The Faculty of History is bringing its subject bang up to date with the launch of a new website - complete with interactive virtual classroom.

 

In what’s believed to be the first project of its size and scale in this discipline, teachers and students visiting the newly launched Faculty website will be invited to ‘Take a Journey into History’.

Students can develop their interests and skills by stepping into the virtual classroom to complete online exercises on a variety of topics using primary sources or secondary literature. Both students and their teachers will also be able to take advantage of the wealth of expertise provided by the site’s online lectures.

Dr Caroline Burt who has led the project says:

“We’re enormously excited by our new website. It provides aspiration- and attainment-raising material aimed at very able students who are interested in history, and their teachers and lecturers. Through our virtual classroom of online lectures and interactive material we hope to inspire and support students applying for History to this university - and to the many other excellent History departments in the UK.”

Professor Richard Evans, author of In Defence of History and recently appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, says:

“This is a unique and pioneering venture and I am delighted that we have
been able to create such an imaginative and accessible website for school/ college students and teachers. I hope this will encourage budding historians from all backgrounds to take a journey into history by applying to study it at
Cambridge.”

The website also includes profiles of some of the students currently studying history at Cambridge, the different backgrounds they’ve come from, and why they made their decision. There are examples of how people have used their history degrees to pursue careers in the fields of journalism, law and teaching.

Famous names who’ve studied History at Cambridge include:

Diane Abbott, MP, political journalist and broadcaster Andrew Rawnsley, former England cricketer Michael Atherton, well known historians Simon Schama and David Starkey, the author Salman Rushdie, novelist, broadcaster and critic Sarah Dunant, businessman Gerald Corbett, politician Michael Portillo, and Prince Charles.

For those already seriously considering History at degree level there’s plenty of practical information alongside the interactive wizardry. Facts on how to apply to Cambridge, student finance and what studying History at Cambridge will involve are also included and it’s hoped that the site will encourage more young people to consider History as a degree choice.

 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page.