Undergraduates
Transferable skills
This course is designed to develop a number of important skills in undergraduates. Among these are:
- acquiring a broad range of historical knowledge and understanding, including a sense of development over time, and an appreciation of the culture and attitudes of societies other than our own;
- evaluating critically the significance and utility of a large body of material, including evidence from contemporary sources and the opinions of more recent historians;
- engaging directly with questions and presenting independent opinions about them in arguments that are well-written, clearly expressed, coherently organised and effectively supported by relevant evidence;
- gaining the confidence to undertake self-directed learning, making the most effective use of time and resources, and increasingly defining one's own questions and goals.
These are valuable skills in themselves. They are also highly sought after by employers. Well-qualified History graduates from Cambridge have no difficulty in getting good jobs in a very wide range of occupations - in business and finance, in public administration, in journalism and broadcasting, in teaching at a number of levels, or in research-based careers of various kinds. History is not as obviously vocational as some courses, but it combines an excellent training in vital skills with a high degree of interest and enjoyment.
Below is a more comprehensive table of transferable skills that a History degree from Cambridge will equip you with:
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INTELLECTUAL SKILLS |
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Faculty |
Colleges |
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Lectures |
Supervisions and Classes: |
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Classes |
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Examinations, Long Essays and Dissertations |
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COMMUNICATION SKILLS |
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Faculty |
College |
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Written: |
Written: weekly essay for supervision, other essay assignments Oral: weekly discussion of essay/dissertation |
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Oral: |
Other activities: |
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ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS |
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Faculty |
College |
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Management of workload and extra-curricular activities |
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Lecture/class attendance |
Submission of weekly essay |
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Submission of Long Essays and Optional Dissertation |
Organisation of events (sports, societies, entertainment) |
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INTERPERSONAL SKILLS |
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Faculty |
College |
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Group work for Themes & Sources and Special Subject |
College as experience in Community living |
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Service on Faculty committees |
Participation in college classes, societies and sporting clubs |
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RESEARCH SKILLS |
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Faculty |
College |
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Use of Faculty and University Libraries |
Use of College Libraries |
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Development of bibliographic skills |
Development of bibliographic skills |
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Research for long essays and dissertation |
Research for weekly essay |
| NUMERACY
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Faculty |
College |
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Quantitative/statistical analysis (in general lectures and those for obligatory paper in British economic history) |
Quantitative/statistical analysis in supervisions for this paper. |
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COMPUTER LITERACY |
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Faculty |
College |
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University Computing Service Courses |
Use of College computing facilities for word processing essays/dissertation |
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Word-processed 3rd year dissertations and Themes and Sources/Special Subject Long Essays |
Use of College computing facilities for www, email. |
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FOREIGN LANGUAGES |
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Faculty |
College |
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Language options in Themes & Sources for Part I |
Varying provision of classes for developing subject-related and general foreign language skills |
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Other papers in Part I and Part II offering opportunities to use foreign language sources |
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University Language Laboratory |
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- Upcoming Events
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May 22, 2012
The John Robert Seeley Lectures & Seminar
The Runcie Room, Faculty of Divinity, West Road, Cambridge
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News
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Jan 17, 2012
Professor Alexandra Walsham wins the Leo Gershoy Award 2011
from the American Historical Association
Nov 27, 2011
Professor David Abulafia awarded the Mountbatten Literary Award
by the Maritime Foundation