What should I do to prepare for the start of my degree?

1. Take care of your mental health and wellbeing

Many of us have struggled physically and emotionally in recent months, and this has taken its toll. While there is a seemingly endless list of things you could be doing, don’t feel like you need to be productive. The suggestions here are all optional and intended to be pressure-free ways of spending your time—should you want and be able to. We will offer you the support to transition to university-level study when we start in September.

2. Explore some the topics and themes you’ll study with us

For a brief introduction to medieval history which you will study with Andrew Wareham and Trevor Dean, check out this video on the Dark ages and this brief introduction to late medieval history.

For those of you interested in the early modern period, our very own Suzannah Lipscomb discusses Henry VIII and the impact he had on Britain over the years. As you progress through your degree, you will be working with different types of primary sources including archival documents, diaries, memoirs, newspapers, interviews, and many others. Natalie Zemon Davis, great doyenne of early modern history, gives us a good idea of what one can do with a primary source.

For a taster of the diverse range of perspectives you’ll study with Yolana Pringle in your first year, watch Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk The Danger of a Single Story. In your second and third years, you’ll have the opportunity to explore themes of race and empire, as well as African history. To get a sense of this area of history, check out these short articles on the history of border control, narratives on the Windrush generation, or this on the hidden histories of Black soldiers during WW1.

If you are interested in Russian and East European history, which you can study in years two and three of your degree, Sean’s Russia Blog is a great resource. For example, check out this fascinating interview with Kate Brown where she discusses her book on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986 and the whitewash that followed.

The History Team will send out a further list of suggested pre-course readings before you start in September.

4. Learn about the historical pasts that help us make sense of the world today

History has never been more relevant in making sense of our world. Throughout your time at Roehampton, you’ll make connections between the study of the past and contemporary events, and develop skills in locating narratives and events in their wider social, political, and economic contexts.

Historians of medicine have been writing about epidemics, quarantine, and its effects on society for decades, and you’ll have the chance to explore some of the debates around disease, medicine, and society in your third year with medical historian Michael Brown. In the meantime, have a look at this article on ‘The legacy of pandemics in the community: 1918 and 2020’. You can also read Mark Honigsbaum’s book The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria and Hubris online for free.

It is more important than ever that we take seriously histories of racism, white supremacy, and resistance. You’ll have the chance to explore themes of slavery and civil rights in your 1st year with Michael Cullinane, and to take more specialist modules on race, racism, and civil rights in your second and third years. For a taster of why history is so important to understanding the language used around race in the United States today, have a look at this article on riots, liberty and democracy, and watch this video by Trevor Noah. To learn more about the UK context, have a look at this brief history of anti-black racism in the UK and watch this video interview of Akala talking about his book Natives.

5. Listen to some podcasts

Podcasts are a great way to learn something completely new about the past. Among our favourites are:

• Killing Time – Rebecca Rideal looks at dark moments from the past
• Dark Histories – another podcast taking a look at history’s mysteries and murders
• 1619 – a mini-series that re-examines the legacy of slavery in the US
• The Feast – a podcast about food and eating in the past
• The Ratline – a Nazi on the run, and the story of his fate
• Slow Burn – in-depth coverage of Watergate, the Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal, and the murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.
• History Hack – a daily podcast covering a huge sweep of history
• History Hit – you may have heard of this one? Another podcast covering a huge sweep of history, by Dan Snow

6. Get to know our Roehampton community

Many of our students connect and socialise through the History and Classics Society. We lecturers also look forward to staff-student quizzes, with the competition often fierce! You can find out more about what the History and Classics Society gets up to by looking at their Facebook group.

Roehampton has its own student-run sustainability project–Growhampton–on campus, complete with its own cafe, The Hive. Staff and students are often found in The Hive enjoying fresh coffee and food cooked using the project’s own produce. Over the summer, why not try some of the Growhampton recipes at home?