Video transcript 

Firmly rooted in military history, but also drawing on a wide range of other disciplines, the BA in War Studies at Birmingham is based in the School of History and Cultures, which has an outstanding international reputation for excellence in teaching and research.

• Download the programme brochure for BA War Studies for more information about the course structure

First year

This represents a foundation year in which core skills and knowledge are acquired and developed. Our interdisciplinary module War, Armed Forces and Society (40 credits) addresses general questions relating to the nature of warfare and considers how war has evolved from ancient times to the present. In addition, War Studies students choose two 20 credit survey modules from either Medieval History 500-1050 and Medieval History 1050-1500; or The Making of the Modern World 1500-1815 and The Making of the Contemporary World 1815-2000). Focused on key periods, these are contextual modules that examine fundamental themes and issues and indicate the kinds of questions historians explore in answering them. The aim of  Practising History (A): Skills in History (10 credits Autumn semester) and the Practising History (B): Approaches to History (10 credits Spring) is to give War Studies students a firm grounding in the principles, skills and methodologies needed to approach their subject from a historical perspective.

The last 20 credits Themes and Areas 1 (the Module Outside Main Discipline) enables War Studies students to choose from an extensive range of modules on offer within the wider University that serve to extend their conceptual training and enhance their knowledge of their discipline. For example, a War Studies student may choose to study philosophy, a social science or a language, or to engage more closely with archaeology or international relations.

Second year

In the second and intermediate year, War Studies students are encouraged to consider and address a diverse set of questions aimed at extending their knowledge and exciting their interest prior to a greater degree of specialisation in their third year.  The Rise of Modern War (20 credits), taught in the autumn term, traces the evolution of war in a global context from the early seventeenth century to the late 1800s. In the spring term, Introduction to Strategy and Operational Art (20 credits) studies the work of leading theorists of western war since the Renaissance and examines the intermediate field of military knowledge situated between strategy and tactics. War Studies students also choose a War Studies option for the autumn (Option A) and the spring (Option B) terms (20 credits each). A wide range of options is available and, for 2012-13, included ‘The British Army c.1660-1960’ and ‘Command in War from Napoleon to the Twenty-First Century’.    

Group research (20 credits) reinforces research skills being developed elsewhere in the second year and provides a further opportunity for students to engage directly with primary source material; this module also provides students with the invaluable experience of working collaboratively on a common research project.

Lastly, Research Methods (20 credits) gives War Studies students first-hand experience of individual research as they learn to identify and frame a valid and intellectually coherent research question for their final year dissertation.

Third year

In the final and advanced year of their undergraduate studies, War Studies students study Writing the History of Warfare (20 credits) which addresses some key figures and newer methodological approaches in the historiography of warfare. The War Studies Advanced Option (20 credits), which is studied in the spring term, is chosen from a list of options that in 2012-13 included ‘The United States and World War II’ and ‘Military Revolutions and the Conduct of War, c.1300-1650’. 

War Studies students also choose a War Studies Special Subject (40 credits) from a number of available modules, which in 2012-13 ranged from ‘Holy Men, Holy War: The Cistercians and the Crusades’ to ‘The Sharpe End: The British Army and the Defeat of Napoleon’. The Special Subject provides an opportunity to focus more narrowly on a specific area of study and to develop an in-depth understanding of issues and debates in the secondary literature; this module also requires students to engage with primary sources at an advanced level. 

War Studies students must also complete an independent piece of research, their War Studies Dissertation (40 credits); this allows War Studies students to showcase the skills gained throughout their undergraduate studies and to deepen their knowledge of a closely defined War Studies subject of their own choice.

Central to Learning and Teaching in the School of History and Cultures at the University of Birmingham is critical enquiry, debate and self-motivation, summed up by the term Enquiry Based Learning.

What does this mean for you?

Enquiry-based learning describes an environment in which learning is driven by the shared enquiry of students and tutors. Depending upon the level and the discipline, it can encompass problem-based learning, evidence-based learning, small scale investigations, field work, projects and research.
Enquiry-based learning places you at the centre of your own learning process so that you learn through involvement and ownership and not simply by being a passive recipient of information thrown at you.   You will spend time developing comprehension and note-taking skills. History is a subtle and complex subject and the literature you need to master can be demanding and complex. To ‘get’ it, you need plenty of thinking time. Reading, thinking and analysing for yourself are the most important parts of your degree experience.  This approach will enable you to take control of your own learning as you progress through your degree.  Moreover, it will encourage you to acquire essential skills that are highly valued by employers: creativity, independence, team-working, goal-setting and problem-solving.
The overall approach we adopt is one of more heavily weighted contact hours in Year 1, but tapering off over years 2 and 3, as you begin to acquire greater confidence in discussion and writing.  We are strongly committed to small-group seminar teaching, particularly in the final two years of your degree: you will find that most of your teaching happens not in large, anonymous lectures but in smaller groups of students where you can actively participate in discussion and have the benefit of personal contact with academic staff.  In your final year, you will also have individual tuition to help you work on your dissertation. As you progress through the syllabus, you are offered an increasingly wide range of particular subject choices.

Year 1 is highly directed –  much of it lies in helping you to acquire a general overview of the medieval, early modern and near contemporary past.  The ‘Practising History’ module introduces you to the key skills needed to study History at degree level and enables you to study select historical episodes.  All this will help you make more informed decisions about subject choices in Years 2 and 3.  These topics are increasingly specialised and enable you to get to grips with them in real depth. During your first year you will undergo a formal ?transition? review to see how you are getting on and offer you help for any particular areas where you need support.

In Year 2, in each term, you have a choice of around 15 Options to study.  You will start doing preparatory work for your final-year dissertation, selecting a topic, assessing its feasibility and engaging in preliminary discussions with potential supervisors.  The module History in Theory and Practice, provides an overview of the evolution of history writing and an introduction to key issues confronting historians to-day: you will find this helps you reflect on your own historical research.  A notable feature of Year 2 is Group Research: about a dozen specialised historical topics for you to research, not, however, as individuals, but on a collective basis.  You are divided into groups of 5-6 students, to work as a team, and to produce at the end, both individual essays and a group presentation on what you have researched.   The capacity to work as part of a team, to know what it is like to have to accommodate yourself to the way others work, is a valuable asset for future employment.

In Year 3, there are some 20 Special Subjects for you to choose from, ranging from the early medieval period almost up to the present day, and covering a wide range of British, European and non-European areas.  You approach the particular subject not only through reading but also by intensive study of original documents.  In addition, there are around a further 14 Final Year Options to choose from in each of the autumn and spring terms.  The real centre-piece of the Final Year, however, for most students is their dissertation – a piece of extended writing on a subject of your choice and which requires significant use of archival and other primary source materials.  You will have done extensive preparatory work for this in Year 2.  In Year 3, you will have a calibrated set of one-to-one consultation sessions with an academic supervisor, who will comment and advise on your drafts.  This will be real academic writing and the results are often impressive.

Support

Personal Tutor

From the outset, you will be assigned your own Personal Tutor who will get to know you as you progress through your studies, providing academic and welfare advice, encouraging you and offering assistance in any areas you may feel you need extra support to make the most of your potential and your time here at Birmingham. Your Personal Tutor is assigned to you at the start of your course and will usually remain with you until graduation, helping in supporting your academic progress, developing transferable skills and helping with welfare issues. All academic staff will also provide 'Office Hours' each week in term time, during which you are free to contact and discuss any issues you wish with the tutor involved.

Student Mentor and Buddy Scheme

Within the College our enthusiastic current students act as mentors to our new students. This will provide new students with a friendly face to help you settle in. 

Academic Writing Advisory Service

The Academic Writing Advisory Service (AWAS) will provide you with individual support from an academic writing advisor and postgraduate subject-specialist writing tutors. You'll receive guidance on writing essays and dissertations at University-level which can be quite different from your previous experiences of writing. Support is given in a variety of ways, such as small-group workshops, online activities and feedback through email and tutorials.

Learning settings

Lectures explore a particular text, topic or context, often involving brief factual descriptions and outlining major questions and interpretations. Their main purpose is to challenge and stimulate, encouraging you to come to your own conclusions based on further reading and seminar debates.

Small-group seminars run alongside the lecture course, addressing any individual problems you may have and allowing you to consolidate lecture material. Options and special subjects in years two and three are also taught in small seminar groups. When you attend seminars we expect you to deliver short papers and presentations, and to contribute to the sessions through argument and questioning. We want you to develop the confidence to put your own point of view across in complex situations and not to be afraid of challenging the views of others. It's an essential part of History: once you stop arguing about the subject, it becomes dead.

Group research is one of the main features of your second year, with around a dozen specialised historical topics for you to research on a collective basis. Divided into groups of five to six students, you?ll work as a team to produce individual essays and a group presentation on your research findings. The capacity to work as part of a team, and to know what it is like to have to accommodate yourself to the way others work, is a valuable asset for future employment.

One-to-one tutorials become increasingly important as you progress through your course. This is particularly the case in your final year, when a major part of your programme will be a dissertation on a topic of your choice. Tutorials enable you to discuss your research with your project supervisor in depth.

Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is an excellent tool for supporting our academic courses, allowing you to share thoughts on assignments with other students via the discussion group facilities, and even submit your work electronically.

Enquiry Based Learning (EBL) means that learning is driven by the shared enquiry of students and tutors and it's central to our approach. EBL places you, the student, at the centre of your own degree: you learn through involvement and ownership, not simply by being a passive recipient of information thrown at you. It can encompass problem-based learning, evidence-based learning, small scale investigations, field work, projects and research. We believe that this is the best way of learning while you're at Birmingham as it's very effective in enabling you to acquire the key skills and attributes that are valued by employers: creative and independent thinking, self-motivation, self-organisation, team-working, goal-setting and problem-solving. 

War Studies graduates have a range of general skills that are highly prized by graduate employers: they can research and analyse complex information, work independently and as part of a team and communicate judgments and arguments articulately. University of Birmingham students are enquiry based learners, able to take control of their own learning as they progress, to learn through involvement and ownership and to reflect on their learning through feedback. This means that by the end of the degree, they have developed self management skills which are very attractive to employers.

War Studies graduates often go on to pursue highly successful careers in professions such as accountancy, charity work, housing, human resources, international development, law, marketing, media, publishing, politics, retail management and teaching. Central and local government and the public services also attract history graduates, notably the civil service, NHS management, the police and armed services. Postgraduate study is also a popular option for War Studies graduates with many specialising in an area of history of interest to them, or to prepare for careers such as law and teaching. 

Ninety per cent of our  War Studies graduates go into work or study within six months of graduation with an impressive seventy-four per cent of them going into professional or managerial roles. War Studies graduates from Birmingham have a high average starting salary of £19,000. 

War Studies graduates have started careers with a wide range of employers from Government departments and local councils to charities and companies in many business sectors. Notable employers which have recruited history graduates include the BBC, the House of Commons, KPMG, Oxfam, and Nestlé.

The School of History and Cultures works together with the University’s Careers Network to provide a comprehensive service to our students from answering initial questions to in-depth career guidance. Last year around 200 employers visited the university, enabling students to meet them and to learn about skills through employer-led workshops. Outside the business world, our students can also hear from employers working in media, film, communications, publishing and museums and heritage. Throughout the academic year we hold a number of alumni events, careers talks and other initiatives that are designed for our students to answer their careers questions and help them forge useful contacts outside the university.

Extra- curricular activities

We encourage our students to apply their skills in the workplace by undertaking internships in the summer; the work experience bursary scheme enables students to apply for funding for those career areas where placements are often unpaid. To enhance your career prospects even further, you’ll need to think about engaging in some extra-curricular activities while you’re at university to broaden your skills and your network of contacts. Our employer-endorsed award-winning Personal Skills Award (PSA) recognises your extra-curricular activities, and provides an accredited employability programme designed to improve your career prospects.

Our College of Arts and Law undergraduate research scholarship scheme enables interested students to work on a current academic research project being run by one of the College’s academic researchers. Undergraduate research scholars gain work experience over the summer after their first or second year and have the chance to develop skills in both collaborative and independent research.

Cultural internships

Our innovative Cultural Internships offer graduates the opportunity for a six month paid internship at a leading cultural institution in the West Midlands. These internships are a unique opportunity to learn fundamental, transferable business and interpersonal skills, through experience of real work in an established cultural institution. Our current partners include Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, Birmingham Royal Ballet, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Ironbridge Gorge Museums Trust and the Library of Birmingham. We have plans to expand the scheme to include our own major cultural assets, such as Winterbourne House, the Lapworth Museum, and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. This scheme will give you professional experience to set you apart in a competitive graduate market.