History and Social Policy

History and social policy is a combination that connects the study of the past with the analysis of how welfare states, public institutions and policy frameworks have developed and why they take the forms they do today. History develops the capacity to understand change and continuity in human societies over time, and to situate contemporary arrangements in the longer processes that have produced them. Social policy examines how governments and other bodies address social problems, from poverty, housing and education to health, disability and crime, asking what works, who benefits and who is left behind.

At the University of Strathclyde, this four-year full-time programme covers some of the most important and interesting historical periods at home and abroad, including Scottish history, the history of slavery, and Cold War Europe, alongside the contemporary social policy questions that shape the lives of people in Scotland and beyond. A year abroad is built into the programme, extending your academic formation and giving you the opportunity to study how historical and policy questions are understood in a different national context. The programme develops strong research and analytical skills alongside substantive knowledge of both disciplines.

Graduates of history and social policy programmes are well placed for careers in public policy, the civil service, social research, the voluntary sector, local government and journalism. The ability to understand contemporary social arrangements in their historical context is a distinctive and valuable perspective that employers in policy and research roles value. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in social policy, history, public administration or a related social science, where the analytical and research skills developed at undergraduate level support more advanced and applied work.

Teaching, archiving, heritage management and roles in advocacy organisations are further directions.