The discipline of History involves study of the human past adopting a critical approach to evidence relevant to that enquiry. Work in History takes the form of interaction with the evidence in primary form and through sceptical reading of a wide body of historical writing. The Edinburgh experience is distinctive for the range of historical themes, chronological periods and geographical areas which can be studied using a variety of different intellectual approaches to the past. Politics is about power, people, institutions and the nature of the just society. All societies have to find effective ways of exercising, controlling and transferring power. The competition for power between individuals, groups and nations shapes society and everyday life. Internationally, the prospects for peace or war depend on how conflicts over power or other resources are settled. The study of Politics at Edinburgh deals with the origins and present-day contexts of these issues, institutions and processes of governance at various levels, from the local to the international, and with relationships between nations, states, sexes, classes and ethnic groups. It also deals with the morality of political action, the boundaries of freedom and the limits of justice. This is the realm of political theory, an integral part of the Politics degree. In History it aims: To introduce students to problems of historical methodology in a variety of contexts and to develop their analytical and critical skills through their studies at degree level. To recognise the relationship of breadth of historical knowledge in relation to more specialised study. To develop the students’ critical appreciation of a wide range of historical materials in their broader cultural and intellectual context. To enable students to develop key generic skills in critical thinking, conceptual analysis, research and written and oral articulation of information and argument. To equip students for progression to a wide variety of careers or further academic study.  In Politics it aims: To deliver broad based curriculum incorporating major fields of study in politics; To equip students with substantive knowledge of a range of political systems, institutions, processes and ideas; To provide a curriculum supported and informed by a rich and active research culture; To enable students to understand, evaluate and use both normative and explanatory theoretical frameworks in the study of politics; To enable students to develop and apply their knowledge and skills to the understanding and evaluation of political issues and problems in the contemporary world, including within Scotland; To enable students to develop key generic skills in critical thinking, conceptual analysis, research, oral and written articulation of information and argument; To equip students for progression to a wide variety of careers or to further academic study.