Oxford Class 7 History Book

[Christa Voth]

Thecourse combines vigorous debate over questions of interpretation with rigorous attention to source material, while the constant enrichment by cross-fertilisation from other disciplines leads to new questions about the past.

Oxford is celebrated for the broad chronological sweep of its courses and the enormous amount of choice offered. Students can study options on any part of British and European history from the declining years of the Roman Empire to the present day.

Students are encouraged to adopt a variety of interdisciplinary approaches to their work, and the faculty is strong on intellectual and cultural history options. The Oxford History Faculty is at the forefront of research.

'The best thing about my course is the freedom. Right from the start I was given the choice of 7 different time periods, and since then have had the opportunity to study a range of topics and periods, finding out what I like most. One term, I was studying Europe and the world in the 19th Century, the next I was doing a source-based module on medieval crime and punishment. It's so great to have the freedom to pursue my own interests, and gives me a real sense of control over my studies. Plus, the tutors are fantastic (not as scary as I'd imagined!) and genuinely consider my thoughts and ideas, despite knowing so much about the topic themselves!'

During the first year, you will be expected to attend around five lectures each week, participate in regular meetings with tutors to discuss work, conduct independent research and write at least one essay a week.

In the second and third years you will have the opportunity to choose from an enormous variety of lectures, and your regular tutorials will be supplemented by faculty classes where you will discuss work with a larger number of students.

Tutorials are usually 2-4 students and a tutor. Class sizes may vary depending on the options you choose. There would usually be no more than around 12 students although the more popular classes may include up to 30 students.

Most tutorials, classes, and lectures are delivered by staff who are tutors in their subject. Many are world-leading experts with years of experience in teaching and research. Some teaching may also be delivered by postgraduate students who are usually studying at doctoral level.

All candidates are required to send in an essay on a historical topic, written in their own time as part of their normal school or college work. If these requirements cause any problems, please contact the Tutor for Admissions at your college of preference.

Note that in selecting work for submission you should choose a piece which has enthused you and on which you are willing to talk. Do not worry if you have changed your mind on the topic since writing it. Tutors are impressed by candidates who remain intellectually engaged with their work.

If you are shortlisted, you may be asked to discuss your submitted written work and personal statement during interview. Candidates may also be asked to read and talk about a short passage as part of the interview.

We don't want anyone who has the academic ability to get a place to study here to be held back by their financial circumstances. To meet that aim, Oxford offers one of the most generous financial support packages available for UK students and this may be supplemented by support from your college.

Living costs for the academic year starting in 2024 are estimated to be between 1,345 and 1,955 for each month you are in Oxford. Our academic year is made up of three eight-week terms, so you would not usually need to be in Oxford for much more than six months of the year but may wish to budget over a nine-month period to ensure you also have sufficient funds during the holidays to meet essential costs. For further details please visit our living costs webpage.

In 2024 Oxford is offering one of the most generous bursary packages of any UK university to Home students with a family income of around 50,000 or less, with additional opportunities available to UK students from households with incomes of 32,500 or less. The UK government also provides living costs support to Home students from the UK and those with settled status who meet the residence requirements.

Unistats course data from Discover Uni provides applicants with statistics about a particular undergraduate course at Oxford. For a more holistic insight into what studying your chosen course here is likely to be like, we would encourage you to view the information below as well as to explore our website more widely.

College tutorials are central to teaching at Oxford. Typically, they take place in your college and are led by your academic tutor(s) who teach as well as do their own research. Students will also receive teaching in a variety of other ways, depending on the course. This will include lectures and classes, and may include laboratory work and fieldwork. However, tutorials offer a level of personalised attention from academic experts unavailable at most universities.

American history thrives at Oxford thanks to its large academic community and dedicated research library. Oxford historians have a strong commitment to studying American history in its global context, from Early America to the present day.

Queen's College and the RAI host the Harmsworth Visiting Professorship of American History, which was established in 1922 to bring the most distinguished scholars of American history to Oxford to teach and research for a year. Recent holders have included Bruce Schulman, Peter Mancall, Barbara Savage, and Alan Taylor.

The Vere Harmsworth Library is home to the largest academic collections in American history outside the US. The weekly American History Research Seminar and international conferences bring historians of America from across the world to the RAI.

The RAI hosts research seminars, classes, and conferences in American Literature and is home to a thriving community of faculty members and graduate students. The current Drue Heinz Professor of American Literature is Lloyd Pratt, an expert in nineteenth-century American literature, especially African American literature.

Regular public-facing events bring authors, academics and readers into conversation. Speakers in recent years have included the James Tait Black Prize Winner Benjamin Markovits, Costa Prize Winner Andrea Wulf, n+1 magazine editor Mark Greif, and the acclaimed poet and writer Eileen Myles.

The study of American politics and government at Oxford has a distinguished heritage. Herbert Nicholas, the first Rhodes Professor of American History, was a sophisticated observer of post-war American politics. Other leading scholars of the subject have included Philip Williams, whose research focused on American parties and elections and a presence in the APSA; Byron Shafer, the first holder of the Andrew Mellon Chair of American Government and author of numerous path-breaking studies of American partisan and electoral orders; Alan Ware, a scholar of US parties and party systems; Nigel Bowles, a scholar of US presidential power; and Gillian Peele, a scholar of the American Right and conservatism.

The current Andrew Mellon Professor of American Government is Desmond King, an expert on American political development and the author of many works on labour markets, race, immigration, and ethnicity. Each year, the RAI also welcomes a distinguished scholar of American politics and government as John G. Winant Visiting Professor of American Government. Recent Winant Professors have included Robert Lieberman (Johns Hopkins), Margaret Weir (Brown), and Stephen Skowronek (Yale). Holders of the Winant Chair deliver the Winant Lecture in American Government in Hilary term.

The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096,[2] making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in continuous operation.[2][11][12] It grew rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris.[2] After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk, some Oxford academics fled northeast to Cambridge, where, in 1209, they established the University of Cambridge.[13] The two English ancient universities share many common features and are jointly referred to as Oxbridge.[14]

The University of Oxford is made up of 43 constituent colleges, consisting of 36 semi-autonomous colleges, four permanent private halls and three societies (colleges that are departments of the university, without their own royal charter),[15][16] and a range of academic departments which are organised into four divisions.[17] Each college is a self-governing institution within the university, controlling its own membership and having its own internal structure and activities. All students are members of a college.[15] The university does not have a main campus, but its buildings and facilities are scattered throughout the city centre. Undergraduate teaching at Oxford consists of lectures, small-group tutorials at the colleges and halls, seminars, laboratory work and occasionally further tutorials provided by the central university faculties and departments. Postgraduate teaching is provided in a predominantly centralised fashion.

Oxford operates the Ashmolean Museum, the world's oldest university museum; Oxford University Press, the largest university press in the world; and the largest academic library system nationwide.[18] In the fiscal year ending 31 July 2023, the university had a total consolidated income of 2.92 billion, of which 789 million was from research grants and contracts.[4]

Oxford has educated a wide range of notable alumni, including 31 prime ministers of the United Kingdom and many heads of state and government around the world.[19] As of October 2022,[update] 73 Nobel Prize laureates, 4 Fields Medalists, and 6 Turing Award winners have matriculated, worked, or held visiting fellowships at the University of Oxford, while its alumni have won 160 Olympic medals.[20] Oxford is the home of numerous scholarships, including the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the oldest international graduate scholarship programmes.

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