Program Overview

History and East European Cultural Studies BA

Overview

This degree course combines the study of History with a focus on Eastern Europe, particularly the vibrant and dynamic cultures of Russia and South East Europe.

Course Information

• Qualification: BA Jt Hons
• Entry Requirements: ABB
• Start Date: September 2025
• UCAS Code: VRD7
• Duration: 3 years full-time
• Fees: £9,535

Course Description

In History, you will be able to choose from an extensive range of modules, including options in Russian and Eastern European history. In the East European cultural studies part of your degree, you will study the societies, histories, politics, and cultures of the territory of Eastern Europe and Russia from the Byzantine period to the 21st century, beginning with modules that approach study of these cultures at introductory level, and specialising as your studies progress.

Optional modules include topics in the literature, cinema, popular culture, and history of Russia and South-East Europe, with a particular focus on the region that was formerly Yugoslavia. If you wish, you may learn a Slavonic language: Russian and Serbian/Croatian are both offered from beginners’ level. Language study is optional and this degree does not include a year abroad.

Modules

• Year 1:
  • Learning History
  • Making of Modern Asia
  • Making the Middle Ages
  • Roads to Modernity: An Introduction to Modern History
  • The Contemporary World since 1945
  • History of Philosophy: Ancient to Modern
  • Themes in Early Modern European History c.
  • Russian 1: Beginners
  • The Clash of Empires: History of the Balkans from Alexander the Great to Napoleon
  • From Tsarism to Communism: Introduction to Russian History and Culture
  • Serbian / Croatian 1: Beginners
  • The Soviet Experiment
• Year 2:
  • Consumers & Citizens: Society & Culture in 18th Century England
  • British Foreign Policy and the Origins of the World Wars
  • The Victorians: Life, Thought and Culture
  • The Second World War and Social Change in Britain
  • The Rise of Modern China
  • Liberating Africa: Decolonisation, Development and the Cold War
  • Heroes and Villains in the Middle Ages
  • The Stranger Next Door: Jews and Christians in the Middle Ages
  • Sex, Lies and Gossip? Women of Medieval England
  • International History of the Middle East and North Africa
  • Germany and Europe in the Short 20th Century
  • Imagining 'Britain': Decolonising Tolkien et al
  • Kingship in Crisis: Politics, People and Power in Late-medieval England
  • Sexuality in Early Medieval Europe
  • Environmental History: Nature and the Western World
  • Central European History: From Revolution to War
  • Soviet State and Society
  • The Venetian Republic
  • European Fascisms
  • De-industrialisation: A Social and Cultural History
  • The British Empire from Emancipation to the Boer War
  • 'Slaves of the Devil' and Other Witches: A History of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe
  • Rule and Resistance in Colonial India
  • Poverty, Disease and Disability: Britain
  • Travel and Adventure in the Medieval World
  • African American History and Culture
  • Business in American Culture
  • America's Borders: Culture at the Limits
  • Serbian / Croatian 1: Beginners
  • Serbian / Croatian 2
  • Russian 1: Beginners
  • Russian 2 - Beginners
  • Long Essay in Russian and Slavonic Studies
  • Gulag Archipelago: Stalin’s Prison Camps
  • Germany and Europe in the Short 20th Century
  • Central European History: From Revolution to War
  • "Slaves of the Devil" and Other Witches: A History of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe
  • Race, Rights and Propaganda: The Politics of Race and Identity in the Cold War Era
  • Politics and Protest: The Last Hundred Years of Music History
  • Rethinking the Tudors: Monarchy, Society and Religion in England
  • Communities, Crime and Punishment in England
  • The politics of memory in postwar Western Europe
  • Commodities, Consumption and Connections the Global World of Things
  • Gender, Empire, Selfhood: Transgender History in Global Context
  • The American Pop Century
  • American Radicalism
  • The US and the World in the American Century: US Foreign Policy
  • History of American Capitalism
  • The CIA and US Foreign Policy
  • Work placement
• Year 3:
  • Culture, Society and Politics in 20th Century Russia
  • Faith and Fire: Popular Religion in Late Medieval England
  • The Black Death
  • Life During Wartime: Crisis, Decline and Transformation in 1970s America
  • After the Golden Age: The West in the 1970s & 1980s
  • British Culture in the Age of Mass Production
  • The British Civil Wars c.
  • Sexuality and Society in Britain Since 1900
  • Alternatives to War: Articulating Peace since 1815
  • Windrush and the (Re)Making of a Nation: Myth and Memory
  • Early Medieval England in the Age of Bede
  • From Revelation to ISIS: Apocalyptic Thought from the 1st to 21st Century
  • Transnationalising Italy: A History of Modern Italy in a Transnational Perspective
  • The Celtic Fringe: Scotland and Ireland, c.
  • The Rise and Fall of Thatcherism
  • The World of Orthodox Sainthood
  • Dissertation in Russian and Slavonic Studies
  • Serbian / Croatian 2
  • Brotherhood and Unity: Yugoslavia on Film
  • Myths and Memories: Histories of Russia's Second World War
  • The 1960s and the West
  • The Reign of Richard II
  • Russia in Revolution
  • The African Atlantic and the British Slave Trade c.
  • European Politics and Society
  • 'World wasting itself in blood': Europe and the Thirty Years' War
  • Rebels Against Empire: Anticolonialism and British Imperialism in the mid 20th Century
  • Voices from North Africa: Resistance, Decolonisation and State-Building in the Twentieth Century
  • From serf to proletarian?: Imperial Russia’s rural population
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Popular Music Cultures and Countercultures
  • The Agony and the Ecstasy: Drugs for Pleasure and Pain in the History of Medicine
  • Italy and the Second World War
  • The Silk Road: Cultural Interactions and Perceptions
  • Mapping the Humanities
  • The Turbulent Friar: Martin Luther and the Origins of Protestantism
  • Recent Queer Writing
  • Cultures of Power and the Power of Culture in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany
  • Sexuality in American History
  • Britain in the Later Roman Empire (c. 250-450)
  • Troubled Empire: The Projection of American Global Power from Pearl Harbor to Covid-19
  • China from Revolution to Socialism
  • Heritage and the Media
  • Saving Europe: Atrocity and Humanitarianism across twentieth century Europe

Language Study

You may be able to choose to study a language as part of this degree.

How You Will Learn

• Lectures
• Seminars and workshops
• Tutorials
• eLearning

Assessment

• Dissertation
• Essay
• In-class test
• Oral exam
• Presentation
• Written exam
• Commentary

Careers Overview

By the end of this course, you will have developed a variety of transferable skills, including the ability to communicate effectively, study independently, and develop a coherent argument. You will have both broad and specialist understanding of Russian and Eastern European histories, cultures, and societies. If you have chosen to study a Slavonic language, you will have achieved a foundation knowledge, desirable to employers. You will have a sound understanding of the theories and techniques used by historians and will have experience of undertaking in-depth work with primary sources.

Job Prospects

• Average starting salary and career progression: 78.8% of undergraduates from the Faculty of Arts secured graduate-level employment or further study within 15 months of graduation. The average annual starting salary for these graduates was £23,974.

Careers Advice

Studying for a degree at the University of Nottingham will provide you with the type of skills and experiences that will prove invaluable in any career, whichever direction you decide to take.

Campus

University Park Campus covers 300 acres, with green spaces, wildlife, period buildings, and modern facilities. It is one of the UK's most beautiful and sustainable campuses, winning a national Green Flag award every year since 2003.