Introduction

The Faculty of Philosophy, Languages & Letters, and Human Sciences Saint-Louis offers a bilingual French-English bachelor's degree in history. This programme is the only one of its kind in French-speaking Belgium, and combines general courses, history courses and practical education in both languages. Students will develop academic, linguistic and intercultural skills.

Students take a language test during the first week in order to assess their level of English. Students can join the French bachelor's degree programme at any time.
 

Studying history

The study of history means learning about the past as well as taking a retrospective look at the human adventure, thereby helping us to understand the contemporary world and build the one to come.

The study of history means exploring and understanding periods other than our own. It allows us to learn how to build bridges between generations and cultures, which is a necessary step in the face of global human and environmental challenges.

This implies that students will learn specific ways to formulate a coherent research question, locate and make use of the works and sources available for this purpose, and analyse them by developing a critical and reasoned approach. These different stages of historical work will enable them to master the subject in depth and present it orally or in written form.

Your profile

Are you passionate about understanding past and present realities and the connections between them? Do you like to discover new things on your own through research in libraries and archives? Do you consider that acquiring a broad general knowledge is a main objective of your studies? To achieve this, are you able to show rigour, critical thinking and precision? These are just a few of the skills you will use and develop as you study history.

The choice of a bilingual bachelor's degree reflects your interest in the English language, which you have at least a minimum knowledge of without claiming to be perfectly bilingual.

Your future job

Historians stand out for their methodical and organised approach to research, their ability to collect, analyse and summarise information, and their refined critical thinking skills. These assets make them ideal candidates for work in:

• education;
• conservation: archives, museums, libraries;
• public administration: international, federal, regional and local;
• research: universities, public and private institutes;
• the socio-cultural sector: exhibitions, cultural centres;
• the media: journalism, cultural communication;
• associations: non-governmental organisations, non-profit associations and other organisations with a social vocation;
• the banking sector;
• the diplomatic service, etc.

Your programme

The strengths of the bilingual history programme at UCLouvain Saint-Louis - Bruxelles:

• A solid knowledge of history: numerous theoretical courses on periods in history or specific themes (history of justice, historical geography, etc.) enable students to gain an in-depth understanding of entire eras of the past, as well as the present.
• Links to practice: from year 1 onwards, the programme provides a background in the various facets of the work of a historian: introduction to the various sources of information, research and classification of sources, critical analysis of records, making summaries, etc.
• Critical thinking: during seminars, students are asked to produce and present research papers, with a view to teaching them about the research process and the objective consideration of history and its issues.
• Interdisciplinarity: in year 1, students take courses in other areas of the humanities, such as sociology, law, philosophy and literature.
• Intellectual openness: in years 2 and 3, students can choose three optional courses in different disciplines, such as European studies, political science, communication sciences or literature and civilisations.
• Educational support: specialisation courses are taught in small groups, ensuring close contact and personalised support from the teaching staff.
• Learning in English: students acquire knowledge and understanding of a vocabulary specific to history in English. Students can also develop their oral and written communication skills in English. At least 60 of the 180 credits in the bachelor's degree in history will be taught in English. This is a fundamental asset on the job market.

 

Pursuing a dual bachelor's degree

Our dual bachelor's degrees are one of the special features of UCLouvain Saint-Louis - Bruxelles.

Students can take a second bachelor's degree, in tandem with their main bachelor's degree. This means that they complete their main programme with a minimum of 60 and a maximum of 125 additional credits spread over several years. The additional bachelor's degree can be completed after the main bachelor's degree. A series of courses taken as part of the main programme count towards the additional bachelor's degree and are therefore no longer subject to assessment. The additional bachelor's degree has the same value as the main bachelor's degree and provides immediate access to the corresponding master's degree.
The following additional bachelor's degrees are available:

• Bachelor in Philosophy [Dual Bachelor’s degree for the holder of a Bachelor in History]
• Bachelor in Political Sciences [Dual Bachelor’s degree for the holder of a Bachelor in History]
• other additional bachelor's degrees on request.

For further information, please contact the faculty administration : phlb-slb@uclouvain.be.