Understanding the past is essential to making sense of the modern world. Our course equips you with this knowledge and with a range of intellectual and personal skills. You’ll gain an awareness of how different societies across the world have changed over time, by studying areas such as Scottish, British, European, American and African history. You’ll engage with different types of history: political, social, cultural, gender, computer and environmental.

A History degree has always been valued by employers because of the intellectual challenges it offers and the particular skills it fosters. These include the ability to argue a persuasive case, a capacity for independent work and effective time management, an ability to organise and solve problems, and a capacity to communicate clearly in writing and in speech. History graduates from Stirling, therefore, have been successful in obtaining a wide variety of posts, some in history-related areas such as teaching and work in museums and libraries; others in fields such as administration, commerce, the civil service, banking and insurance. Skills you can develop through this course demonstrate command of a substantial body of historical knowledge understand how people have existed, acted and thought in the context of the past read and evaluate texts and other source materials critically appreciate the complexity and diversity of situations, events and past mentalities reflect critically on the nature and theoretical underpinnings of the discipline marshal an argument, be self-disciplined and independent intellectually express orally and in writing with coherence, clarity and fluency gather, organise and deploy evidence, data and information analyse and solve problems understand and develop time management and thinking under pressure use effectively ICT, information retrieval and presentation skills exercise self-discipline, self-direction and initiative work with others and have respect for others’ reasoned views work collaboratively and participate effectively in group discussions show empathy and imaginative insight. There is a lively series of guest lectures which students can attend on this programme. Where are our graduates now? Our graduates are spread throughout the world. History graduates are currently contributing to the performance of the following organisations: National Museum of Scotland Northumbria University Heritage Path Project City of Edinburgh Council The Royal Bank of Scotland Diago The European Parliament NHS To provide you with an indication as to what you can do with your History degree, graduates entering into employment in the past two years are currently working inteaching, finance, recruitment , retail, the heritage industry and journalism. Building on that foundation, alumni of Stirling’s History degree who graduated between five and ten years ago have since advanced into some of the following positions: Personal Claims Advisor Data Controller Personal Assistant Customer Service Adviser Sports Union President Marketing Assistant Branch Manager Recruitment Consultant Some of our more established alumni are currently leading and shaping strategy across many different sectors – here is an example of how a few former Stirling History students have advanced in their careers: Teacher, English and Media Archaeology Advisor Chartered Accountant Assistant Curator - Technology Student Recruitment Project officer Archivist Senior Committee Officer Solicitor Information Officer Assistant Librarian