History and Politics, BA (Tripos)
History and Politics is a Joint Honours degree. It offers subjects from our highly-regarded history, politics and international relations courses, together with bespoke papers which allow students to explore the space between the disciplines.
The study of politics and international relations at Cambridge is based on the belief that these subjects are best understood together and through a historical lens. We seek to explain how the political and international worlds in which we live came to be. In the first year, we look at the foundations of modern politics and international relations.
In politics, we examine the nature of the state and democracy and consider alternatives in the modern world to these practices and the political ideas and arguments that lie behind them.
In international relations we explore politics beyond the state, focusing on topics from the world economy to war and peace, to climate change and protest, all from a globally oriented and historically informed perspective.
What will I study?
First year: Four Papers
In Year 1, you choose a History Outline paper from a range of options, typically including papers on British, European, American, African, and Asian history.
You also take two Politics papers:
Plus a core interdisciplinary paper in Evidence and Argument.
Second year: Four Papers
In Year 2, students choose one paper in each of the following categories:
- a paper in International Organisation or Comparative Politics
- a paper in the History of Political Thought
- a further History Topic paper from a variety of options, reflecting the diverse research interests within the History Faculty
For the fourth paper, you write a long essay of up to 5,000 words on a question drawn from a wide range of subjects in History and Politics.
Third year
You choose three papers from a wide range of possible combinations, including third-year Politics and International Relations papers (shared with HSPS) and History Special Subjects and Specified Subjects. The papers available each year may vary and numbers are restricted on some papers. Alternatively, you can replace one of these three papers with a dissertation of 10,000 words on a topic of your choice within the scope of the course.
All students also take a core paper called Theory and Practice in History and Politics, which engages with key issues such as democracy, inequality, and war in the light of work throughout the degree course.