History may be concerned with questions about the past, but the knowledge it reveals is relevant to how we think about ourselves and our place within society today. The BA (Hons) History degree at Lincoln is distinctive in the breadth of topics that students can choose to study. These include British, European, Chinese, and American history, from the Roman Empire to the end of the 20th Century. Students of history have the opportunity to acquire skills of analysis, argument, and communication which can help them to develop as individuals, as responsible contributors to organisations, and as articulate, critical members of a democratic society. There is an emphasis on the critical examination and interpretation of primary source materials, which includes newspapers, probate documents, films, caricatures, novels, works of art, architecture, and oral testimony. Home to a 1000-year-old cathedral, a medieval castle, and an original 1215 Magna Carta, Lincoln is a great city in which to study history. The programme makes extensive use of specialist local resources including Lincoln's historic buildings, the Lincoln Cathedral archives, the Collection, and the Media Archive for Central England (MACE).