Talk:Dan Snow

message: "Double first class degree"? I've come across various references to "Oxford Double Firsts" but most of these are spurious since (I think) the only subject where you can get one of these is Classics ("Mods and Greats"). Is that what Dan Snow read?
:Most undergraduates sit two sets of exams at Oxford: the first ones are usually at or towards the end of the first year and are called Prelims (short for Preliminaries) or Mods (short for Honour Moderations), depending on the subject. The main difference is that Prelims are unclassified (i.e. they're pass or fail) whereas Mods are classified (first, II:i, II:ii, third, pass, fail). The other exams are called Schools (short for Final Honour Schools, but usually known as Finals); these are taken at the end of one's final year and it is on the basis of these (classified) exams that the final degree (first, II:i, etc.) is awarded.
:Double firsts (at Oxford, at least) refer to one of two things: either taking a first in Mods and then a first in Finals; or taking a first class degree in finals in each of two subjects in a combined honours course (e.g. reading Maths and Philosophy and then taking a first in Maths finals and a first in Philosophy finals). The latter seems to be more prevalent at Oxford, not least because many undergraduates sit Prelims, not Mods, and therefore aren't eligible to take a double first.
:Dan Snow read History at Balliol; he took a first in Mods and a first in Schools. He can therefore legitimately be said to have taken a double first in History.
:Hope this helps. talkGiler 09:32, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I've just checked, and you're correct that in History you now take Prelims, not Mods. However, this appears to have been the case only since 2003 or thereabouts. The subject of the article therefore sat Honour Mods, not Prelims and the double first comment stands. But you're quite right that appears to be no longer possible to take a double first in History. talkGiler 09:21, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

text: Indeed I am. The change to Honour Mods happened "in the 1980s" (see http://www.history.ox.ac.uk/alumni/oxhistorian/issue_1/03_studying_modhist.htm). I'm not sure when the change back happened—it was still Mods when I left in 2000 but it's now Prelims (see http://www.history.ox.ac.uk/currentunder/index.htm). Hope that helps. talkGiler 08:58, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Double first

message: This mentions his media career, but the article did not mention that he co-presented  - with a Space Archaeologist (I think that her name was Sarah Mallak) a programme on the Roman Empire on BBC One on December 8 2012, so I have now added this fact to the article. ACEOREVIVED (talk) 20:53, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Programme on Roman Empire

message: It seemed to me strange that this article did not mention his recent (as at January 2013) programme on the history of railways, so I have now added this information to this article. If any one wants to read more information about the programme, s/he can look it it up on the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q7brf. ACEOREVIVED (talk) 23:52, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: He presents a programme on the history of railways

message: During the narration of "How the Celts Saved Britain", Dan declared that he wasn't a "believer". I'm thinking his public profession of faith (or lack of faith in this instance) belongs in the article as he chose to make this public rather than private. Thoughts? Rklawton (talk) 21:14, 7 April 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Not a believer

message: There is an RfC on the question of using "Religion: None" vs. "Religion: None (atheist)" in the infobox on this and other similar pages. 
The RfC is at Template talk:Infobox person#RfC: Religion infobox entries for individuals that have no religion. 
Please help us determine consensus on this issue. --Guy Macon (talk) 02:39, 26 April 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Template talk:Infobox person#RfC: Religion infobox entries for individuals that have no religion|Request for Comments]] 

message: In the "Television" section, the last two row entries for 2016 have been displaced leftward by one column.  I won't try to fix this on a smartphone! yoyo (talk) 05:14, 18 February 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  table formatting error 

message: It seems agreed by al that Snow is a popular historian, not an historian. Does he warrant :Category:21st-century English historians? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 17:16, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: I am unsure that for our purposes that is a meaningful distinction. Slatersteven (talk) 17:21, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Fair enough. I'll add it to my list of Category distinctions that I don't fully understand. :) Martinevans123 (talk) 17:24, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Historian?