Economic & Social History/German

Economic and social history examines how the economic and social structures of the past have shaped the world we live in, using both the methods of the historian and the analytical tools of the social scientist. It asks how people lived and worked, how markets and institutions evolved, how social hierarchies were maintained and challenged, and what economic forces have driven inequality within and between nations. German, as one of Europe's most significant languages, gives access to the histories, literatures, and cultures of the German-speaking world, a region central to modern European history in ways that are both profound and often dark.

At Glasgow, the German strand provides a wide spectrum of teaching ranging from the eighteenth century to contemporary culture, ensuring that your engagement with German is culturally and historically informed as well as linguistically rigorous. You will study economic and social history with the breadth and empirical rigour that the discipline demands, developing archival, statistical, and interpretive skills. The programme includes a sandwich placement year and a work placement, integrating professional experience into the five-year full-time degree.

Graduates of economic and social history with German pursue careers in academic research, journalism, the civil service, international business, policy, and cultural institutions. The German language opens additional pathways in Germanophone markets and European institutions where German is a working language. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in economic history, German studies, European history, or development economics, where the dual perspective of this degree provides a distinctive and valuable foundation.