Programme of Study Catalogue

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Demonstrate the ability to discuss historical questions dealing with a range of geographical areas across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Critically analyse the nature of key forms of historical argument and debate, especially Western and non-Western views on recent history.
Demonstrate a critical use of a range of contemporary evidence including that produced by European and extra-European peoples.
Synthesis, organise and present key arguments in various written contexts.
Carryout small group interrogations of online historical databases, analyse and present the digital data resulting from this activity in the form of a blog.

Content:

Students will examine specific aspects of international relations during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, considering how World History was shaped by such factors. For instance, European economic and imperial power during the nineteenth century together with the loss of that position as pressures for political independence grew amongst the colonised peoples during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, might be examined. How these international factors affected daily life in Europe, its empires, and elsewhere, from the early nineteenth century until today, might constitute another part of this study. Moreover, it will examine how changes in science, technology and medicine influenced the growth of European empires, and how colonialism came at a cost, with European settlement abroad leading to the exploitation and subjugation of extra-European peoples.

Learning and Teaching Information:

During the first sessions a consideration of the influence of 'Empire' on Europe today will be made through websites such as The National Archive's Moving Here: Two Hundred Years of Migration in England at http://movinghere.org.uk/ as well as documentaries and historic news film available on various databases such as Box of Broadcasts. The rest of the semester an aspect of historiographical debate will be explored by examining a recent text, and will focus on case studies of specific aspects of World History during this time period, including a consideration of Britain as a world power and the implications of this, followed by an examination of the growth of national independence in the Empire. A range of different forms of historical sources will be used, from contemporary texts and arguments, news film and bulletins and feature films, to advertisements, buildings, statues and works of arts. These will include commentaries and critiques made by extra-Europeans cultures within the Empire and Commonwealth. Students will be introduced to text-based data mining.

Workshop/Seminars
Hours: 20
Intended Group size: 20

Group work in class
Hours: 10
Intended Group size: 20

Guided independent study
Hours: 170

Further details relating to assessment
Report: Students will write a report testing a hypothesis they construct themselves, initially interpreting primary and secondary sources that they have been provided with, and then progressing to individual research reports using additional materials that they have located themselves in e.g. anthologies, archival collections, library holdings and digital repositories. Students will be guided through the process of developing their initial hypothesis and selecting their own texts for analysis.

Group Oral Presentation: this will be based on the digital output, which will be in the form of a blog that students will design and contribute to over a six-week period. They will consider how effective historical blogs are for representing and disseminating historical information. In the blog, students will explore the relationship between modern European imperialism (1750-1930), and transformations in science technology and medicine, linking it to both primary and secondary materials from class readings and discussions.

Assessment:

001 Report; 1,000 words; Middle of Semester Two 30%
002 Group Oral Presentation with Digital Output; 20 Minutes; End of Semester Two 70%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Efram Sera-Shriar
Level - 5
Credit Value - 20
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 5S2