History and International Relations

History and international relations is a pairing built on the recognition that understanding the present world requires both a deep knowledge of the past and the analytical tools to examine how states, institutions, and global forces interact in the contemporary moment. History provides the long view, recovering past events, structures, and processes through careful attention to sources and evidence. International relations adds the theoretical frameworks needed to understand why countries cooperate or conflict, how international institutions shape behaviour, and what forces, from trade and migration to environmental change and ideological competition, make the world as complex as it is.

At the University of Aberdeen, this four-year, full-time programme covers all aspects of human activity in the past while extending your knowledge into the contemporary world and the developments making history today. You will develop the research, analytical, and writing skills of the historian alongside the theoretical and empirical tools of the international relations scholar, producing a graduate who can move fluently between the long-term perspective of history and the urgent questions of the present. The programme includes a year abroad, broadening your academic and personal horizons and exposing you to different intellectual traditions.

A typical entry tariff of 184 points reflects the academic level expected.

Graduates from history and international relations programmes go on to careers in diplomacy, the foreign office, international organisations, journalism and broadcasting, management consulting, the civil service, policy research, non-governmental organisations, law, and education. The combination of historical understanding and international analysis is particularly valued in roles that require navigating complex geopolitical situations with both depth of knowledge and analytical rigour. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in history, international relations, security studies, or area studies, developing specialist expertise for professional or academic careers.