Course Overview
Lancaster's History and Music degree is taught collaboratively by our Department of History and the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts, ranked top three in the UK for its research by the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. This unique combined course will enable you to develop an in-depth knowledge of both disciplines, with your History modules providing a historical context for many of your Music modules.
Your History courses will introduce you to the methods of historical inquiry, while your Music degree programme combines theory and practice at its core and offers specialist options in musicology, musical analysis, composition and technology.
You'll begin your degree with courses including From Medieval to the Modern: History and Historians and Modernism in the Arts. In your second and final years, you'll take four units in Music and four in History, choosing from a variety of options, such as The Origins and Rise of Islam; Sex and Violence in Imperial India; Contemporary Arts Theory, and Creative Music Practice.
For a list of compulsory modules, please see the tab above.
All of the staff were incredibly helpful and always willing to help me.
Career opportunities
Employers value the excellent research, critical analysis, writing and presentation skills students develop during their studies of History and Music.
Our graduates benefit from a grounding in contemporary arts theory and practice, which is an advantage for careers in the creative industries, broadcasting, marketing, publishing, music teaching, music production, arts management and other arts-related areas.
Many of our alumni go on to postgraduate study in Music-related subjects or pursue one of the postgraduate Masters degrees offered at Lancaster.
Modules
Here are some of the current modules which are available during your studies at Lancaster:
PartI
- History and Historians
- Music Theory and Practice
PartII (Year 2)
- Composition
- Contemporary Fine Art Practitioners
- Contemporary Hong Kong Cinema
- Critical Reflections
- Documentary Drawing
- History of Electronic and Computer Music
- Ideology and Politics in the Cinema
- Introduction to Television Drama
- LICA Work Placement
- Modern Dance
- Orchestration
- Perception and the Arts
- Postwar European Playwrights
- Practical Studies II
- Silent Cinema
- Sound and space
- Studio Technique
- The Cultural History of American Film
- The Evolution of America's Music
PartII (Year 3)
- Analysing Popular Music
- Contemporary Fine Art Practitioners
- Contemporary Hong Kong Cinema
- Creative Enterprise
- Dissertation
- Documentary Drawing
- History of Electronic and Computer Music
- Ideology and Politics in the Cinema
- Introduction to Television Drama
- Music Composition
- Music, Culture and 'The Hollow Years'
- Perception and the Arts
- Rock and Roll in American Culture
- Silent Cinema
- Sound Synthesis and Design
- Sound and space
- The Cultural History of American Film
- The Evolution of America's Music
For more detailed module information please visit the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts department website.
Entry Requirements
A-level: AAB and the ability to read music. One A-level will usually be in Music or Music Technology.
General Studies: Accepted as one of 3 A-levels
Key skills: Not included in offer
Scottish Highers: ABBBB
Irish Leaving Cert: Offers will be made on the basis of 5 or 6 Higher level subjects. Please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office (01524 592028) for further information
International Bacc: 35 pts overall with 16 pts from 3 HL subjects.
BTEC: Popular Music or Music Technology considered with normally at least DDD/DDM
Mature students: Applications strongly encouraged. Please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office (01524 592028) for further information
IELTS: 6.5
Other requirements: If you wish to take performance studies as part of your degree then you will require ABRSM Grade 8 on your instrument/voice.
For details of how we evaluate international qualifications, please click here.
Financial Support
Lancaster University's priority is to support every student to make the most of their life and education. In addition to government maintenance loans, grants and national scholarships, Lancaster University offers a range of financial support for full time UK Undergraduate students from lower-income backgrounds. Many students each year will be entitled to bursaries or scholarships to help them with the cost of fees and/or living expenses.
The Lancaster Scholarship package is designed to reward the hard work and natural ability of full-time UK students applying to study with us regardless of their household income. Students achieving A*, A, A in their A-level examinations (or equivalent academic qualifications) will receive a £1,000 per year Lancaster Scholarship during their undergraduate studies if they place us as their firm choice institution. Continuation of the Lancaster Scholarship is subject to satisfactory academic progression.
Our combined £5,000 bursary package will help students from England whose household incomes are less than £25,000 per year with fees and living costs.
Students from England eligible for our £5,000 bursary package will also be awarded a £3,000 Lancaster Scholarship if they achieve A*, A, A in their A-level examinations (or equivalent academic qualifications). This totals £8,000 of support for students during their studies.
For full details of the University's financial support packages including eligibility criteria, please visit our
fees and funding page.
