BA History and American Studies
About this course
BA History and American Studies is a three-year undergraduate degree combining historical inquiry with interdisciplinary studies of American culture, politics, and society. Core topics include Historical Research and Research Methods. The course allows students to explore diverse historical periods, global cultures, and American literature alongside specialized modules. The first year introduces foundational subjects through compulsory modules such as A Global Nation: Power, Politics, and Struggle Across the American Century, 1870-2020, American History to 1877: Columbus to Civil War, and Introduction to American Studies. The second year focuses on advanced study, featuring compulsory modules like Long Essay and From Jamestown to James Brown: African-American History and Culture. Optional modules span various historical and cultural themes, including American Film Studies, Cold War America, 1950-1991, and Slavery and the Old South.
Written by AI from the university's course page and module list. It can get details wrong, so check the official course page before you rely on it.
Entry requirements
A level: AAB including A in History
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What students say
Based on about 8 final-year students who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Teaching on my course: 96%
- Learning opportunities: 92%
- Assessment and feedback: 86%
- Academic support: 96%
- Organisation and management: 92%
- Learning resources: 92%
- Student voice: 82%
Do students stay on the course?
Based on about 25 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Continued on course: 95%
- Left higher education: 5%
What graduates do next
Based on about 6 graduates who answered (a small group: a rough guide only)
- Working: 70%
- Working and studying: 20%
Most common jobs
- Teaching Professionals: 13%
- Business and public service associate professionals: 13%
- Elementary occupations: 12%
- Administrative occupations: 9%
- Artistic, literary and media occupations: 4%
- Find their work meaningful: 65%
- Feel on track for their future plans: 52%
- Use what they learnt on the course: 35%
Where graduates work (5 years on)
Based on about 290 graduates, across similar courses at this university
- North East: 1%
- North West: 27%
- Yorkshire and the Humber: 4%
- East Midlands: 2%
- West Midlands: 6%
- East of England: 2%
- London: 42%
- South East: 8%
- South West: 4%
- Wales: 2%
Who gets in
Based on about 10 students who started (a small group: a rough guide only)
- A levels: 90%
- Baccalaureate: 10%
Accreditation & quality ratings
TEF 2023 (whole university): Silver overall, Silver for student experience, Gold for student outcomes.
Modules
- A Global Nation: Power, Politics, and Struggle Across the American Century, 1870-2020
- American History to 1877: Columbus to Civil War
- Introduction to American Studies
- Introduction to American Literature to 1900
- Twentieth Century American Literature
- Constructing Archaic Greek History
- From Republic to Empire: Introduction to Roman History, Society & Culture 218-31BC
- The Odyssey
- Cities and Citizens
- Discoveries and Discoverers: Sights and Sites
- Introduction to the History and Culture of Pharaonic Egypt
- Decoding Inequality: Reimagining Digital Culture
- Modern China: from the Opium Wars to the Olympic Games
- Histories of the Islamic World
- Capitalism in Historical Perspective: 1700-1913
- Imperial Nation: Empire and the Making of Modern Britain, 1783-1902
- An Introduction to the Medieval World
- Forging a New World: Europe c.1450-1750
- States, Nations and Empires. Europe, c.1750-1914
- ‘There is Black in the Union Jack’: Black and South Asian British Histories
- Histories of Information
- Science and the Modern World (20 Credits)
- Bodies in History: An introduction to the History of Medicine
- Japanese History and Civilisation
- Empire and Culture in East Asia
- Exploring Enterprise
- Entrepreneurial Skills
- The History and Sociopolitics of Palestine/Israel (1882-1967)
- Introduction to Judaism
- Bible in Ancient and Modern Worlds
- The Making of Modern Russia: 1552-1917
- Standing on The Shoulders of Giants: Foundations for Study in The Arts
- Humanities in Public: The Politics and Value(s) of Knowledge
- Long Essay
- From Jamestown to James Brown: African-American History and Culture
- American Film Studies
- Cold War America, 1950-1991
- Work and Play in the USA, 1880-2020
- American Cultural Studies
- American Literature and Social Criticism, 1900-Present
- Twentieth Century African American Literature
- The American Civil War
- The Conquering Hero: The Life, Times and Legacy of Alexander The Great
- The Roman Empire 31BC - AD313 Rome's Golden Age
- Politics and Society in Classical Greece
- Roman Women in 22 Objects
- Weimar Culture? Art, Film and Politics in Germany, 1918-33
- Making of the Modern Mind: European Intellectual History in a Global Context
- Winds of Change: Politics, Society and Culture in Britain, 1899 -1990
- Late Imperial China: the Great Wall and Beyond
- The Cultural History of Modern War
- Colonial Encounters: Race, Violence, and the Making of the Modern World
- The Stuff of History: Objects Across Borders, 1500-1800
- Back to the Future: The Uses and Abuses of History
- Histories of the Islamic World
- Capitalism in Historical Perspective: 1700-1913
- A Transnational History of Europe in the Short Twentieth Century, c.1917-1991
- Revolutionary Cities: The Urban World of the Middle Ages
- From Cholera to COVID-19: A Global History of Epidemics
- The Crisis of Nature: Issues in Environmental History
- In Frankenstein's Footsteps: Science Fiction in Literature and Film.
- Aesthetics and Politics of Italian Fascism
- The Italian Renaissance
- Themes in the Histories of Arab and Jewish Nationalisms
- Religion, Culture and Gender
- End of the World and Apocalypticism
- 100 Years of Revolution: from Lenin's Soviet Union to Putin's Russia
- The Revolutions of 1989 and their Aftermaths: Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia
- Long Essay
- Slavery and the Old South
- America Abroad: Non-State Actors and the Making of a World Power
- Love American Style
- History of California
- Conspiracy Theories in American Culture
- Harlem and the State of Urban America
- Climate Change & Culture Wars
- American Hauntings
- James Baldwin in Context: Race, Sexuality and Activism
- Culture and Society in Germany 1871-1918
- 'A Nation In The Making': India, 1800-1947
- Empire, Gender and British Heroes, c.1885 - 1985
- History Dissertation
- Wealth and Welfare: Reconceptualising British Economy and Society between 1832 and 1942
- China and the West: the Age of Empire and Beyond
- Heroes and Holy Men: The Irish Sea World in the Viking Age, c. 780-1100
- The Holocaust: History, Historiography, Memory
- The Comparative and Transnational History of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany
- John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and U.S. Foreign Policy in the 1960s
- Defining the Deviant: Crime and British Society, 1888-2000
- The Aftermath of War in France, Britain and Germany: Violence and Reconstruction after WW1 and WW2
- Ceaseless Revolution: France, 1781-1871
- The Black Freedom Movement, 1955-1975
- Material Encounters in the Early Modern World, 1400-1800
- 'Brains and Numbers': Intellectual Life in Victorian Britain
- Pirates: The Sea, The Empire and The Other
- Becoming Christian in The Early Middle Ages
- The Normans and the Kingdom of Sicily in the Mediterranean World (1000-1200)
- Spatial History: Mapping the Past
- From New Left to New Times: Socialist Ideas in Post-War Britain
- Black Britain: Power, Neighbourhoods and the Everyday, 1948-1990
- Africa and Development: A Political History of the Social Sciences
- Cultural Entanglements: Life and Death in Colonial America
- The Anglo-American Connection & National Identity in the long C19: Race, Reform & National Identity
- Contesting Hitler's Empire:Resistance,Collaboration,and Mass Violence in Occupied Europe (1939–1945)
- Vanished: Histories of Extinction from the Mammoth to Extinction Rebellion
- Global China in the Second World War
- Democracy and Authoritarianism in Latin America’s Twentieth Century
- Islam in China
- The Nuclear Age: Global Nuclear Threats from Hiroshima to Today
- From Sherlock Holmes to CSI: a History of Forensic Science and Medicine
- Climate Change & Society
- Madness and Society
- Tools and Techniques for Enterprise
- Tools & Techniques for Enterprise
- Enterprise Feasibility
- Culture, Media and Politics in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia
- History of the Spanish Atlantic World: Empire, Trade, War
Questions about this course
How much do graduates of BA History and American Studies at University of Manchester earn?
The median salary is £27,000 after 15 months, £26,000 after 3 years, £33,000 after 5 years. After five years the middle half of graduates earn between £25,500 and £42,500. The £33,000 median after five years is £3,500 more than the UK median for American and Australasian studies.
What do graduates of BA History and American Studies at University of Manchester do next?
90% were in work or further study 15 months after finishing (Graduate Outcomes 2023-24).
Are students happy with the teaching on BA History and American Studies at University of Manchester?
96% of final-year students were positive about the teaching in the National Student Survey 2025-26.
What grades do I need for BA History and American Studies at University of Manchester?
The typical offer is AAB at A level. The average entrant had 161 UCAS points.
How many students continue on BA History and American Studies at University of Manchester?
95% of students continued into their second year, and 5% left higher education.