BA History & Politics | Preliminary Examination - Course Handbook

2024-25

Welcome!

 

This handbook applies to students starting the Preliminary Examination in History and Politics in Michaelmas Term 2024.

Welcome to Oxford, and to the study of History and Politics here.

You have ahead of you three years of immersion into not only a vast range of past societies but also many different aspects of human activity. Yet such study is always conducted in dialogue with the present, with the world as it is and its problems and opportunities. You will therefore develop both technical skills which will equip you for any number of different careers, and a curiosity about the world in all its riches – past, present and future – which will be lifelong.

While much of your working life is governed by your colleges, the University through its History Faculty and Department of Politics and International Relations provides you with various additional resources, such as lectures, libraries and language tuition; this is the body which designs the syllabus, and which formally examines you for the Preliminary Examination at the end of the first year (‘Prelims’), and for the Final Honour School (Finals).

This booklet is the Faculty’s formal Handbook to guide you through the first year: it includes official regulations about courses and examinations, fuller guidance to help you choose amongst the various options, advice on studying, and information on a range of other resources and matters which may become relevant in the course of the year. You will of course also receive plenty of information and guidance from your colleges too, and ideally Faculty and colleges will complement each other.

You probably won’t want to read this Handbook all at once, but do flick through it so that you can find what you need later; and do also read now the section on study (ch.2), as well as taking note of the chapters about facilities, such as Libraries, and any others which catch your eye as particularly relevant to you.

Reading History at Oxford is a great opportunity, and we hope that you will make the most of it and will thoroughly enjoy doing so.

Dr Ian Archer and Prof. Lucy Wooding
(Directors of Undergraduate Studies, History)

Dr Paul Martin
(Director of Undergraduate Studies in Politics, DPIR)

The History and Politics Joint Honours School seeks to encourage students to set political institutions and ideas in their historical context. This is a challenging goal: you will need both the political scientist’s ability to analyse structures and theories and the historian’s sensitivity to patterns of development and change. You will therefore be encouraged to take a broad view of historical processes: you should not assume that only very modern history options are relevant to your study. In some respects the course regulations, which are specified later in this handbook, require you to study the earlier periods, but you should not, in any case, regard this requirement as nothing more than a rule which has to be obeyed.

The course as a whole has been developed in the belief that a broad knowledge of history, of the historical evolution of political ideas and of the techniques involved in the writing of history is valuable to the student of politics, and that an understanding of political processes and ideas will benefit the historian.

The information in this handbook may be different for students starting in other years. This is version 1.0 of the Preliminary Examination in History and Politics Handbook, published online in October 2024.

If there is a conflict between information in this handbook and the Examination Regulations then you should follow the Examination Regulations.

If you have any concerns please contact the History Faculty Undergraduate Office: undergraduate.office@history.ox.ac.uk.

The information in this handbook is accurate as at date of publication, however it may be necessary for changes to be made in certain circumstances, as explained at http://www.ox.ac.uk/coursechanges and http://www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/coursechanges.

If such changes are made the department will publish a new version of this handbook together with a list of the changes. All students affected by the changes will be informed.

1| Course Content and Structure

The Preliminary Examination in History and Politics is a single nine-month course run by the Faculty of History. It does not count towards your final honours degree, but you are required to pass in order to progress into the Final Honour School.

The course consists of four papers. The formal Examination Regulations may be found in Appendix 1. The next sections briefly describe the four units, and full descriptions of each paper can be found on Canvas: https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/22238  

The knowledge and skills you will acquire over the whole course are outlined in Section 2 | Teaching and Learning, which also focuses on the basic skills you need to develop in the first year.

Choosing your Options

In making your choices of period or subject in the two History papers, you should be aware that:

  • for pedagogical or administrative reasons (such as the wish to teach first-year students within college), some Colleges may restrict the choice of their undergraduates in one or more of British Isles History, the Optional Subject, and Approaches/Historiography/ Foreign Texts.;
  • The range of European and World History papers offered in the first year for Prelims differs from that available in the second and third year, examined in Finals; similarly, at the modern end, the British Isles History papers offered in Finals differ from those offered at Prelims.
  • The regulations for History and Politics require that in the HPOL course as a whole each student must offer at least one paper in European & World History or the History of the British Isles covering a period before the nineteenth century. If you do not satisfy this provision in Prelims, you will have to do so in Finals.

The papers defined as covering a period before the nineteenth century is as follows:

Preliminary Examination: 

  • History of the British Isles 1 (300-1100) to 5 (1688-1848)
  • European & World History 1 (370-900); 2 (1000-1300); and 3 (1400-1650)

Final Honour School:

  • History of the British Isles 1 (300-1100) to 5 (1685-1830) History of the British Isles, Themes a and b
  • European & World History 1 (285-476) to 8 (1680-1848)
  • European and World History, Themes a, b, c & d
  • Students who have studied History of the British Isles 6 in either Prelims or in the Final Honours School and who also take Politics Paper 202 should avoid substantial duplication in their answers.

The First-Year course comprises four examined papers and an introductory course on Methods and Approaches in Politics:

1. History Period Paper - you may choose either one of six periods of the History of the British Isles or one of four periods of European & World History. Both the British Isles and the European & World History papers entail the study of extended periods of time. The British Isles papers aim to encourage appreciation of the underlying continuities as well as the dramatic discontinuities within each period, and to explore the relation between political, economic, social and cultural developments in determining the paths followed by the societies of the British Isles, severally and together. The European & World History papers are approached more thematically, with an emphasis on the conceptual categories – of economy, culture, state and religion – which enable us to understand both what nations have had in common and where they have differed.

2. Introduction to the Theory of Politics (section (a) of Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Politics) - This paper aims to familiarise students with major theoretical approaches to and issues in understanding democracy, through the study of key texts by Locke, Rousseau, Tocqueville, Marx and Engels, and Mill. This paper is designed to prepare candidates for the study of core Politics papers in the Final Honour School.

OR Optional Subject 1,Theories of the State (Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx) - this paper introduces students to some of the major influences upon the development of western political thought, through the study of key texts by Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau and Marx.

3. Documentary or Methodological Paper in History: you may choose one of the following:

  1. Quantification in History: acquiring and applying the numerical skills needed for certain types of historical investigation.
  2. Optional Subject: offering a choice of 25 subjects, this paper is based on the study of selected primary texts and documents, and provides the opportunity to engage with a range of more specialist approaches to understanding the past.
  3. Approaches to History: studying the use by historians of the techniques of related disciplines, such as archaeology, economics, sociology, gender, or race.
  4. Historiography: Tacitus to Weber: examining the practice of history writing through the writings of individual historians from the classical period to the early twentieth century
  5. Texts in a Foreign Language: studying one of a number of historical classics in the original language.

4. Introduction to the Practice of Politics - This paper introduces students to the study of how politics and government is practised in democratic, partially- democratic and non-democratic states.

5. Political Analysis - The Political Analysis component introduces students to quantitative methods in political science. It is taught by means of lectures and data labs, and is not summatively assessed as part of the first year examination. A full description can be found in Appendix 2 below.

Pick between a paper in either British Isles OR European & World History

Studied in one of six periods, this paper requires students to consider the history of the societies which have made up the British Isles over an extended period of time. It aims to encourage appreciation of the underlying continuities as well as the discontinuities within each period, and to explore the relation between political, gender, economic, social and cultural developments in determining the paths followed by the societies of Britain, severally and together.

Course information for each of the period options available can be found at: https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/22234/pages/bip-paper-options?module_item_id=209518

Teaching: 16 lectures in Michaelmas Term; 7 tutorials, normally over one term, for each of which an essay is prepared.

Assessment: A 3-hour written examination takes place at the end of the Trinity Term. This accounts for 25% of your  overall mark.

Studied in one of four periods, this is a paper in non-British Isles History, which combines the study of an extended period with geographical range. It is approached more thematically than British Isles History, with an emphasis on the conceptual categories – of gender, economy, culture, state and religion – which enable us to understand both what past societies have had in common and where they have differed.

Course information for each of the period options available can be found at: https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/22234/pages/ewp-paper-options?module_item_id=209521

Teaching: 16 lectures in Hilary Term; 7 tutorials or 7 college classes (or a mixture), normally in Hilary Term, with submitted essays or essay plans for discussion.

Assessment: A 3-hour written examination takes place at the end of the Trinity Term. This accounts for 25% of your overall mark.

Pick between either Introduction to the Theory of Politics (section (a) of Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Politics) OR Optional Subject 1, Theories of the State

This paper aims to familiarise students with major theoretical approaches to and issues in understanding democracy, through the study of key texts by Locke, Rousseau, Tocqueville, Marx and Engels, and Mill. Questions for Section (a) An Introduction to the Theory of Politics will be set on the following topics:

  1. The nature and the grounds of rights
  2. The nature and grounds of democracy
  3. The role of civil society
  4. Power in the democratic state
  5. The nature and grounds of liberty
  6. State paternalism
  7. Free speech

 Questions will also be set on the following texts:

  1. John Locke, Second Treatise on Government;
  2. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Social Contract;
  3. Alexis de Toqueville, Democracy in America;
  4. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto;
  5. John Stuart Mill, On Liberty.

Course information can be found at https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/71424

Teaching: 16 lectures (8 in Michaelmas Term and 8 in Hilary Term), Between 4 and 8 tutorials depending on your college.

Assessment: A 3-hour written examination takes place at the end of the Trinity Term. This accounts for 25% of your  overall mark.

This paper introduces students to some of the major influences upon the development of western political thought, through the study of key texts by Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau and Marx.

Teaching: 7 tutorials over one or two terms, with submitted essays or essay plans for discussion, or 7 classes.

Assessment: A 3-hour written examination takes place at the end of the Trinity Term. This accounts for 25% of your overall mark.

Pick between either an Optional Subject OR a Documentary OR Methodological Paper in History.

Acquiring and applying the numerical skills needed for certain types of historical investigation.

For course information on this paper see: https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/22238/modules/items/294748

Offering a choice of 25 subjects, this paper is based on the study of selected primary texts and documents, and provides the opportunity to engage with a range of more specialist approaches to understanding the past.

Course information for each of the options available can be found at: https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/22234/pages/optional-subject-paper- options?module_item_id=209524

Teaching: Faculty lectures or classes in first half of Trinity Term; 6 tutorials in Trinity Term, for which essays are normally prepared.

Assessment: A 3-hour written examination takes place at the end of the Trinity Term. This accounts for 25% of your overall mark.

The teaching of Optional Subjects is partly based on the usual essay-plus-tutorial format, but this is balanced by Faculty classes for eight-to-twelve students, in which you will develop your ability to work effectively in a group. All students will be encouraged to participate in the discussion which constitutes the main form of teaching in these classes, and students are also asked to set the agenda for the classes or to give presentations on the material. Most Optional Subjects focus the classes around the set texts and use the tutorials for study of the substantive topics; but patterns of teaching vary from subject to subject.

Optional Subjects are examined in a single paper in the Preliminary Examination. You are required to answer three questions, to illustrate your answers as appropriate by reference to the prescribed texts.

Capping: The number of students who can take each paper is determined by the teaching resources available to each subject. Some are therefore ‘capped’, and where demand for these exceeds the number of places, students are allocated by a random ballot. Students choosing such subjects therefore need to have backup choices, at least one of which must be a subject which is unlikely to fill its quota: such subjects are flagged on the ballot form. This process takes place early in Hilary Term. Please bear in mind your fulfilment of the geographical requirement when you are making your choices.

  1. Approaches to History: studying the use by historians of the techniques of related disciplines, such as archaeology, economics or sociology. Sections include: Anthropology and History; Archaeology and History; Art and History; Economics and History; Gender and Women’s History; Sociology and History; Histories of Race
  2. Historiography: Tacitus to Weber: examining the practice of history writing through the writings of individual historians from the classical period to the early twentieth century.  Texts by Tacitus, Augustine, Machiavelli, Gibbon, Ranke, Macaulay, Weber
  3. Texts in a Foreign Language: studying one of a number of historical classics in the original language, by: Herodotus; Einhard & Asser; Tocqueville; Meinecke and Kehr; Machiavelli; Vicens Vives; Trotsky

Through this choice of papers students are encouraged to reflect on the variety of approaches used by modern historians, or on the ways in which history has been written in the past, to read historical classics written in a range of ancient and modern languages, or to acquire the numerical skills needed for certain types of historical investigation.

Teaching: 7 classes or tutorials, held over one or two terms.

Assessment: A 3-hour written examination takes place at the end of the Trinity Term. This accounts for 25% of the overall mark.

For further information about individual papers go to:

https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/22234/pages/paper-iv-paper- options?module_item_id=209527

This paper introduces students to the study of how politics and government is practised in democratic, partially-democratic and non-democratic states. Candidates will be required to answer three questions.

Questions will be set on the following topics:

(i) regime types; definition and measurement of variations between types of democracy;

(ii) political institutions and practice outside the advanced industrial democracies; stability, state capacity and state formation;

(iii) the state and its institutions (executives, legislatures, parties and party systems, electoral systems, courts, constitutions and centre- periphery relations);

(iv) parties and party systems; political values and identity politics.

Teaching: 30 lectures (16 in Michaelmas Term and 14 in Hilary Term), Between 7 and 10 tutorials over one or two terms, depending on your college.

Assessment: A 3-hour written examination takes place at the end of the Trinity Term. This accounts for 25% of your overall mark.

Course information can be found at: https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/71424

Expand All

Paper Term Dept/Faculty College Comments
Lectures Classes Tutorials Classes
1. History of the British Isles (1-6) MT 16   7   6 lectures and 7 tutorials for each of the six papers
HT        
TT        
1. European and World History (1-4) MT         16 lectures and 7 tutorials for each of the four papers
HT 16   7  
TT        

3. Optional Subject (1-21)

(or [2.] Theories of the State)

 MT         All Optional Subjects are taught in weeks 1-6 of Trinity Term, except for Augustan Rome, which is taught in Hilary Term. Faculty lectures or classes and six tutorials.
HT        
TT 6- 12 6  
3. Quantification in History MT   8 7   Eight two-hour classes plus seven tutorials in weeks 1-7 of Michaelmas Term.
HT        
TT        

Paper Term Dept/Faculty College Comments
Lectures Classes Tutorials Classes
2. Introduction to the Theory of Politics MT 8   4-8   Colleges to arrange revision classes.
HT 8    
TT      
4. Introduction to the Practice of Politics MT 16   7-10   Colleges to arrange revision classes.
HT 14    
TT      
4. Political Analysis MT         Teaching is mainly in weeks 1-6 of Trinity Term, except for Augustan Rome, which is taught in Hilary Term.
HT 8 4    
TT        

Note: ‘Introduction to the Practice of Politics’ is compulsory; ‘Political Analysis’ is a component of the Practice course and assessed by means of a submitted essay. ‘Introduction to the Theory of Politics’ can be taken instead of the History ‘Theories of the State’ paper. 

After Prelims, in your Second and Third Years, you will go on to extend and deepen your study of History and Politics in the Final Honour School. You will study up to two more Outline or Theme papers in the History of the British Isles or European and World History, and two of the five core subjects in Politics: Comparative Government, Theory of Politics, Political Sociology, British Politics and Government since 1900, and International Relations. Those intending to take the Theory of Politics course are recommended to attend the PPE political theory lectures and the History Theories of the State lectures in their first year, in order to familiarize themselves with the subject. More specialized options are available in the form of the various Special and Further Subjects in History and the non-core subjects in Politics. You must also write a thesis on a topic of your choice. You can submit the thesis instead of a second History Outline or Theme paper, or a History or Politics option, depending on whether you want to do a thesis in History or Politics. The length of the thesis (12,000 or 15,000 words) will depend on whether you do one in History or Politics.

Full details can be found in the History and Politics Second and Third Year Handbook [https://ohh.web.ox.ac.uk/handbooks]. The course for Prelims has been designed to provide an introduction to the higher demands of studying history and politics at this University. Applying yourself to meet those demands from the beginning is the key to achieving the best possible result at the end, in the Final Honour School.

 

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR OPTIONS

When you study for your Finals, you will be choosing either four History and three Politics papers, or three History and four Politics papers. One of these will be a thesis/supervised dissertation. These are the rules:

  • If it’s a History Thesis, it will substitute for a British Isles or European and World History paper.
  • If it’s a Politics Thesis/supervised dissertation, it will substitute for a Politics Optional paper.
  • So, if you’re doing a Politics thesis, you can take two History Outline papers, but if you’re doing a History thesis, you can only take one.
  • If you’re doing a History thesis, you can take a History Special Subject (which is examined in two papers, one of which is an extended essay) and one Politics Optional paper, OR a History Further Subject and two Politics Optional papers.
  • You can’t do both a Further and a Special Subject in History.
  • You can’t study the same period of British Isles History in your Finals that you studied in your Prelims.

Expand All

There are some combinations of papers that you’re not allowed to choose, because of overlap. These are:

  • Politics paper 202 (British Politics and Government since 1900) and British History 7 (Changing Identities, 1900-present)
  • Politics Subject 215 (Political Thought: Plato to Rousseau) and History Further Subjects Scholastic and Humanist Political Thought or The Science of Society 1650- 1800
  • Politics Subject 216 (Political Thought: Bentham to Weber) and History Further Subject Political Theory and Social Science c.1780-1920.

You CAN choose to take either of these two pairs of papers: European and World History 13 (Europe Divided: 1914-1989) and Politics Paper 212 (International Relations in the era of the Two World Wars); or European and World History 14 (The Global Twentieth Century: 1930- 2003) and Politics Paper 213 (International Relations in the era of the Cold War); BUT if you do so, you must not substantially duplicate material in the two papers.

There is also a period requirement for your History Outline papers. If you didn’t take a British or European and World History paper covering a pre-nineteenth-century period in your Prelim, then you MUST offer one in your Finals. This ONLY applies to British Isles or European and World History papers, and NOT to Further or Special Subjects.

The following is a tabular form showing the four different ways of combining papers for the History and Politics Final Honour School, with a suggested teaching timetable:

  • HO = History Outline Paper (European and World History or British Isles History)
  • PC = Politics Core Paper (two from PPE papers 201, 202, 203, 214, 220)
  • HS = History Special Subject (1 and 2) HF = History Further Subject
  • PO = Politics Option (one or two of PPE papers 201-228, excluding those taken as core papers, and the Politics Special Subject paper)

These are the four possible combinations:

  1. HO, PC, PC, HS1, HS2, PO, Thesis in History
  2. HO, HO, PC, PC, HS1 HS2, Thesis or Supervised Dissertation in Politics
  3. HO, HO, PC, PC, HF, PO, Thesis or Supervised Dissertation in Politics
  4. HO, PC, PC, HF, PO, PO, Thesis in History

The constraints on timetabling are:

  • History Outline Papers need to be in MT or TT.
  • History Further Subjects need to be in HT.
  • History Special Subjects need to be in MT of the third year.
  • Politics core papers can be in any term.
  • Politics options need to be in MT or TT as far as possible.
  • Theses (if in History) need to be completed in HT of the third year.

The HP committee therefore suggests that the timetables shown overleaf are followed wherever possible:

FHS 2nd year 3rd year

Michaelmas Term

Hilary Term

Trinity Term

Michaelmas Term

Hilary Term

HO, PC, PC, HS1. HS2, PO, Thesis in History

 1st Politics Core Paper History Outline Paper 2nd Politics Core Paper Politics Optional Paper History Special Subject Thesis in History
HO, HO, PC, PC, HS1 HS2, Thesis or Supervised Dissertation in Politics 1st Politics Core Paper 1st History Outline Paper 2nd Politics Core Paper 2nd History Outline Paper History Special Subject Thesis or Supervised Dissertation in Politics

HO, HO, PC, PC, HF, PO, Thesis or Supervised Dissertation in Politics

 1st Politics Core Paper 1st History Outline Paper 2nd Politics Core Paper History Further Subject 2nd History Outline Paper Politics Optional Paper Thesis or Supervised Dissertation in Politics

HO, PC, PC, HF, PO, PO, Thesis in History

 1st Politics Core Paper History Outline Paper History Further Subject 2nd Politics Core Paper 1st Politics Optional Paper 2nd Politics Optional Paper Thesis in History

 

Appendices

Preliminary Examination in History and Politics, 2023-24

A 

  1. The Preliminary Examination in History and Politics shall be under the joint supervision of the Board of the Faculty of History and the Social Sciences Board and shall consist of such subjects as they shall jointly prescribe.
  2. The Chair of the Examiners for the Preliminary Examination in History and the Chair of the Examiners for the Preliminary Examination in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics shall consult together and designate such of their number as may be required for the examination for the Preliminary Examination in History and Politics, whereupon the number of examiners shall be deemed to be complete.
  3. The lists of specific papers available will be published by the two Boards at the dates defined in the regulations for the Preliminary Examinations in History and in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Certain combinations of papers in History and in Politics will be illegal, or subject to advice about duplication of material; these will be specified in the Handbook for this examination.

B

Every candidate shall offer four papers, as follows:

    1. One paper in the History of the British Isles or European & World History as specified for the Preliminary Examination in History. For the First or Second Public Examination in History and Politics candidates are required to choose at least one paper in the History of the British Isles or European & World History covering a period before the nineteenth century. The list of papers satisfying this provision is given in the Handbook for History and Politics.
    2. An Introduction to the Theory of Politics, as specified in section (a) of Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Politics for the Preliminary Examination for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.

or candidates may substitute Optional Subject 1, ‘Theories of the State (Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx)’ as specified for the Preliminary Examination in History.

  1. Any one of the following, as specified for the Preliminary Examination in History: (a) Quantification in History or (b) any of the Optional Subjects except No. 1 (Theories of the State),

or (c) Approaches to History, or (d) Historiography: Tacitus to Weber,

or (e) any one of the seven Foreign Texts.

  1. Introduction to the Practice of Politics, as specified in the Handbook for History and Politics.

Candidates who fail one or more of papers 1, 2, 3, or 4 above may resit that paper or papers at a subsequent examination.

The Political Analysis component of the syllabus develops students’ abilities to assess and critically evaluate assertions, theories, arguments and opinions expressed in the empirical elements of an undergraduate degree course in Politics. Knowledge and understanding of empirical politics is largely contingent upon the confirmation or refutation of claims based on empirical evidence. Tools of research design and statistical analysis are essential in allowing researchers to test their claims quantitatively against empirical evidence. Basic concepts of statistics, especially randomness and averaging, provide the foundations for measuring concepts, designing studies, estimating quantities of interest and testing theories and conjectures.

The Political Analysis component introduces these scientific techniques through an 8-week course. Throughout, it uses as a running example Arend Lijphart’s claim that consensus democracies are a “kinder, gentler” form of democracy (2012, Ch. 16), taking students through the steps that lead from defining a research question to preliminary statistical analysis. The objective is to learn how statistical methods help us address questions of theoretical and/or policy interest. By the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • critically read and evaluate statements about causal relationships based on data-analysis;
  • summarise quantitative information and assess the level of uncertainty accompanying these summary estimates;
  • understand the main difficulties in analysing causal relationships: lack of internal validity, unreliability of measurement, spurious causality, endogeneity, and selection effects

Statistics are understood through practice! The Political Analysis component therefore includes four-weeks of laboratory practice through which students are introduced to the use of a powerful statistical software (R, via the specific environment RStudio). Here the concepts and tools studied in the lectures are combined with data from Arend Lijphart’s (2012) book to assess his claims about the superiority of consensus democracies.

Educational Aims

This course aims to give students:

  • an understanding of research methods, using topics and examples from comparative politics, especially relating to Arend Lijphart’s theory about the nature and effects of consensus and majoritarian democracies.
  • familiarity with statistical software through the use of RStudio, a widely-used open source package, well-adapted to data management, statistical analyses and data visualisation.

The Political Analysis component will consist of 8 lectures and 4 data labs. Both lectures and data labs are taught in Hilary by the Oxford Q-Step Centre (OQC) staff (for more information on the OQC, see www.oqc.ox.ac.uk as well as appendix H of the PPE handbook). The data labs will use the R Studio software, which is an open source software that can be downloaded on a personal computer for free (see https://www.rstudio.com/ide/download/).

The political analysis component will not be summatively assessed in the PPE or HP Prelims examination paper. It will be assessed via a single tutorial essay of no more than 2000 words via WebLearn by Tuesday of 2nd Week, Trinity Term. In this essay, students will be expected to provide an empirical answer to one of possible three questions using Lijphart’s data (which students will have used extensively in the laboratory sessions).. A memo with detailed instructions for the essay will be available on the Q-Step WebLearn site in due course. More information on the political analysis component will be provided at induction sessions in 0th week of Michaelmas Term and at the start of Hilary Term.

Contacts

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The main office contact for all undergraduate matters is: undergraduate.office@history.ox.ac.uk

History

Directors of Undergraduate Studies: Professor David Parrott and Dr. Lucy Wooding (History)

Undergraduate Officer: Andrea Hopkins

Assistant Undergraduate Officer:  Alex Vickers

Examination Officer: Isabelle Moriceau

Teaching Officer: Callum Kelly

Admissions Officer: Liz Owen

 

Politics

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Dr Paul Martin

Undergraduate Studies Officer: Durga Sapre

Chair of the History and Politics Joint School: To Be Confirmed

Useful Links

History Faculty Website

DPIR Website

History Lecture List

Politics Lecture List

Canvas

History Faculty Library

Politics Library

Examination Regulations

Oxford Students Website

Student Self Service

Guidance for using Self Service