Description
Why study History?
Spanning all the fields of historical knowledge, from Ancient History to the modern day, this programme of study provides students with a solid and universal historical knowledge base, enabling them to develop their critical skills via an introduction to the debates and methodologies of the discipline of history.
The interaction with other disciplines gives students the best possible preparation for a range of professional fields.
Objectives
The objectives of this programme of study are:
- to gain a good command of the four key periods of history, their methods of documentary analysis applied, and their scientific updates;
- to explore the discipline of history thematically (political; economic; social; cultural; religious);
- to gain good command of the academic exercises associated with the discipline of history (composition; written and oral accounts; critical analysis and summary; construction and justification of reasoned arguments);
- to develop an ability to draw upon relevant tools for documentation;
- to develop an ability for critical reflection;
- to gain an introduction to a complementary discipline and its particularities (its concepts and methods; its unique themes; its cultural fields of study);
- to gain good command of communication tools (information and communication technologies);
- to gain good command of at least one modern foreign language.
In order to meet these objectives, an active teaching method has been implemented, in which students are the drivers of their own learning (via preparatory work in advance of lectures and seminars; written exercises; oral exercises).
Additional information
Learning all of these skills means that students are offered a specialised programme of study, but the knowledge that they gain will also be applicable far beyond the academic setting.
Training content
Three years of study
First and second year of study (Licence 1 and Licence 2)
The first and second years of study are given over to:
- fundamental teaching on the four key periods of history (Ancient History; Middle Ages; Early Modern; Contemporary);
- strengthening understanding of the methodology of science and technologies related to the study of history (contact with sources; written and oral expression);
- interaction with other disciplines (introduction to historiography; a window on to the social sciences);
- minor course units, to be chosen from the following options: archaeology, geography, art history, modern languages (German; English; Spanish), literatures, philosophy;
- cross-disciplinary skills: languages, preparation of the student personal professional project (PPE), digital skills, archiving and documentation;
This open approach towards other disciplines means that, up until the end of the second year of this undergraduate Licence, students are able to change the course of their studies towards one of the minor units (subject to approval by the relevant teaching committee).
Third year of study (Licence 3)
The course units in the third year of study are aligned with students’ chosen specialisation, according to the subject pathway they have chosen. Each pathway maintains a dominant emphasis on history, and offers an introduction to research skills.
In the course units reserved for each pathway, specific teaching is given:
- within the ‘Teaching: History and Geography’ pathway, students strengthen their skills in geography and are introduced to the epistemology of the social sciences;
- within the ‘History, Language, Culture’ pathway, students take units dedicated to languages, to the history of communication, and to general culture;
- within the ‘History, Civilisation, Heritage’ pathway, the emphasis is on cultural and literary history. Students take units on archaeology.
This undergraduate Licence programme can also be studied via distance learning.
Access condition
Find information regarding enrolment procedures and the supporting documents to be provided, according to your profile and your level of studies :
Career pathways
Graduates from the undergraduate Licence in History may prepare for professional entry in a range of fields:
- Students of the ‘Teaching - History and Geography’ pathway may prepare for professions related to teaching and education. As part of the Master’s for Future Teachers (‘Master MEEF’) that is offered by the School of Teaching and Education in Aquitaine (ESPE), students may prepare for the competitive examination for French primary school teachers. As part of the Master’s for Future Teachers (‘Master MEEF’) that is offered by Université Bordeaux Montaigne, students may prepare for the competitive examination for secondary school teaching of History and Geography, known as ‘CAPES’. Following further study at Master’s level, within the Master’s in History or Master’s in History, Civilisation, and Heritage, students may prepare for the competitive university examination for teachers, known as ‘Agrégation’.
- Students of the ‘History, Language, Culture’ pathway may choose a career in a profession related to journalism and the press (via competitive examinations for entry to journalism schools) and, following a programme of further study, choose to take the competitive examination for entry into French public service.
- Students of the ‘History, Civilisation, Heritage’ pathway may choose a career path in a profession related to heritage, culture, and cultural outreach, or indeed they may choose to undertake further study at Master’s level, within the Master’s in Archaeological Science.
These career paths and further study options represent only those most commonly chosen by students, upon graduation from the undergraduate Licence in History. This programme of study remains global and generalised: the choice of study pathway enables students to target certain professional sectors, but by no means imposes any given career path.
Further studies
All of the pathways offer the possibility of undertaking further study at Master’s level, within the Master’s in History, Civilisation, and Heritage, and Master’s in History, and to thus envisage a career in research.