If you are on an Equal Weighting or a Major Weighting in History

History at Work will introduce you to the ways in which History is employed in a range of professional contexts – schools, museums, and the media – and provide you with experience of applying History to those contexts. During the Module we will explore the professional frameworks, government legislation, professional bodies, and ethical codes which structure the application of History in these contexts. Along the way, we will meet with professional practitioners to discuss their role, career routes, and experiences of working in these contexts.

Our interactive Lectures will focus on the policy and regulatory frameworks, confronting crucial problems in the intersection between education, heritage, the media, and equality and diversity.

Your small group activities will focus on dissecting those policy and regulatory frameworks, helping you to devise your own, improved professional framework.

By the end of the Module, building on the knowledge and understanding you developed in History Wars of how definitions of history relate to contexts and audiences, you will have a foundation to become a public historian who is professionally informed and experienced, having produced a real world, authentic professional document. This will prepare you for Curious Chester, where you will work to an external brief to produce a professional public history resource and reflect on your professional experiences.

This module will enable you to improve your linguistic proficiency by building on your existing competences and knowledge, while also developing vocational language skills and broader cultural awareness. You will learn about important themes and patterns in the history and configuration of France and its place in the wider world. Using a range of written and audio-visual texts in target language, you will study topics such as  Paris and the periphery, economic and political challenges and debates, the Algerian War and cultural memory, and migration and multiculturalism. You will advance towards a B1 or B2 level on the CEFR, depending on your initial level. All material is tailored to support your language level. Part of the module focuses on practical issues and real world situations and is orientated towards preparation for your in-person or virtual immersive experience in the French language, as well as for the world of work. You will enhance key skills such as reflecting on your learning and identifying personal and professional development opportunities, language mediation, and carrying out research.

If you are on a Minor Weighting in History

On Rewriting History, you study an historical subject from a specific chronological and geographical setting. You will work with a members of staff to re-evaluate what historians have argued about those subjects, and to produce your own histories.

There will be a choice of subjects from which to select your preferences, which may include the following:
• The Vikings – A Local-Global Diaspora
• Witchcraze
• Fear City: Danger, Disorder, and Culture in the Modern Metropolis
• The Holocaust

During this module you will consider how historians have defined the subject, what they have argued about the causes and consequences of the subject, what evidence they have deployed to support their arguments, and how convincing you find their approaches and conclusions.

Along the way you will hone the skills you developed from Global Histories, History Wars, Pre-Modern Movements and Modern Spaces in analysing historical arguments, and constructing your own historical answers.

If you are on a Minor Weighting in History

On Challenging History, you will study an historical subject from a particular different chronological and geographical setting. You will work with a member of staff to re-evaluate what historians have argued about those subjects with a special focus on the primary sources, and you will develop your own analyses of those sources.

There will be a choice of subjects from which to select your preferences, which may include the following:
• The Age of the Black Death
• Europe in the Age of Reason and Absolutism, c. 1660 to c. 1780
• Seeking the Promised Land - Black America, 1865-1977
• Imperial Endings: Britain in the Colonial and Post-Colonial Age

During this module you will consider how historians have approached the subject and its sources, how they have used the evidence to support their arguments, and how convincing you find their analyses.

Along the way you will hone the skills you developed from Global Histories, History Wars, Pre-Modern Movements and Modern Spaces in using primary evidence and constructing your own historical answers.

By the end of the Module, you will be well on your way to becoming a historian who is chronologically aware, historiographically well-informed, and curious, and who is trained in the skills and methodologies of cutting-edge, independent research.

The module will provide the opportunity to further develop your language skills, building on your previous learning at intermediate level. The first half of the module includes intensive taught sessions in interactive workshop mode which will prepare you for placements abroad or self-directed language development. The second half of the module includes an placement abroad or, alternatively, a project on a business or tourism issue in a target language country. 

The module will provide the opportunity to further develop your language skills, building on your previous learning at advanced level. The second half of the module includes a placement abroad or, alternatively, a project on a sustainability issue in a target language country. The first half of the module will prepare you for placements abroad where appropriate as well as a deeper understanding of sustainability in target language contexts. 

This module provides the opportunity to achieve the University of Cambridge’s CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) qualification, which is an internationally recognised initial ELT (English Language Teaching) teacher qualification. The standards of teaching required in this are in accordance with CELTA standards. The CELTA is assessed on a Pass/Fail basis for the purposes of the University of Chester. There are pass grades A, B & C Pass, which are applied by Cambridge and will be indicated on the certificate issued by them on completion of the course. These grades do not apply to the grading of the university.

Curious Chester will ask you to work to an external, real-world brief to research the underrepresented past of Chester, its region, or other regions, and produce a professional public history resource.

You will work with internal and external partners, which may include Chester Heritage Festival, Cheshire Archives and Local Studies, the Grosvenor Museum, Chester Cathedral, the University of Chester PGCE in Secondary History, and others.

You will be given a brief to fulfil a real-world need identified by these partners and you will pursue an independent project to produce a public history resource, such as a learning resource, a digital catalogue, a transcription, a monument contextualisation, an exhibition design, a social media campaign, amongst many other possibilities.

You will complete some training in pursuing an independent research project which will prepare you for the Dissertation Module and you will reflect on your experiences as a foundation for applying for a career, assessing and representing your skills, and engaging in employee personal development processes.

By the end of the module, reflecting on the knowledge and understanding you acquired in History at Work, you will be historians trained in a distinctive historical place - Chester and its institutions - and will be prepared to be public historians who are professionally informed and experienced in producing real world, authentic outcomes.

Languages Immersive Year Option

With tutorial guidance, you will create a personalised learning agenda through SMART targets and a Learning Agreement, aligned to your individual context and supported by a series of online tutorials. This will include immersive learning experiences. If you study in person, these may be modules studied at partner universities, work placements or English Language Assistantships. If you study all or part of the year virtually, this will include a number of the following: a selection of MOOCs and online learning from the virtual residence abroad menu; tandem learning partnerships, digital language learning tools, Languages for All evening classes and research into socio-cultural issues. 

Languages Immersive Summer (40 Credits) Option

Choose this if you are NOT taking the full academic year abroad

This flexible module enables students taking the course in 3 years to undertake a placement or equivalent virtual study which will equip them to progress to the final year with the required linguistic development and cultural and intercultural knowledge.