Combined Honours in Social Sciences provides fantastic flexibility and choice across Durham’s breadth of world-renowned research-led education, allowing you to create a bespoke, academically ambitious degree suited to your individual interests, strengths and career plans.

Our Combined Honours degree enables you to choose modules from two, three or even four subjects, enabling you to develop your expertise or to explore new interests. The course provides a flexible, multidisciplinary framework with the opportunity to spend a year abroad or on a work placement, preparing you for your career ambitions.

You will be focusing on subjects in the Social Sciences, but you can take up to half of your credits in the Arts and Humanities.

In the Social Sciences, the subjects currently available to you are:

• Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Business
• Economics
• Education
• Geography
• International Relations
• Politics
• Sociology and Criminology
• Sport.

Please note it is not possible to study Business and Economics alone or Politics and International Relations alone – for these combinations you would need to look at courses offered by the Business School or School of Government and International Affairs, respectively.

In the Arts and Humanities, the subjects currently available to you are:

• Classics and Ancient History
• English Literature
• History
• Music
• Philosophy
• Theology and Religious Studies
• Visual Arts
• Arabic
• Chinese
• French
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Russian
• Spanish.

Year 1

In your first year, you will choose 120 credits (typically six 20 credit modules) from two, three or four subjects.

Year 2

In your second year, you will choose 120 credits from two, three or four subjects.

Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a Year Abroad or Placement Year)

In your final year, you will undertake a major Research Project, and choose additional modules up to a total of 120 from two or three subjects.

Social Sciences subjects

Department of Anthropology

Anthropology offers pathways in cultural anthropology and physical anthropology, and a range of modules concerned with material culture, the physical and social evolution of humans, and topics such as medical anthropology and development anthropology.

Department of Archaeology

Archaeology provides the opportunity to focus on particular periods and places, through prehistoric archaeology, Roman archaeology, medieval and post-medieval archaeology, and the archaeology of Britain, Europe, Egypt, India, and the Near East, and also to study the employment of scientific methods in archaeology.

Business School

A series of modules focusing on entrepreneurship, management, and governance. Economics offers the opportunity to study microeconomics and macroeconomics, and topics such as the history of economic thought, environmental economics, development economics, monetary economics, and the economics of social policy.

School of Education

Education offers the opportunity to study central issues in school and higher education, involving the study of the historical, philosophical, psychological, sociological, and political dimensions of educational theory and practice, and the development of the social sciences in the modern and postmodern periods.

Department of Geography

Geography offers a pathway in human geography, and a range of modules concerned with geographical theory and methods and special topics such as urban transformation, environmental change, development, and hazard and risk.

School of Government and International Affairs

Politics and International Relations offers the opportunity to study politics, in Europe, the USA, the Middle East, and the Far East, the history of political thought, comparative government, international relations, with a special emphasis on the Middle East and the Far East, and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies.

Department of Sociology

Sociology offers the opportunity to study modules in sociology, including theories and methods, social structures, social policy, social exclusion, and the sociology of health, the city, and popular music, and in criminology, including theories and methods, crime and deviance, policing, sociology of punishment, and the criminal justice system.

Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences

Sport offers a series of modules on the sociology of sport and on sport and social policy.

Arts and Humanities subjects

Department of Classics and Ancient History

Classics and Ancient History offers the opportunity to study, in translation, the history, philosophy, literature and culture of the ancient world, and to study Greek and Latin at several different levels, opening up the literature of the Greek and Roman worlds in their original languages.

Department of English Studies

English Literature offers the opportunity to study specific literary genres, including poetry, drama, and the novel, and the literatures of specific periods, including Medieval, Renaissance, Romantic, Victorian, and Modern Literature, as well as studies in the theory and practice of literary criticism.

Department of History

History offers the opportunity to study medieval, early modern, and late modern history, through a range of modules in economic, social, religious, cultural, political, and diplomatic history, focusing on Britain, continental Europe, Africa, China, and the USA.

School of Modern Languages and Cultures

The principal languages are Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish, and each offers core language modules and ‘culture’ modules which cover a broad range of themes in history, politics, literature, film, the media, linguistics, translation, and interpreting.

Students who are not specialising in one or more modern languages can study a number of languages, currently including Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish, at various levels, from beginners’ to advanced level, in the School’s Centre for Foreign Language Study (CFLS).

Department of Music

Music offers the opportunity to study musicology, including the history of music, music theory and analysis, and ethnomusicology, and, where these are studied alongside musicology, performance, composition, and other practice-based disciplines.

Department of Philosophy

Philosophy offers the opportunity to study many of the principal philosophical disciplines, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics, and also the history and philosophy of science and medicine.

Department of Theology and Religion

Theology and Religious Studies offers the opportunity to take modules in biblical studies, Christian theology, including the history of theology, contemporary theology, the philosophy of religion, and ethics, and religious studies, including the sociology and anthropology of religion.

Visual Art

Visual Art combines high-level critical and historical study of visual arts and film with a range of practical skills.

Your choice of modules is subject to availability, timetable constraints, and the approval of the Director of Combined Honours in Social Sciences. You will also need to meet subject-specific requirements.

Placement

Study abroad

The Year Abroad (Modern Languages)

If, in the first year, you are taking Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, or Spanish, and you intend to continue studying one or more of these languages throughout your degree, you will insert a ‘Year Abroad’ into your course of study between your second year and your final year.

The Year Abroad offers you an opportunity to study at a university, or to teach English in a secondary school, or to undertake an internship, in a wide variety of locations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, or Latin America. You will be transferred from the three-year to the four-year version of your degree course at the end of your first year, giving you over a year in which to plan the Year Abroad, in consultation with your advisers in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures. If, however, you later decide to stop studying a language, at the end of your second year, you will transfer back to the three-year version of the course.

Alternatively, you can study a language through the School’s Centre for Foreign Language Study (CFLS). The Centre teaches a number of European and Asian languages at beginners’, intermediate, and advanced levels but these do not lead to a Year Abroad.

Other opportunities for Study Abroad

We have established exchanges with many international partner universities, and opportunities for you to spend a year studying abroad are now multiplying as more and more of these exchanges are created. Combined Social Sciences students are in a particularly good position to take advantage of these opportunities, since you are studying several subjects, and would, therefore, be ‘at home’ studying in universities throughout much of the English-speaking world. You must compete for Study Abroad places, and so it is not possible to guarantee that everyone who wishes to study in the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, or Australia, for example, will be able to do so as part of their course. If early in the second year, you are offered a Study Abroad place, you will be transferred from the three-year to the four-year version of your degree, and spend your third year studying abroad before returning to Durham for your fourth and final year.

Placement Year

All Combined Social Sciences students have the opportunity to undertake an optional placement year during their time at Durham. Similarly to the ‘Year Abroad’, this will extend your degree by a year and take place between your second and final year extending your degree to four years. Supported by the Faculty Placement Officer, you will be encouraged to secure an opportunity which aligns with your broader career aspirations and compliments your degree.

Due to the flexibility of the degree, Combined Social Science students are in a strong position to work for a range of organisations from multi-national corporations, government agencies, NGOs and small businesses. Suitable placement opportunities can take place in the UK or internationally meaning that students are still able to have a global experience during their degree. The Combined Honours Staff, Faculty Placement Officer and Careers and Enterprise Centre support students before, during and after their placement year and students retain their student status for the year on placement.

Learn more

If you are curious about the big issues that shape our society, this course may be for you. Taking a research-led approach, Combined Honours in Social Sciences explores systems, institutions, cultures and behaviours that shape the lives of people across the world.

A multidisciplinary qualification that sits outside of traditional boundaries, this bespoke, academically ambitious course offers exceptional flexibility.

You can choose to focus on two subjects or spread your learning across three or four to suit your individual interests, strengths and career plans. You can also apply to add a placement year or year abroad to your degree, increasing the course from three years to four.

Learning from academics working at the forefront of their specialisms, our students graduate feeling confident, intellectually engaged and well prepared for employment or further study. As a graduate you will be well placed to take up a career in fields as diverse as teaching, journalism, social work, in financial services or the charity sector.

In the Social Sciences you can choose from:

• Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Business
• Economics
• Education
• Geography
• International Relations
• Politics
• Sociology and Criminology
• Sport

Up to half of your modules can be chosen from subjects in the Arts and Humanities (subject to timetable compatibility and entry requirements):

• Classics and Ancient History
• English Literature
• History
• Music
• Philosophy
• Theology and Religious Studies
• Visual Arts
• Languages, currently Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish

The degree culminates in a dissertation on a relevant topic which draws together the skills developed throughout the course.

Course structure

Years 1 and 2

The first two years follow a similar structure. In each year you will study 120 credits, chosen from a minimum of two and a maximum of four subjects. The subjects currently on offer are listed below.

Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a placement or year abroad)

In your final year, you will complete a dissertation in one of your subjects, alongside your remaining credits from a total of two or three subjects.

Modules can be chosen from a list of subjects which currently includes:

Social Sciences subjects

Anthropology includes cultural anthropology and physical anthropology, and a range of modules concerned with material culture, the physical and social evolution of humans, and topics such as medical anthropology and development anthropology.

Archaeology focuses on particular periods and places, including prehistoric archaeology, Roman archaeology, mediaeval and post-mediaeval archaeology, and the archaeology of Britain, Europe, Egypt, India and the Near East, as well as study of the employment of scientific methods in archaeology.

Business includes modules in entrepreneurship, management and governance, and some students choose to study additional modules in business management and marketing.

Economics includes microeconomics, macroeconomics and topics such as the history of economic thought, environmental economics, development economics, monetary economics and the economics of social policy.

Education includes central issues in school and higher education involving the study of the historical, philosophical, psychological, sociological and political dimensions of educational theory and practice, and the development of the social sciences in the modern and postmodern periods.

Geography includes human geography and a range of modules concerned with geographical theory and methods as well as special topics in urban transformation, environmental change, development, and hazard and risk.

International Relations and Politics includes politics in Europe, the USA, the Middle East and the Far East, as well as the history of political thought, or international relations, with a special emphasis on the Middle East and the Far East, and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies.

Sociology includes theories and methods, social structures, social policy, social exclusion, and the sociology of health, the city, and popular music.

Criminology includes theories and methods, crime and deviance, policing, sociology of punishment and the criminal justice system.

Sport includes modules on the sociology of sport and on sport and social policy.

Arts and Humanities subjects

Classics and Ancient History includes translation, the history, philosophy, literature and culture of the ancient world, and the study of Greek and Latin at several different levels, opening up the literatures of the Greek and Roman worlds in their original languages.

English Literature includes specific literary genres, such as poetry, drama and the novel. Also, the literatures of specific periods, including Medieval, Renaissance, Romantic, Victorian and Modern Literature, as well as studies in the theory and practice of literary criticism.

History includes medieval, early modern and late modern history through a range of modules in economic, social, religious, cultural, political and diplomatic history, focusing on Britain, continental Europe, Africa, China and the USA.

Modern Languages and Cultures includes the principal languages of Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. Each offers core language modules and ‘culture’ modules which cover a broad range of themes in history, politics, literature, film, the media, linguistics, translation and interpreting.

If you are not taking a modern language as one of your main subjects, you can study one of a number of languages, currently including Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish, at various levels, from beginners’ to advanced level, in the School’s Centre for Foreign Language Study (CFLS).

Music includes musicology, including the history of music, music theory and analysis, and ethnomusicology, and, where these are studied alongside musicology, performance, composition and other practice-based disciplines.

Philosophy includes many of the principal philosophical disciplines, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and aesthetics, and also the history and philosophy of science and medicine.

Theology and Religion includes biblical studies, Christian theology, including the history of theology, contemporary theology, the philosophy of religion, and ethics and religious studies, including the sociology and anthropology of religion.

Visual Arts combines high-level critical and historical study of visual arts and film with a range of practical skills.

Certain elements of the course are defined by the choice of subject, for example:

• If your principal subjects include a modern language, then your studies will be extended from three years to four. The third year is spent abroad studying at university, teaching English or undertaking internships.
• If your primary interest lies in the Arts and Humanities, you should apply for the Liberal Arts degree instead.
• If you are only interested in modern languages subjects, you should apply for the Modern Languages and Cultures degree instead.
• It is not possible to study Business and Economics alone or Politics and International Relations alone. For these combinations you would need to look at courses offered by the Business School or School of Government and International Affairs, respectively.
• Your choice of modules is subject to availability, timetable compatibility and the approval of the Director of Combined Honours in Social Sciences. You may also be required to meet specific A level or equivalent requirements.

Additional pathways

Students on the Combined Honours in Social Sciences can apply to be transferred onto either the ‘with Year Abroad’ or ‘with Placement’ pathway. Places are competitive and if you are chosen your studies will extend from three years to four.

If you are selected for the study abroad route you will spend Year 3 studying at one of our overseas partner universities. This flexible year is designed around your area of study and interests. Not only will you gain valuable academic experiences to take forward to your final year and beyond, study abroad is also an opportunity to expand your cultural horizons, develop language skills and meet new people.

If you are selected for the ‘with placement’ route, Year 3 is spent in the workplace. Combined Social Science students are in a strong position to work for a range of organisations from multinational corporations, government agencies, NGOs and small businesses. During the year you will be assigned an academic tutor who will visit you, liaise with your employer and provide the support to ensure you gain the most from your experience.

The placement year is an opportunity to put learning from the first two years into practice. You will also gain valuable experience and a tailored skill set to take forward to your final year. The skills and professional network gained during the placement year will give you a head start with graduate employers.

Placement