Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Politics

at University of Southampton - Avenue Campus United Kingdom

On this joint BA honours course you’ll explore the major events and ideas that have shaped the world around us. You’ll consider some of the biggest questions of Western philosophy: Is there a god? What is morality? In History you'll learn to develop your own interpretations of disputed narratives. You'll get to study both philosophy and history abroad during a placement year.

You’ll learn in small groups in a relaxed and friendly environment. You'll benefit from the expertise of academic staff whose research feeds directly into the course content.

Compulsory modules will give you a strong grounding in both subjects. Optional module choices will give you the freedom to pursue your own interests in topics as varied as metaphysics, Reagan’s America, and witchcraft in 17th century England.

You can broaden your knowledge by taking modules from other disciplines. These include topics such as social enterprise, risk management, and living and working on the web. You can also study a language.

You'll improve your employability and learning experience further by spending your third year studying abroad at one of our partner institutions.

In your degree you can:

• Develop an understanding of philosophical questions such as ethics, reason and responsibility
• Learn about different approaches to history and gain access to a wonderful collection of primary evidence
• Explore how political motives and other forms of bias shape the way we think about the past
• Study areas of history rarely taught in most other UK universities, for example:  East and Central European history, South East Asian history and Jewish history

On our humanities-focused maritime archaeology master’s degree you’ll explore the changing relationship people have had with the world’s oceans and seas. You’ll study the technologies of seafaring, histories of environmental change, and submerged landscapes. This subject incorporates elements of traditional archaeology, ethnography, maritime history and marine science.

You can apply to study our maritime archaeology master’s degree as either an MA or MSc at Southampton.

MA Maritime Archaeology offers the same course content as our MSc Maritime Archaeology but you’ll take a more humanities-based approach through your module choices and dissertation topic.

The course draws on the world-leading expertise of the Centre for Maritime Archaeology to offer an unparalleled breadth and depth of content. The course is designed to allow rapid development of the diverse academic knowledge and practical skills required to work in this field, including:

• The latest methods for data acquisition and integration
• Academic research and dissemination
• Archaeological fieldwork

This means you’ll cover all aspects of maritime archaeology, from those who wish to focus on field-based activities, both above and underwater archaeology, through to laboratory or library-based research.

Develop strong Spanish language skills and have the option to take Portuguese (or another language) too. You’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of Latin American culture. You’ll build your fluency, cultural understanding and employability skills spending a year living and working abroad.

On this degree in Spanish with Latin American Studies, you can personaliuse your degree to areas that interest you. You could, for instance, take another language, take modules from other subject areas, or explore Hispanic culture and history in more depth.

Following our unique system of language development you’ll start at a level that matches your ability. This means you can take another language, for example Portuguese, from scratch and we can personalise your learning so you make the best progress.

In your year abroad you can choose to:

• Work as an English assistant in a school
• Study at a university
• Take a work placement

You could choose to go to Spain, Portugal or Latin America - we have links in Chile, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico.

This course has a strong focus on employability. You’ll have the option to take practical modules looking at teaching, you’ll be able to take advantage of our vacation work placement schemes and you’ll develop a wide range of transferable skills.

Modern History at Southampton challenges you to critically interpret histories of societies. The study of politics encourages you to explore people’s organisation and behaviour.

You'll spend your third year at a partner university. You can choose from locations in Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea or Australia.

On this course you can:

• Study the modern history of an extraordinary range of places, from Western Europe and the Americas, to Africa and South Asia
• Examine the rare artefacts from the university’s own collections, as well as take part in guided visits to other museums and galleries
• Learn about democracy, the modern state, comparative politics and international relations

Gain in-depth knowledge and develop your research interests on this MA philosophy degree. Whether you’re planning to take your research to a higher level, or want to build on your undergraduate studies, this UK course will meet your needs. You’ll study the central issues in philosophy, and follow your own interests through a range of optional modules.

Philosophy at the University of Southampton is renowned for its research excellence in areas such as aesthetics, normativity and the history of philosophy. 

On this Philosophy MA you’ll gain a thorough training in research skills as you study key works of the discipline. 

Compulsory topics cover ideas such as such as mind, knowledge and reality, and the philosophy of value. 

You’ll also have the opportunity to choose from a wide range of options covering particular areas and philosophers, from Wittgenstein to classical Indian philosophy. 

During your studies you’ll learn how to research, analyse, and present key transferable skills that will be invaluable to your future career.

Philosophy and Film share similar perspectives, from the value of art to national identity and politics. At Southampton, we offer this exciting film and philosophy degree for movie lovers and abstract thinkers. Here you'll learn to analyse deep, theoretical ideas, and explore film as an art, an industry and a passion.

You'll explore Film from a variety of perspectives: as popular art, big business and as a cultural record. From early Hollywood films to European and world cinema, you'll study the first projected images, today's digital movies and much more in between.

Philosophy modules will give you a strong grounding in ethical, logical and critical thought. You can examine the most fundamental questions we face, in a rigorous and systematic way.

You'll research and discuss the theories and philosophies that have shaped film studies as a subject. These include:

• psychoanalysis
• postmodernism
• structuralism

 As part of this course you can:

• take modules in film noir, animation, horror and sci-fi
• use our extensive library resources, including over 5,800 films from around the world
• get involved in our outreach events that bring philosophy to the wider public
• submit your own film to our annual student film festival

We offer a 4-week summer school at Dongguk University in Seoul. This includes film and cultural orientation courses.

Learn how to uncover the secrets of past lives through the study of human and animal skeletons. With this specialist master’s in bioarchaeology, you’ll gain expertise in human anatomy, with unlimited access to our large skeletal collection. You’ll also develop skills in faunal analysis; we have one of the largest reference collections of mammals, birds and fish in the UK.

We’re ranked Top 30 in the world for archaeology (QS World University Rankings, 2019).

Your specialist bioarcheology learning will cover:

• analysing human bones to understand age, sex, diet, health and migration
• identifying mammals, birds and fish through skeletal remains
• understanding fossilisation and bone modification
• interpreting archaeology from collections of remains

Beyond your specialist modules you can personalise this MSc bioarchaeology degree to your areas of interest through a range of optional modules.

This archaeological science master's is a very practical degree, but you don’t need prior knowledge of biology or anatomy. You’ll spend a lot of time in our dedicated archaeology laboratories and you’ll have access to specialist isotope labs and a scanning, imaging and micro-CT suite.

You’ll work closely with experts in our Centre for Learning Anatomical Sciences and benefit from opportunities to apply your learning in real-world settings.

There's an opportunity to apply your learning on a 4-week placement, where you’ll gain valuable real-world experience of the archaeology sector and heritage industry. Previous placements have included Historic England, Wessex Archaeology and The Nautical Archaeology Society.

We bring expertise together from across the University, including Medicine, Humanities, the National Oceanography Centre, Engineering and Winchester School of Art, to enable you to gain both scientific skills and cultural understanding.

This bioarchaeology master's offers a balance between vocational and research skills. During your dissertation you’ll be able to embed with one of our research groups to do original research on a topic that you choose. There is the possibility that this work will be published.

Southampton is close to the World Heritage sites of Stonehenge and Avebury and we have research projects engaged with both sites, as well as a range of other archaeological projects across the Globe.

Discover how the world works on our BA Philosophy Politics and Economics degree. Explore past and current socio-economic orders. You'll learn quantitative tools, historical data, and the technical knowledge to carefully analyse them. Through our philosophy modules, we'll teach you to critique the present order with logic and ethics. You'll graduate with the skills for a range of careers linked to politics, philosophy and arts.

On this broad, combined honours course, you’ll get a balanced education in all 3 Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) subjects.

The degree helps you properly frame the questions that unite the subject of the PPE degree, and answer them in a rigorous but free-spirited way. These include questions on:

• Inequality
• Democracy
• Justice
• Globalisation
• Happiness
• Work
• Money

Compulsory modules provide a strong grounding in key areas of study. Optional modules will let you pursue your own interests in topics as varied as:

• Logic
• International security
• Chinese politics

As part of this course, you can:

• Study topics that are unique to either philosophy, economics, or politics
• Gain professional skills in economics that will be useful in your future careers
• Learn how to conduct and present research
• Take part in other Philosophy events held by the Lifelonglearning team, where you can discuss philosophy in a relaxed atmosphere

Examine the people and events of the past from different but complementary perspectives. On BA Archaeology and History with Year Abroad you'll take an in-depth look at your favourite historical subjects, choosing from options like the Cold War and 17th century witchcraft trials. You'll spend a year abroad at one of our partner institutions, such as the University of Malta or the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona.

Archaeology looks at the past through the study of physical remains, including buildings, artefacts and the landscape itself. History draws on written and oral sources.

This degree will give you in-depth knowledge of both archaeology and history, and develop your understanding of earlier human societies. You'll learn how to use and understand historical sources. You'll also learn how to identify and excavate archaeological sites, extracting as much information as possible from materials and records.

Study history with archaeology abroad in your third year at a partner institution to broaden your knowledge and experience.

Archaeology and History with year abroad includes a wide variety of optional modules, covering subjects such as:

• American slavery
• Women's history in modern Britain
• Apocalyptic visions of history
• The French Revolution
• Human origins
• Landscapes and seascapes
• Emergence of civilisation

As part of this course, you can choose to take a minor subject in an unrelated area.

You'll develop valuable skills for any future career, including:

• Problem solving
• Teamwork
• Project management

From the Aztecs and Maya to Ancient Egypt, the Roman Empire and the medieval world, you'll study the story of human activity and the origins of civilisation. You'll gain an understanding of how human societies came into being, how and why they changed over time, and the underlying reasons for human diversity today. In your final year, you'll develop in-depth knowledge and skills in a specific area of archaeology.

Archaeology is the study of the human past through its material remains. This integrated undergraduate and master's degree will teach you the many methods and techniques we use to find, excavate and investigate historical sites and materials.

During your master's in archaeology, you'll learn how to handle, describe and interpret archaeological objects and data. As you become more confident, you'll recognise and interpret your finds in the field and carry out advanced archaeological techniques.

The undergraduate grounding (following the framework of the BA in Archaeology) will give you a foundation in archaeology. The final postgraduate archaeology year enables you to develop your own interests in specialist fields so that you can target the career path you want to follow. For example, you could choose to explore the archaeologist profession in commercial archaeology or the museums and heritage sector.

This master's degree in archaeology is flexible so you can choose your own path. You'll have options to focus on areas like:

• Museums and heritage management
• Studying human and animal bones
• Environmental impact assessment
• Maritime archaeology

We have a purpose-built archaeology building, equipped with the latest science-based laboratories. You'll gain hands-on experience with archaeological artefacts and materials, and receive the practical training needed for a career in professional archaeology.

Postgraduate archaeology courses teach a wide range of transferable skills such as:

• Evidence-based reasoning
• Problem-solving
• Project management

We’re also offering up to 10 bursaries of £1000 each to incoming students (subject to criteria). These are from the Terry Mason Bursary and the University of Southampton Archaeology Bursary Fund.