Course summary

Studying Modern and Contemporary History is exciting and rewarding. It will help to satisfy your curiosity about our recent past and allow you to acquire an in-depth understanding of the history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As well as an in-depth knowledge, Modern and Contemporary History students also develop essential skills of analysis, argument and communication - all highly valued in today’s competitive employment market. Our internationally renowned academics are developing the very latest thinking on historical problems; this cutting edge knowledge informs the curriculum and will enhance your learning experience. By studying at one of the largest and most influential departments in the country, you will have access to a range of course options. This degree allows you to study a range of issues in modern and contemporary history and through our courses you will learn how to analyse these issues in different ways - from the biographical, looking at Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela; the national, by studying, for instance, modern British or American history; and the thematic, with options such as the history of global terrorism, and modern political thought. You will also study leadership and government and the broader social and cultural contexts, to form a holistic view of modern history. You will receive individual attention and learn in small teaching groups, whilst having access to some of the richest facilities for historical research anywhere in the world; in addition to the College’s substantial library collections, there are the National Archives, British Library and other libraries of the University of London.

• 96% say that our teaching makes the subject interesting and 94% find the course intellectually stimulating (National Student Survey 2016).

• World-leading and internationally excellent research which is ranked joint first for its impact on greater society (Research Excellence Framework 2014, 4* and 3* research).

• Global opportunities. You can apply for the chance to study abroad during your third year, before returning to Royal Holloway for a fourth and final year.

• Maximum flexibility to pursue your own interests, helping you to construct a coherent degree programme that provides a sense of development of societies and institutions over time.

• Unique access to the College's world-learding Research Centres, including the Bedford Centre for the History of Women and Gender; the Holocaust Research Centre; and the Centre for South Asian Studies.