Massive Open Online Courses
The Department also offers a number of accessible, engaging and free Massive Open Online Courses with FutureLearn and Coursera.
These courses are suitable for students making the transition to A Level or for teachers looking to develop their subject knowledge. They have been developed by our Historians in collaboration with heritage institutions to bring together the most up-to-date knowledge and engaging stories.
More information about each course and how to enrol are featured below.
Futurelearn courses
From World War to White Heat
The RAF in the Cold War
Explore the role that the Royal Air Force played in the Cold War through the collections of the RAF Museums at Hendon and Cosford.
A 6 week course produced with the RAF Museum that will introduce you to some of the major turning points in the history of Britain in the post-1945 era.
Each week will have a thematic focus:
- The Early Cold War 1945-1953
- The RAF, the Empire, and a new global role
- The Independent British Nuclear Deterrent
- Defending the Skies
- Aspirations, Cancellations and a new role
- Honouring the RAF in the Cold War and after
Enrol here and find out more information about the course.
Peterloo to the Pankhursts
Radicalism and Reform in the 19th Century
Discover the history of the struggle for rights and representation.
A four week course produced with the People's History Museum, the national museum of democracy.
Each week will have a thematic focus:
- Revolutions. Week one explores how revolutions in political thought; in agriculture and industry; and America and France led to increasing calls for the reform of Parliament, culminating in the Peterloo Massacre of 1819.
- Reform. Week two examines key moments, movements and figures associated with reform in the first half of the nineteenth century, including Catholic Emancipation; the Great Reform Act and Chartism; the abolition of slavery; the Poor Law Amendment Act and the Repeal of the Corn Laws.
- Workers: Week three charts the emergence of trade unionism, British responses to and variations of socialism and the establishment and early electoral fortunes of the Labour Party.
- Voters: The course concludes with an exploration of when, how and why the vote was extended by Reform Acts in the second half of the nineteenth century. This week culminates with the emergence of mass politics and calls for universal male and (limited) women’s suffrage at the turn of the century.
Enrol here to start on 4th May 2020 and find out more information about the course.
Beyond the Ballot
Women’s Rights and Suffrage from 1866 to Today
Explore the campaign for women’s right to vote and its impact on women’s rights and equality to the present day.
A four week course produced with UK Parliament which will discuss how the vote was won in the UK, the nineteenth century background to the campaign and what happened next.
Each week will have a thematic focus:
- The myth and reality of women’s experience of the nineteenth century through literature, art, work and the law
- The movements and milestones in campaigning for votes for women
- The impact of the First World War and the passage of the 1918 Representation of the People Act
- The campaign for equality after 1918 and the impact of the first women MPs
Enrol here to start on 1st June 2020 and find out more information about the course.
Coursera courses
The camera never lies
Film, Images & Historical Interpretation in the 20th Century
A short taster on the topic of the use of Images, Film, and their use in historical interpretation in the 20th century
A 6 week course primarily provided for those who have a general interest in history that draws on photojournalism as primary evidence, and films based on historical events.
Each week will have a thematic focus:
- The Camera Never Lies? An introduction to the issues
- Images and history in the twentieth century
- The air-brushing of history: Stalin and falsification
- Photojournalism, authenticity and matters of public acceptability: the battle of mogadishu
- The power of the image: mount suribachi, 1945
- From page to screen: film as public history
Enrol here to start on any Monday
Freedom and protest
Magna Carta and its Legacies
This course examines the roles that Magna Carta has played historically as well as the importance of Magna Carta today.
A 6 week course that will equip students with a critical understanding of Magna Carta and its significance around the globe. Students will find out what Magna Carta is, how it came about, and why.
Each week will have a thematic focus:
- Magna Carta, Parliament and the law 1215-1300
- The reinvention of Magna Carta, 1508-1642
- Magna Carta: Civil war to revolution, 1642-1776
- Magna Carta and the wider world: constitution making
- Commemoration and memorialisation
- Magna Carta: a history of an argument c.1800-2015
Enrol here to start on any Monday
