English and History BA (Hons) at LMU (Undergraduate Courses At Leeds Metropolitan University in general)

Member Name: Alaya

Product:	Undergraduate Courses At Leeds Metropolitan University in general
Date:	01/12/05 (199 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: a great grounding in english history and english language

Disadvantages: a very full timetable with lots to learn in a short time

English and History sounds to most people, like a subject that they would rather avoid. Strangely enough i was the same until i actually looked at the course properly. Now that i'm in the middle of my studies i can actually appreciate how easy these subjects truly are.

There are four modules to each semester and as i'm only in my first semester i can only tell you about that. So far in this semester we have learnt about The British Empire and the far reaching effects it has had, even today these effects are felt through global economy. Not many people know this but the British Empire actually introduced the first global economic markets. Granted using slavery probably wasnt the best way to go about it but hey, everybody has to start somewhere.

We have also been taught a module known as Tricks of Style. This sounds absolutely boring and at first it was. i won't lie about that to anyone. however, as we have progressed we have learnt how to rationalise, use rhetoric in order to persuade (although my husband thought i was good at that anyways and that i didn't need help to make me even better at it). We have learned how to use the English language in such a way that we can tell a story without giving too much detail yet we are still able to convey our ideas to a reader. we have learnt that poetry isn't as dry and dusty as we thought and that if you look closely enough, then you too will find hidden meanings to every line.

i know i sound like im going on a bit but i figure i should give any prospective student of history at least some idea of what they are facing!

Emergence of the Modern is one of the hardest modules to do. we are encouraged to think about what we consider modern history and how that history can be applied to modern day thinking. We are taught about all the steps that lead up to a modern sense of the past. Everything from the Industrial Revolution to the Gulf wars are discussed and to be honest it's a lot more interesting than i thought it would be.

Finally the last module of this semester is titled 'What is History?'

This sounds like it would be fairly simple but it isn't. When confronted with the question 'what is history?' most people would simply say that it is everything that has happened in the past. while this is essentially true, it is also true t say that without historians, the past would be a random jumble of events that had no meaning. History is our past i agree but it is also the ordering of that past in a way that we can understand that makes it history.

This may sound boring to some people but i urge anybody to try this course. The lecturers are eccentric but nonetheless brilliant for all their strange ways (one of my lecturers is absolutely obssessed by food establishments in the 18th century while another is into slave trading in the same era).

Testing for these modules come in two forms. Two modules are exam based and you are shown the paper two weeks before the exam so you can revise properly and make sure that you have everything that you want to say about a subject already prepared. The other two modules are assessment based and these are done in the form of essays. Essay writing isn't everyones cup of tea but i found it quite surprising that i had much more to say even though i had reached the word count limit so it isn't as hard as you may think.

As for marking the modules, two of the modules you take are exam only modules so what you score on your exam is your final mark. the other two modules are completed by essay, usually comprising of 50% of your final mark for each one. you take 8 modules per year but you only need to pass 6 of those to complete the year. the lowest pass rate anyone can have is 40% anything below that and you get the chance to resit the exam. If you fail the resit you may be asked to either repeat the subject the next year or, if you have failed two or more modules then you may be asked to resit the entire year. Usually anything above 70% puts you at the head of your year and gives you a first which is unusual in a first year.

I know this review looks a bit like an essay in itself but its much easier to demonstrate the things i have already learned, things that i didn't even consider before, than try to explain each and every part of each module! If you want to stretch your mind and test your limits then this is the course for you!

Summary: Great indepth studies of a past even i didnt consider