History and Philosophy & Ethics BA (Hons)

HISTORY

The study of History helps you to understand how individuals, communities and societies have lived in the past and how those past experiences have helped to shape the present world. History helps us make sense of our world and understand what may lie ahead because the future is shaped by its history in so many ways. Our History degree gives you the opportunity to study a wide-range of historical periods from the Early Modern period to more recent contemporary historical issues and events. You will encounter important themes such as nationalism and imperialism; colonisation and decolonisation; gender and identity. Our course will encourage you to engage with, and challenge, existing views of the past: history is always controversial and contested.

Liverpool’s long-standing connections with Ireland and many other places across the globe, and its diverse traditions and cultures, make it a fascinating place to study history. Historic sites in the University’s local area, Childwall – which is mentioned in Domesday Book – form part of our programme of study visits, which also includes the city’s impressive Museum of Liverpool, International Slavery Museum and the World Museum, and sites further afield, such as the Elizabethan wonder that is Hardwick Hall.

History at Liverpool Hope is part of the supportive and friendly environment within the subject areas of History, Politics and International Relations. You will benefit from being taught by a team of recognised scholars, who have published widely in their fields and who are dedicated and experienced teachers. You will work with a wide variety of historical evidence throughout the whole of your degree programme, including rare books housed in our Special Collections.

Our course offers the option of a placement year so that you can practise your research and communications skills in a professional setting. Our close links with National Museums Liverpool also enable us to offer final-year dissertation topics linked to museum research projects, providing valuable experience of handling artefacts. Whatever you choose to work on for your dissertation, it will showcase the important skills that you have developed during your degree course that are much in demand with a wide range of employers.

PHILOSOPHY & ETHICS

Philosophy and Ethics explores the big questions of life and morality: on what basis do we judge things good or evil? It challenges you to examine your assumptions, opinions and worldview. Do we need to believe in God for life to have meaning – or have the arguments for the existence of God broken down? What does it mean to be human? Do we have free will, or is our life completely determined?

Through close attention to the primary texts of philosophers such as Plato, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant and Nietzsche, our Philosophy and Ethics degree will help you learn to analyse and evaluate arguments, and to compose and communicate your own ideas in a reasoned way. You will have a grounding in the foundational questions of philosophy. As you progress, you will look in depth at philosophy of religion, political philosophy, applied ethics and issues of human personhood, artificial intelligence, ecology and animality.

Liverpool is a great place to study philosophy: the city famously wears its heart on its sleeve, and is home to a rich web of cultures that explore the human condition through humour, art and performance. The Liverpool Hope team has developed a programme that aims to be contemporary and timely, especially in the field of applied ethics. And in a city that has been riven with sectarian strife in its past, the innovative approaches that the team takes to thinking about religion in the modern world are highly topical. 

This degree will help you to develop your professional capacity by equipping you with the intellectual skills and perspectives needed to face the ethical and ideological challenges of the contemporary world. Such skills are essential for careers that require you to grasp with complex and often conflicting ideas across a whole range of professions.