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What is History? How does the past get into the present? How do historians work: what sort of theories do they use and what kinds of methods? Is it possible to know the truth of the past?

These are some of the questions that continue to perplex both historians and philosophers of history and which are considered on several courses at Chichester led by several history tutors and co-ordinated by one of the leading philosophers of history in the country, Professor Keith Jenkins, whose book Rethinking History (1991) has been a best-selling history text for the last fifteen years. In the first year you will be given a general overview of theories, methods and historical skills, and you will be able to develop your interests in Levels two and Three in increasingly specialised modules. You may not be able to answer the question ‘What is History?’ by the end of your degree, but if you cannot you will understand why not – and much else besides about ‘the nature of history’.

What will the modules consist of?

In Level One there are two modules which set the stage for further work, ‘Making Histories’ and ‘Contemporary Debates on the Nature of History’. In Level Two there are two further modules – ‘Intellectuals in History’ which examines the role of leading intellectuals in the twentieth century and ‘Approaches to Research’ which acts as a basis for the final year dissertation. In the final year there is also a specialist module – ‘Histories Beyond the Ends of History?’ - in which radical arguments from the cutting edge of contemporary discussions on the place of history in our society are explored.