History

The History Programme aims to be one of the leading centres of historical scholarship on modern and contemporary Asia. It is a unique institution that seeks to train students to not only think critically but also to apply interdisciplinary methods to identify and address contemporary problems from historical perspectives.
 
The Faculty are committed to pursue excellent research and teaching in areas such as:
  • Rethinking the multiple dimensions of Asian history in global context
  • How science, technology and medicine have transformed human societies and global relations
  • How the past affects the present
  • The nature of the historical discipline itself
The BA (Honours) programme was structured to equip students with the breadth of knowledge about major historical subjects. It further enables students to concentrate their studies on what most appeals to them as they advance in their coursework. In addition, the undergraduate programme cultivates interdisciplinarity. All of the training will culminate in the final year research project, where students showcase their capacities to conduct independent research and advance an argument persuasively. To be awarded the BA (Honours), students should demonstrate the capability to master the secondary literature in their chosen areas of study, engage in independent research, exercise critical judgment about the texts that they encounter, and communicate their findings in a well-reasoned and scholarly manner.

 

To graduate, students must complete 2 categories of requirements, totaling 125 AUs. The 2 categories are as follows:

A. Major Requirements (69 AUs) 
B. Interdisciplinary Collaborative Core (ICC)

  • Common Core (17 AUs)
  • Foundational Core (10 AUs)

C. Broadening & Deepening Electives (29 AUs)

Curriculum Structure | AY2024-2025 Intake
A. Major RequirementsB. Interdisciplinary Collaborative Core (ICC)C. Broadening & Deepening Electives (BDE)Total (AUs)
CorePrescribed ElectivesFYP or Two HH4000 level coursesCommon CoresFoundational Cores
12498171029125


Duration of study

The curriculum is designed as a four-year course. Well-prepared students can complete the degree in three and a half years.

A. MAJOR REQUIREMENTS (69 AUs)

The requirements for a History major consist of 3 components:


A1. History Core Courses (12 AUs)
A2. History Prescribed Electives (49 AUs)
A3. Graduation Project (FYP) or 2 HH4000 level courses (8 AUs)
     (The two HH4000 level courses are for those who are not eligible to do FYP.)


A1. History Core (Compulsory) Courses
The 4 core courses (12 AUs) are compulsory courses which students must complete.

  • HH1001 What is History?  (3 AUs) 
  • HH1002 Asia-Pacific in Global History: Pre-1800 (3 AUs) or 
    HH1003 Asia-Pacific in Global History: From 1800 (3 AUs)
  • HH2001 Singapore: The Making of a Cosmopolitan City-State (3 AUs)
  • HH3001 Historiography: Theory and Methods (3 AUs)

A2. History Prescribed Electives Courses
Students must complete at least 15 prescribed electives (49 AUs):

(i)  At least 11 at HH1000, HH2000 and HH3000 levels and at least 4 at HH4000 level and;
(ii) Students will have to take at least one course from 3 of the 4 categories.

Applied History

  • HH1025 World Archaeology (3 AUs)
  • HH1125 History and Archaeology: An Introduction (3 AUs)
  • HH2125 The World in 12 Objects (3 AUs)
  • HH2126 Heroes and Heroines in Asia (3 AUs)
  • HH3022 World War II and Southeast Asia (3 AUs)
  • HH3031 The United States and the Modern Middle East (3 AUs)
  • HH3043 China's Cultural Revolution as History and Memory (3 AUs)
  • HH4015 Film: A Global History (4 AUs)
  • HH4021 Public & Applied History (4 AUs)
  • HH4027 Propaganda: History, theories and practices (4 AUs)
  • HH4125 Colonial Archaeology of Southeast Asia (4 AUs)
  • HR4001 Exhibition Histories: Museums to Biennales (4 AUs)

Global Asia

  • HH1008 The Emergence of Modern Southeast Asia (3 AUs)
  • HH2005 Foundations of East Asia (3 AUs)
  • HH2009 China in Revolution and Reform (3 AUs)
  • HH2011 Ancient and Medieval South Asia (3 AUs)
  • HH2024 History of the Malay World: Present identities, Past histories (3 AUs)
  • HH2025 The World of Southeast Asia to 1600 (3 AUs)
  • HH2030 Ascetics and Aesthetics of Medieval Japan (3 AUs)
  • HH2031 History of Food in China (3 AUs)
  • HH3003 Migration and Diaspora: Chinese Experiences in Comparative  Perspective (3 AUs)
  • HH3007 Southeast Asian-China Interactions (3 AUs)
  • HH3008 Modern South Asia (3 AUs)
  • HH3020 Introduction to Korean History (3 AUs)
  • HH3023 Burma/Myanmar: A History (3 AUs)
  • HH3027 A History of Modern Indonesia (3 AUs)
  • HH3036 South Asia and the World (3 AUs)
  • HH3044 Heritage Medicine in Singapore: Malay and Chinese Traditions (3 AUs)
  • HH4003 The Silk Road: Old and New (4 AUs)
  • HH4012 Intellectual History of Modern China (4 AUs)
  • HH4013 The 'Big Man' and Political Legitimation in Southeast Asia (4 AUs)
  • HH4017 Defining the Nation: India on the Eve of Independence (4 AUs)
  • HH4023 The United States and Southeast Asia in the Twentieth Century​ (4 AUs)
  • HH4029 History of Modern China and Colonial Hong Kong, c. 1945-1977 (4 AUs)
  • HH4031 History and Archaeology of Ancient China (4 AUs)
  • HH4090 Special Topics in History – Global Asia (4 AUs)

 Interdisciplinary History

  • HH1004 Science and Technology in Historical Perspective (3 AUs)​
  • HH2002 Gender in History (3 AUs)
  • HH2007 Health and Illness in History (3 AUs)
  • HH2008 Feasting and Fasting: Food and Drink in History (3 AUs)
  • HH2015 Biopolitics and East Asian History (3 AUs)
  • HH2017 History of Information Technology (3 AUs)
  • HH2020 Science and War (3 AUs)
  • HH2023 Reading in the History of Health and Medicine (3 AUs)
  • HH2026 Health, Food, and Sports in Modern Korean History (3 AUs)
  • HH2027 Blood, Germs, and Sick Bodies: Biomedicine in History (3 AUs)
  • HH2032 Introduction to Cultural History (3 AUs)
  • HH2046 Urban History (3 AUs)
  • HH3002 Science, Technology, and Medicine in Modern East Asia (3 AUs)
  • HH3004 Comparative Business History (3 AUs)
  • HH3013 Comparative History of Race Science (3 AUs)
  • HH3016 History of Madness (3 AUs)
  • HH3017 World Environmental History (3 AUs) 
  • HH3018 The Environmental History of Oceans (3 AUs) 
  • HH3019 History of the Body (3 AUs)
  • HH3028 Global History of Capitalism (3 AUs)
  • HH3030 The Apocalypse in Western History (3 AUs)
  • HH3032 Science and Religion in History (3 AUs)
  • HH3033 Buddhism: A Social and Intellectual History (3 AUs)
  • HH3034 Ascetism: The Discipline of Desire (3 AUs)
  • HH3040 History of Chinese Medicine (3 AUs)
  • HH3041 History of Feminism (3 AUs)
  • HH3042 Climate and Society in Historical Perspective (3 AUs)
  • HH3044 Heritage Medicine in Singapore: Malay and Chinese Traditions (3 AUs)
  • HH3046 Colonial Cities in Asia (3 AUs)
  • HH3130 The History of Time (3 AUs)
  • HH4005 Culture and Heritage: Perspectives from History (4 AUs)
  • HH4006 The Green Earth: Issues in Environmental History (4 AUs)
  • HH4020 Science, Technology, and Science Fiction​ (4 AUs)
  • HH4022 Colonial combination of Western and folk-based medical practices in Singapore (4 AUs)
  • HH4024 Lineage, Ritual, and the State in Asia (4 AUs)
  • HH4025 History of Disease: Human Evolution, Disease and Health (4 AUs)
  • HH4030 Prehistory and Archaeology in East and Southeast Asia (4 AUs)
  • HH4028 Tantric South Asia: Politics, Aesthetics, Religion (4 AUs)
  • HH4046 The Urban Coast (4 AUs)
  • HH4091 Special Topics in History - Interdisciplinary History​ (4 AUs)
  • HI3001 1984: Past, Present, Prophecy​ (3 AUs)

World History

  • ​HH1006 The West in Global History (3 AUs)
  • HH1010 US History to 1865 (3 AUs)
  • HH1011 US History since 1865 (3 AUs)
  • HH2004 The Islamicate World (3 AUs)
  • HH2006 Modern European History (3 AUs)
  • HH2021 Race, Gender, Class and Colonial Power (3 AUs)
  • HH2090 Special Topics in History I (3 AUs)
  • HH3006 US Foreign Relations History​ (3 AUs)
  • HH3009 Comparative History of Global Migration (3 AUs)
  • HH3012 The United States and the Vietnam Wars (3 AUs)
  • HH3024 Decolonisation and Democracy: Britain since 1945 (3 AUs)
  • HH3025 The Cultural, Social and Economic History of Football (3 AUs)
  • HH3035 Empire and Decolonization (3 AUs)
  • HH3037 Politics of Popular Culture (3 AUs)
  • HH3039 Maritime Asia in the Longue Duree (3 AUs)
  • HH3045 Cold War in Asia: Transnational and Micro Approaches (3 AUs)
  • HH3090 Special Topics in History II (3 AUs)
  • HH4007 An International History of the Cold War (4 AUs)
  • HH4010 Anticolonial Resistance in the British Empire (4 AUs)
  • HH4011 Slavery and Forced Labour in the Indian Ocean World (4 AUs)
  • HH4014 A Global History of Death (4 AUs)
  • HH4016 Topics in World History (4 AUs)
  • HH4026 Decolonisation of the British Empire in Asia and Africa (4 AUs)
  • HH4092 Special Topics in History – World History​ (4 AUs)

 A3. Graduation Project (FYP) or 2 HH4000 level courses (8 AUs)

The two HH4000 level courses are for those who are not eligible to do FYP.


B. OTHER REQUIREMENTS (56 AUs)

- ICC-Common Core (17 AUs) 

Course TitleAUs
Inquiry and Communication in an Interdisciplinary World2
Navigating the Digital World2
Ethics & Civics in a Multi-Cultural World2
Career and Entrepreneurial Development for the Future World2
Science & Technology for Humanity
3
Sustainability: Society, Economy & Environment3
Healthy Living & Well-being3


- ICC-Foundational Core (10 AUs)

Course TitleAUs
Effective Communication II2
Digital Literacy II3
Internship5


- Broadening & Deepening Electives (29 AUs)

There are no restrictions on the selection of courses to make up broadening & deepening electives. Students can choose any of the following:

- Complete a 2nd Major.
- Complete a Minor in another discipline.
- Earn AUs under an International Exchange programme.
- Any course offered by any School as long as the pre-requisites are satisfied​.

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History students in NTU
Humanities

Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in History

We seek to train students to not only think critically but also to apply interdisciplinary methods to identify and address contemporary problems from historical ...