History

History

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About the History Department

UCL's History Department is distinctive for the sheer breadth and quality of the expertise we bring together in one department. We cover the fourth millennium BC to the contemporary world - exceptional in the UK. The Ancient Near East and the modern Americas are areas of particular speciality. The Department also has many world-class experts on medieval, early modern and modern history. We have numerous distinguished historians of Britain and its empire, as well as specialists in the history of political thought across all periods. Based in the heart of London, we offer a range of courses on London history.

We work on most aspects of political, international, economic and social history, with particular strengths in cultural, intellectual and transnational history. Comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives are central to our approach to studying the past. Our two lively research centres, the Centre for Transnational History and the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, express this belief.

The position of UCL History as a world-class Department was confirmed by the results of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, in which universities across the UK submitted research published during the period 2001-7 for competitive peer review. The History panel classified 40% of our work as ‘world-leading’ (4*), plus a further 25% as internationally excellent (3*) and a further 25% as ‘internationally recognised’ (2*). 40% in the 4* category was the highest score awarded by the History panel, and only two other departments achieved it. By almost all methods of calculation, UCL History is among the top 5 departments in the UK. At the level of ‘world-leading’ research it was ranked equal with Cambridge and above Oxford.

We are located in Bloomsbury, just a few minutes walk away from the exceptional resources of the British Library, the British Museum and the research institutes of the University of London, including the Warburg and the Institute of Historical Research.  There are very few History Departments in the world so close to so many world-class resources. The Department enables all students to make the most of these exceptional riches.We all work closely with other departments at UCL and with historians across the University of London.  Our students can take courses in most of these other UCL departments or London Colleges.