Girton College University of Cambridge

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History

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History at Girton

History is a vibrant and successful subject at Girton. There are currently four Fellows in the subject and each year we aim to admit between 8 and 10 undergraduates in History. In addition there are always a number of graduate students studying historical topics or working on historical subjects related disciplines. The gender mix in History at Girton is very even. As one of the larger subjects in the College, there is a good spirit among the historians. Everybody in the subject meets together regularly for informal ‘Current Research’ sessions and dinners. Last year, for example, third year students completing independent dissertations introduced their topics and findings to students from all three years. First and third years tend to live in the main College, second years in Wolfson Court, the Girton Annex near the University Library and History Faculty. We encourage students to discuss course choices and topics with their peers in other years and firmly believe this kind of interaction strengthens the performance and satisfaction levels of all involved.

As in any college, students in the subject study towards the 2-year Part 1 (six papers) and the 1-year Part 2 (4 courses, examined through 5 papers). Part 1 papers tend to cover broad periods of British, European, North American and extra-European history; Part 2 offers more specialist or thematic courses. Lectures and faculty classes are run centrally in the History Faculty (generally in the mornings), where Girton students meet and mix with other historians from across the university. Each term students focus for their written work principally on one paper. For this the Director of Studies in Girton arranges weekly supervisions for each student with a specialist on that paper. This person might be a Fellow of Girton, or might be a Fellow of another college (equally, Girton Fellows teach Girton students, but also students from across the university in their fields of expertise). Supervisions might be single (one student at a time with the teacher), in twos, or sometimes in groups of 3-4 set alongside one-to-one time when essays are discussed and returned. Generally each student reads for, and writes an essay a week for the supervision, hands that in before the meeting, and then engages in discussion with the teacher about the essay and the broader topic in which it is sited. At Girton we work hard to set up the most suitable supervision arrangements possible for each student.

Girton Library has good holdings in history, which we are constantly up-dating. Students also use the History Faculty (Seeley) Library, and the University Library.

History students at Girton appear to enjoy their time at the College very much. As with other subject groups, they enjoy the friendly atmosphere in the College, and the opportunity to meet people from a wide variety of backgrounds. They take part in a wide variety of extra-curricular activities. In recent years guest speakers at the college history society have included Professor Quentin Skinner, Professor Richard J Evans and Professor Olando Figes. Increasingly we have applicants and students from abroad – from Europe, Scandinavia and India most recently. Our graduates go on to a variety of careers. In the last few years, for example, these have included teaching, broadcast and print journalism, law, the charitable sector, banking and publishing. Each year one or two students go on to further degrees in History.

Interview Arrangements

Almost all applicants are invited for interview in December. Such candidates are in general predicted straight As at A level and have a strong record at GCSE and AS level. Prior to interview applicants are asked to send in photocopies of two pieces of term-time written work. These are essays (where such are available), or other work if essays have not yet been produced at A2 level. Candidates then have two 25-minute interviews, generally with two of the History Fellows. Occasionally two Fellows will interview together but there will always be a second interview. Both interviews will be subject based. These interviews are very important for our selection process, but we aim to keep them as informal and relaxed as possible. They are designed above all to assess motivation, aptitude and potential for further study, rather than simply a student’s knowledge of A level work. As part of one of the interviews candidates will be asked to discuss a short passage of historical writing that they will be given when they arrive for the interview. This is designed to assess how well candidates can cope with the kinds of historical writing that they will be expected to read as part of the Cambridge History course.

In addition to our direct applicants, and ‘Open’ candidates who have been allocated to the College, each year Girton uses the intercollegiate ‘Pool’ in History in late December, and places some candidates’ files in that Pool.  We then generally interview further candidates in January before making our final decisions. Offers are in most cases for 3 As at A level, not including General Studies.

Assessment & Changing Course

We enter first years for the Faculty-run ‘Preliminary Exam’ at the beginning of the summer term of the first year. Thereafter our students sit Part 1 at the end of their second year, and Part 2 in May/June of their third year. Most students remain with History throughout their three years at Girton. One or two each year move to cognate disciplines for Part 2, such as Modern Languages, English, Oriental Studies, Social and Political Sciences or Law. Equally students move from those subjects to History Part 2, although generally such moves require a 2.1 in Part 1. Students in History at Girton do well in University (Tripos) exams. In the great majority of cases they receive 2.1s or Firsts.