History at Balliol College
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Balliol has long enjoyed an outstanding reputation for History teaching and research. The College’s commitment to History is reflected in its provision of four Fellows in the subject — exceptional among Oxford colleges — and a Library whose holdings in the subject are second to none. The College’s coverage of the syllabus is correspondingly wide, ranging across ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern history. Undergraduates, therefore, enjoy great freedom in their selection of options. Balliol History students participate in the exciting opportunities for archival research provided by the undergraduate thesis, and some funds are available to assist students with their research work.
Between one-quarter and one-third of our undergraduates typically proceed to postgraduate work in Oxford or elsewhere, and the College maintains a thriving community of graduate students in History. Others move on into careers in the law, the Civil Service, journalism, television, and many other fields.
Balliol historians are noted for their important contributions to both History and several other disciplines. They include Christopher Hill, V.H. Galbraith, Keith Thomas, Richard Southern, John Keegan, Raphael Samuel, Maxine Berg, Richard Cobb, Maurice Keen, Colin Lucas, Christopher Bayly, Rodney Hilton, E.H. Carr, and Lyndal Roper. They also include the popular historians Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, and Dominic Sandbrook; the novelists Graham Greene, Anthony Powell, and L.P. Hartley; the politician Chris Patten, the journalists David Aaronovitch and Mark Lowen, and the lawyer Lord Bingham.
Number of places at Balliol: 12.
Tutors
Professor Martin Conway
Professor of Contemporary European History, MacLellan-Warburg Fellow and Tutor in History, and Welfare FellowHistory
Professor John-Paul Ghobrial
Professor of Modern and Global History, Lucas Fellow and Tutor in HistoryHistory
Dr Helen Gittos
Associate Professor, Colyer-Fergusson Fellow and Tutor in Early Medieval HistoryHistory
Dr Simon Skinner
Associate Professor, Keen Fellow and Tutor in HistoryHistory
Dr Frederick Smith
Early Career Fellow in Early Modern HistoryHistory
Dr Cathleen Sarti
Lecturer in HistoryHistory
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About the course
Please see the Faculty of History website and the University’s course pages.
Course requirements and selection criteria
Balliol highly recommends that candidates study History to A‑Level or an equivalent level (such as Advanced Higher, Higher Level in the IB, or another equivalent). See also: