Our BA American History enables you to specialise in the history of the USA and Latin America. There is only a compulsory full-year module taken in your first year: The Making of the Modern World 1776-1989, and a compulsory half-year module taken in your second year: Making Histories: Concepts, Themes and Sources. In your final year you need to take a Special Subject and write a dissertation on a subject in the history of the USA or South America. In addition to these few mandatory modules, you choose from a range of relevant options centred on the history of the Americas.

Our courses help you develop the graduate capabilities that employers value. You gain skills in information finding and gathering; critical analysis; interpreting and evaluating large amounts of conflicting data; constructing and communicating ideas and arguments; time management; project management; and group work. You improve your ability to understand foreign cultures and new ideas; to empathise imaginatively with others’ points of view; to grasp new systems quickly; and to write and speak cogently and persuasively. All of these skills are highly transferable to the world of work. You have the chance to take advantage of a variety of paid and volunteer opportunities that provide work experience and develop your employability; destinations have included the Essex Police Museum, the Rothschild Archive, the Marks Hall Trust, and local schools. You could also develop skills at the University by becoming a student ambassador, a student representative or a History Society events organiser. All such jobs include training and supervision. A history degree prepares you for a wide range of careers. Our graduates are currently employed in teaching, librarianship, museum and archive services, the Civil Service, local government, law enforcement, charity administration, banking, law, industrial and retail management, media research, electronic publishing, marketing, IT, health service administration, counselling, social work, and many other fields, including work with Sage Publications, the Royal College of Physicians Library and UK Anti-Doping (the national body for drug prevention in sport).