Drama with History - BA (Hons)

About this course

About

The degree in Drama with History allows you to develop a broad base of knowledge of Drama practices and systematic approaches to the analysis of works in performance; alongside developing a wide range of written, verbal, and analytical skills through the study of the events and processes that have shaped modern society.

There are particular areas of specialist practice in Drama that you can develop as you progress through each level of the degree. If you wish to pursue a creative career, although we do not provide full-time conservatoire training for actors, you can take modules that introduce you to the principles of acting, writing, directing, design, stage management, arts education and working with community groups. These can prepare you for further specialist professional training at post-graduate level.

Across the degree, you will develop a core set of academic skills in research, analysis and communication in written and oral formats. Alongside these, you will also develop transferable skills in group work, project management, problem solving and the use of key technologies.

The programme is designed specifically to facilitate the development of your ability to work independently. We will offer you extensive support and guidance throughout your studies, as you develop the skills necessary to carry out rigorous and sustained independent research and practice. In this way, you will develop key skills alongside foundational professional competencies you can draw on in your future career.

Attendance

The course normally lasts for three years (four years if you choose to do a placement).

During this time, there will be a number of different teaching and learning experiences for you to enjoy. You will be introduced to key topics in lectures, and you will get the chance to share your views with other students in small group seminars and to explore approaches through a range of practical workshops and projects. One-to-one tutorials, video and email consultations are also offered so that you can ask your lecturer the questions that really matter to you.

Timetabled sessions usually amount to about 9 hours per week, but you'll spend much more time reading, rehearsing and making performances.

Start dates

• September 2024

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Learning and teaching methods include lectures, tutorials, seminars, practical workshops, group work, projects, rehearsals and production meetings. Particularly at Levels 5 and 6, divisions between these class types dissolve and an individual session with a tutor may involve a range of student-tutor activities. Tutor-led classes provide the core structure and support on individual modules, but the emphasis in learning remains on the student’s independent engagement with the scope of the module. Students are routinely expected, therefore, to prepare in advance for taught sessions.

Within this context, lectures are used selectively to introduce key concepts and practices with which students will engage. The emphasis in lectures at all levels is on an interactive learning process, often based on students' prior preparation, through in-class tasks, or engaging with students' existing cultural capital.

Seminars are the focal point for student-led discussion and engagement and students are required to prepare materials in advance and to follow-up issues independently as a response to this. Students may be required to undertake presentations or performances within the seminar format.

Practical workshops are used to explore and test concepts and practices and, as appropriate, to develop experiential knowledge, practical skills and techniques. In some instances this will be through the production of creative projects. These projects will be driven by a specific brief, and at Levels 5 and 6, such briefs are geared towards professional practice.

Tutorials are scheduled within modules to provide opportunities for face-to-face supervision; and where appropriate, feed-forward and feedback on assessed tasks.

Digital resources are used to support students’ learning, made available primarily through the University's VLE, Blackboard Learn. Students are supported in using these resources from their Level 4 induction programme onwards through dedicated training sessions, support handouts and manuals and online tutorials.

Group work is used within the taught settings and as a significant part of the independent learning process, particularly in areas of creative practical work. Students are given guidance and training in group work processes throughout the programme. Through negotiation and reflection within class they are supported in independent group working.

Assessment strategies include essays, presentations, performances, literature reviews, dissertations, workshop demonstrations, creative writing, reflective essays and vivas, portfolios, and websites. Assessment strategies are constructively aligned with learning outcomes for the module and programme overall. While there are a relatively small number of summative assessments for any module (normally two, a maximum of three), these are supported by a range of opportunities for formative feedback.

Prof Tom Maguireis a graduate of the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow and is a Distinguished Teaching Fellow of the University. He teaches in the areas of contemporary performance and applied theatre. His research interests are in contemporary British and Irish theatre, particularly storytelling performance and Theatre for Young Audiences.

Dr Lisa Fitzpatrick studied at Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and the University of Toronto. She teaches in areas of critical theory and contemporary theatre. Her research interests are: violence and performance, Irish theatre, Canadian drama, and gender and performance.

Dr Giuliano Campo is an Italian performer, director and writer whose research and teaching interests include actor training and theatre anthropology. His works are published in several countries in different languages, such as Italian, Polish, English and Portuguese.

Dr Jennifer Goddard. Dr Goddard was awarded her PhD in drama and disability from Queen’s University, Belfast in 2018. She has also worked as a drama practitioner nationally and internationally for the past 17 years. Her current work is in the area of Applied and Community Theatre; Disability and Performance; Multi-Sensory Theatre & Early Years Performance; Qualitative Arts Research; and Drama Facilitation & Facilitator Training.

Academic profile

Dr Giuliano Campo is an Italian performer, director and writer whose research and teaching interests include actor training, world traditional disciplines of the self and theatre anthropology. His works are published in several countries in different languages. Giuliano is the Course Director for Drama.

Prof Tom Maguireis the Head of the School of Arts and Humanities. Heis a graduate of the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow and is a Distinguished Teaching Fellow of the University. His research interests are in contemporary British and Irish theatre, particularly storytelling performance and Theatre for Young Audiences.

Dr Lisa Fitzpatrick studied at Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and the University of Toronto. She teaches in areas of critical theory and contemporary theatre. Her research interests are: violence and performance, Irish theatre, Canadian drama, and gender and performance.

Dr Jennifer Goddard. Dr Goddard’s current work is in the area of Applied and Community Theatre; Disability and Performance; Multi-Sensory Theatre & Early Years Performance; Qualitative Arts Research; and Drama Facilitation & Facilitator Training. She continues to work closely with industry partners to develop research and community-based projects and provide consultation.

Modules

Here is a guide to the subjects studied on this course.

Courses are continually reviewed to take advantage of new teaching approaches and developments in research, industry and the professions. Please be aware that modules may change for your year of entry. The exact modules available and their order may vary depending on course updates, staff availability, timetabling and student demand. Please contact the course team for the most up to date module list.

Year one

Dramatic Structures on Stage and Screen

Year: 1

Status: C

This module serves as an introduction to the fundamental structures of dramatic performance. Weekly lectures will introduce a range of core concepts. Students then take a weekly seminar through which they will develop the knowledge and frameworks provided to analyse the creation and reception of dramatic performances. The module will refer in detail to a range of set plays, studied from both the script and in live performance.

Space and Performance

Year: 1

Status: C

Space and Performance introduces students to core concepts relating to space, a defining feature of performance. It encompasses historical and contemporary performance practices to explore the relationships between space, form and function in performance. This compulsory drama module continues to develop good study skills and to extend critical vocabularies established in DRA101. It is team-taught, by a lecture and small-group seminar each week. Assessment 100% coursework

Irish Government and Politics since 1922

Year: 1

Status: C

This module investigates the primary forces shaping Irish politics, political institutions and structures, political behaviour, the mass media and policy making.

Making History: Skills for Historians

Year: 1

Status: C

This module is designed to introduce students to the practical skills required for studying history at degree level and the methods and approaches that inform historical practice.

Defining America: Themes in American History, C17th -C20th

Status: O

Year: 1

This module is optional

The module will illustrate and analyse the key themes and issues in American history from colonial times to the present day. Patterns and problems in the development of America will be discussed, and consideration of differing interpretations and source evaluations are implicit throughout the course. By the end of the module students should understand how the history of America has been shaped by the key events and debates that have taken place over the last four hundred years.

The Making of Modern Britain and Ireland, 1800-1945

Status: O

Year: 1

This module is optional

This module provides a comprehensive introduction to the histories of modern Britain and Ireland. It explores key themes such as migration; industrialisation and urbanisation; reform and revolution; class and identity; religion, nationalism and unionism; war and empire. It utilises the latest historical scholarship and key primary sources delivered by research-active scholars via interactive workshops. The module brings to light the key events and historical processes which have shaped the Britain and Ireland of today.

Revolutionary Russia, 1894-1939

Status: O

Year: 1

This module is optional

This module examines Revolutionary Russia from the last Romanov ruler through to the establishment of Stalinism in the USSR. Key historiographical debates will be examined and assessed. The political, economic, and social and cultural aspects of this period will be covered

Year two

Acting 2: Studio Practice

Year: 2

Status: C

This module seeks to enable students to generate improvised performances as part of an acting ensemble and to provide an opportunity to explore the performative potential of a given dramatic role through the application of specific improvisational practices. It also seeks to provide a critical language to both describe and reflect on these practices. Assessment: 100% Coursework.

Acting 1: Text and Performance

Year: 2

Status: C

This module will introduce students to the working methods of two major twentieth century acting theorists. It will offer students the opportunity to explore these methods in a practical setting and encourage them to reflect critically on the contrasting and comparable elements of each approach. Assessment: 100% Coursework.

The Ages of Extremes: International History 1914-2020

Status: O

Year: 2

This module is optional

This module is designed principally for students studying History and provides an introduction to some of the main developments in world and international history from the First World War to the post-September 11th world.

Disenchanted Land? Culture and Society in Early Modern Europe

Status: O

Year: 2

This module is optional

This module tackles the social and cultural realities of early modern Europeans from all social strata. The various issues studied include: urban development; social problems involved in rapid urbanization; daily lives, material culture, and dissimilar forms of social existence of the various heterogeneous groups that constituted early modern society; the complex interaction between elite and popular groups; and the attitude of urban society towards marginal and deviant groups.

War and Peace: the Ying and Yang of human history

Status: O

Year: 2

This module is optional

This module is designed, primarily, for History students, and will introducing them to both side of the coin of human development: war and peace; promoting an understanding of the patterns in war and peace & advancement in the course of human history, with a particular focus on the post-1648 & post-1815 periods, but especially, post-World War One, post-World War Two and post-Cold War/post-9/11 history and systems.

Film and the Vietnam Conflict

Status: O

Year: 2

This module is optional

The module explores the history, media, film and political culture in the context of America's involvement in the Vietnam War. The module explores major debates in the historiography of the era. Film representations of the war are subject to scrutiny for what they reveal about American society, and how they depict the changing perspectives of the "history" of the conflict. The module also follows the way in which the war developed and the changing attitudes it provoked at home and abroad.

Year three

Arts Administration

Year: 3

Status: C

This module is provides students with a suitable grounding in the practices and responsibilities associated with contemporary arts administration; and the foundation for competence in relevant entry level areas of employment.

The Form and Function of Performance

Year: 3

Status: C

This module interrogates the relationship between social and political identities and contemporary performance practices. It explores the form and function of performance works and through these analyses the potential efficacy of performance. This module is taught by seminars and is assessed by 100% coursework.

Political Theatre from Expressionism to Brecht

Year: 3

Status: C

This seminar based module seeks to introduce students to key aesthetic movements, through the study of play texts and performances. The module encourages the student to apply critical readings and concepts to the analysis of primary texts, to engage analytically with performance conventions typical of different artistic movements, and to reflect on their practical work and experiences as spectators.

The Fighting Irish: The Irishman at War since 1534

Year: 3

Status: C

This course will examine the emergence and the evolution of the 'Fighting Irishman' in history, literature, art, iconography, film and media. Lectures and readings will deal primarily with the period between the Reformation (1534) and the Good Friday Agreement (1998).
Especial emphasis will be placed on Irish involvement in 17th and 18th century Europe and the Americas; Irish participation in the American War of Independence, the war of 1812, the Civil War and the subjugation of native American peoples. The course will also focus on the historical and military contexts of this tradition, and the ideologies (royalist or republican, nationalist, unionist), which often prompted military service.

The Irish Outlaw: The Making of a Nationalist

Year: 3

Status: C

A study of the Irish outlaw in his various political, socio-economic, historical, historiographical and cultural contexts.

Acting 4: Acting and Screen

Status: O

Year: 3

This module is optional

This module develops acting techniques studied at Level 4 and adapts them to screen. Students become familiar with working procedures involving acting to camera and are encouraged to reflect on the place of the actor historically and in relation to creative applications in performance.

Politics and Society in early modern Britain and Ireland

Status: O

Year: 3

This module is optional

The module tracks the emergence of an internationally powerful British nation state by examining key issues and events from c.1630-1730. It will explore governance in contested kingdoms and diverse societies, the rise of the fiscal-military state and parliamentary monarchy, religious confessionalism and religious pluralism. It will also examine the early modern family, the emergence of the middle class, social and economic improvement, and the Early Enlightenment.

The Myth and Reality of Imperial Spain, 1492-1700

Status: O

Year: 3

This module is optional

This module examines the rise to power of the Spanish Empire in the sixteenth century, and its subsequent decline from the seventeenth century onwards. The following issues will be emphasized: Spain's Empire building; its image in the European political discourse; the military, economic, and social crises of the seventeenth century; the importance of honor and religion in all realms of society; and the cultural impact of Spain in the early modern world.

Death, Disease, and Medicine in Britain, 1800-1914

Status: O

Year: 3

This module is optional

This module introduces students to key themes and topics on the history of death and illness in the long nineteenth century. Drawing from social, medical and Victorian history, students will explore themes such as murder in the Victorian city, ghosts, asylums, suicide, Victorian funerals and bodysnatching. Students will examine interdisciplinary sources including literature and art, as well as standard historical sources.

'Good Trouble': Struggle, Resistance and the African American Experience

Status: O

Year: 3

This module is optional

Race remains one of the most contentious issues in United States society. It has had a profound impact on America's domestic political process and culture and the way in which the US is perceived by the rest of the world. This module seeks to provide insight and understanding into the questions raised by the African American struggle and race relations in America and the continuing problems faced by Black Americans. The module proceeds chronologically through Black history from slavery through to the present day. This module also assesses the cultural contribution of African Americans in the United States in the twentieth century, and explores the legacy of the slave experience. It is interdisciplinary in method and will examine such issues as rebellion and assimilation, black nationalism, family, gender, film and popular culture.

Sport and identity in post-partition Ireland

Status: O

Year: 3

This module is optional

This module provides a comprehensive introduction to key themes within an emerging strand of Irish historiography, with a particular focus on sport and identity. It utilises those themes to engage students in both large and small-group teaching methods which provide a chance to test and further develop some of the key elements of the historians' skill-set.

Year four

Introduction to Directing

Status: O

Year: 4

This module is optional

Introduction to Directing encourages students to start to assemble a personal working method in preparing to analyse and direct scenes using peer actors. This module seeks to introduce methods of analysis and rehearsal practices. Teaching methods include a combination of analytical exercises and workshops. Assessment: 100% Coursework

Theatre and Community

Status: O

Year: 4

This module is optional

This module develops students' ability to engage with forms of participatory theatrical practices which can be applied in processes of community formation and development. The primary focus is on practical experience within a process of reflective learning in which theoretical perspectives are applied and tested.

Acting 3: Commedia dell'Arte

Status: O

Year: 4

This module is optional

This module provides students with a suitable grounding in the history, theories and practices associated with Commedia dell'Arte and work with masks in theatre and performance; and the foundations for competence in setting up independent individual/collective actor/voice training and productions in institutional and non-institutional venues and open spaces.

Placement

Status: O

Year: 4

This module is optional

This module allows students to spend a period of time working outside the university in a suitable theatre or arts organisation. Students develop their vocational skills through work-based learning and developing their capacity for reflexive practice.

ASSESSMENT: 100% Coursework

Year five

Liveness and Documentation in Performance

Year: 5

Status: C

This module interrogates the relationship between performance, liveness and documentation through the development of appropriate critical concepts and vocabulary. It is taught by lecture and seminar and requires students to learn by reading and undertaking practice, reflecting and discussing.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

United States Foreign Policy Since 1945

Year: 5

Status: C

This module is designed principally for students studying History and will promote and in depth understanding of U.S. foreign policy post-1945, and its significance vis-à-vis the rest of the world. It seeks to examine the complex interaction between the United States and the wider world by looking at key events, issues and debates in U.S. Foreign Policy. The chronological approach will focus on the Cold War, Post-Cold War, and post-September 11th eras, analyzing the administrations of Presidents from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama.

Workers and radicalism in modern Ireland, 1800-1939

Year: 5

Status: C

This module investigates the evolution of the working class in Ireland, and its interaction with capital, labour organization, society, and politics.

Creative Business

Status: O

Year: 5

This module is optional

This module assists students in the developing specific skills and awareness to maximise their ability to conceptualise, manage and market new, society centred, ideas.

Advanced Playwriting

Status: O

Year: 5

This module is optional

This module offers the student the opportunity to explore the processes of creative writing for the stage in a diverse range of styles and genres. The student will read from a range of materials and encounter a range of working methods which they will engage with in short written responses, and before developing a full-length piece of writing for performance.

Performance and Disability

Status: O

Year: 5

This module is optional

This module seeks to give students opportunities to engage with different ways of creating theatre through the lens of disability and performance. Students will explore concepts of disability within society in the context of theatre, drama and performance. They will study dramatic representations of disability and how these provide insight into issues relating to the construction of disability within society. Concepts such as difference, equality, social, medical and relational models of disability and co-creation will be considered. Students will learn to reflect critically on and to engage practically with aspects of access and/or aesthetics in relation to disability and performance.

Advanced Directing

Status: O

Year: 5

This module is optional

Advanced Directing facilitates mostly independent applications of analysis and practice introduced in Introduction to Directing. Learning contexts include written preparation and independent rehearsal processes as advanced directors experiment with dramatic action, given circumstances and coaching techniques in order to deliver a one act play at a pre-professional level of performance with peer actors. Teaching methods include analytical 'laboratory' sessions and seminars which will explore and test methods of coaching and evaluation.

Assessment: 100% Coursework

Storytelling and Performance

Status: O

Year: 5

This module is optional

This module provides students with the opportunity to explore storytelling as a performance form within a range of theatrical and performance settings. Practical exploration allows students to engage with the form from within, while independent research and in-class discussion provides the opportunity to contextualise and analyse practices encountered.

Assessment: 100% Coursework.

Arts Entrepreneurship

Status: O

Year: 5

This module is optional

This module develops students' creative engagement with the industry through an exploration of the marketplace, and of the processes involved in setting up and running a new business in the creative and cultural industries. The module has been developed in consultation with Theatre NI and aims to develop students' understanding of entrepreneurial practice and thinking in the creative and cultural industries.

Performing Community

Status: O

Year: 5

This module is optional

This module equips students to use their skills, knowledge and experience in creating performance within a community setting. Taught through lectures, seminars and workshops, the module focuses on engaging with actual communities and the development of independent performance projects. Assessment is 100% coursework.

Theatre for Young Audiences

Status: O

Year: 5

This module is optional

This module provides students with the opportunity to explore the values, ethics and practices of Theatre for Young Audiences. Practical exploration allows students to engage with the form from within, while independent research and in-class discussion provides the opportunity to contextualise and analyse practices encountered.

Assessment: 100% Coursework.

Late Soviet Communism, 1953-1991

Status: O

Year: 5

This module is optional

This module examines the attempts of the post-Stalin leadership to manage, reform, and improve the prosperity of Soviet domestic communism. The political, economic, and social and cultural policies of the three main general secretaries - Khrushchev, Brezhnev, and Gorbachev - will be examined and assessed critically.

Year six

Independent Project

Year: 6

Status: C

This module allows students to negotiate their own programme of study in pursuing a specific research question. Students may present their work as a dissertation, a practical performance or workshop, or undertake a work-based learning project. Assessment: 100% coursework.

Representing Violence

Status: O

Year: 6

This module is optional

This research-lead module seeks to extend the range of theoretical and critical perspectives with which students engage and to focus on the specific contexts of contemporary performance practices. It offers students an opportunity to explore the representation of violence as an enduring matter of philosophical debate and theatrical innovation, that covers such issues as staging strategies, performative strategies, ethical and theoretical questions, and audience reception.

Acting 5: Advanced Acting

Status: O

Year: 6

This module is optional

This module is focused on the preparation, rehearsal and performance of a dramatic role within an independent student-directed project. It engages students in practical exploration and critical study of the work of the actor through weekly workshops and seminars. The assessment is 100% coursework.

Performing Ireland on Stage and Screen

Status: O

Year: 6

This module is optional

This module looks in detail at contemporary Irish theatre practice and in doing so enables students to focus their understanding of contemporary Irish theatre by placing it in a range of relevant discursive and theoretical contexts. Students will read a range of contemporary playtexts and see a range of performances.

Performance and Conflict Transformation

Status: O

Year: 6

This module is optional

This module equips students to use their skills, knowledge and experience in analysing and creating performance within the context of conflict or post-conflict society. Taught through lectures, seminars and workshops, the module focuses on engaging with local and international post-conflict issues and the development of independent projects.

Assessment: 100% coursework

Performance and Health

Status: O

Year: 6

This module is optional

This module provides students with the opportunity to explore performance as a means of enhancing well being, challenging stigmatisation and promoting awareness of health issues. Practical exploration allows students to engage with the issues and formal techniques from within, while independent research and in-class discussion provides the opportunity to contextualise and analyse practices encountered.

Theatre and Ritual

Status: O

Year: 6

This module is optional

This option investigates radical performance practices of the ritualised forms of theatre from modernism to postmodernism and beyond. Students will explore, interrogate and evaluate the theoretical underpinnings, practical methodologies, and performance outcomes of selected bodies of practice and create new work by applying the ideas they have encountered to performance practice in a studio environment. It will be of particular interest to students wishing to pursue innovative contemporary practice or undertake practice-based research after graduation.

Assessment: 100% coursework

Saints and Sinners: Women in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Ireland

Status: O

Year: 6

This module is optional

This module will use the study of women in Irish society from 1850-2000 to consider the role of women in areas such as politics, religion, culture, work and sexuality and how their role and experiences changed over the period. It will allow students to gain an alternative historical perspective on the major political and societal changes of the period. Though the use of oral history students will gain a personal understanding of female experience in the past.

Imperial Retreat: The Decline and Fall of the European Overseas Empires

Status: O

Year: 6

This module is optional

This module will examine the historical process since 1945 whereby European colonial powers either withdrew This module will examine the historical process since 1945 whereby European colonial powers either withdrew or were driven from formal occupation of their overseas possessions. The module will not only examine various interpretations of imperial disengagement but will also provide an in-depth study of the actual mechanics of European decolonisation for particular territories in South and South East Asia, Africa and the Pacific. It also aims to enhance student skills in evaluating interpretations put forward by historians through allowing them to make a detailed study of one particular colonial possession.

America in the Depression, 1929-1941

Status: O

Year: 6

This module is optional

This is an interdisciplinary study of one of the most significant events in the history of the United States since 1900, the Depression that began in 1929 and lasted until the USA entered the Second World War in 1941. This course will examine the turbulent years of the Great Depression and the New Deal. It will cover political, social, economic, and cultural aspects of the events and circumstances that led to the Depression, the election of FDR in 1933, and the formulation of the New Deal as national policy. It will then look at various aspects of New Deal policies and will assess the achievements and limitations of those policies.

The Post-War Body: Medicine and Society in Britain and America, c.1945-90

Status: O

Year: 6

This module is optional

This module examines the dramatic changes in experiences of health and illness that occurred in the twentieth century. Focusing on Britain and America, it explores how our attitudes to matters such as sex, death, eating, disability and mental health were revolutionized in the twentieth century. The module also looks at ethical problems issues such as Cold War human experimentation. Students will engage with broader themes such as class, gender and race relations.

Witchcraft and magic in early modern Europe and Colonial New England, c.1550-1780

Status: O

Year: 6

This module is optional

The early modern period in Europe saw around 40-50,000 people executed for the crime of witchcraft, and many more prosecuted, imprisoned or otherwise punished. This module will examine the many facets of the witchcraft experience in Europe and New England using a variety of contemporary sources: from artwork, to printed books and pamphlets, court records and private correspondence. It will examine patterns of witchcraft accusation and prosecution, the intellectual context of witchcraft beliefs, the connection between witchcraft and women, the decline in educated belief, and the continuation of popular notions and traditions. Early modern witchcraft will be located in its wider magical context by exploring both popular magic (cunning-folk, magical healers and fortune-tellers) and elite magic (astrology, alchemy and angelology). Developments in witchcraft and magic in the early modern period will also be linked to wider societal, cultural and religious changes..

The Northern Ireland Troubles

Status: O

Year: 6

This module is optional

This module examines the origins, course and legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland using innovative learning and teaching methods that promote transferrable skills. Workshops cover the key events and issues of the conflict and its impacts on everyday life, while weekly case studies demonstrate the spatial aspects of issues like urban violence, segregation, and changes in society before, during and after the Troubles.

Standard entry conditions

We recognise a range of qualifications for admission to our courses. In addition to the specific entry conditions for this course you must also meet the University’s General Entrance Requirements.

A level

The A Level requirement for this course is CCC.

Applicants may satisfy the requirement for the final A level grade (C) by substituting a combination of alternative qualifications to the same standard as defined by the University.

Applied General Qualifications

Overall BTEC award profile

QCF Pearson BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma/ OCR Cambridge Technical Level 3 Extended Diploma (2012 Suite)

Award profile of DMM

RQF Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma/ OCR Cambridge Technical Level 3 Extended Diploma (2016 Suite)

Award profile of MMM

QCF Pearson BTEC Level 3 Diploma/ OCR Cambridge Technical Level 3 Diploma(2012 Suite)

Award profile of DM plus A Level Grade C or award profile of DM plus A Level Grade C

RQF Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma/ OCR Cambridge Technical Level 3 Diploma (2016 Suite)

Award profile of MM plus A Level Grade C

QCF Pearson BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma / OCR Cambridge Technical Level 3 Introductory Diploma (2012 Suite)

Award profile of M plus A Level Grades CC

RQF Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate/ OCR Cambridge Technical Level 3 Extended Certificate (2016 Suite)

Award profile of M plus A Level Grades CC

Irish Leaving Certificate

Overall Irish Leaving Certificate profile 96 UCAS tariff points to include a minimum of five subjects (four of which must be at higher level) to include English at H6 if studied at Higher level or O4 if studied at Ordinary Level.

Irish Leaving Certificate UCAS Equivalency

• View tariff point chart

Tariff point chart

Scottish Highers

The Scottish Highers requirement for this course is grades

CCCCC

Applicants may satisfy the requirement for an element of the offer grade profiles (equating to the final A-level grade stated in the standard 3A level offer profile - Grade C) by substituting a combination of alternative qualifications to the same standard as defined by the University.

Scottish Advanced Highers

The Scottish Advanced Highers requirement for this course is grades

DDD

Applicants may satisfy the requirement for an element of the offer grade profiles (equating to the final A-level grade stated in the standard 3A level offer profile - Grade C) by substituting a combination of alternative qualifications to the same standard as defined by the University.

International Baccalaureate

Overall International Baccalaureate profile minimum of 24 points (including 12 at higher level)

Access to Higher Education (HE)

Overall profile of 55% (120 credit Access Course) (NI Access course)

Overall profile of 45 credits at merit (60 credit Access course) (GB Access course)

GCSE

GCSE Profile to include

For full-time study, you must satisfy the General Entrance Requirements for admission to a first degree course and hold a GCSE pass at Grade C/4 or above English Language.

Level 2 Certificate in Essential Skills - Communication will be accepted as equivalent to GCSE English.

English Language Requirements

English language requirements for international applicants
The minimum requirement for this course is Academic IELTS 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5. Trinity ISE: Pass at level III also meets this requirement for Tier 4 visa purposes.

Ulster recognises a number of other English language tests and comparable IELTS equivalent scores.

• English language requirements
• Your country

Additional Entry Requirements

HND - Overall Merit with distinctions in 15 Level 5 credits for entry to Year 1. Those applicants holding a subject-related HND with an overall Merit may be considered for entry to Year 2.

HNC – Overall Merit with distinctions in 45 Level 4 credits for entry to Year 1 only.

You may also meet the course entry requirements with combinations of different qualifications to the same standard as recognised by the University (provided subject requirements as noted above are met).

Foundation Degree

An overall mark of 40% in Level 5 modules for Year 1 entry. Those applicants holding a subject-related Foundation Degree may be considered for entry to Year 2.

APEL (Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning)

The University will consider applications on the basis of experiential learning for those who do not hold the normal entry qualifications.

Transfer from degree level study at other institutions

Those applicants seeking entry with advanced standing, (eg. Transfer from another institution or year 2 entry) will be considered on an individual basis.

Exemptions and transferability

Students may transfer between the Single Honours, Major, and Minor subject strands up to the end of Level 5, depending on the satisfactory completion of a sufficient number of relevant modules from level to level and demonstration of the ability to achieve the relevant programme learning outcomes. Students may also switch between full-time and part-time study to address their specific needs.

Students may apply to transfer into the programme, having completed a Higher National Diploma in Drama, Theatre, Performing Arts, or equivalent. While the Northern Ireland Credit Accumulation and Transfer System (NICATS) allows for transfer into Level 6, this remains exceptional. In the experience of the Subject Team, HND students benefit from transfer into Level 5 as a period in which to firmly ground themselves within the approach to study at degree level. Where students seek to transfer into either Level 5 or Level 6, the application is assessed in terms of a written application, references and an interview. In some instances students may be required to complete written and/or practical tasks to allow them to demonstrate to the subject team the capacity to meet the Programme Learning Outcomes.

Students transferring into the programme from other BA programmes may be considered for entry at any level. The application is assessed in terms of interview, references, and the transcript from the student’s current HEI.

Depending on the level of their achievement, graduates of the Drama programmes will be eligible to apply to the Masters programme in Contemporary Performance Practices. Students may also progress to a taught graduate programme at postgraduate diploma and Masters level in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies within the School.

Careers & opportunities

Graduate employers

Graduates from this course are now working for:

• BBC
• Big Telly Theatre
• Education Authorities
• The Lyric
• Belfast
• Civil Service

Job roles

With this degree you could become:

• teachers
• writer
• broadcaster
• actor
• manager
• director
• facilitator

Career options

Studying Drama with Historywill leave you well-placed to secure employment in a wide-range of fields since this course develops talents which are transferrable across a variety of professions and industries.

Our recent History graduates are working in media, education, civil service, retail, banking and finance, the heritage sector, in law, and many more.

Our Drama graduates work in the professional theatre as actors, directors, writers and stage managers.

Our graduates also work as teachers, college and university lecturers, drama therapists or community artists. They have set up their own businesses, founded theatre companies, been employed in various media posts, management, theatre management, arts administration, and the civil service.

Combining these two subjects will provide you with both specialist creative skills in performance and the key transferable skills in critical thinking, analysis and communication, project management and collaboration that are highly valued by employers.

Work placement / study abroad

Formal arrangements for placement are provided for within the designated module in Year 2. We have relationships with many exchange partners in Europe, overseas and across the globe – and we extend our network every year. There are currently formal subject-specific arrangements for study abroad, at the University of Malta.

Apply

Start dates

• September 2024

Contact

For more information visit

• Visit Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
• Visit School of Arts and Humanities

Disclaimer

1. The University endeavours to deliver courses and programmes of study in accordance with the description set out in this prospectus. The University’s prospectus is produced at the earliest possible date in order to provide maximum assistance to individuals considering applying for a course of study offered by the University. The University makes every effort to ensure that the information contained in the prospectus is accurate, but it is possible that some changes will occur between the date of printing and the start of the academic year to which it relates. Please note that the University’s website is the most up-to-date source of information regarding courses, campuses and facilities and we strongly recommend that you always visit the website before making any commitments.
2. Although the University at all times endeavours to provide the programmes and services described, the University cannot guarantee the provision of any course or facility and the University may make variations to the contents or methods of delivery of courses, discontinue, merge or combine courses, change the campus at which they are provided and introduce new courses if such action is considered necessary by the University (acting reasonably). Not all such circumstances are entirely foreseeable but changes may be required if matters such as the following arise: industrial action interferes with the University’s ability to teach the course as planned, lack of demand makes a course economically unviable for the University, departure of key staff renders the University unable to deliver the course, changes in legislation or government policy including changes, if any, resulting from the UK departing the European Union, withdrawal or reduction of funding specifically provided for the course or other unforeseeable circumstances beyond the University’s reasonable control.
3. If the University discontinues any courses, it will use its best endeavours to provide a suitable alternative course. In addition, courses may change during the course of study and in such circumstances the University will normally undertake a consultation process prior to any such changes being introduced and seek to ensure that no student is unreasonably prejudiced as a consequence of any such change.
4. Providing the University has complied with the requirements of all applicable consumer protection laws, the University does not accept responsibility for the consequences of any modification, relocation or cancellation of any course, or part of a course, offered by the University. The University will give due and proper consideration to the effects thereof on individual students and take the steps necessary to minimise the impact of such effects on those affected. 5. The University is not liable for disruption to its provision of educational or other services caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control providing it takes all reasonable steps to minimise the resultant disruption to such services.

Testimonials

Sophie Hagan (recent Drama Graduate)

'My time at ulster university will always be unforgettable from the friends made within the course and the outstanding academic staff that supported me and aided me to achieve what I did. Ulster gave me the chance to be able to create and practice industry level work. The university’s professional relationships give students head start and then within the professional world work. As well as make connections with and create opportunities with Northern Ireland’s leading arts organisations. With a wide range of modules to choose from students are able to explore different areas of the arts they may not been previously induced to. Ulster university drama has been the best stepping stone for me to lead me into the professional world of work.'

Robert Hunter (recent History graduate)

‘I am really enjoying studying History at Ulster. It offers lots of interesting modules that cover a wide variety of eras and cultures, taught by helpful expert staff. It has taught me transferable skills such as how to analyse, interpret and present information that will be valuable when it comes to seeking employment after graduation. History at Ulster has also given me access to amazing travel opportunities. In my second year, I was awarded a bursary to work in the “In Flanders Fields Museum” in Ypres, Belgium for three weeks where I helped to digitise the records of Irish soldiers who died during the First World War’.

Karolina Stonkute (recent History graduate)

‘During my three years on the History course at Ulster, I have never felt unsupported. The History lecturers have continuously provided me with help whether it was academic or personal. They strive to push their students to achieve grades that they believe best represents their skills. I would not have the experience nor the confidence to enter the next chapter of my career without them.’

Orin McIvor (recent History graduate)

‘At the end of my second year studying History at Ulster I applied for the ‘study abroad’ programme and spent a year at university in America. I had an incredible time. It was truly a life changing experience that boosted my self-esteem and confidence. It was amazing being able to experience different cultures and to meet people that I would become friends with that I would have had no opportunity to do so before. I miss the experience a little more every day and still catch up with the friends I made. It was an experience that I feel anybody with even a hint of interest in studying abroad should go for as they will not regret it’.

Sustainability at Ulster

Ulster continues to develop and support sustainability initiatives with our staff, students, and external partners across various aspects of teaching, research, professional services operations, and governance.

At Ulster every person, course, research project, and professional service area on every campus either does or can contribute in some way towards the global sustainability and climate change agenda.

We are guided by both our University Strategy People, Place and Partnerships: Delivering Sustainable Futures for All and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Our work in this area is already being recognised globally.  Most recently by the 2024 Times Higher Education Impact rating where we were recognised as Joint 5^th Globally for Outreach Activities and Joint Top 20 Globally for Sustainable Development Goal 17:  Partnership for the Goals.

Visit our Sustainability at Ulster destination to learn more about how the University strategy and the activities of Ulster University support each of the Sustainable Development Goals.

• Sustainability at Ulster University