Does anybody study anything apart from 20thC history thse days?

[Exiled in the Midlands]

I had a fine time at Uni studying everything from Arthur, through yer Normans, yer Angevins, the Holy Roman Empire, the Malian Empire, the Dutch Revolt, 18th C China and , of course IMperialism and Nationalism. Now, whenever I askyou young people what your studies include it's nothing but 'Itler, be it at GCSE, A, or undergraduate level. Does nobody study medaieval history, or Tuds and Studs, beyond KS3?

 

[Lea2222]

I'm hoping to start a major/minor in history and african studies next september, and I must admit the idea of studying 20th century history does nothing for me at all (well, I will in the african studies, but Im interested in that).

I have already looked at Hitler on my college course and it was interesting, but not something I'd like to spend the next 3+ years learning about!!

So, yes, people do study other types of history!!

 

[acatiaacer]

I'm studying British History (A-Level) from 1829 to 1929 at the moment...not the most thrilling, but still quite interesting to see where our modern day politics came from. Of course I've also had to do Hitler, Mussolini, FDR and Lenin!

My friend is also doing 'early' modern history, mainly the Tudors and the Stuarts at A-level. She studied the history of medicine way back from the Egyptians at GCSE.

And another friend, at another school, did American history, right back to when the first settlers arrived.

And, of course, my crazy English teacher is always happy to give her own interpretation of the Battle of Agincourt, where the evil British massacred the French on the land that they did not own...we tried to correct her a little bit, but with no avail!

 

[rdenig_male]

Read Guy de la Bedoyere's column 'Diary of a History Teacher' in BBC History Magazine every month to get an insight into the lamentable state of history in our schools brought about by the strait jacket of the National Curriculum. I was privileged to be taught more years ago than I now care to remember by the late Merlyn Rees, one time Home Secretary (before he entered politics) and remember him saying 'we are so fortunate in this country in that we can teach you how we wish. If we were in France now every school throughout the country would be teaching exactly the same thing' It seems to me we have now fallen into that trap.