History and Philosophy BA (Hons)

Modules

We’re planning to run the modules listed below in the academic year 2026/27. We’ve made some changes to keep the course fresh and future-facing.

• What’s changed on this course?

  Year 1

  • The core module Science and Religion (2026/27) is new and replaces Early Modern Philosophy (2025/26).
  • The core module The Meaning of Life (2026/27) is new and replaces Existentialism (2025/26).

  Year 2

  • The core module Engaged Public History (2026/27) is new and replaces Global History from the Global South (2025/26).
  • The core module Historical Consultancy (2026/27) is new and replaces Ideas of History (2025/26).

  Year 3

  • Dissertation (2026/27) is now a core module. It was an option in 2025/26.
  • The core module Producing History (2026/27) is new.

• Year 1 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  Autumn teaching

  • Reason and Argument
  • The Early Modern World
  • Truth and Morality

  Spring teaching

  • Science & Religion
  • The Making of the Modern World

  Your degree

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include lectures, seminars and workshops.

  

  40%: Lecture
  50%: Seminar
  10%: One-to-one

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include critical responses, essays, reports, presentations and professional-facing tasks.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 250 hours of contact time and about 950 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course. 

• Year 2 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  Autumn teaching

  • Historical Consultancy

  Spring teaching

  • Engaged Public History

  Options

  Alongside your core modules, you can choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

  While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

  Autumn teaching

  • Ancient Philosophy
  • Connections and Currents in the Early Modern Atlantic
  • Early Modern Philosophy
  • Epistemology and Metaphysics
  • Feminist Philosophy
  • Freedom and Power in the American Century
  • Philosophy and Professional Life
  • The People's Century? Britain after 1914

  Spring teaching

  • 1661: Slavery in English America
  • 1776: The Enlightenment
  • 1857: Indian Rebellion
  • 1899: Apex Empires, Savage Wars
  • 1942: Holocaust
  • 1948: The Arab-Israeli Conflict
  • 1953: Monarchs and Murders
  • 1959 Havana: Revolution in Latin America
  • 1968: Rivers of Blood
  • 1984: Thatcher's Britain (Observing the 1980s)
  • 2015: Fortress Europe and the Migration Crisis
  • Kant
  • Phenomenology
  • Philosophy of AI
  • Philosophy of Language
  • Philosophy of Mind

  Your degree

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include lectures, seminars and workshops.

  

  40%: Lecture
  50%: Seminar
  10%: One-to-one

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include critical responses, essays, reports, presentations and professional-facing tasks.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 250 hours of contact time and about 950 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course. 

• Experience Year

  Study abroad (optional)

  Apply to study abroad – you’ll develop an international perspective and gain an edge when it comes to your career. Find out where your course could take you

  If your application to study abroad is successful, you’ll have to meet the academic requirements at Sussex and also at the partner university. Find out more about studying abroad as a Sussex student

  Placement (optional)

  To help you gain experience and increase your employability, you can apply for an optional placement as part of your course. You’ll be responsible for applying for and securing your placement. Our dedicated careers team can provide you with information and advice. If you’re successful in obtaining a placement, this will form part of your course.

  Find out more about placements and internships

  Please note that if you’re receiving – or applying for – USA federal Direct Loan funds, you can’t transfer to the version of your course with an optional study abroad period in any country or optional placement in the USA if the number of credits for the placement/internship exceeds 25% of the total credits for your course. Find out more about American Student Loans and Federal Student Aid

• Year 3 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Options

  You choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

  While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

  Autumn and spring teaching

  • History Dissertation
  • Philosophy Dissertation

  Autumn teaching

  • Analytic Philosophy
  • Britain and the Second World War
  • City on a Hill: Faith and the American Project
  • Debating Democracy in the Long 19th Century
  • Freedom Now! The African-American Freedom Struggle After 1945
  • Genocide
  • Guns, Germs and Mai Tais: Culture and Imperialism in the Pacific
  • Modern European Philosophy
  • Palestine from Balfour to Nakba
  • Philosophy of Art & Literature
  • Post-Rave Britain, 1988 - present
  • Producing History
  • Queer Archives
  • Social & Political Philosophy
  • The French Empire and Its Aftermath
  • The Global First World War
  • The United States in the Middle East, 1917-Present
  • Witches and Witch-Hunts

  Spring teaching

  • Beauty, Fashion and History
  • British Childhood, Past and Present
  • DIY History
  • Emotions
  • Ethics
  • Islamic Philosophy
  • Life Writing and Life Histories
  • Migrant Ecologies
  • Objects and History
  • Post-Kantian Philosophy
  • Resistance

  Your degree

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include lectures, seminars and workshops.

  

  40%: Lecture
  50%: Seminar
  10%: One-to-one

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include critical responses, essays, reports, presentations and professional-facing tasks.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 250 hours of contact time and about 950 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course. 

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

We’ll do our best to provide as much optional choice as we can, but timetabling constraints mean it may not be possible to take some module combinations. The structure of a small number of courses means that the order of modules or the streams you choose may determine whether modules are core or optional. This means that your core modules or options may differ from what’s shown here.