Placements and Careers
History remains a popular subject among employers, primarily for the skills that the study of History entails, such as critical scrutiny of evidence, synthesis of different kinds of information and the construction of reasoned arguments. A skill that employers increasingly look for in graduates is the capacity to work collaboratively and to manage projects, and several of our modules now seek to foster precisely those skills.
An increasingly popular module is the work placement in History. In recent years students have been placed in a number of museums and heritage sites in Lancashire, including the Museum of Lancashire, the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment Museum and the Queen Street Mill in Burnley. These have proved enormously rewarding for students and have considerably enhanced their employability.
Careers and Employability
The History team has pioneered the development of employability skills within the curriculum with a range of modules at second and third year. These were instrumental in the award of a £4.5 million grant to launch the University’s Centre for Employability in the Humanities (ceth) a flagship venture and the only one of its kind in the UK.
In the second year, students can take the Community History Project, which is designed to create a group project on an historical topic that is accessible to a wider audience. This has included museum displays, oral history projects or teacher’s packs. These are often displayed in public museums, including the main library in Preston or the National Football Museum at Preston North End’s ground. We also have several modules designed to provide an insight into various history-related careers. Currently, these include Archives, Museums and Heritage, and History Teaching.
In the third year, students can undertake a work placement in History [see the section on placements]. Another option is the module in creating a Museum Exhibition. This draws on the unique expertise and facilities of ceth to enable students to mount an exhibition of artefacts appropriate for museum display.
The History team and ceth are currently working with the Ribble Steam Railway in Preston to try establish an entirely new museum in Preston, drawing extensively on student work. This is a unique opportunity to be involved in the creation of a whole new museum.
