Any1 want info on history at UEA?

I am nearly at the end of my first yr in history at UEA, for any1 who is hoping to do this at UEA in sept, i am happy to give some course info. pm me or post.

Reply 1

mistress mayhem

yes please yes please :biggrin:

Reply 2

Unregistered

OP

ok, so you do 6 units and out of three in each semester, one is optional. as i do modern i got more choice through politics units. Semester one: Introduction to Modern History (coursework), Introduction to Medieval History (coursework) and Early Modern (Coursework), Semester 2: Themes In Modern History (Examined), The Enlightenment or The Renaisance (examined) and Doing History (coursework-history in practice). The first year is designed to get you used to a different style and you experience practically all the school faculty lecturing you, which is useful when it comes to picking second yr units, as the unit organiser is shown and you can make a judgement on if you like that particular style. There are 2 lectures and one seminar per unit per week with a fair amount of research set in seminars. I find seminars a really good way of filling in the gaps and strengthening my understanding. However, they can be terrible if no one says anything. Lectures are of a high quality, but you learn who you like and dislike. Doing History, is the most irrelevant, boring,patronising and useless unit in existance. With awful organisation and teacing-most people never bothered to go as it is so easy to pass. The library is good, but a pain in the ass come essay time, when many people take all the books out-another thing that irritates me is slow marking which is widespread. I enjoyed my first year, but i cant wait to specialise in what I am interested in and tend to feel that that is when i will really start my degree. This is a honest view of history, i cant really help you on the social side of things as i live off campus, but hope this helped.

Reply 3

mistress mayhem

thanku v much!!!!!!!!!

Reply 4

Larry Qwerty David

I only know Prof Acton teaches there as I went to his A2 lecture in London a few months ago.

Reply 5

Unregistered

OP

Qwert_y

I only know Prof Acton teaches there as I went to his A2 lecture in London a few months ago.

he does, but thibk he is retiring this month-great lectuerer tho.

Reply 6

HistoryUEA

I graduate this week with a first in History from UEA. Here are my thoughts...

1. UEA is rated 5* for research, which is important since it obtains 40% more funding than a department rated 5, never mind the 3s and 4s and indicates academic excellence (there are only 8 that have this rating)
2. UEA has many very good academics, as the 5* indicates. Particular stars include Vincent, Charmley, Carmichael, Acton, Wilson, Harper-Bill, Casey, Farr
3. However, much of the additional 5* income is stolen by other parts of the university, to prop up departments that should, on financial grounds and their research performance, be closed (such as management, linguistics, etc)
4. The dearth of cash demonstrates itself in the hours teaching you will receive each week, which has been drastically cut from an already low level, even during the three years I have been at UEA.
You will get:
1st Year: 6 hours of lectures, 3 hours of seminars - and expect the seminar groups to be so large that you will have trouble fitting into some rooms (perhaps 25 in a group which is far too large)
2nd Year: 6 hours per week of lectures/seminars
3rd Year: 4 hours per week in the first semester, 2.5-3 hours per week in the second semester (I think it used to be six hours per week each semester)
I think the class sizes are considerably larger, and the hours per week considerably less than many other history departments
5. While I have been at UEA there is little doubt that the course has been dumbed down - it has been narrowed. In the third year it used to be possible if you obtained a 2:1 in the second year to do a standalone dissertation - this option now has a threshold of 68%, which in the second year is very high indeed. Also one of the third year options has been replaced with a Documents and Sources unit, which is a joke - 1/4 of your final year mark for four 1,500 word textual analyses from within your special subject. This narrows the degree (as within the special subject you would have had to look at these sources anyway), reduces choice and removes an exam. You can see this as positive or negative - if you just want a 2:1 it is fine, if you want a decent education in history it is not so positive. These changes to the course were decided upon and implemented while we were at UEA, despite, at the time, the UEA history department making the flexibility and breadth of the degree, and the chance to do the dissertation, major selling points of the course
6. This also means that the choice of special subject dictates what 75% of your final year will be, which is bearable IF you get your choice of subject. However, the modern special subjects are often oversubscribed and far too big in my opinion (often 15-20 students). IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT THAT IF YOU KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT YOU WILL WANT TO DO A MODERN HISTORY SPECIAL SUBJECT YOU CHOSE THE MODERN HISTORY DEGREE COURSE ON YOUR UCAS FORM, SINCE MODERN HISTORY STUDENTS HAVE PRIORITY ELSE YOU WILL HAVE LITTLE/NO CHANCE OF GETTING ONTO THE MODERN COURSES.
7. Early modern period is normally okay. Medieval you will get onto the courses, but the options are 1. The Norman Conquest or 2. The Norman Conquest! You can do medical history as a special subject, and Prof Rawcliffe is okay, but Steve Cherry, who teaches the course jointly, is incredibly dull, and is a tight marker.
8. This year there were 20 Firsts. The majority of the remainder got 2:1s, with I would guess perhaps 20-30 2:2s out of about 150 students.

Reply 7

Chicken

12

I would like to say that is not a widespread case across the university - out of the chemistry course this year, there was 1 first, two 2:1's, 1 third and the rest (about 15 or so people - its only a small course) got 2:2's. And I know I worked damn hard for my 2:2 - its my exams that let me down (they always have...I just can't do them :frown:

), and my final 4 exams this year accounted for 35% of my degree, which I thought was unfair. Even my dissertation, which represented 15-20 hours in the lab every week doing my research over the entire year - let alone writing it all up into what ended up as a 60 page report, and having 10-15 hours a week of lectures to go to at the same time - represented only 15% of my degree. Think this is the case with a lot of the science subjects too. It sucks big time :frown:

EDIT: I know this was a history thread...just didn't want everyone getting the same impression of UEA from one subject :p:

Any1 want info on history at UEA?

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