| Programme details | |
|---|---|
| Degree: | Bachelor of Arts (Honours) (BA (Hons)) |
| Discipline: |
History
|
| Duration: | 48 months |
| Study modes: | full-time |
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History embraces everything from the rise and fall of empires, or the birth of new ideologies, to the contrasting everyday lives of people in a whole range of settings, across time and across the globe. Studying History means developing critical skills, learning to express your ideas and arguments clearly, and becoming self-directed in your studies.
Political Science is the study of governments, public policies and political behaviours. It’s easy to think of issues that we all have opinions about. Should government tax the rich for greater equality? Should it introduce ‘green taxes’ in order to protect the environment? Questions such as these, along with analyses of political systems, political behaviour, international relations and how democracy works, are at the heart of the study of political science.
The History and Political Science course offers the opportunity to study two subjects with close affinities as part of a coherent structured programme. In the first three years of the programme, you will study both subjects. In the fourth year, you may choose to concentrate exclusively on either subject or to continue with both. The combination allows students to engage with problems past and present, national and international, using a range of approaches, but with an emphasis on self-directed study and the development of intellectual skills.
Trinity is ranked a one of the top 100 universities in the world for the study of History and for the study of Politics. (QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2019). Both departments offer a remarkably broad range of module options for their size. The four-year programme allows students to lay firm foundations in both disciplines in the first two years.
The pathways available are Single Honors, Major with Minor and Joint Honors. Click here for further information.
Political Science modules address such areas as comparative politics, international relations and the history of political thought. The final two years of the programme then allow students the chance to study several specialist modules in-depth.
Recent graduates are pursuing careers in government and the public sector, media, accountancy and business to name a few. Some graduates each year progress to further study in areas as diverse as medicine, film production, graphic design and business, as well as areas more closely related to history and political science.
Graduates of the departments work for such organisations as the Irish Times, the Law Society of Ireland, Oxfam, IBEC, the American Chamber of Commerce, RTÉ, Google and the United Nations. The diversity of careers reflects the wide array of skills amassed by students undertaking a degree in History and Political Science at Trinity.
The History programme combines the strength of a broad-based programme in the first two years, introducing all students to the sheer diversity of historical studies, with the freedom to explore areas of particular interest to individual students in the final two years. First and second year provide a range of modules in medieval and early modern Irish and European history (first year), modern Irish and modern European history, U.S. history and global history (second year), as well as modules on the methods used by historians, and participation in a history group project in year two.
In first and second year, the specialist modules available in political science are: Introduction to Political Science, History of Political Thought, International Relations and Comparative Politics. In third and fourth year, political science modules include: Irish Politics, Democracy and Development, Political Violence, European Union Politics, Issues in Contemporary Politics, Political Psychology Political Theory: Contemporary Topics, Autocracy, Contemporary International Relations and African Politics.
History modules may include:
Most modules are assessed by a combination of coursework and examination performance.
The Department of History has Erasmus exchange agreements with a wide range of European universities including the University of St. Andrews (Scotland), the Sorbonne (Paris), the University of Vienna and Charles University in Prague as well as an exchange agreement with the University of Tokyo. The Department of Political Science is a partner in Erasmus exchanges with the Institute d’Études Politiques in Strasbourg and Paris, the University of Zurich, the University of Bologna and University of Mannheim. History and Political Science students can also arrange for a year abroad in other countries, notably the U.S.A., Australia and Canada, for example at the University of California, the University of Sydney or McGill University (Montreal).