Seminar groups range in size from roughly six to around fifteen students. The seminar tutor leads students in discussing a topic which they have prepared during the preceding week or fortnight. For most courses, there is also a series of formal lectures which supply background information and discuss the current methods of approach and interpretation among historians. In addition, there is individual tutorial supervision for student essays. This offers an opportunity to discuss both the historical content of student work as well as points of organisation, argument and style.
Foreign languages are valuable tools for the study of history.
Many of our students have a modern language pass at GCSE or A level, and while at Warwick, are expected to improve their foreign language reading ability. The University has an excellent Language Centre, and all first and second year students follow a language course specially designed for historians, offered at both elementary and more advanced level. Students in the Renaissance and Modern stream study beginners Italian in preparation for their term in Venice. Computing and IT skills are becoming increasingly useful to the historian and are becoming integrated into the teaching and learning of much of the syllabus. Computing facilities are available for all undergraduates, and in the first year tuition for beginners is offered in word processing and database management.