Hello, my name is Ammar Vora, and I am a third-year student currently studying Joint Honors Ancient History and History with my dissertation being in Ancient History. A little bit of information about myself, I am an international student who is from India but has resided in Saudi Arabia for over a decade now. I chose to study this course because of my immense interest and curiosity in the fields of history whether that be the Medieval World, Islamic Empires, Colonial movements or Spartan civilizations, all aspects of history fascinate me, and this degree allows me to focus on all of them. It spans over essentially every period, from the birth of the Egyptian civilization to the politics of Reagan. Moreover, Manchester as an institution was also very attractive due to its reputation and standing in this subject, hence to me it was the obvious choice considering I also wanted to live in a large happening city.

My degree has been structured quite well throughout my three years at university, allowing me to understand the compulsory topics as well as provide me with optional modules that interest me. In my first year I had two compulsory Ancient History modules focusing on Archaic Greece and Republican Rome and in my second year they focused on Classical Greece and the Roman Empire. I only had one compulsory module for history which was History in Practice in my first year which taught us how to understand and approach the subject through learning a module provided to us, mine was Caribbean life in the United Kingdom post Windrush. This structure allowed me to take three optional modules in my first year and four in my second year. These ranged from Alexander the Great, and Pharaonic Egypt all the way to 18th Century Europe and Colonialism in Africa and India. In my final year I was given the option to pick a dissertation on any topic of my choice and four other modules between the two majors. I picked my dissertation supervisor based on my topic which was the reception of Alexander the Great in Persia and India, with my other modules focusing on the Vikings, Fascism and the Fall of Rome. My favourite module so far has been the Histories of the Islamic world due to the large variety of material we covered, including, the rise of the faith, the gunpowder empires, the Ottoman government, the role of Islam in the Indian independence movement and Islamic piracy in the Mediterranean. Alongside the interesting subject matter, the method of assessments were also unique, such as map quizzes. However, the most unique assessments were in the Uses of History module which allowed us to write reflective logs and create video presentations which we all did quite well in.

Although, despite studying being the central focus in both this blog and the University there are a plethora of other activities to keep you occupied and entertained. I myself enjoy chairing a volunteering committee known as Student Action, whilst also working with the UoM CAHAE Society. Apart from this I often spend time with the Career Service looking for opportunities to develop my CV or perhaps write a few articles for the student led Mancunion newspaper. Which brings me to my final section of this blog, my advice. Well, my advice to all the students who are either joining us or looking to join us, is that Manchester as a University and city is filled with opportunities in every field and every corner, so don’t be afraid to explore that what interests you and don’t wait for a right time to get into any activity or opportunity, just go for it because the support is always available. Whether that be academically, with a module you are unsure of, or extra-curricular, with a society’s committee you may want to join, or career wise, an internship you are looking at. Just go for it.

Written by Ammar Vora, a 3rd year BA Ancient History and History student

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