This information is currently being updated for 2021-22, so is subject to change

The History and Modern Languages Tripos consists of three Parts:

• Part IA
• Part IB
• Part II

Please note that from October 2022 the History Tripos will be undergoing a reform.

Although these changes will not affect your degree, if you are interested, you can find more information on the new structure here: History Tripos Reform 2022. As at present, not all the new papers will be available to students taking HML.

Part IA

Students will offer:

Two History papers, to be chosen from:

• Paper 12 - European history, 776 BC - AD 69
• Paper 13 - European history, 31 BC - AD 900
• Paper 14 - European history, c. 900 - c. 1450
• Paper 16 - European history, 1450 - 1760
• Paper 17 - European history, 1715 - 1890
• Paper 18 - European history, since 1890
• Paper 19 - History of political thought to c. 1700
• Paper 20 - History of political thought from c. 1700 to c. 1890
• Paper 21 - Empires and world history from the fifteenth century to the First World War
• Paper 23 - World History since 1914

For their language courses, students will take one of the following options:

• Option A (ab initio) - available in German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish:
  
  • Paper A1 - Introduction to the foreign language 1: Use of the foreign language (GEA1, ITA1, PGA1, SLA1, SPA1)
  • Paper A2 - Introduction to the foreign language 2: Translation from the foreign language (GEA2, ITA2, PGA2,SLA2, SPA2)
  • Paper A3 - Introduction to the foreign language 3: Introduction to culture/literature of the foreign language (GEA3, ITA3, PGA3, SLA3, SPA3)
  • Oral examination A

• Option B (post A Level or equivalent) languages - available in French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish:
  
  • Paper B1 - Use of the foreign language (FRB1, GEB1, ITB1, SLB1, SPB1)
  • Paper B2 - Translation from the foreign language (FRB2, GEB2, ITB2, SLB2, SPB2)
  • Oral examination B
  • Introductory Scheduled Paper relating to the language concerned (Fr.1, Ge.1, It.1, Sl.1, Sp.1).

Part IB

Part IB is the second year of the HML course. In order to be eligible to take Part IB, a candidate must have passed Part IA of the HML Tripos or Part IA of the MML Tripos, or obtained honours in another Honours Examination in the previous year and obtained prior approval from the Chair of the HML Management Committee. Optional papers taken for Part IB may not be repeated at Part II level, although they may provide the subject area for the Year Abroad Project.

In the second year, students will offer:

• The core language papers in their chosen language
• One paper from the specified Modern Languages range
• One paper from the specified History range
• One further specialist paper from either Modern Languages or History

The core language papers offered for the chosen language option will be:

• Option A (ab initio) - available in German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish:
  
  • Paper B1 - Introduction to the foreign language 1: Use of the foreign language (GEB1, ITB1, PGB1, SLB1, SPB1)
  • Paper B2 - Introduction to the foreign language 2: Translation from the foreign language (GEB2, ITB2, PGB2, SLB2, SPB2)
  • Oral examination B
• Option B (post A Level or equivalent) languages - available in French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish:
  
  • Paper B3 - Translation into the foreign language, and test in the foreign language through audio-visual media (FRB3; GEB3; SLB3; SPB3)

The specified range of Modern Languages papers, from which the student will offer either one or two papers, is listed below. Students may only offer one of the "Introduction to the language and culture..." papers (those identified with an asterisk *). Papers with a dagger symbol (†) are available for examination by Long Essay. Papers with a hash symbol (#) at the end of the title have managed numbers.

• Comparative Studies
  
  • CS 1 - The Romance languages
  • CS 6 - European Film
• French
  
  • FR 2 - Structures and varieties of French
  • FR 3† - Love, violence, and power in France, 1100–1500
  • FR 4† - Rethinking the human: French literature, thought, and culture, 1500–1700
  • FR 5† - Revolutions in writing, 1700–1900
  • FR 6† - Innovation and upheaval: deformation and reformulation in the 20th and 21st centuries
• German
  
  • GE 2† - German history and thought since 1750
  • GE 4† - The making of German culture
  • GE 5† - Modern German culture (1): 1750-1914
  • GE 6† - Modern German culture (2): 1890 to the present day
  • GE 7† - German: a linguistic introduction
• Italian
  
  • IT 2: Structure and varieties of Italian
  • IT 3† - Italian cinema
  • IT 4† - Autobiography and self-representation in Italian culture
  • IT 5 - Italian identities: place, language, and culture
• Portuguese
  
  • PG 1 - Introduction to the language, literatures, and cultures of Portuguese-speaking countries (available to ex-ab initio students only)
  • PG 4† - Self, family, nation, and Empire in Lusophone culture
  • SP 11 - The Hispanic languages
• Slavonic Studies
  
  • SL 2 - The history and culture of Early Rus
  • SL 4† - Russian culture from the Golden Age to the Silver Age
  • SL 6† - Russian culture after 1953
  • SL 9* - Introduction to the language, literature and culture of Ukraine
  • SL10 - Studies in Twentieth-Century Ukrainian Literature and Film
  • SL 13* - Introduction to the language, literature and culture of Poland
  • SL14† - Russian Culture from 1895 to the Death of Stalin
  • SL15 - Cultural Histories of the present
• Spanish
  
  • SP 3† - Medieval Iberia, Early Modern Spain, and Latin America
  • SP 4† - Modern Spanish culture and history
  • SP 5† - Latin-American culture and history
  • SP 11 - The Hispanic languages
• General (introductory language papers)
  
  • GR 3* - Introduction to Modern Greek language and culture
  • PG 3* - Introduction to the language, literatures, and cultures of the Portuguese-speaking World #
  • SL 9* - Introduction to the language, literature, and culture of Ukraine
  • SL 13* - Introduction to the language, literature, and culture of Poland
  • SP 6* - Introduction to Catalan language and culture

The specified range of History papers, from which the student will offer either one or two papers, will be:

• Paper 12 - European history, 776 BC - AD 69
• Paper 13 - European history, 31 BC - AD 900
• Paper 16 - European history, 1450 - 1760
• Paper 17 - European history, 1715 - 1890
• Paper 18 - European history, since 1890
• Paper 19 - History of political thought to c. 1700
• Paper 20 - History of political thought from c. 1700 to c. 1890
• Paper 21 - Empires and world history from the fifteenth century to the First World War
• Paper 23 - World History since 1914

Part II

During their Year Abroad, students prepare a Year Abroad Project which is assessed at Part II.

Students will also take an Oral exam at the beginning of the year; these are normally held on the Thursday and Friday before full Michaelmas Term (ie: 30 September and 1st October 2021). Read more about the Oral C exam.

In addition, in the fourth year, students will offer:

The two core language courses:

• Paper C1: Translation from and into the foreign language (FRC1, GEC1, ITC1, PGC1, SLC1, SPC1)
• Paper C2: Text and Culture (FRC2, GEC2, ITC2, PGC2, SLC2, SPC2)

And choose three other papers, in one of the following combinations:

• one History paper, and two MMLL papers;
• two History papers and one MMLL paper;
• one History paper, one MMLL paper and a dissertation.

List of MMLL papers you can choose (with the exception of Linguistics papers)

List of History papers you can choose 

You can choose from the whole range listed in Sections B, C, or D. But please note that if you choose a Special Subject:

• it will count as one paper, and you will take the written (gobbets) exam (Paper 3), and not write a Long Essay (Paper 2);
• you can only take one Special Subject paper. If you wish to do a second History paper, it must be selected from Sections C or D.

Students can also opt to offer a Dissertation instead of a scheduled paper; please see our Dissertation Guidance here on the Moodle page.

From 2021 the word count is 10,000 words.