Honours Overview

Description

Honours in History is a one-year, full-time or two-year, part-time specialisation taken at the end of an undergraduate degree. It involves a 15,000-word dissertation on a subject of your choice, a six-point seminar unit entitled HIST4101 Historiography, and three one-semester seminars on specific historical topics. In these seminars students study particular texts focused on a historical period, theme or methodology, and work in small groups with an expert in the field, who is usually publishing in it. The experience is challenging but the best possible transition between undergraduate learning and independent research. The dissertation component provides a chance for students to try out extended research for themselves. Students work closely with their supervisor who helps them select an appropriate and engaging topic and meets regularly with students to check their progress and to offer assistance and ideas, but the dissertation is always the student's work and the academic high-point of a student's undergraduate career. Many find the experience draws them on to a higher degree in the discipline, while others, now equipped with a sounder understanding of their undergraduate major and academic processes, go on to make successful careers in such areas as teaching, commerce, the public service, and the arts and culture sectors.

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) demonstrate an advanced critical understanding of important themes in the discipline of History; (2) demonstrate advanced historiographical understanding; (3) demonstrate advanced-level research skills that are methodologically informed; and (4) articulate an independent critical position clearly in written and oral forms.

Entry requirements

The equivalent of a UWA weighted average mark of at least 70 per cent in the Level 3 units of the History major.

Students must meet with their Discipline's Honours Coordinator to discuss their programme and research supervision prior to enrolment.

Intake periods

Beginning of year and mid-year

Courses

Honours in History can be taken as a specialisation in the following degrees:

No study plans found for this course. See study plans for more information.

Units

Key to availability of units:
S1
Semester 1
S2
Semester 2
N/A
not available in 2025 – may be available in 2026 or 2027
Take all units (30 points):
AvailabilityUnit codeUnit nameUnit requirements
S1 HIST4101 Historiography
Prerequisites
Enrolment in
HON-HISTY History
or HON-GNDST Gender Studies
S1, S2 HUMA4140 Humanities Dissertation 1
Prerequisites
enrolment in
a School of Humanities honours program
S1, S2 HUMA4141 Humanities Dissertation 2
Prerequisites
HUMA4140 Humanities Dissertation 1
Take unit(s) to the value of 18 points:
AvailabilityUnit codeUnit nameUnit requirements
S2 HIST4102 Themes in History and Historiography
Prerequisites
a major in History to an adequate standard
N/A HIST4103 Topics in Australian History
Prerequisites
a major in History to an adequate standard
S1 HIST4104 Topics in Global History
Prerequisites
a major in History to an adequate standard
N/A HIST4105 Topics in Medieval and Early Modern European History
Prerequisites
a major in History to an adequate standard.
Students who have satisfied the requirements for entry to Honours in Medieval and Early Modern Studies are also eligible to enrol in this unit.
N/A HIST4106 Topics in Modern European History
Prerequisites
a major in History to an adequate standard
S2 HUMA4001 Feeling the Past: Emotions in History, 1100–1800
Prerequisites
eligibility to enter Honours in the following disciplines: English and Cultural Studies.
History.
European Studies.
or Medieval and Early Modern Studies.
or eligibility to enter Master of Medieval and Early Modern Studies