A Quick Guide to the brilliance that is the Cambridge History Tripos at Peterhouse...

Hellooo!

We are Guy Francis and Angharad Thain, your History Subject Reps for 2010-2011. Guy is a medievalist by nature and I don't touch the earlier papers unless I can help it, so you will probably fall somewhere in between the two, which makes us quite a good team if you have any paper-related questions! We have written a quick guide to History at Peterhouse, the fun, the socialising, the stress, the libraries (and maybe a bit of work thrown in there somewhere.) If you have any questions or concerns, please email us!

with oodles of Petrean Historian lurve xxx

The Course and Papers

The basic structure of the Cambridge History course can seem very complicated when it is explained by official guides, but it is actually quite simple. Part I is the First and Second Year of your degree and consists of five papers, one a term for five terms. In the final exam term of Second Year, you do not take a paper to allow for revision. On top of the five papers, there is one coursework paper (Themes and Sources- see later) submitted at the start of Lent Term in your Second Year. For each paper you write seven or eight essays, one essay and one supervision on that essay each week.

For your 5 papers there are a few caveats:

You must take at least one pre-1750 and one-post-1750
one British Political and Constitutional (anywhere from 380 to post-1867)
one British Social and Economic (anywhere from 380 to post-1870)
You have to take at least one European paper before you graduate (anywhere from 776BC to post-1870) but you may choose to study this in your final year.
Papers can also be chosen from two further sections: World History and American History.

although the time frames of each paper are very broad, what you study for each of your eight essays can be swayed both by your preferences and the specialisms of your supervisor. You end up studying six or seven issues and one or two big themes in detail in the course of a term. For a detailed description of each paper, take a look at the Faculty website here: http://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/part1/index.html

As far as deciding papers, it is good to come with an idea of 2 or 3 papers you really want to study, and bear in mind that you are normally advised to choose a totally new time period as your first paper. The idea behind this is to throw yourself straight into the Cambridge supervision system and prevent you reciting A level material. However, this is entirely personal choice really, and at Peterhouse we never found our choices confined when we arrived. On a side note, it is also useful to stress that remaining flexible in your choices is helpful; sometimes the best supervisor available might not be in your first choice paper, or equally your Director of Studies might advise you about when to take particular papers, e.g. freshers are not advised to take Papers 19 or 20 (History of Political Thought) in their first term as they are pretty challenging.

Lectures?

Before writing this I was torn between giving you the official representation of the use of lectures in a Cambridge History degree and the reality. The reality is that you will go to a lot of lectures in your first 3 or 4 weeks of Michaelmas term in first year. You will most likely take a lot of notes, and listen intently to the expert lecturers you are in awe of. However, this will probably rapidly diminish, due to a combination of reluctance to leave your bed for 9am, and the more important consideration of lecture relevance to your weekly essay which is, after all, the priority of your week. Again, this is all personal choice, and what is important is to find a routine and a system that works for you. Some people find lectures are a great incentive to get them up in the morning and others just enjoy listening to them as a good background to a topic. I found it is good to go to the Core lectures for topics I knew less about and where it helped to have topics placed in a wider context. Survey lectures are also helpful in providing a basic timeline and awareness of the century or country you are focusing on, along with the key players in that era. There are also very specific lecture series offered, which are only necessary to attend if you know you will be covering that issue or debate for a supervision essay (or if you are just really curious about the lecturer or the topic.)

Some lecturers can pack out the room every week, others are lucky to get 10 people (you will find out who these are pretty quickly) and everyone has a style of lecturer they prefer or click with, it's just a matter of taking some time to discover what this is. The lectures for some papers matter far more than others, i.e. Paper 19: History of Political Thought to c. 1700- it is extremely difficult to study that paper and execute a high standard of exam performance without attending the lectures. Furthermore, the Tripos exam questions are taken from the lecture series. That might influence your choice; it might not. Having said all this, I attended a total of about 8 lectures in my second and third terms and found I got far more out of an hour of reading than an hour of listening to a lecture. It all depends on how YOU want to structure your day and organise your learning.

Themes and Sources

Themes and Source is the 5,000 long essay coursework module started in Lent Term of First Year and submitted at the beginning of Lent Term in Second Year. There are a variety of topics to choose from, from Nature and the City to On Collecting to the Politics of Memory in Germany to the History of Emotions. Members of staff will give short presentations to the year as a whole detailing the format and content of their class near the end of Michaelmas to help inform your decision, and you have to put 3 choices in order of preference. You might not get your first choice if it is oversubscribed, so think carefully about which options you would be really happy to spend your summer researching. Unlike other papers, Themes and Sources is taught in seminar classes ranging from 10 to 30 people, depending on the popularity of the course. There is one class every two weeks for Lent and Easter in First Year. You are then given a one-off supervision on your chosen essay at the end of Easter before you research it and write it up over summer and Christmas. For T+S choices and reading lists, look on here: http://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/part1/themes.html

One piece of advice- do not leave writing it up until the very last minute, you need to give yourself time to polish 5,000 words and that takes longer than you think!

HAP

Historical Argument and Practice is essentially historiographical study, and during your First Year the Faculty runs a lecture series covering broad themes, such as Diplomatic and International History, Medieval Historiography, Nationalism, Gender, Marxism. Peterhouse generally encourages you to choose a topic relatively early on so you can get to grips with the reading, and you will write an essay for a supervision in first year Lent for a discussion and introduction to the themes. Your supervisor will most likely recommend some seminal pieces in the field to study as well. There is a mock HAP exam (one question, 3 hours) in your prelims at the end of First Year, but the HAP exam that counts is not taken until your finals in Third Year.

Prelims

Prelims will be your first exams taken as a Cambridge undergraduate, and as such everyone is justifiably nervous, but never fear- they do not count to your final degree (only for Peterhouse room points), and are designed to be a barometer of how well you are doing for both your own peace of mind and for your DoS. Work hard, but don't kill yourself over them, hardly anyone gets a First in prelims and a 2.i is standard. You take a prelim in your first two papers studied in Michaelmas and Lent and then a mock HAP exam. Your prelim mark is an average of the three. Each exam is three hours, three essays so in theory one essay per hour. Time management is therefore pretty important, especially for getting back into writing exams after at least a year's break.

Part I Exams

Part Is are slightly different and far more important. You take a three hour exam in each of the five papers taken in your first two years. It is the same format as prelims, but with far more information to synthesise due to the number of papers, and marking tends to be a lot more stringent. You will keep augmenting your knowledge of the papers you have already studied over the two years, and go back over your previous essays. It is well known that you feel the need to edit nearly all the essays you did in your first term, if not your first two. Improvement happens quite fast at Cambridge!

Finding Your Feet

Getting Books and Journals

In terms of getting books, in my first term that was one factor about life in Peterhouse and Cambridge that stressed me out the most. My fears were quickly put to rest; Cambridge has some of the best resources for History in the UK, if not the world, and Peterhouse is a great history college within that, so you will rarely have a problem getting your hands on the books or journals you need. The College Library (Ward Library) will normally be your first port of call for an essay reading list and you can search the book title or author on the Newton catalogue in the library. Peterhouse has an extremely well-stocked History section, particularly for medieval, early modern and modern British and European History, far less so for Extra-European and modern American readings. For those, you will most likely have to travel the short distance to the Seeley Faculty library. (However, you can put in an order request to the Ward for books you think they ought to stock, and more often than not they will be in the library by the next year.) In the Ward you can borrow up to 10 books for 2 weeks at a time, and for the Seeley it is 3 books overnight, or over the weekend (which gives you two extra nights) Some less popular books can be taken out for up to a week; the sticker colour on the front will indicate if this applies.

The UL (or University Library) http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/ is rarely used by First Years, and First and Second Years cannot borrow from it, but for journals or specific reference books it will have everything you need, and for Themes and Sources it can be particularly useful. People find it good to work in there if they want to escape familiar and distracting faces at the Seeley or in College. You can also borrow from a number of other Faculty libraries, all you have to do is fill out a form saying who you are, subject, college and year and you have lending rights (except in South Asian Studies, a non-lending library, although you can browse the books in there) I very much like using the SPS library, which allows you to borrow up to 5 books for 4 nights, and you can also use Oriental Studies, Geography and more. Although, usually you shouldn't have to go outside around 3 or 4 libraries to get the books you need.

There is little need to purchase your own books, except large reference ones you think you will read and re-use come exam time. As for journals, Cambridge online resources are excellent, very easy to access and navigate from libraries or your room- http://www.jstor.orghas most journals you need, and eresources- http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/The Ward or the UL will give you the rest.

Working

For the fundamentals it is crucial to remember a few points- you will never finish your reading list, so do not stress about trying. Some supervisors will recommend books to begin with, normally a general overview of the topic, and from there you are free to choose. Some will give you chapters to focus on, others will leave it up to you to decide how to approach the reading each week. It is good to start with the introduction and conclusion of a book to get a feel for the author's argument and opinion, and then look at key chapters or index key words linked to the essay. By the end of your first or second term the aim is usually to be covering 10-12 items a week (an item can be a book or a journal article, so that is NOT 12 books in total)

For noting, focus on the central arguments. Remember to be aware of big historiographical debates (there normally is at least one!) and compare the views of a number of different central authors in the field. Noting is another personal choice, but try not to over-note (a common problem with work during your first couple of terms) as you will never be able to learn all the facts for an exam. Instead, note the arguments, counter-arguments and any great quotes you can use to support YOUR take on things. Try to summarise wherever possible, and don't simply copy out a monograph. Take note of the general context and bear in mind other themes that are not necessarily in your weekly question, but could be asked in an exam. I was told by my college father to 'raid not read'- this advice has served me well. Some people use colour codes, others type their notes- decide what works for you and don't be afraid to stick to it.

It is vital to leave yourself planning and thinking time before you write your essay. Construct a clear plan, this will make writing your essay a lot easier, and take a few hours to consider the direction you want to take your essay in. This can include any musings or maverick thoughts that may seem silly- incorporate them or jot them down in your notes for supervision discussion.

Supervisions

At the start of each term, no one is sure exactly what to expect from their supervisor. They are human after all and come in many different shapes, size, styles and personalities. You need to take the time to work out exactly what each supervisor wants from you- they will vary on how many words they ask you for; whether they require footnotes; if they prefer handwritten or typed essays; if they want you to submit the essay the night before a supervision or bring it with you. The format of supervisions will also vary; some will be a discussion of your essay in particular or debating the ideas of the topic as a whole. Don't be afraid to defend your line of thought- they like you to put forward opposing views and not just agree with everything they say. I know it is easy to say, but try not to be daunted, if you have any questions or anything is unclear don't be afraid to ask so you can make the most of one hour a week.

Above all my parting advice would be: find a routine that works for you. The historian's week consists of a mere one hour of compulsory supervision time, and other than that you are free to organise and structure your own time; no one will do it for you, an advantage as well as a challenge in comparison to many other subjects. There is NO right way to study History at Peterhouse. Some choose to do 9-5 days and work consistently throughout the week, others work full days for three days a week and some prefer to do all-nighters. Work within the grain of your own personality and what feels comfortable for you. As Jan Bock says in the prospectus this year "The Rule of Eight" is one that could work well, 8 hours sleep, 8 hours work and 8 hours play. Whatever it is, find it and be confident to follow it. After that it's just getting the reading and essays completed to the best of your ability and being ready to argue your side with some of the experts in that field!

Having fun

Whoever says all you do at Cambridge is work hasn't spent enough time here! As a Historian, you have plenty of free time for socialising and most of this will be outlined in the freshers guide. Peterhouse is known as a history college because around 10-13 historians are admitted each year. This means you end up with a really good group of subject friends, and some of the people I am closest to read History. If you have finished your essay and want to go out, or want to have a whinge about your looming deadline, or want a library study buddy to make sure you are actually working, they are normally the people you turn to!

Overwhelmed?

It is easy to let work get on top of you and feel overwhelmed by a very free week. This happens to everyone at least once in their first year, and you would not be alone in feeling everything is too much to handle. Week 5 Blues are common every term, and the Dean or FayeRolfe, our wonderful Academic and Welfare Officer (and my college mother) are on hand for a listening ear or a cup of tea and biscuits. Your DoS is also a good person to talk to if you are wanting advice on the workload- remember they have most likely heard your worries before over many years, and will help you structure your week or just tell you to relax a little, and keep going! Peterhouse is the BEST college to be a part of, and History is clearly the BEST subject, there are always people around to talk to! Enjoy choosing your papers and preparing to come up and if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to email me at aekt2 at cam.ac.uk

Angharad Thain, Second Year Historian, August 2010.

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