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About the Department
The Department of History moved to Jessop West in January 2009. The new accommodation is close to the central campus, other Arts and Humanities Departments and University's Halls of Residence. The space houses around 50 staff, 65 postgraduate students and is the academic and administrative base for around 700 undergraduate students.
High Quality Teaching at a Top Research University
The Department of History is one of the most active centres for teaching and historical research in the UK. We have staff actively engaged in research on societies ranging in time from the third to the late twentieth centuries CE, and in space across much of Europe, with other specialisms in African, Asian and American history. We host an active Centre for the Study of Genocide and Mass Violence. Other centres are planned in the Study of Democratic Cultures, Cultures of the Cold War, and the History of Journalism. The Department has also taken the lead in a number of collaborative projects which have had very high impact and visibility: in particular the Old Bailey, Hartlib, Foxe and Cistercian projects. This experience has made the Department one of those at the cutting edge of the digital humanities.
Wide Ranging Academic Excellence
Staff belonging to the Department are prominent in national and international professional bodies, including funding agencies and the editorial boards of leading academic presses and journals. Our outstanding record of research has been consistently recognised by external bodies. This was recognised in the 1996 and 2001 Research Assessment Exercises in both of which we were awarded a grade of 5. In the 2008 exercise we were in tenth position nationally ranked by the proportion of our research judged 'world-leading': 35% of our research was judged to be in this category (4*), and 30% to be internationally excellent (3*).
The range and quality of our research is reflected in an equally highly-rated undergraduate programme. Our Undergraduate modules are built around staff research interests with the result that they range widely across the history of Europe and the wider world since the third century CE, and introduce students to a wide variety of approaches to the writing of history. Entry standards are very high, levels of student satisfaction very impressive and graduating standards outstanding. Our teaching has been rated as 'Excellent' by the Quality Assurance Agency, the only nationally recognised guide to the quality of a Department's teaching. We also have a thriving community of postgraduate students, with particular strengths in British and International (especially African) history.
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08 July 09
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