History Undergraduate Courses

Our highly regarded history degrees are flexible, taught by experts, and are relevant to today’s world.

Study history at Derby and you will develop your own voice as a historian and gain a wide range of transferable skills. With a rich heritage surrounding you, including the UNESCO Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, you will explore the relationships between the past to the present which will help you to understand the modern world.

With particular emphasis on modern and contemporary history, this course is academically rigorous, intellectually stimulating and politically relevant.  As well as covering broad historical themes, you will explore a wide range of specific topics - everything from the Enlightenment, Totalitarianism, the history of the body, and the British Country House.

You will also explore the history of non-European societies, with modules spanning the history of China, India, the Cold War and the impact of European imperial rule.

History - your questions answered

In the below video, Lecturer, Oliver Godsmark, answers some of the most frequently asked questions about History at the University of Derby. 

Oliver Godsmark, Lecturer for History

View History - your questions answered! video transcript

Career opportunities

Our history degrees are relevant, informative, designed to develop communication skills and to give you the best start in your career.

  • Education
  • Law
  • Civil service
  • Management
  • Marketing

“My time at Derby has been wonderful”

“My time at Derby has been wonderful. I started with the clear goal to become a teacher, not really knowing that I would gain so much from the experience. I cannot fault the history lecturers for their guidance, patience and kindness. I was so pleased to win the award just before my graduation. It was such an honour to see all my research, hard work and passion for history recognised. From the archive research to the writing, this piece of work was immensely enjoyable and exciting to create.”

Rebecca graduated with a First Class Honours in History and English and was awarded the Royal Historical Society/History Today Undergraduate Dissertation Prize for her dissertation: Cutting Through the ‘Gordian Knot’: The British Military Service Tribunals During the Great War.

What to expect when studying History at the University of Derby

Kedleston Road, Derby Campus entrance

Undergraduate Open Days

The best way to find out if studying at Derby is right for you is to experience an Open Day. Get a feel for the city and campus, tour our first-class facilities and see where you could be living.

Book your undergraduate Open DayBook your undergraduate Open Day
#derbyuni sign on green grass

Student stories

Our students and graduates are people just like you. And they are making an impact in our region and around the world by using their knowledge and skills to drive innovation and change. You can be part of that story. Let our students and graduates tell you theirs.

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