New undergraduate courses for 2017

The new courses have been introduced in response to growing demand from prospective students and in recognition of the challenging educational opportunities which they will provide.

Archaeology

Archaeology has been studied at Cambridge for more than a century and the University was the first in the UK to teach the subject, but this has always been as part of a broader course.

Most recently, Archaeology has been taught as part of the Human, Social, and Political Sciences course. But from October 2016, prospective students will be able to apply to study the University’s first Single Honours degree in Archaeology.

Professor Cyprian Broodbank said “Archaeology embraces a wide range of approaches spanning the sciences and humanities and it’s a superb medium for training the flexible, innovative minds that our society needs.

"We’re delighted that Archaeology is set to become an even stronger and more visible component of Cambridge’s offer to undergraduates.”

The new course will encompass Archaeology, Assyriology, Egyptology and Biological Anthropology. Its flexibility will allow students to either specialise from the first year, or opt for a broad start before concentrating on up to two subjects from the second year.

The course offers the theoretical foundation and training in standard methods and specialised techniques required for academic and professional practice. Students will also develop the intellectual versatility and transferable skills that will make them highly employable in a wide range of fields.

Joint courses

Cambridge has world-leading expertise in History, Politics and Modern Languages, and their combination in these two pairings will give undergraduates a rigorous and challenging experience that will equip them for specialist postgraduate study or careers beyond the academy.

The new joint courses will allow students to study two complementary subjects to degree level in equal measure, and to engage intellectually with the connections between them.

History and Politics

The new course will build on Cambridge’s strengths across the two disciplines to provide a wide-ranging education in History, Politics and International Relations with an emphasis on the relationship between them.  

“In particular,” says David Runciman, Professor of Politics at POLIS, “the University’s outstanding reputation in the history of political thought provides the opportunity to offer a uniquely integrated degree with a focus on the relationship between ideas, institutions and international context”. 

In their first year, all students will be introduced to methods and approaches from the two disciplines and will begin to explore how to study them in combination.  They will also gain a core grounding in historical knowledge, intellectual history, political science and international relations.  

In their second year, students will undertake more focused work in the history of political thought, international relations, comparative politics and European and extra-European history, with options to pursue more tailored methodological training in quantitative and statistical analysis.

The third year will allow students to specialise further within History or Politics while also demonstrating their overall understanding of the two disciplines.

By the end of their course, students will be well placed to pursue postgraduate work in a wide range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. The rigour, diversity and flexibility of the degree will also leave them extremely well placed for the employment market.

History and Modern Languages

Students will graduate from the new course with near native-speaker skills in one language and with a deep knowledge and understanding of the area in which that language is used.

They will also have acquired wide-ranging knowledge of European or extra-European history, having chosen to specialise in the history of ideas, the history of culture, or political, social and economic history. 

For 2017 entry, the languages available will be French, German and Spanish (post A-Level), and Russian (post A-Level and ab initio), and it is hoped that the range of language combinations will be extended in subsequent years.

In their third year, students will undertake a year abroad to immerse themselves in the language, culture and politics of their chosen language area. They will also prepare a Year Abroad Project which will have some bearing on the history of their host country.

Joachim Whaley, Professor of German History and Thought at The Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages (MML), says: 

“The new Joint Degree combines the best elements of each course. Students have the chance to become fluent in a modern language, to study the culture of the regions in which it is spoken, and to get a first-rate training in historical methods as well as a knowledge of key periods in European and World history, and the history of ideas.”

Graduates will appeal to a wide range of potential employers as advanced language skills and experience of living abroad are highly sought-after. They will also be in a strong position to undertake further study in either History or Languages.

For more information about all undergraduate courses at Cambridge and the University's application process, see the 2017 Prospectus which is now available online.