Program Overview

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Study

Courses

History

Overview

Historians use evidence from the past to ask fundamental questions about humanity. Through learning about the past, we illuminate the present. Studying history will immerse you in discovery, debate, discussion, understanding, surprise and awe, and it will require of you rigour, reason, questioning, imagination and passion. You will be part of the process by which humanity’s memory itself comes to be made.

Course Structure

Our undergraduate degrees offer you a broad range of options allowing you to combine subjects in a way that matches your career goals and personal interests.

Popular Combinations

• Classics and Ancient History
• English and Literary Studies
• Political Science and International Relations

Course Details

• Status: Available
• Locations: Perth (Crawley campus), Albany (Regional campus)
• Attendance: Full-time, Part-time
• Delivery: On-campus
• Starting dates: Semester 1, Semester 2
• Weekly contact time: 12-15 contact hours, plus at least twice as much of your own study time
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Course Code: MJD-HISTY
• Full time/part time duration: 3 years (BA); 4 years (BPhil [Hons])
• Honours Available: Yes
• Degrees course is available in: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Philosophy

Career Pathways

As a History graduate, you can apply your skills in research, critical analysis, and written communication in a variety of fields. These may include historical research and writing, teaching, journalism, librarianship, archival management, government agencies, museums, cultural heritage and tourism, business administration, politics, and publishing.

Potential career paths include:

• Conservation Officer
• Archivist
• Teacher* (*Postgraduate study required)

Further Study

This major lays the foundation for further study options at honours and postgraduate level and a range of vocational studies such as journalism, museum curation, archive management, cultural heritage and tourism as well as other postgraduate studies.

Fees and Scholarships

• Domestic Student Fees: For Commonwealth-supported places, student contribution amounts are charged by unit, based on area of study. For a fee estimate, go to the Fee Calculator and select “I want to price my units”. Fees are subject to annual indexation.
• International Student Fees: Annual course fee (2025) - $48,300.00
• Scholarships: Scholarships are available to students from a diverse range of backgrounds, including academic achievement, financial need, educational disadvantage, leadership and community service, artistic or sporting achievements, and being from a rural or remote area.

Admission Requirements

• Minimum entry requirements: Refer to the UWA Handbook for course specific requirements and prerequisites.
• English competency: Minimum overall IELTS score of 6.5, with no band less than 6.0.

How to Apply

• Domestic Pathways: Applications are lodged via TISC (Domestic Assured Pathway/School Leaver Entry) or GEMSAS (Domestic Graduate Entry).
• International Pathways: Applications are lodged via UWA's online application system or via an authorised international education agent.

Course Structure Details

• Level 1: Take unit(s) to the value of 12 points from the following options:
  • HIST1001 Clash of Empires (6)
  • HIST1003 Love, Belief, and Death in Europe, (6)
  • HIST1103 Europe to Hell and Back (6)
  • HIST1104 The History of Human Rights (6)
  • HIST1901 Environmental History (6)
• Level 2: Take unit(s) to the value of 18 points from the following options:
  • GEND2902 Masculinity, Nostalgia and Change (6)
  • HIST2005 Hitler, the Holocaust and the Historians (6)
  • HIST2006 Imperial America—1845 to Present (6)
  • HIST2007 Thinking History: The Future of the Past (6)
  • HIST2008 White Supremacy (6)
  • HIST2011 Britain and Ireland: The Making and Breaking (6)
  • HIST2013 Medieval and Early Modern Women (6)
  • HIST2015 Looking for Australia: From the Deep Past to Federation (6)
  • HIST2017 The History of Sport: Belonging and Identity, Protest and Celebrity (6)
  • HIST2021 Who Do We Think We Are? Doing Family History (6)
  • HIST2202 Civilisation and Barbarism in European Culture (6)
  • HIST2215 Australian Underbelly: A Criminal History (6)
  • HIST2224 American Outlaws: Crime and Punishment in the United States (6)
  • HIST2345 Renaissance, Reformation, Revolt: Europe 1450–1650 (6)
  • HIST2917 Russia and the Soviet Union (6)
• Level 3: Take all units (6 points):
  • HIST3001 History in 4D (6) Take unit(s) to the value of 12 points from the following options:
  • GEND3901 Feminist Thought (6)
  • HIST3004 Twentieth-century Britain (6)
  • HIST3005 African American History: Freedom Struggles from Plantation to Prison and Beyond (6)
  • HIST3007 Crime and Punishment in Britain 1600–1900 (6)
  • HIST3010 Introduction to African History (6)
  • HIST3012 Rights, Rule and Power: From Magna Carta to the French Revolution (6)
  • HIST3014 Intimate Strangers: Journeys in Indigenous Australian History (6)
  • HIST3017 Mysticism, Melancholy and Madness (6)
  • HIST3302 Imagining the Nation in European Cultural History (6)
  • HIST3456 History of Christianity (6)

Why Study This Course?

• Learn about humanity's past
• Discover, debate, discuss and understand the world’s history
• Gain skills in research, critical analysis and communication applicable to a wide range of careers

Why Take a Second Major

• Expand your skills
• Add it to your resume
• Study your passion alongside your interests
• No additional time
• Discover what you want to do while you’re doing it

Alumni Story

Dr Mathew Trinca completed his Bachelor of Arts, with Honours in History at UWA and he still declares it was a tremendous experience, opening his eyes to thought and ideas that expanded his sense of the world and taught him how to think and argue his own ideas. His experience studying undergraduate and postgraduate courses at UWA were incredibly formative, and gave him the intellectual and professional courage to pursue a career in history and heritage.

“It was such a wonderful thing to be able to read and study extensively a breadth of ideas about History and human experience more generally. I also enjoyed being on [UWA’s] beautiful campus, working late in summer at the Reid Library and then walking through the grounds on a still night, and in taking part in the broader range of activities available on campus, such as going to the Somerville Auditorium during the Film Festival.

I cannot imagine having the role I have now without the foundational experience of studying at the University of Western Australia. The responsibility I feel to animate and give life to the nation’s history in a way that is accessible and useful for all Australians really stems from the sheer delight I had in my studies in History.

I feel so fortunate to have the position of leading the nation’s history museum, and in being involved in communicating what is important about living in this country, both to Australians but also to peoples in other countries round the world. I am especially proud of what the Museum has accomplished in recent years working to connect the long human history of the nation’s first peoples with the remarkable story of the making of our diverse national community today.”