History BA
Kent’s facilities are extensive and easy to access. The Templeman Library is full of great resources for History students.
One of the big attractions of Kent for me was the campus – green and lively, and with all the amenities in easy walking distance of each other. I chose History as it had interested me at school and the modules available at Kent offered me a chance to broaden my horizons.
The History curriculum at secondary schools often centres on the same areas – the Third Reich, the Tudors, Soviet Russia – so the most inspiring thing about History at university is the breadth of new topics to cover. I found modules on the American South, human experiments in the Cold War, and postcolonial Africa particularly interesting.
The teaching at Kent is engaging and varied. The staff are committed to giving students the best possible experience, which is most clearly displayed in the frequent use of student feedback forms.
Absolutely. There are few compulsory elements to studying History, which means you can head down the path which best suits you, whether that is medieval history, the history of medicine, or war studies.
As well as friends and peers, your fellow students are a valuable resource – they can offer proofreading, fresh perspectives and are companions for the myriad new experiences university offers.
It has given me much improved analytical skills – I am now able to skim-read a piece of text, pick out the salient parts and fit it into a wider context with an ease that would have seemed alien to me when I began my studies.
Kent’s facilities are extensive and easy to access. The Templeman Library is full of great resources for History students, not least the digital availability of scholarly journals.
One of the best things about Kent is the social life – bars, restaurants, a nightclub and a cinema all on campus. The range of clubs and societies also feeds into this – I was a member, and eventually president, of the History Society, which did wonders for my networking skills and employability.
My undergraduate studies funnelled me neatly into my MA, which in turn directed me towards the PhD (especially as I was keen to take my research further). I was supported by members of the School of History, particularly my supervisors.
Possibly my favourite thing about my PhD study is the freedom it gives me. I am able to pursue any avenues of interest as and when I choose.
No. Some days I am based in the National Archives or Imperial War Museum, reading files that have hardly seen the light of day since 1925, while on others I am presenting at a conference, teaching undergraduates, or refining the prose on my latest chapter.
I hope to be able to carve out a career for myself in academia and my time at Kent has certainly done a lot to prepare me for that. It is a competitive market so it is important to seize any opportunity to develop and improve your CV.
Be active, not passive. Speak in seminars, go to societies, become a student ambassador, run for elections. Someone who has done the bare minimum – turned up and handed in the essays – will get a lot less value from their experience than someone who embraces the opportunities provided.
