History and Politics

History and Politics at Cambridge is an exciting new Honours degree that will run for the first time in October 2017. It offers subjects from our highly-regarded History and Politics & International Relations courses, together with bespoke papers that will allow students to explore the space between the two disciplines. Students will develop skills in analysing the operation of power and politics across histories, institutions, and societies around the world. Students will also be able to build strengths in understanding the nature of evidence, methodology, and approaches in both History and Politics.  They will be able to choose from a wide range of topics in British, European, American and World history and politics.

Cambridge is uniquely placed to teach History and Politics & International Relations together. Both Faculties are widely regarded as world-leading: the History Faculty (http://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/) is one of the largest in the United Kingdom and is consistently ranked as the best in research and teaching assessments, with internationally recognised experts in all relevant fields of study; whilst the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) (http://www.polis.cam.ac.uk) is a medium-sized department with about 30 academics with a huge range of specialisms. It has particular research strengths in international politics, international history and international law, comparative politics and political thought.

Staff in the Faculty of History and the Department of Politics and International Studies have a wide range of shared interests in political and international history, the origins of contemporary politics and international relations, and the history of political ideas. This new degree balances a strong grounding in the two component subjects with the opportunity to explore the ways in which historical and political understanding together illuminate the modern world.

Course requirements

Applicants will have a variety of relevant subject qualifications, though not necessarily in both politics and history; they will be expected to demonstrate an interest in both subjects and will be assessed on their potential to succeed in them. A-Level or IB Higher Level History is required.

The application process

All applicants will take a pre-interview admissions assessment. Candidates should normally expect two interviews – one in each subject –  and should be prepared to discuss their relevant interests and potential directions they may wish to follow. Applicants should submit two examples of recent work, which will be available to interviewers.

Typical conditional offers

Our typical conditional offer for History and Politics is A*AA at A-Level. IB offers are usually for a total of 40-41 points, with 776 at Higher Level.

History and Modern Languages

The new joint degree in History and Modern Languages combines the best of both subjects. It offers the opportunity to develop near native-speaker skills in a foreign language while studying a range of papers relating to the culture and history of the relevant language area; options in some languages also include film and contemporary politics. Students will develop analytical skills in History through a wide range of topics in British, European, American and World history, as well as the history of political thought. There will be opportunities to work with historical sources in foreign languages. As for other language students, those who take this course will spend their third year studying or working abroad, thereby immersing themselves in the language, culture, history and politics of a foreign country.

For 2017 entry, the languages available for study will be French, German, Russian or Spanish. Russian may be learned from scratch or studied following on from an A-Level (or equivalent). French, German and Spanish will be post-A-Level (or equivalent) only.

Both faculties are regarded worldwide as leaders in their respective fields. The History Faculty (http://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/) is one of the largest in the United Kingdom and is consistently ranked as the best in research and teaching assessments, with internationally recognised experts in all relevant fields of study. The Modern Languages Faculty (http://www.mml.cam.ac.uk/) is the largest in the United Kingdom and also consistently rated as one of the best, offering an unrivalled range of courses taught by leading scholars. The library resources in Cambridge, which support teaching and research in both Faculties, are world-class; the University also has extensive collections of films in all relevant languages.

Course requirements

Applicants will have a variety of relevant subject qualifications, though not necessarily in both languages and history; they will be expected to demonstrate an interest in both subjects and will be assessed on their potential to succeed in them. All Colleges require an A-Level/IB Higher Level in the relevant language (except Russian, which can be studied from scratch). A-Level/IB Higher level History is also required, in addition to evidence of language ability for Russian from scratch.

The application process

Candidates should normally expect two interviews – one in each subject – and should be prepared to discuss their relevant interests and potential directions they may wish to follow. Applicants should submit two examples of recent work, which will be available to interviewers.  Prior to the interview in Cambridge, applicants will take an admissions assessment in history. Applicants for post-A-Level languages will also take an hour-long written assessment in College, based on a short text in English that we will supply. This is designed to assess writing skills in a foreign language and the ability to understand an intellectual argument and to write in English. No special preparation or prior knowledge is required.  Applicants for Russian from scratch will be assessed for language aptitude at interview.

Typical conditional offers

Our typical conditional offer for History and Modern Languages is A*AA at A-Level. IB offers are usually for a total of 40-41 points, with 776 at Higher Level.

Why study a History Joint Degree at Corpus?

Corpus is a thriving academic community, and a wonderful place to study History and Politics or History and Modern Languages. For a start, the college itself is steeped in history. Founded in 1352 by the members of two urban guilds in the wake of the Black Death, the college possesses one of the finest libraries in the world, the Parker Library, which contains one of the oldest European books in existence, the St Augustine Gospels, and the first picture of an elephant ever drawn in Britain.

We pride ourselves on identifying and nurturing excellent candidates from whatever background they may come. This is reflected in our exam results: individual Corpus students have frequently achieved the top result in History at the university and as a group Corpus Historians in recent years have been at or near the top of the exam tables in History, achieving first place in 2012. Once you arrive, you will be provided with the close attention that will allow you to thrive and develop your intellectual capacities. Your Director of Studies will help to guide your paper choices and set you up with the best supervisor for each paper. They will often be from amongst our own Fellows at Corpus, but more commonly they will be a Fellow from another college who we know has looked after our students well in the past.

In your first year we encourage you to take at least one paper in college so we can monitor your progress as you settle in. The college has particular strengths in World History, the Enlightenment, the History of Science and Medicine, and Medieval History. Our internationally-renowned active fellows in History include Dr Shruti Kapila, a historian of modern India, imperial and global history; Dr Emma Spary, a historian of science, medicine and technology in eighteenth-century Europe; and Dr Jos Betts, a historian of political and economic thought in Victorian Britain. Dr Andrew Spencer, a Fellow of Christ’s College and a historian of politics, war and the constitution in medieval England, acts as a Director of Studies. Other historians amongst the Corpus fellowship who also supervise our students include the best-selling medieval economic and social historian, Prof John Hatcher; Dr José Ramón Marcaida Lopez, a specialist on early modern travel;  Dr Christopher Kelly, a historian of the Roman Empire; and Dr Barak Kushner, a historian of Japan and China. We also have Prof Christopher Andrew, the official historian of MI6 and author of numerous works on spies and intelligence. Watch him deliver a fascinating lecture on the history of espionage here.

Dr Shruti Kapila Fellow World History	Dr Emma Spary Fellow Modern European History	Prof John Hatcher Life Fellow Medieval History
Prof Christopher Andrew Life Fellow History of Espionage	Dr Christopher Kelly Fellow Ancient History	Dr Andrew Spencer Director of Studies Medieval History
Dr Barak Kushner Fellow Modern Japanese History	Dr Jos Betts Research Associate, CRASSH Intellectual History	Dr Christopher de Hamel Fellow Parker Librarian

You can also watch Dr Kapila discuss Indian politics on Bloomberg TV below:

Corpus has a strong tradition in Politics & International Relations, which makes for an exceptional learning environment. The college has two Politics Fellows who share the responsibilities for directing studies – Dr David Blunt and Dr Aaron Rapport. A number of other Corpus Fellows also work in these areas and other related subjects, such as Philosophy.

Dr David Blunt Fellow Politics

Dr Harald Wydra Fellow Politics

Dr Aaron Rapport Fellow Politics

The college’s Gerard Duveen Social Sciences Society meets thrice termly to discuss a range of topics and listen to a variety of speakers in an informal setting. Previous talks have been given by Lord Ramsbotham, former Chief Inspector of Prisons, who spoke on prison reform; Dr Chris Brooke, who discussed Tony Blair’s autobiography; and Helen Lockett from the Centre for Mental Health, who discussed employment and mental health problems. All of the College’s undergraduates and graduates are welcome to attend, and the talks are a great opportunity for inter-disciplinary discussion.

Finally, Corpus has excellent teaching provision in modern languages. The college’s Directors of Studies are Dr John David Rhodes, University Lecturer in Film in the Italian Department; and Prof Emma Wilson, professor in contemporary French literature and film. Dr Rhodes’ and Prof Wilson’s presence at Corpus make the college especially strong in the study of modern European literature and culture, with an emphasis on film and the visual arts. The college makes arrangements for tuition in all languages, and students are actively guided to pursue study in all periods of European literature, according to their interests. Like all other colleges, only a limited number of languages and specialities are represented within our own Fellowship, but one of the attractions of modern language studies is the contact-time with a range of teachers at different colleges. Furthermore, the College employs a French lectrice, and native speakers are engaged for conversation practice. Generous travel grants are available for studies undertaken during the vacation periods. These factors make Corpus an intimate and supportive but also dynamic and expansive college in which to study Modern Languages.

Prof Emma Wilson Fellow	Emma Wilson researches the visual arts, film, gender and female writers. She is the author of Sexuality and the Reading Encounter (OUP, 1996), French Cinema since 1950: Personal Histories (Duckworth, 1999), Memory and Survival: The French Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski (Legenda, 2000), Cinema’s Missing Children (Wallflower, 2003), Alain Resnais (Manchester, 2006) and Atom Egoyan (Illinois University Press, 2009). Her volume Love, Mortality and the Moving Image appeared in 2012. She is currently developing a project about contemporary female artists and film-makers working in Paris.
Dr John David Rhodes Fellow	John David Rhodes works on European and American cinema, with a strong focus on Italian cinema and culture. He is especially interested in putting cinema into conversation with other artistic, cultural and material forms. Dr Rhodes offers supervisions on a wide range of topics in Italian, European, American and international cinema, in addition to aesthetic theory, queer theory, the history and theory of modernism in film, literature and the other arts, as well as other (often interdisciplinary) topics and areas.
Prof Joachim Whaley Praeceptor	Joachim Whaley’s research interests lie in German history, thought and culture from 1500 to the present day. He is the author of Religious Toleration and Social Change in Hamburg, 1529-1819 (CUP, 1985) and the editor of Mirrors of Mortality: Studies in the Social History of Death (Europa, 1981, Routledge, 2011). His latest book is Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, 1493-1806, (2 vols., OUP, 2012), which covers virtually every aspect of German history from the reign of Maximilian I to the dissolution of the Reich in 1806. He is currently writing a history of German-speaking Europe from the later Middle Ages to the present day. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2015.

Watch Dr Rhodes discuss the relationship between Italian Renaissance painting and cinematic space below: