The most striking thing about History at Oxford is its extraordinary range and the enormous amount of choice offered to students (there are over 100 different options), reflecting the breadth of interests and expertise among those who teach here.

Oxford is rightly celebrated for the broad chronological sweep of its courses. You can study options on any part of British and European History from the fading years of the Roman Empire to the present day. All undergraduates are encouraged to confront periods and concepts beyond those encompassed by a narrow chronological focus. Students are given the opportunity of seeing things not just in their immediate context but also in the perspective of long-term developments.

But the geographical range is also broad. In addition to Oxford’s specialists in British and European history, recent appointments have been made in non-European fields, and this is reflected in popular student options on North American, Latin American, Asian, and African themes.

Oxford historians have also been in the vanguard of the assault on a narrowly Anglo-centric approach to British History, and there are new options on the English and the Celtic peoples in the later twelfth century, on Irish Nationalism from 1870 to 1921, and on the Northern Ireland Troubles.

Oxford historians are also encouraged to adopt a variety of interdisciplinary approaches to their studies. Among the more popular first year options is a course on Approaches to History which explores the cross-fertilisation between history and other disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, economics, archaeology, art history, and gender studies. Moreover, it is one of the strengths of the tutorial system that the choice of topics on outline papers can be tailored to individual needs to a far greater extent than is the case in other universities. Thus students with particular enthusiasms in, say, gender studies, or cultural, economic, or religious history are encouraged to follow them up. During their second and third years students are encouraged to think comparatively about the work they have undertaken on different periods, discussing their ideas in seminar groups within their respective colleges, and also have the opportunity to do independent research while working on their thesis.

We are also strong on intellectual and cultural history. For those who are interested in the development of historical thought a first-year option looks at the work of historical writers from Tacitus, the chronicler of the corruption of early imperial Rome, to Max Weber, the founder of modern sociology and second only to Marx in his influence on historians. Another popular optional first year course introduces students to the work of leading political theorists, developing conceptual approaches to the study of history through the study of the writings of some of the greatest minds on issues of political organization. There are opportunities to study the History of Political Thought in greater depth later in the course. Throughout their time at Oxford students can study options with a strong literary and art historical content, or dealing with scientific and technological history.

Full details of the History course will be found here.

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