trudgill (Norwich) and Labov (Martha's Vineyard; New York) and examining their theoretical bases. It will then examine the advances brought about by network studies (e.g. Lesley Milroy in Belfast), and the extent to which they offer a challenge to traditional assumptions in sociolinguistic methodology, which critically evaluates the so-called sociolinguistic gender pattern. The later lectures focus more specifically on issues of change, looking initially at neogrammarian theories and then the claims of Trudgill, James Milroy and others that certain kinds of change are predictable in specific types of social arrangement.
LL553 - Phonology
This module deals with the linguistic study of speech. It covers how speech sounds are organised into sound systems cross-linguistically (often referred to as phonology). Emphasis will be placed on the sound system of English (including dialectal variation) but basics of sound systems across the world's languages will also be covered and contrasted with English for the module will focus on our understanding of phonological systems, their organisation and formal representation.
LL542 - Guided Research in Linguistics
In this module students will be given the opportunity to gain experience in guided research, contributing to projects run by members of ELL staff, under their supervision. The research project will normally be relevant to a module that the student has taken or is currently taking.
At the beginning of the term, students will meet with the module convenor, who will recommend a project that is suitable to their interests. The assigned work may be affiliated to an on-going departmental research project documenting linguistic varieties. Alternatively, other guided research opportunities may be offered by members of staff carrying out investigations within their individual research interests.
During the course of this module, students will have to complete research tasks set by their supervisor. Students will meet with the supervisor at agreed intervals, in order to set a timetable for the completion of each task. Through these meetings, they will also receive advice and feedback on the progress of their research. Students will keep a log on the research process, which will be monitored by the supervisor. After having successfully completed the set research tasks, students will also write a report on the conducted research, demonstrating both their general understanding of the research process and their specific understanding of the project and the area of linguistic analysis that it belongs to.
LL543 - Learning and Teaching Languages
This module examines the principles on which contemporary second language teaching methods are founded. It will analyse first and second language acquisition theories in the light of current developments in language learning and teaching theories. Students will analyse a range of language teaching methods taking into account the ways in which they reflect acquisition theory. The module will give students the opportunity to compare L2 teaching methods from the perspective of: form, function and meaning and student and teacher roles. This will allow students to evaluate the effectiveness of specific language teaching methods. Students will have the opportunity to discuss the ways in which context directly influences the choice and implementation of L2 teaching methods, and will be able to follow personal interests by investigating language teaching methods in context.
Although the focus is primarily on learning and teaching English, the language acquisition theories and L2 teaching methods examined in this module may also apply to the teaching and learning of any language.
LL544 - First Language Acquisition
This course will start by examining the topic of language acquisition, demarcating the domains for linguistic inquiry. It will challenge everyday assumptions about the way in which children acquire language and introduce key theoretical issues, always assessing the validity of each theory on the basis of empirical evidence. The course will examine the biological basis of language and its localisation and lateralisation, using evidence from both typical and atypical populations. It will evaluate the role of input in language acquisition and the extent to which this facilitates linguistic development. All these issues will be set against an understanding of the normal stages of language acquisition, essentially mapping out the linguistic milestones reached by typically developing children to the age of four. An understanding of the interaction between the components involved (phonology, morphology, semantics, rudimentary structure, pragmatics) will provide the empirical backdrop to assess the efficacy of theoretical models introduced. The course will end, having laid the foundations for students to undertake a higher level of research in this area.
LL545 - Phonetics
This module deals with the linguistic study of speech. It covers how speech sounds are produced and perceived and what their acoustic characteristics are. Emphasis will be placed on the sound system of English (including dialectal variation) but basics of sound systems across the world's languages will also be briefly covered and contrasted with English. Finally, the course will cover the differences between the traditional "static" view of speech sounds as articulatory postures and the organisation of running speech.
LL534 - Semantics and Pragmatics
This module will introduce the students to the study of meaning at the levels of semantics and pragmatics. The discussed topics will range from the study of word meaning to the study of sentence meaning and utterance (contextualised) meaning. The module will introduce significant notions and theories for the field of semantics and pragmatics, such as theories of concepts, Truth Conditions, the Gricean theory of conversational implicatures, Speech Act theory, and Politeness theory. The students will have the opportunity to reflect upon real data and analyse the processes of conveying and understanding meaning at the semantics/pragmatics interface..
LL550 - Stylistics: Language in Literature
This module is concerned with the stylistic analysis of literature and is based on the premise that the decision to study literature is also a decision to study the expressive mechanics of language (and vice versa). Attention is given to all three main genres (poetry, prose fiction and drama); thus the module is divided into three blocks according to the kind of text analysed. The first section examines poetry and considers topics such as patterns of lexis, phonetic and metrical organisation and the relationship to meaning; the second looks at fiction through patterns of style variation, inferencing and speech thought presentation; the third examines drama and considers topics such as the patterns in turn-taking and their relationship to the roles and functions of characters, speech act analysis and styles of politeness behaviour. At all stages of the module, the social and cultural context of the works studies will be an important consideration.
LL519 - Syntax 1
This course will introduce students to one aspect of formal linguistics, specifically syntactic theory. Syntax will be defined as one aspect of a person's grammar, to be distinguished from the lexicon, semantics, morphology, and phonology. Focusing on the structure of sentences, the course will examine the principles according to which phrases and structures are formed, as well as speakers' knowledge about the structural well-formedness of the sentences they hear and produce.
Students will gradually learn to draw syntactic trees that can represent the syntactic operations that they will be introduced to. They will learn to conduct syntactic tests on English and cross-linguistic data, thereby becoming versed with the empirical method. The course will combine both minimalist and earlier government and binding work. We will examine the competence/performance distinction, the notion of I-language, poverty of the stimulus arguments, levels of representation, phrase-structure rules, and constituency tests as a means for testing phrase structure, case theory, theta theory, binding and movement.
LL522 - Morphology
This course is an introduction to morphology and to the practice of morphological analysis. By focusing on a range of phenomena, including those falling under inflection, derivation, and compounding (both in English and in other languages), the course helps students develop tools for pattern observation in data, description and analysis of word structure, and hypothesis testing. Students will also gain an understanding of the role of morphology in the grammar and how it relates to other components, such as phonology, syntax and semantics.
LL536 - English Language in the Media
In this module, students develop a range of skills which will enable them to undertake the narratological and linguistic analysis of media texts (the term 'text' is used broadly here, and will encompass both written and oral sources) taken from a number of sources, including newspapers, magazines and online discourses. Areas covered include: genre theory, register, narrative theory, multimodality, dialogism and discourse analysis. Also discussed are complex and challenging ideas around the notion of words, signs, and grammar in context. Students will develop the ability to approach the language of the media critically and to read the press perceptively so as to understand the importance of the media in a democratic society.
LL537 - English Language in the Media 2
In this module, students continue to develop and explore the themes introduced in LING5360 – English Language in the Media 1.
Here, the focus is on semiotics as applied in the linguistic analysis of a wide range of media discourse types, but with particular emphasis on advertising. Areas covered include: semiotics, the work of Saussure, the British press, multimodality, the new media and social networking. Also discussed are complex and challenging ideas around the notion of words, signs, and grammar in context. Students will further develop the ability to approach the language of the media critically and to read the press perceptively so as to understand the acute importance of the media in a democratic society.
HI6088 - British Political History from Balfour to Blair,1903-1997
The module will chart the evolution of contemporary British foreign policy. It begins firmly in the era of pre-First World War diplomacy, and examines the legacy of Britain's role in nineteenth century international relations, including the role of empire. The module will explore the nature of the old and new diplomacy as well as issues relating to foreign policy formation. It will include an evaluation of the role of diplomats and the work and operation of the Foreign Office. It will also include a discussion of the main themes and issues of Britain's relations with all of the major European powers from 1904-1973, including the origins of the two world wars, the connection between foreign policy and political ideology. The module will also examine Britain's relations with the United States during this period and with the Far East, especially with Japan.
HI761 - The Cultural History Of The Great War: Britain, France and Germany In C
The history of the Great War is a subject of perennial fascination, for this war left its imprint on British/European society to an extent almost unparalleled in modern history. No previous war matched it in scale and brutality. The military history and the course of events have been told many times. This course, by contrast, focuses on the social and cultural upheavals of the Great War. The aim is to move beyond narrow military history and examine the war's socio-cultural impact on British and European societies. Furthermore, it hopes to overcome historians' fixation with national histories. The First World War was, by definition, a transnational event and this course will fully explore the comparative method.
HI767 - Churchill's Army: the British Army in the Second World War
The module will explore the nature of the British Army in the Second World War. How it reacted to the crushing defeats of 1940 in France and 1942 in the Far East before transforming itself into a war-winning force. The course will begin with the inter-war army examining its lack of doctrine and the confused role it had in British and imperial defence plans. From there it will move on to examine the transformation of the army from a pre-war small professional outfit to a vast conscript army, before concluding on the situation in 1945, the retention of peacetime conscription and adaptation to the Cold War world. It will take a broad approach to military history, studying the political, economic and cultural realities behind the force.
HI5031 - African History since 1800
This module is meant to introduce students to the key processes and dynamics of sub-Saharan African history during the past two centuries. The course covers three chronological periods: the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras. In their study of the pre-colonial period students, will especially familiarize themselves with the changing nature of African slavery and the nineteenth-century reconstruction of political authority in the face of economic, environmental and military challenges. The colonial period forms the second section of the course. Here, students will gain an understanding of the modalities of the colonial conquest, the creation and operation of colonial economies and the socio-cultural engineering brought about by European rule. The study of the colonial period will end with an analysis of African nationalisms and decolonisation. In the final part of the course, students will develop an understanding of the challenges faced by independent African nations. The nature of the post-colonial African state will be explored alongside such topical issues as the Rwandan Genocide and the African AIDS epidemic.
HI5075 - Marvels, Monsters and Freaks 1780-1920
Society has always been fascinated by those deemed different and over time, unusual people have been viewed and constructed in a myriad of ways. The course explores the continuities and changes surrounding those classed as different. Broadly, the course will investigate the changing nature of difference from the 1780s to the 1920s. It will examine the body and mind as contested sites; spaces occupied by those considered different; the establishment of normality versus deviance; the changing conceptions of difference over time; relationships between unusual people and the wider society. Using a broad range of sources, from novels to film, the course will trace the shifting cultural constructions of difference.
HI5092 - Armies at War 1914-1918
This module will offer a comparative study of the armies of the Great Powers during the First World War. The module will adopt the 'war and society' approach to this topic and so will focus on the social composition and combat effectiveness of the armies concerned, along with civil-military relations and the higher strategic direction of the war. This module will therefore seek to answer some of the key questions of the Great War: how did the Great Powers manage to raise and sustain such large armies, why did soldiers continue to fight, given the appalling casualty rates; how politicised were the armies of the Great War, why were politicians allowed to embark on foolhardy military adventures, how crucial were the Americans in securing Entente victory and how effectively were economies adapted to meet the demands of the armies? Comparative topics for discussion in seminars will include; planning for war, recruitment and conscription, the officer corps, generals and politicians, discipline and morale; and attitudes to technological advances.
HI5096 - Modern German History, 1918-1990
Focusing on the history of modern Germany in the Twentieth Century, the module examines major changes and continuities in the development of a highly advanced, industrialised but also militarised European nation state which played a central role in shaping the modern European geographical and political landscape. The module explores the end of the Imperial Monarchy after the end of the First World War in 1918, the role of the Allied reparation demands, hyper-inflation and political instability of the Weimar Republic, and the rise of National Socialism and the Third Reich during the 1930s. The course will chart the influence of anti-Semitism, racial eugenics and geopolitics in Germany's quest for world domination during the Second World War and assess the legacy of the Holocaust in defining post-war German identity and society. By examining the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the module will take a critical look at the politics, ideology and day-to-day history (Alltagsgeschichte) of East and West German society during the Cold War, and explore the underlying factors which led to the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and subsequent German reunification.
HI5101 - Cholera to Climate Change: Environment and Society in Modern Britain
This course is all about putting History 'in its place', in other words, examining the history of modern Britain through the analytical lens of environmental history and exploring the ways humans have used, adapted, and imagined various environments over time. Taking 1850 as its starting point, it looks at major transformations in British life – the social and ecological problems of the Victorian city; changing attitudes towards nature preservation; empire and ecological imperialism; war, chemicals and modernity; environmental revolutions and radical protest - to chart the ways in which successive generations interacted in meaningful ways with the spaces and other species around them. This is a story both of material changes and of cultural values – our interactions with and our imaginations of the modern world. Accordingly, themes of urbanisation, politics and environmental change; health, medicine and wellbeing; national identity, gender and cultural life will be explored through a series of case studies that take in such topics as 'Miasma and Manure: Public health in 19th century London' and 'Ban the Bomb: the Cold War, nuclear technology and popular protest.' The principal geographical focus is Britain, but the module also embraces a necessarily global outlook in covering such themes as international wildlife conservation; the world of nature on film; and debates about ecological crisis and global climate change.
HI5102 - Civil War America, 1848-1877
Between the founding of the republic and the middle decades of the nineteenth century, the United States came of age. The nation's population increased tenfold; its territory more than doubled. Driven by the high-minded ideals out of which the country had been founded, and the restless energy that saw a nation of thirteen colonies grow into a territorial republic of immense size, the United States became a symbol of a tumultuous century. In time, however, the republic would become a casualty of its own success. As the 1850s wore on, a battle over slavery and its place in a rapidly changing nation unraveled into sectional conflict, secession, civil war and a decade's long struggle after the war ended. The result was the largest forced emancipation of slaves in world history, and a conflict of barely calculable carnage. For better and for worse, the Civil War and its aftermath would become the great crucible into which a modern United States was born.
This module surveys the origins, conflicts and outcomes of the Civil War by not only understanding how the war altered the United States but understanding the Civil War and its aftermath in a broader context. Students will examine the causes and consequences of the conflict, by looking backwards to the roots of sectionalism and secession, and forwards into the postwar period, known as Reconstruction. The purpose of this module is to understand how all of these historical forces sowed the seeds of the republic's demise, while at the same time examining what kind of new nation Americans created in the ashes of the old one. Out of the war would come not only a new nation, but a fundamentally different United States. The violent collapse of slavery and the destruction of the plantation system brought profound change and innumerable conflicts, long after the South capitulated and two national armies laid down their weapons. In the wake of the war, Americans would attempt to construct a new republic, born as Abraham Lincoln urged in 1864, out of a 'new birth of freedom.' The problems with that birth, and the contradictions that would endure, would mark the country right up to the present-day.
HI5103 - 'The Jewel in the Crown': India and the Making of Imperial Britain
Often described as the 'Jewel in the Crown', British India played a key role (economic, strategic, military) in the expansion and consolidation of British Empire. In the 18th century India had been a territory held by the English East India Company; by the mid-19th century India became a crown colony and an integral part of the British Empire for reasons that included both resources and a role in enhancing imperial prestige.
Focusing mainly on the nineteenth century, this module explores the processes through which India became a colony and its broader impact on the British Empire. More specifically, the purpose of the module is to impart in students a critical understanding of the relationship between India and the British Empire, especially the ways in which India influenced imperial policies (social, economic) in both metropolitan Britain and in the wider British dominions and colonies. In short, this module offers a survey of the complex, long and historically consequential relation between India and the British Empire.
HI6002 - The British Army and Empire c1750-1920
Between 1815 and 1914 Britain engaged in only one European war. The Empire was, therefore, the most consistent and most continuous influence in shaping the army as an institution and moulding public opinion of the army. This module will examine various aspects of the British army's imperial experience between 1750 and 1920 (although the focus will fall, for the most part on the small wars of the Victorian period). The central focus will be on the campaigning in Africa and India, exploring how a relatively small number of British soldiers managed to gain and retain control of such vast territories and populations. Through an examination of a wide range of literary and visual primary sources, the module will also explore how the imperial soldier specifically and imperial campaigning generally were presented to and reconfigured by a domestic audience.
The everyday life of the imperial soldier
Representing the imperial hero: Henry Havelock and Charles Gordon
The portrayal of imperial campaigning in contemporary popular culture
The legacy of the Boer War: commemoration, doctrine and reform
The modern memory of colonial warfare: from Lives of a Bengal Lancer to Zulu
HI6009 - Europe and the Islamic World, c 1450-1750
Cultures never develop and grow in isolation. They are built on the values of past generations, and they are shaped and challenged in interaction with other cultures. The main objective of this module is to explore and present the powerful interaction between Europe and the Islamic world in early modern times, c. 1450-1750.
The course will firstly provide an overview of the rise and fall of three major Islamic states and empires (the Abbasid Caliphate, the Safavid Empire, the Ottoman Empire). It will then assess the early modern European encounter with the Islamic world 1) by discussing the scholarly, religious, political and economic incentives for this encounter; 2) by documenting the exchange of knowledge, ideas, values and material objects this encounter stimulated in the early modern period; 3) by exploring the enormous impact, which this encounter had on European civilization. The course will focus on the following topics and areas of life:
1) Transmission of scientific, technical and medical knowledge.
2) Collecting manuscripts and studying the languages of the Islamic world
3) Trade and economic exchange
4) Conflict and cooperation
5) Understanding Islam, translating the Koran
6) European discovery of Arabic literature, art and architecture
7) Arabs in the West (diplomats, travellers, scholars and prisoners)
8) Europeans in the East (diplomats, travellers, scholars and prisoners)
HI6011 - From Crisis to Revolution: France 1774-1799
The French Revolution continues rightly to be regarded as one the great turning points of modern European History. This course will introduce students to the political, social and economic context of France from the accession of Louis XVI to the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. It will explore and assess the divergent interpretations for the origins of the revolutionary conflagration of 1789. There will also be an attempt to understand how a revolution based on the triad 'liberty, equally and fraternity,' lost of sight of its humanitarian aspirations and quickly descended into fratricidal political terror and warfare on a trans-European scale. Students will also be encouraged to cast a critical eye on the vexed question of the French Revolution's contribution to modern political culture.
HI5105 - Law and Society in the Early Middle Ages
How common was trial by combat in medieval society? Why did individuals sometimes voluntarily enter slavery? What could a woman do if she wished to divorce her husband? These are the kinds of questions students will consider in this module on law and order in early medieval Europe. Legal texts are among the most voluminous sources to have survived from the early Middle Ages, providing fascinating perspectives on government and the reach of the state, dispute settlement, courts and trials, social relations, literacy, the influence of the Church and more. While the bulk of our material comes from Merovingian and Carolingian Francia, we shall also consider evidence from other regions, including the Byzantine world, Anglo-Saxon England and Visigothic Spain. Different types of legal records will be studied in order to learn how early medieval societies were regulated and how rulers attempted to govern their realms. By examining law, custom and justice in theory and in practice, students will gain an appreciation for the ideals of early medieval law and government, as well as the thornier realities of its operation in society at large.
HI6025 - Early Modern Europe: Culture, Identity, Encounter 1450 - 1750
This module covers fundamental transformations taking place in European society between c. 1450 and 1750. It focuses specifically on the everyday experiences of early modern Europeans, and how these changed as a result of, amongst others, global expansion, encounters with 'others', religious change, urbanisation and a innovation proliferation of new goods. Through looking at how these transformations affected the micro-level of men and women in their daily lives, this module aims to give insight into the ever-changing lives of Europeans before the onset of 'modernisation' in the 19th century. Themes that will be addressed in the lectures and seminars include ethnic and religious diversity, gender, the individual, witchcraft and material culture.
HI6034 - Anglo-French Relations 1904 - 1945
The diplomatic relationship between Britain and France in the first half of the twentieth century can be seen as a marriage of convenience. Not natural historical allies, the British and French governments were forced increasingly to work together to combat the tensions in Europe that led to the outbreak of the First and Second World Wars.
This module explores the love-hate relationship between the two countries in tracing the origins of the Entente Cordiale, and by addressing some of the major historiographical debates in twentieth century international history. Lectures will provide students with an overview of these debates and the topics listed below, and seminars will encourage students to consider their understanding of these areas and critically engage with them through discussion.
Themes explored will typically include, imperialism, political reform and its impact on foreign policy formation, democratisation, the rise of nationalism, peacemaking at the end of the two world wars; the Ruhr Crisis, the Treaty of Locarno, the League of Nations; the Kellogg Briand Pact; the Briand Plan; the Geneva disarmament conferences of the late 1920s/early 1930s; Eastern Europe and Russia; different strategies to deal with the rise of Hitler; the fall of France, the rise of Vichy; the secret war; the outbreak of the Cold War.
HI6032 - Persecution, Repression and Resistance
What were the experiences of 'outsiders' who did not conform to Nazi ideals? What was it like to live in an occupied country during the Second World War? This course, which is structured in two parts, examines both Germany during the Third Reich and Vichy France under German occupation. Themes to be addressed include: the persecution of Jews, Roma and Sinti, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals and those with impairments; pro- and anti-natalist policies; the concentration camp system; German resistance; the fall of France; Vichy collusion; popular collaboration; French resistance; and the Liberation.
HI6056 - The British Atlantic World c.1580-1763
The curriculum works systematically through the exploration and settlement of different regions, with weekly material covering particular migratory pathways, including Chesapeake planters, New England puritans, pirates and settlers in the Caribbean, and other seminal cultural zones including attention to the Middle Colonies and the Lower South. Introductory coverage will explore the "prehistory" of British colonialism through an examination of the plantation of Ulster, and other aspects of migration and imperialism will be treated through engagement with the Scottish experiment at Darien and English attempts to gain footholds in West Africa. The curriculum will concentrate on particular themes to help sustain integrity across this diffuse oceanic domain: encounters with indigenous peoples, Atlantic imperialism, settlement demographics, and cultural folkways. The final weeks of the course will treat points of convergence and integration, including the growth of cities, religious movements, political commonalities, and the eighteenth-century wars for empire in the Atlantic, culminating in the Peace of Paris of 1763.
HI6069 - Science and Religion
Science and religion are often presented as in antithesis; worldviews that will inevitably clash. Popular accounts of science often present religion and religious institutions as a restraining force on the advance of science, and find it difficult to deal with the many scientific figures whose work was either underpinned or unaffected by their faith. This module will look critically at these narratives, re-examining famous episodes such as Galileo's clash with the Catholic Church, and debates over Darwin's theory of evolution, from the Huxley-Wilberforce debate of 1860 to the Scopes Trial in Tennessee in 1925. We will explore the late 19th-century roots of the "clash narrative" and the developing idea of inevitable "Warfare" between science and religion, noting the other ways in which the relationship has been understood. This includes the long-lasting natural theological framing of scientific knowledge, which saw evidence of God's existence and attributes in the natural world, and historians' accounts of the role of religion in motivating individuals and groups to undertake scientific work.
HI6064 - Armies at War, 1792-1815
This module examines the European experience of war during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The lectures will consider the major national armies (French, Prussian, Austrian, Russian, British and Spanish) and how they were expanded and reformed in the wake of the French Revolution. Seminars will consider key themes, such as the nature of the officer corps, recruitment and conscription, the nature of 'People's War', interactions between soldiers and civilians, developments in tactics, logistics and discipline and morale. The approach taken, will largely be that of 'war and society', focusing on the social history of the armies but there will also be some consideration of operational history and cultural history approaches to this topic. While this approach moves significantly away from 'old military history' with its focus on generals and battles, there will be some consideration of Napoleon's methods of warfare and how these were successfully countered by his enemies.
HI6076 - Surgery, Science and Society since 1750
Over the last two centuries, surgery has been radically transformed from a barbaric craft to a precision based science. Aided by new technologies, surgeons pioneered exploration into the body in ways never achieved before and became heroes of the hospital operating theatre and beyond. Historians have called this a surgical revolution. But how revolutionary was it? Did surgeons always get it right? Did new ideas, procedures and technologies immediately replace those that came before them? Is the history of surgery simply a story of continual progress? This module will examine major aspects of surgery from 1750 in order to evaluate the extent to which a 'surgical revolution' took place. Topics to be addressed include the rise of pathological anatomy; dissection and body snatching; anaesthesia; antisepsis and asepsis; vivisection; war; organ transplantation; and keyhole surgery. Adopting a social and cultural approach, the module will examine these topics in line with several key themes: the surgical profession, masculinity and heroism; patients, ethics and the body; technologies and techniques; and the sciences of pathology and physiology. The module will also explore the dissemination of surgical history today to public audiences through analyses of museum exhibits.
HI6078 - Restoration, Revolution and Reform: British Politics 1678 - 1763
Spanning the period from the Exclusion Crisis of the late 1670s until the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, this module will explore a crucial period in the history of Britain through an examination of politics, religion and diplomacy. Emerging from the upheaval of revolution in the 1640s and 1650s, the British monarchy had to adapt to new circumstances in the ensuing 100 years and one of the aims of the module will be to consider the changing nature of kingship and queenship in this age. Dynasticism remained important - after all, two unions were brought about during this period - with the Dutch (1689-1702) and the Hanoverian electorate (1714-1837). Necessarily, therefore, the European dimension will be central to the module, while the focus will be on Britain, not merely England. Parliament assumed an enhanced role in the politics of this period - with annual parliaments from 1689 and parliamentary union with Scotland in 1707 - and the module will pay close attention to the fortunes of ministers, the growth of parties and the increasingly active electorate in an age of frequent general elections. The module will also assess how extra-parliamentary opinion, the press and popular protest affected the political landscape. Religious conflict remained an issue, with continuing tension between the established church and 'dissenters', as well as between Catholic and Protestant (the attempt to exclude James, Duke of York from the succession signifying the continued interdependence of religion and politics). Finally, the module will examine the impact on Britain of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48) and the Seven Years' War (1756-63), and the growth of the British colonial empire.
HI6083 - Rifles, Railways and Factories
Week 1: introduction
Weeks 2-6 (including Study Week) German Wars of Unification, 1864-1870
Weeks 7-12 American Civil War
Both sets of conflicts will be examined through a series of themes: political management of war in the second half of the nineteenth century; the nature of generalship and command; the issues of logistics, communications and military medicine; the experiences of front-line troops; the management and attitudes of home fronts
HI613 - Conflict in Seventeenth Century Britain
Seventeenth-century Britain experienced considerable division and tension, most obviously in the Civil Wars in mid-century between the countries which comprised the multiple kingdom of Britain. The aim is to examine the reasons for, and the attempted resolution of, major political and religious problems, with a clear sense of the European context in which these events were played out. Topics to be studied will include the ideological clashes between crown and parliament in England; the political and cultural divisions of `court' and `country'; religious disunity across the three kingdoms; the expansion of a `public sphere' of politics and religion; the failure of republican government in the 1650s; the instability of Restoration politics and the coming of the Glorious Revolution; and Britain's changing role in Europe across the century.
HI632 - The Tools of Empire 1760-1920
Fundamental to Western European political and cultural ambitions since the mid-eighteenth century has been technological change. This module provides a unique and stimulating social history of science and technology in a period of industrialisation and imperial expansion. In the first part, we examine the twin foundations of British industrial and imperial power exemplified by the dramatic eighteenth-century voyages of Captain James Cook around the Pacific, and by the evolution of the steam engine by James Watt in the same period. In the second part of the module we focus on the powerful new nineteenth century technological systems - railways, steamships, electric telegraphs and ship canals - which served to discipline the diverse cultures of Empire, whether British, American or Continental. In these ways, the module will provide a striking foundational study for an enriched understanding of politics and society in the modern world.
HI789 - The Art of Death: Representations, Rituals, &Records in Medieval Europe
This module explores the place of death within medieval European culture, focusing especially on the visual and material evidence of relics, tombs, architecture, wall paintings, and illuminated manuscripts. It will begin by examining how ideas about death and the dead were expressed in works of art from Late Antiquity until the arrival of the Black Death in 1348. Our primary sources will be set within the context of literary, visual, documentary and liturgical evidence. Together, we will examine these sources from different disciplinary perspectives in attempt to determine how the study of medieval death and contemporary anxieties about the afterlife can inform us about how people lived in the Middle Ages.
HI795 - Inviting Doomsday: US Environmental
Condemned by the international community for refusing to sign the Kyoto Accords, rendered powerless by electricity blackouts, and stricken by the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the United States of America is today embroiled in a narrative of environmental controversy and catastrophe. This module explores to what extent the USA has been 'inviting doomsday' throughout the modern (twentieth-century) period. Commencing with an introductory session on writing and researching American environmental history, the module is then split into four sections: Science and Recreation, Doomsday Scenarios, Environmental Protest, and Consuming Nature. Over the twelve weeks we will consider a range of environmental issues that include wildlife management in national parks, pesticide spraying on prairie farms, nuclear testing in Nevada, and Mickey Mouse rides in Disneyland. By the end of the module, we will have constructed a comprehensive map of the United States based around themes of ecological transformation, assimilation and decay.
You have the opportunity to select elective modules in this stage
Going abroad as part of your degree is an amazing experience and a chance to develop personally, academically and professionally. You experience a different culture, gain a new academic perspective, establish international contacts and enhance your employability.
You can apply to add a year abroad to your degree programme from your arrival at Kent until the autumn term of your second year. The year abroad takes place between Stages 2 and 3 at one of our partner universities. Places and destination are subject to availability, language and degree programme. For a full list, please see Go Abroad.
You are expected to adhere to any academic progression requirements in Stages 1 and 2 to proceed to the year abroad. The year abroad is assessed on a pass/fail basis and does not count towards your final degree classification.
LL539 - English Language Teaching 1
This module is useful for anyone who may be considering teaching languages to second language/foreign language learners in the future, with particular emphasis on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), although it provides a rich variety of transferable skills for any participant. It raises awareness of the English language, introduces lesson planning, classroom organisation, language teaching and feedback. There will be an opportunity to observe ESOL teaching and plan and prepare a lesson. Guidance will be given on writing a lesson plan, using resources and creating materials for foreign language learners The emphasis is on building strategies and techniques for foreign language teaching and understanding what makes good practice.
This module is useful for anyone who may be considering teaching languages to second-language/foreign language learners in the future, with particular emphasis on English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), although it provides a rich variety of transferable skills for any participant. It builds on An Introduction to English Language Teaching 1 by increasing the range of skills and considering how to go about teaching specific groups of foreign language learners and assessing their needs. Guidance will be given on writing a syllabus, using resources and creating materials for learners. There will be an opportunity to observe ESOL teaching and to deliver an English lesson.
LL526 - Syntax II
The aim of this module is to advance students' knowledge of syntactic theory. As such, the course will expand upon a number of key topics from a broad range of issues introduced in the pre-requisite module, such as binding, the syntax of questions and relative clauses and theta theory. We will also examine the interfaces between syntax and other core areas of linguistic inquiry (semantics/pragmatics/morphology) by focusing on topics such as quantification, ellipsis, and anaphora. Relevant theoretical work will be outlined and discussed and students will have the opportunity to develop their skills in syntactic analysis and argumentation by investigating several empirical phenomena from a wide range of languages. They will also be encouraged to evaluate theoretical claims in the light of the observations drawn. As such, the module will equip students with the theoretical and methodological tools required in the specialised modules and will highlight the crucial role of description in supporting and testing theoretical claims.
LL530 - Writing In The Media: A Practical Approach
This module is aimed towards students who are considering a career in journalism, freelance writing, publishing and related fields (a substantial proportion of the programme's cohort), but will also be of use to those with a general interest in the area of media and language studies. It enables students on the BA English Language and Linguistics programmes to put into practice the complex theories and methods of analysis they will have explored elsewhere on their programme of study by producing their own portfolio of journalism and media-related writing. It should be emphasised that a consideration of the impact of new media ('multimodality') on the field will form a substantial component of the module's content.
Students will carry out their own research, for example using Canterbury and its environs as their news area, collecting information, arranging and carrying out relevant interviews, and writing up projects. They will produce and submit a portfolio of original journalism in which they demonstrate their ability to use the English language, their understanding of grammar and their ability to structure their writing with the target audience in mind. Accompanying this, students will submit a critical commentary in which they will reflect on how an understanding of relevant discourse, stylistic and cultural theory has influenced their writing.
LL531 - Language in Atypical Circumstances
During this course, students will focus on a core set of linguistic case studies, which will equip students with the ability to:
•	Assess the extent to which linguistic capacities interact with psychological ones;
•	Recognise the relevance of the distinction between developmental and acquired disorders;
•	Critically analyse evidence for/against linguistic principles being operative in child grammars;
•	Distinguish between language delay and language deviance with regard to developmental disorders;
•	Understand the results of social, cognitive and linguistic tests against which subjects' capabilities are measured.
Main themes will be picked from a variety of topics each year, from the following selection: Levels of Representation; Interaction between 'modules'; British Sign Language; Vocabulary and Syntax in the Aphasias; Morpho-syntactic abilities in SLI, complex syntax in Williams Syndrome, Down Syndrome and Autism, Linguistic savants; Pragmatic knowledge in these disorders; Bi-Lingualism.
LL510 - Stylistics and Creative Writing
This module proceeds from the premise that the ambition to write creatively presupposes an interest in the 'expressive mechanics' of language. A more in-depth understanding of these processes will benefit the writer in many ways, for example by providing them with a precise taxonomy with which to precisely describe various fictional, poetic and dramatic techniques and by furnishing them with a critical nomenclature which will aid detailed analysis of their own and others' creative work. The module is designed to appeal not just to those with an interest in writing, but to anyone who would like to explore further and in a 'hands on' fashion the insights into the expressive functions of language and text offered by stylistics. Students will be 'doing stylistics' in the broadest sense of that phrase.
A two-pronged approach is adopted, whereby students are at first introduced to various stylistic and narratological concepts and models (e.g. linguistic deviation, deixis, register, focalization, ways of representing thought/speech, and metaphor), then expected to produce creative exercises which implement and explore these concepts (for example, using linguistic deviation to foreground themes and images or using varying focalization to tell a story from different perspectives). Various 'input' texts (poetry, fiction and drama) will also be used as examples of the techniques and concepts under discussion, and some as the basis for textual intervention exercises (critical-creative rewriting). This process culminates in the production of a portfolio of students' creative work (which may be one or more complete stories, a selection of poems, a dramatic text, or a mixture), accompanied by a critical commentary and stylistic analysis which will focus on how an understanding of stylistics and linguistics in general has impacted on the work.
LL512 - Language Processing
This course will focus on the structure of lexical items, the way in which these different lexical items are stored and the nature of the relation between them. Relevant theoretical work in the fields of psycholinguistics and language processing is outlined and discussed. And students will evaluate the efficacy of these theories on the basis of experimental investigations which they themselves will construct and conduct, for example word association experiments, lexicon decision tasks and parsing phenomena.
LL551 - History of British English
The module will begin with a consideration of what the term 'English' means, and of what other, potentially rival, languages have been spoken in the British Isles. It will then consider how successive waves of conquest shaped the sociolinguistic situation to one of di- or triglossia, with English one of a number of varieties used in a restricted set of socially determined domains. Using Haugen's standardization model, we will examine the factors that led first to selection and later acceptance of English as the dominant variety, and consider the associated linguistic processes of codification and elaboration of function. Working with short texts from different time-periods, the module will then show how and why grammatical changes occurred in Anglo-Saxon, Old and Middle English (e.g. loss of case marking, gender, weakening of the verbal paradigm) and their consequences for the modern language. We will also consider phonological changes (e.g. the Great English Vowel Shift) and their consequences for dialect differentiation. We will conclude by exploring ongoing change in contemporary English (notably koineization in major cities), and the likely consequences for future English in the British Isles.
LL535 - Topics in Semantics
This course builds on the student's knowledge of semantic phenomena, introducing formal approaches and the semantic metalanguage. Students will be provided with a small set of formal tools for the analysis of linguistic meaning. Students will learn to use these tools to probe into the nature of meaning in natural language and into different types of semantic phenomena. Specific topics that will be dealt with include predication, argumenthood, entailment, presupposition, definiteness and quantification.
LL548 - Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication
This module employs specific theoretical frameworks within the area of Pragmatics (Neo-/Post-Gricean theories, Speech Act Theory, Interpersonal Pragmatics) in order to discuss issues of intercultural communication. It covers phenomena such as indexicality, (im)politeness, humour, non-literal language, while also discussing a range of discourse situations (classroom, business, media).
LL599 - Dissertation
This module enables students to research in depth a linguistic topic. The dissertation topic may be chosen from a list provided by the supervisor, or selected by the student under guidance from the supervisor in an area reflecting the student's interests and the supervisor's research programme, interests and expertise. The topic will normally build upon a module that the student has undertaken in their second year. In the rare case that the chosen topic builds upon an Autumn-term module in the student's third year, acceptance is at the supervisor's discretion; it is expected that the supervisor will be the convenor of that module and can reach a decision on the basis of their assessment of the student's potential and the viability of the project.
Topics available for study are subject to the availability of an appropriate supervisor. In order to ensure adequate supervision, supervisors may not accept to supervise more than three dissertations in a given year.
With guidance from their supervisors, students will identify a research question and apply appropriate methodologies to data collection and their analysis. While the supervisor will be there to guide students, students will take responsibility for setting their own deadlines, working at a pace that suits them.
The module will aim to equip students with the necessary training in a broad range of research skills typically required for dissertations in linguistics.
HI7001 - The Carolingians and the Invention of Order
Charlemagne (r. 768–814) is often called 'the father of Europe', and it was under the rule of his dynasty, the Carolingians, that European political institutions and culture were consolidated – so much so that one can speak of a 'Carolingian order'. This special subject looks at how the Carolingians tried to bring order to every aspect of society, including government, religious observance, the economy, the law, education and learning, and even individual behaviour. One feature of this drive for 'correction' (as it was known) was an unprecedented volume of written documentation, which allows the historian both to perceive a coherent plan of reform and to test the claims of the reformers. Seen from another angle, however, Charlemagne and his family were merely brutal warlords, whose collection of a mountain of plunder gave them the means to produce propaganda that portrayed their regime as ordered, reforming and divinely sanctioned. Can the two views be reconciled? What exactly did the Carolingians accomplish? Was the reform ever anything more than empty rhetoric? Could the Carolingians survive without constant military triumphs? These are the key questions the sources allow us to address.
HI7002 - The International History of the Vietnam Wars
The course explores the causes, conduct and consequences of the French and American wars in Vietnam. The course begins in the aftermath of the Second World War with the French Indochina War and charts the United States' growing concern with the region, the Americanisation of the war in Vietnam under President Johnson and eventual disengagement under President Nixon. In addition to placing the conflicts in their regional and international contexts, the course will consider the military strategies implemented in the field and the domestic challenges inherent to fighting a "limited war". The second part of the course focuses on the domestic aspects of the American war including the role of the media, the evolution of the anti-war movement and civil-military tensions. In addition to acquiring substantive knowledge, students will practice core skills, including accessing and critically assessing primary sources, communicating effectively orally and in their written work as well as working in groups.
HI7003 - Head,Shoulders,Knees, and Toes:A History of the Modern Body(1800-1950)
This module examines the cultural, social, medical and scientific understanding of the modern body. The nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century saw a reconceptualization of the body, through technology, environments, conflict, the economy and the cultural construction of the body in relation to the wider world. The course makes it clear that the body is not neutral, and provides a way to explore wider concepts relating to biology, relationships, and experience.
This module will be based around study of the German Wars of Unification (1864-1870) and the American Civil War. Both sets of conflicts will be examined through a series of themes: political management of war in the second half of the nineteenth century; the nature of generalship and command; the issues of logistics, communications and military medicine; the experiences of front-line troops; and the management and attitudes of home fronts.
HI6068 - Resistance, Rebellion and Regicide: c.1480-1603
Early Modern European states fostered a culture of obedience. Subjects were meant to show loyalty to their monarch through conforming to their commands, and the doctrine of obedience was promulgated in pulpits and cheap print up and down the land. Nevertheless, rebellions occurred. This course will examine when, why and how subjects resisted their monarchs during the sixteenth century in England, Ireland Scotland, and what factors could push resistance into rebellion – even to the ultimate sin of regicide. We will explore the impact of religious changes on rebellion, considering how having a monarch with a different religion might facilitate rebellion, and the impact of classical ideas about the res publica, the commonwealth or republic, on providing new justifications for rebellion, and explore how these phenomena occurred in the three different contexts of the three kingdoms. We shall also consider how rebellion was reported, and the relationship between the state and controlling news, and how domestic rebellions were influenced by and in turn affected local, national and foreign developments.
Traditionally, historians tend to think about rebellion and resistance following one of two approaches, either social history, considering bottom up protests and popular culture, or intellectual history, exploring theoretical justifications for rebellion and understanding the nature of legitimate political power. This module will allow students to explore both historical approaches. When the module is run at level 5, students will be expected to compare the uses of both approach and its strengths and weaknesses, and at level 6 they will be invited to combine both approaches in their own work.
HI6071 - The United Nations in the Twentieth Century
The United Nations was established by the victorious states of the Second World War in 1945. The preamble to the Charter of the United Nations declared that the organisation's aim is to 'save succeeding generations from the scourge of war'; promote fundamental human rights and the rights of nations large and small; maintain international law and promote social progress. This module will explore how successfully the organisation has met its founding ideals. In doing so, it will consider major issues that faced the United Nations during the first fifty years of its existence. It will examine how policy was formulated in the committee rooms of the General Assembly and the Security Council. It will then explore how effective such policy proved in the context of the Cold War and the changing post-colonial environment of the late twentieth century.
HI6075 - Sex, Health and Deviance in Britain since 1800
From early nineteenth century concerns over declining birth rates to the profound impact of the AIDS epidemic in the late twentieth century, this module will examine key political, economic, social and medical issues and events that shaped discourse, attitudes and behaviours surrounding sex and health in Britain since 1800. A central concern of this module will be to untangle the complicated relationship between public discourse and private behaviour. Indeed, while vocal social commentators, scientific and medical communities, the State and the Church increasingly sought to regulate sexual attitudes and behaviours, deviant and tabooed practices such as prostitution, masturbation and sex outside marriage were (and still are) prevalent. In untangling public discourse and private behaviour, the module will consider: the extent to which the regulation of sex and health has been successful; the ways in which attitudes and behaviours changed across the period and varied according to geography, social class, sexual preference, gender and ethnicity; and how they affect our attitudes towards sex and health today. Themes addressed in this module include: Britain's role in the global commercialisation of contraceptive technologies; venereal disease; abortion and infanticide; eugenics; same-sex relationships; and sex crimes.
HI6061 - Human Experiments & Human Rights during the Cold War
This Special Subject examines the history of human rights in human experimentation during the Cold War, and traces the development of biological and chemical warfare research from the Second World War through to Allied military research in the 1950s and 1960s. It charts continuity and change in the development of medical ethics standards in modern military research on humans, and assesses the extent to which research subjects were informed of the risks involved in the research. The module explores Allied war-time research and the international response to news of Nazi medical atrocities. The Nuremberg Medical Trial and the Nuremberg Code are important milestones in the history of informed consent and modern medical ethics. The module looks at the Nuclear testing programme that was conducted by the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1950s, and investigates in detail the evolving chemical warfare programme at Porton Down in the United Kingdom where one of the servicemen, Ronald Maddison, died from exposure to the nerve agent sarin in 1953. The history of research into incapacitants and biological warfare agents is located into a wider context of an evolving system of medical ethics in which non-therapeutic experiments without consent were increasingly seen as unethical and unlawful. Finally, the attempts by veteran groups for recognition and compensation will be examined as part of a wider political history of the Cold War which has shaped our understanding and memory of the more recent past.
HI6063 - California: The Golden State
This special subject explores California history from Native American times to modern day. It charts the rise to power of the US Pacific Coast and the many complexities that come with mass immigration, technological innovation and cultural frontierism. The special subject does not provide a simple narrative of state history, but instead employs a series of case studies to illuminate key periods of California's past and present, auto-stops, if you will, to navigate the Golden State as both a place, an idea and, most significantly, an image. The case studies also facilitate an interdisciplinary approach to the topic, for example, the Great Depression in California is considered by a session on the life of the hobo, his music, migration, work and community in the period. Sources here include Nels Anderson's classic sociological text 'On Hobos and Homelessness' and collections of Okie/hobo music of the period. A number of movie showings will relate both the rise of Hollywood as a state industry as well as Hollywood's own social commentary on the California experience. The California dream and the notion of California exceptionalism will be critiqued across the module. Students will be expected to immerse themselves in the culture industry of the state and truly explore what (if anything) makes California so special or Golden.
HI6040 - The Age of Discovery:Cultural Encounters in the Early Modern World c.14
A century after the discovery of the Americas, in a treatise published in 1580, the radical Reformer Jacob Paleologus argued that it was most unlikely that the ancestors of the American natives could have crossed the Ocean and he concluded hence that all humans cannot descend from one single individual, Adam. So the discovery of America not only challenged traditional geographical knowledge, but also questioned fundamental religious, anthropological and historical assumptions. This module will explore early modern encounters with new worlds and with non-European cultures and it will ask about the manifold changes of European life which these discoveries brought about.
The seminars of the first term will be dedicated to the different stages of European discoveries, starting with Columbus' discovery of America and ending with Mungo Park's attempts to discover the sources of the Niger river. Based on the weekly reading of one primary source, we will follow explorers, travellers, ambassadors, soldiers and missionaries on their expeditions to the inner parts of Africa, to the court of the Shah of Persia, to China and to the Americas. The module discusses the religious, intellectual, political and economical contexts of these discoveries and it will ask how the various actors organized and methodized their expeditions and how they interpreted their discoveries. The second term will be dedicated to the study of some of the consequences these discoveries entailed. How did they affect traditional European ideas about mankind, religion, the world and their position in it? How did they influence European life style, fashion, art and literature?
HI6044 - British Politics 1625-1642
This module will analyse British government and society during the 1630s, one of the most significant decades of the 17th century, when Charles I ruled without parliament in England and pursued controversial policies in England, Scotland and Ireland. Through examining a wide variety of primary source material, students will be encouraged to draw their own conclusions about the character and success of Caroline government in the 1630s, as well as on the causes of the British Civil Wars, topics upon which rival historiographical theories continue to flourish. This is a fascinating period of intense historical enquiry which offers students the opportunity to become adept at the interpretation of primary sources, to deepen their understanding of the complexities of the period, and to improve the presentation of their ideas in both oral and written form.
HI605 - Undergraduate Dissertation
This module is designed to give final-year Single or Joint Honours History students an opportunity to independently research a historical topic, under the supervision of an expert in the field. Students are required to submit a dissertation (maximum length 9,000 words) based on research undertaken into primary sources, and an extended reading of secondary sources. It is designed to allow students to engage in their own historical research into any chosen topic (the only stipulation being that there must be a member of staff available within the School of History who is able to supervise the topic), and to present their research in a cogent and accessible format.
HI6029 - The Great War: British Memory, History and Culture
The aim of this course will be to show how far the Great War has infiltrated into modern culture and to test the validity of Paul Fussell's thesis that the Great War created Britain's modern cultural atmosphere. Fussell contends that modern society is marked by a love of irony, paradox and contradiction formed by the experience of the Western Front. Against this theory we will set the ideas of Samuel Hynes and Martin Stephen, as argued in their works, A War Imagined and The Price of Pity. This course will explore how the Great War has influenced our lives and why we have certain images of it. Why, for example, do most people associate the Great War with words such as 'waste', 'futility' and 'disillusion'? Why does the morality of the Great War seem so tarnished, while the Second World War is conceived as a just war? The course will be based upon literature (high and popular), poetry, art, architecture and film. We will therefore be 'reading' a 'primary text' each week. The course will serve to highlight many of themes of the 19th and 20th century British survey courses and will further contextualise the course on Britain and the Home Front in the Second World War.
HI6024 - Napoleon and Europe, 1799 - 1815
This special subject will introduce students to the pros and cons of the historiographical debate surrounding Napoleonic and Revolutionary French history. It will give final year students an alternative means of engaging with the familiar historical category of 'Empire.' The focus on French expansion abroad, in the early nineteenth century, challenges one to move away from understanding the Napoleonic Empire in national terms; this course in essence, by its very nature, is European in both scope and content. To do this it will explore processes of acculturation and international competition on a thematic basis. It will examine, in broad multi-national manner, the complex interaction between centre and periphery or what Italians, more prosaically, describe as conflict between 'stato reale' and 'stato civile.'
This special subject will investigate the Napoleonic Empire in its many facets. Students will be urged actively to pursue their individual interests in either war and society, Empire, political culture and/or gender.
HI5072 - The American Revolution
This source-based class challenges participants to consider the background, causes, and content of the American Revolution from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean from the Stamp Act debates to the establishing of the Federal Constitution. Students will be asked to digest primary documents from political speeches in the British Parliament, to American political pamphlets. Students will consider the character and place of the American Revolution within European and American economic, political, and cultural development. The course will examine the conditions under which American Revolution emerged; the part played by empire, and the distinctive combination of ideological and theological strands that produced a compelling challenge to British Parliamentary authority for the first time.
HI6094 - The Legacy of the Second World War
Over seventy years after Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender, we are still living in the shadow of the Second World War. The end of the Cold War has seen an upsurge in commemorative activity ranging from new memorials to court cases. This special subject considers the impact of the Second World War on European societies (including Britain) between 1945 and the present day. This module will examine – and compare – the ways in which contemporaries and later generations have tried to make sense of the upheaval and horrors of the Second World War. The module will explore a host of commemorative practices and media (ranging from architecture and popular histories to film and war memorials) and their socio-cultural contexts. Methodologically, the module explores the cultural history of the legacy of war. Cultural history here means the study of languages, practices, artefacts and gestures through which events are encoded by those who live through them or in their aftermath.
HI6101 - Global Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the Modern Era
The term 'guerrilla' tends to evoke twentieth-century connotations. 'People's war', Mao and Che Guevara all conjure up notions of revolutionary warfare, of 'new' warfare far removed from the supposedly state-centric armies and strategies of the nineteenth century. But irregular warfare also featured strongly in the nineteenth century. This module studies this type of warfare across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as a whole, mixing well-known theatres and campaigns with less well-known ones. It explores the links between insurgencies and nationalism, revolution and counter-revolution, and studies the extent to which we can identify evolving patterns between reactive and progressive insurgency, along with learning curves and emulation in counter-insurgency. British and French experiences will be studied, along with American Spanish, Latin American, Chinese and African.
HI5029 - The Crusades
The Crusades were a central phenomenon of the High Middle Ages. The product of an aristocratic society suffused by a martial culture and a militant religion, reveal aspects of social relations, popular spirituality, techniques of waging war and attitudes to violence, which retain interest for a modern world to which Holy War and ideological justification of violence are no strangers. The aim of the module is twofold: (i) a full exploration of the events of the campaigns in the Near East, covering the experience as well as the motivations of crusaders and settlers in the Crusader Kingdoms; and (ii) investigation of the interaction over a period of two centuries between western Christians and the indigenous populations, both Christian and Islamic, in and around the states and settlements established in the East. In recent years the Crusades have attracted a wealth of new research and debate, much of it conducted in English. These provide students with rich and accessible secondary material against which to pit their own views. The texts, translated from Arabic and Greek as well as Latin and medieval French, are kept to a manageable size and provide opportunities for critical comparison of different viewpoints on the same events or issues.
English Langauage and Linguistics
Teaching involves a combination of lectures and seminars, and there may be additional workshops, discussion groups and practical sessions. You have group or one-to-one tutorials for research projects and dissertations, and also have tutorials with your lecturers and seminar leaders to discuss coursework and assignments. In addition, you have access to further information and support via Moodle, our interactive web-based learning platform.
At each stage, some modules are continuously assessed, while others combine coursework and examination. Stage 2 and 3 modules count towards your final degree result.
Teaching is by a combination of lectures, providing a broad overview, and seminars, which focus on discussing particular issues and are led by student presentations. Lectures and seminars use a variety of materials, including original documents, films and documentaries, illuminated manuscripts, slide and PowerPoint demonstrations.
The School of History uses a mixture of assessment patterns. The standard formats are 100% coursework or 60% examination and 40% coursework.
The School also has excellent student support arrangements. Alongside our Student Support Officer, each student is assigned an academic tutor. All module convenors keep regular office hours, and the School has a policy of returning at least one essay on each module in a one-to-one personal meeting allowing for additional verbal feedback and discussion.
For a student studying full time, each academic year of the programme will comprise 1200 learning hours which include both direct contact hours and private study hours. The precise breakdown of hours will be subject dependent and will vary according to modules. Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.
Methods of assessment will vary according to subject specialism and individual modules. Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.
Programme aims
For programme aims and learning outcomes please see the programmes specification for each subject below. Please note that outcomes will depend on your specific module selection:
History (joint honours)
English Language and Linguistics (joint honours)
Graduate destinations
The programme prepares students for a wide range of careers in areas including:
journalism and professional writing
broadcasting and the media
teaching at all levels
the museums and heritage sector
commerce and banking
the civil or diplomatic services.
Both the School of European Culture and Languages and the School of History provide support as you start to think about future careers.
The School of European Culture and Languages' Employability programme, includes work-related modules and work placements. Both of these are a key part of the 'English Language and Linguistics in the Classroom' module, designed for budding teachers, which combines traditional learning methods with practical teaching experience.
The School of History runs employability sessions to help you hone your job-hunting skills, and these include input from highly successful alumni.
The University also has a friendly Careers and Employability Service, which can give you advice on how to:
write a good CV
perform well in interviews.
Career-enhancing skills
Alongside specialist skills, you also develop the transferable skills graduate employers look for, including:
high-level skills in communication
IT and numeracy
the abiilty to work independently and as part of a team.
You can also gain extra skills by signing up for one of our Kent Extra activities, such as learning a language or volunteering.
Home/EU students
The University will consider applications from students offering a wide range of qualifications. Typical requirements are listed below. Students offering alternative qualifications should contact us for further advice.
It is not possible to offer places to all students who meet this typical offer/minimum requirement.
New GCSE grades
If you've taken exams under the new GCSE grading system, please see our conversion table to convert your GCSE grades.
Typical offer/minimum requirement
BBB including grade B in History, Classics-Ancient History or Classics-Classical Civilisation
Access to HE Diploma
The University will not necessarily make conditional offers to all Access candidates but will continue to assess them on an individual basis.
If we make you an offer, you will need to obtain/pass the overall Access to Higher Education Diploma and may also be required to obtain a proportion of the total level 3 credits and/or credits in particular subjects at merit grade or above.
BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (formerly BTEC National Diploma)
The University will consider applicants holding BTEC National Diploma and Extended National Diploma Qualifications (QCF; NQF; OCR) on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us for further advice on your individual circumstances. A typical offer would be to achieve DMM plus A-level in History, or Classics-Ancient History, or Classics - Classical Civilisation, or Medieval History at B.
34 points overall or 15 points at HL, including History 5 at HL or 6 at SL
The University welcomes applications from international students. Our international recruitment team can guide you on entry requirements. See our International Student website for further information about entry requirements for your country.
However, please note that international fee-paying students cannot undertake a part-time programme due to visa restrictions.
If you need to increase your level of qualification ready for undergraduate study, we offer a number of International Foundation Programmes.
Meet our staff in your country
For more advice about applying to Kent, you can meet our staff at a range of international events.
Please see our English language entry requirements web page.
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of 'pre-sessional' courses in English for Academic Purposes. You attend these courses before starting your degree programme.
General entry requirements
Please also see our general entry requirements.
The 2020/21 annual tuition fees for this programme are:
UK/EU
Full-time TBC £16200
Part-time TBC £8100
For students continuing on this programme, fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.*
Your fee status
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
Fees for Year in Industry
The 2020/21 annual tuition fees for UK undergraduate courses have not yet been set by the UK Government. As a guide only full-time tuition fees for Home and EU undergraduates for 2019/20 entry are £1,385.
Fees for Year Abroad
Students studying abroad for less than one academic year will pay full fees according to their fee status.
General additional costs
Find out more about accommodation and living costs, plus general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.
University funding
Kent offers generous financial support schemes to assist eligible undergraduate students during their studies. See our funding page for more details.
You may be eligible for government finance to help pay for the costs of studying. See the Government's student finance website.
Scholarships are available for excellence in academic performance, sport and music and are awarded on merit. For further information on the range of awards available and to make an application see our scholarships website.
The Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence
At Kent we recognise, encourage and reward excellence. We have created the Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence.
The scholarship will be awarded to any applicant who achieves a minimum of AAA over three A levels, or the equivalent qualifications (including BTEC and IB) as specified on our scholarships pages.
The scholarship is also extended to those who achieve AAB at A level (or specified equivalents) where one of the subjects is either mathematics or a modern foreign language. Please review the eligibility criteria.
3 years full-time (4 with a year abroad/placement year)
6 years part-time
Subject website
School of European Culture and Languages
Subject leaflets
English Language and Linguistics	subject leaflet (PDF)
History joint honours programmes	subject leaflet (PDF)
The Key Information Set (KIS) data is compiled by UNISTATS and draws from a variety of sources which includes the National Student Survey and the Higher Education Statistical Agency. The data for assessment and contact hours is compiled from the most populous modules (to the total of 120 credits for an academic session) for this particular degree programme.
Depending on module selection, there may be some variation between the KIS data and an individual's experience. For further information on how the KIS data is compiled please see the UNISTATS website.
If you have any queries about a particular programme, please contact information@kent.ac.uk.
United Kingdom/EU enquiries
BA (Hons)
Full-time - Enquire online
Part-time - Enquire online
Admissions enquiries
International student enquiries
E: internationalstudent@kent.ac.uk
Order a full prospectus (full-time)
Order a full prospectus (part-time)
Download a full prospectus (PDF)
Please select Full-time - 2020 Part-time - 2020
Full-time applicants
Full-time applicants (including international applicants) should apply through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) system. If you need help or advice on your application, you should speak with your careers adviser or contact UCAS Customer Contact Centre.
The institution code number for the University of Kent is K24, and the code name is KENT.
See the UCAS website for an outline of the UCAS process and application deadlines.
Part-time applicants
Part-time students apply directly to the University rather than through UCAS. There is no fixed closing date but you should apply for your programme as early as possible.
If you need more advice on making an application or choosing your programme, please contact us:
Freephone (UK only): 0800 975 3777
Application form Application form Apply through UCAS
Ancient, Medieval and Modern History BA (Hons)
Full-time or part-time
Art History and History BA (Hons)
Asian Studies and English Language and Linguistics BA (Hons)
Comparative Literature and English Language and Linguistics BA (Hons)
Drama and English Language and Linguistics BA (Hons)
English Language and Linguistics BA (Hons)
English Language and Linguistics and French BA (Hons)
Full-time only
English Language and Linguistics and German BA (Hons)
English Language and Linguistics and Hispanic Studies BA (Hons)
English Language and Linguistics and Italian BA (Hons)
English Language and Linguistics and Management BA (Hons)
English and American Literature and English Language and Linguistics BA (Hons)
French and History BA (Hons)
German and History BA (Hons)
Hispanic Studies and History BA (Hons)
History BA (Hons)
History and Drama BA (Hons)
History and English and American Literature BA (Hons)
History and English, American and Postcolonial Literatures BA (Hons)
History and Film BA (Hons)
History and Italian BA (Hons)
History and Philosophy BA (Hons)
History and Politics BA (Hons)
History and Religious Studies BA (Hons)
History and Social Anthropology BA (Hons)
Law and History LLB (Hons)
Philosophy and English Language and Linguistics BA (Hons)
The University of Kent makes every effort to ensure that the information contained in its publicity materials is fair and accurate and to provide educational services as described. However, the courses, services and other matters may be subject to change. Full details of our terms and conditions can be found at: www.kent.ac.uk/termsandconditions.
*Where fees are regulated (such as by the Department for Education or Research Council UK) permitted increases are normally inflationary and the University therefore reserves the right to increase tuition fees by inflation (RPI excluding mortgage interest payments) as permitted by law or Government policy in the second and subsequent years of your course. If we intend to exercise this right to increase tuition fees, we will let you know by the end of June in the academic year before the one in which we intend to exercise that right.
If, in the future, the increases to regulated fees permitted by law or government policy exceed the rate of inflation, we reserve the right to increase fees to the maximum permitted level. If we intend to exercise this extended right to increase tuition fees, we will let you know by the end of June in the academic year before the one in which we intend to exercise that right.
Call us on +44 (0)1227 764000
Address: University of Kent,
CT2 7NZ
All open days and visits
Connect with us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Connect with us on LinkedIn Subscribe to us on Youtube
About us The UK's European university Research Governance and planning Access agreements Modern Slavery Act Statement Charity information Locations Support us What's on News Business services Career opportunities
Courses Undergraduates Postgraduates International students Part-time and short courses Student experience Accommodation Fees and funding Scholarships Term dates
Applicants Parents and family Students Staff Alumni Business and partners Paying online
Canterbury Medway Tonbridge Paris Brussels Rome Athens
Paris Brussels Rome Athens
© University of Kent Accessibility Contact us Feedback Legal Cookies