History and Economics

Academic Staff

Fellows

Professor Patricia Clavin is a Fellow and Tutor in History at Jesus, and teaches mainly the history of Britain and Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She has published widely on the history of British, German, French and American foreign policies in the period between 1918 and 1960, and on the history of the Great Depression, 1929-1939. She is researching currently the history of the League of Nations and the theme of transnationalism in international history.

Dr Alex Gajda is also a Fellow and Tutor in History at Jesus. She teaches sixteenth- and seventeenth-century British and European history, with specialisms on Tudor politics and religion, and religion, literature and politics in the early modern period. Her research interests lie in the political, religious and intellectual history of early modern Britain and Europe and her new book on Robert Devereux, 2nd earl of Essex is published in 2011.

Dr Péter Esö is the Fellow and Tutor in Economics. He teaches Core Microeconomics and Game Theory at the undergraduate level. His research interests and publications are in microeconomic theory, game theory, and the economics of information.

Lecturer

Dr Conrad Leyser is a Fellow and Tutor in History at Worcester College, who also teaches at Jesus College. His interests lie in the religious and social history of the Latin West, 300-1100; law, memory and narrative.

About the Course

The Joint School of History and Economics integrates Economics and History to form a coherent and intellectually stimulating programme. The combination allows insights that neither subject can realise alone. However, it is possible to specialise primarily in either history or economics while still preserving the benefits of an integrated approach. The combination of economics, economic history and history (political as well as social) means that you will be equipped to view issues in the real world from a variety of contrasting perspectives. You will learn both the historian's careful approaches to evidence and argumentation and the economist's analytical and quantitative methods, providing an excellent preparation for a range of professional, financial and academic careers.

The course is designed to equip you with the basic tools of both history and economics, whilst introducing you to some of the areas that you can study later in more depth. You will be given a wide choice of subjects. Everyone studies introductory economics, which is designed to give a solid understanding of the foundations of both micro- and macro-economics, including some of mathematical tools used in these subjects.

First Year (The Preliminary Examination)

Students study four papers and sit an examination in June at the end of the first year. The examination is intended only to consolidate your work at the end of the first year and the result does not count towards the final degree classification.

• Introductory Economics, which is designed to give a solid grounding in both micro- and macro- economics
• General History (primarily European). A choice of four options is available:
  • AD 370-900: The Transformation of the Ancient World
  • AD 1000-1300: Medieval Christendom and its Neighbours
  • AD 1400-1650: Renaissance, Recovery and Reform
  • AD 1815-1914: Society, Nation and Empire

  These papers are studied thematically.

• A paper on historical methods. A variety of options is available: 'Quantification in History'; 'Historiography: Tacitus to Weber', which looks at great historians and their works; and the 'Foreign Texts' option which allows students to study one or two seminal historical works in a foreign language (options in Greek, Latin, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian are available).
• An Optional Subject involving the use of primary sources. History and Economics students study the 'Industrialization in Britain and France 1750-1870'.

The Second and Third Years

There are three core papers in Economics (Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and Quantitative Methods), and there is one core paper in Economic History (British Economic History since 1870). Thereafter there is a great choice of subjects enabling you to use the skills acquired in the first year and from the study of the core papers.

Apart from the core papers mentioned above, students must also study:

•  Either a period of British History or a period of General History (European or World History), of the History of the United States, or of the History of  European expansion overseas. There are twenty-five options to choose from. It is possible to study social, economic, and cultural as well as political  themes within these options.
• Any two papers from the History Further Subjects and Economics options. There are currently thirty-four History Further Subjects to choose from. The Economics Options are listed below.
• A compulsory thesis, normally in Economic History.

A full list of History Further and Special Subjects will be found on the History Facult website.

The Economics Options are listed on the website of the Department of Economics, and currently include: Command and Transitional Economies, Comparative Demographic Systems, Econometrics, Economic Decisions within the Firm, Economics of Developing Countries, Economics of Industry, Economics of OECD Countries, Finance, Game Theory, International Economics, Labour Economics and Industrial Relations, Mathematical Methods, Microeconomic Theory, Money and Banking, Public Economics.

You will be expected to attend about five lectures per week during the first year, participate in regular meetings with tutors to discuss work, research in libraries and write at least one essay a week. In the second and third year there is the opportunity to substitute a thesis for one of the required papers, which will enable you to do a piece of independent research.

Joint Schools

Economics cannot be studied as a single discipline for a degree, but it is available as a joint course as follows:

•  Economics and Management
•  Engineering, Economics and Management
•  Philosophy, Politics and Economics

History can be studied as a single discipline and is also available as a joint course as follows:

•  History and English
•  History and Modern Languages
•  History and Politics

Admissions

Submitted work and UCAS personal statements are likely to form starting-points for discussion in your interview. The tutors are not so much interested in the level of your knowledge as in your ability to think analytically, and (in the case of History) historically.

Candidates will be required to take the History Aptitude Test at school in November. This will comprise two passages for commentary, and will be used to help to determine which candidates will be interviewed. The test is designed to examine the candidate’s ability to reason analytically and to use language accurately. Further details can be found about the History Aptitude Test can be found on the the History faculty website.

Candidates will also be asked to submit one essay in Economics or a similar subject, and one essay on an historical topic. Candidates who are short-listed will be required to sit an Economics test in December. Some colleges may require you to read a short passage of historical writing while you are up for interview, which they will ask you to discuss as part of the interview process.

In a total College entry of about 100 undergraduates, 8 are offered places in a typical year to read History and related joint schools. Offers made to pre-A level candidates will be conditional upon A level results (normally AAA, with an A in History). Offers made to post-A level candidates will usually be unconditional.

Deferred Entry: Applications for deferred entry to Jesus College are welcomed. You must apply for deferred entry at the time of application to Oxford: you cannot change your mind after an offer has been made. Please refer to departmental web sites for subject-specific advice. You should be aware that applicants who are offered places for deferred entry will generally be among the strongest of the cohort for their subject. We would not usually offer more than one or two deferred places per subject in order not to disadvantage the following year's candidates. In some cases, an applicant for deferred entry may be offered a place for non-deferred entry instead. If you require any further advice, please contact the Admissions Officer.

Postgraduate Studies and Careers

The Faculty of History offers a range of taught graduate courses at master's level and two research programmes leading to the degrees of Master of Letters or Doctor of Philosophy. In addition to the traditional fields of historical research, in political, social, and cultural history, History at Oxford embraces more specialised areas, such as medieval history, economic and social history, the history of science, medicine, and technology, and the history of art.

The Department of Economics has around 200 graduate students. As a research based community, the Department puts great weight on developing its graduate students. The following degrees are offered at postgraduate level:

•  MLitt or DPhil Economics
•  MPhil Economics
•  MSc Economics for Development (joint with Development Studies)
•  MSc in Financial Economics (joint with Saïd Business School)

Although a History degree is not vocational in any strict sense (and many students undertake the course for reasons of sheer intellectual pleasure) it does equip students with a set of transferable skills applicable to many careers. Historians are used to the sifting of large quantities of often conflicting information; they are skilled in the evaluation of differing interpretations; they are trained in presenting complex issues in a lucid and convincing fashion; their verbal and critical skills are highly developed. These qualities have enabled generations of Oxford historians to excel in a wide range of careers. Oxford historians typically move on to careers in business, the law, investment banking and consultancies, advertising, accountancy, the civil service, publishing, journalism and the media, global charity work, museums, librarianship and archive work, and teaching.

Preliminary Reading and Further Information

Further information about History and Economics at Oxford can be found on the Faculty of History and Department of Economics websites and the University's Undergraduate Courses pages.