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HI-M01
Historical Methods and Approaches
This module introduces you to a diverse range of methodological approaches that underpin the discipline of history at an advanced level. You will explore how historians construct knowledge about the past, examining key debates around evidence, interpretation, narrative, and the politics of history-writing. You will engage critically with a variety of methods, including archival research, oral history, microhistory, cultural and social history, postcolonial and decolonial approaches, gender analysis, and digital history.
Through seminar discussions and a series of mini projects, you will develop a sophisticated understanding of the strengths, limitations, and ethical implications of different historical methodologies. The module also supports the development of research design skills in preparation for independent dissertation work.
Finally, the module will encourage you to think reflexively about your own role as researchers and to consider how methodological choices shape historical narratives and their relevance to contemporary global challenges.
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HI-M22
Dissertation
This module is the exciting culmination of your Masters¿ degree in History. In this module you have the opportunity build on the analytical and research skills developed in Part I of the programme to produce a 20,000-word dissertation on a historical research topic of your choice.
Working under the guidance of an academic supervisor, you will identify and refine a research question, critically evaluate relevant primary and secondary sources, and construct a coherent, well-substantiated historical argument. The project reflects an advanced level of conceptual understanding and methodological rigour, characteristic of independent postgraduate research.
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HI-M39
Managing Historical Research
During this module you will be guided through the process of formulating a viable, original, and academically sound research proposal in the discipline of History. You develop your own research project idea with the guidance and support of your supervisor. Through a combination of seminars, independent research, and supervisory meetings, you will engage with historiography, methodology, source evaluation, and research ethics. By the end of the module, you will have produced a fully developed research proposal suitable for submission to support an MA dissertation.
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HIH3300
History Dissertation
The History dissertation is a free-standing, 40-credit module that runs across both semesters of Level Three. Candidates conduct research upon a subject of their choice, devised in consultation with a member of staff teaching for the degrees in History, and concerning a topic that falls within staff research and teaching interests.
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HIH3382
The Cold War
The Cold War represented the chief global conflict during much of the second half of the twentieth century. While tensions between the two superpowers ¿ the United States and the Soviet Union ¿ over the status of Berlin or during the Cuban missile crisis bore the potential of escalating into all-out nuclear war, the conflict remained, by and large, an `imaginary war¿ (Mary Kaldor) in Europe and North America. By contrast, the superpowers indirectly engaged each other in violent proxy wars in other parts of the world such as Korea, Vietnam, Angola or Afghanistan.
This third-year optional module examines this crucial conflict in twentieth-century history within a global perspective, shedding light on different arenas in which the Cold War was fought, including its origins and effect on international relations, its impact on the `Third World¿, its `home fronts¿, science and technology, its cultural representations as well as its manifold legacies that can be felt to the present day (e.g. political, socio-cultural and environmental). The course introduces students to chief debates and key secondary literature as well as a wide range of primary sources, including government documents, newspapers and magazines as well as popular culture and visual arts.
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HIH396
From Machiavelli to Mussolini: Government and Society in Western Political Thought
This module offers a guide to the history of ideas on government and society which continue to influence political thought and action in the 21st century. The lectures will start by looking at the origins of democratic thinking in Athens, 5th Century BC, and will then give a brief account of medieval political thought and the impact of Christian-Muslim encounters. The main part of the course will deal with modern ideas on government as developed by Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, the political authors of the Enlightenment and American Revolution, and Marx and Lenin. The final part will focus on the Italian and German national socialists' assault on the liberal state and Western democratic tradition. Students will have the opportunity to read and discuss a representative selection from the 'classics' of Western political thought and reflect on their contemporary political relevance. As will be shown, some of today's best-known early modern texts on the nature of state power were misinterpreted by contemporaries and brought into disrepute by fascist ideologues who claimed them in defence of dictatorship.
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HIHM10
Understanding GLAM: Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums
GLAM organisations ¿ Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums ¿ serve multiple overlapping roles in the 21st century. As heritage organisations and institutions of public history, they preserve heritage assets, display and interpret collection items for public audiences, and shape cultural memory, increasingly through co-creation with communities and interest groups. At the same time, they form a key part of the research infrastructure underpinning the work of historians, archaeologists, and other academics. Many of them are the product of problematic processes of the past -- including nationalism, colonialism, racism, and scientific imperialism ¿ for the understanding of which they contain key resources, and whose harms they now seek to undo.
This module is concerned with the history, practices, and policies of the GLAM organisations, and with the many challenges they face in the present. It will help you to develop a critical understanding of GLAM institutions, drawing on theoretical perspectives, while preparing you for a career in the sector. It blends theory, policy, and practice by considering the management, interpretation, and use of heritage collections through case studies and real-world scenarios.
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HIY103
Making Modern Europe, 1789 to the Present
How did modern Europe come into being? From the flames of the French Revolution in 1789 to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, you will meet the people behind these monumental events and study the worlds they lived in through a diverse range of voices. In this module, we trace the historical background of such extreme developments in European political, social and economic history from the French Revolution to the present day. We will cover a range of `extreme¿ events that shaped modern and contemporary European history from revolutions (the French, 1848 and Russian Revolutions) to wars (the Napoleonic Wars, the First and Second World Wars and the Cold War) to social movements (feminism, anti-racism). In addition, we will study longer-lasting processes that led to radical social, political and economic changes, including Enlightenment, the rise of the nation state, industrialisation, scientific and technological innovation, empire and colonisation, political violence and political extremism, and decolonisation and race. This module will not only equip you with crucial knowledge about key events and developments in modern and contemporary European history, but it will help you develop the pivotal skill to identify, examine and evaluate historical change over a period of some two hundred years from the French Revolution to the end of the Cold War. This includes the formation of crucial democratic institutions and values, none of the which were inevitable and many of which are under threat today. Ultimately, this module will help you understand current events in Europe such as the rise of extreme political parties and place them within longer-standing developments and historical contexts, including the rise and demise of the welfare state and globalisation.
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HIY103C
Creu Ewrop Fodern, 1789 hyd y Presennol
Sut daeth Ewrop fodern i fodolaeth? O fflamau¿r Chwyldro Ffrengig ym 1789 i gwymp Mur Berlin ym 1989, byddwch yn cwrdd â¿r bobl y tu ôl i¿r digwyddiadau aruthrol hyn ac yn astudio¿r bydoedd yr oeddent yn byw ynddynt trwy ystod amrywiol o leisiau. Yn y modiwl hwn, rydym yn olrhain cefndir hanesyddol datblygiadau mor eithafol yn hanes gwleidyddol, cymdeithasol ac economaidd Ewrop o'r Chwyldro Ffrengig hyd heddiw. Byddwn yn ymdrin ag amrywiaeth o ddigwyddiadau `eithafol¿ a luniodd hanes Ewropeaidd modern a chyfoes o chwyldroadau (Chwyldroadau Ffrainc, 1848 a Rwsia) i ryfeloedd (Rhyfeloedd Napoleon, y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf a¿r Ail Ryfel Byd a¿r Rhyfel Oer) i fudiadau cymdeithasol (ffeministiaeth, gwrth-hiliaeth). Yn ogystal, byddwn yn astudio prosesau mwy hirhoedlog a arweiniodd at newidiadau cymdeithasol, gwleidyddol ac economaidd radical, gan gynnwys yr Oes Oleuedig, cynnydd y genedl-wladwriaeth, diwydiannu, arloesi gwyddonol a thechnolegol, ymerodraeth a gwladychu, trais gwleidyddol ac eithafiaeth wleidyddol, a dadwladychu a hil. Yn ogystal â rhoi i chi¿r wybodaeth hanfodol am ddigwyddiadau a datblygiadau allweddol mewn hanes Ewropeaidd modern a chyfoes, bydd y modiwl hwn yn eich helpu i ddatblygu'r sgìil allweddol i nodi, archwilio a gwerthuso newid hanesyddol dros gyfnod o ddau gan mlynedd, o'r Chwyldro Ffrengig hyd at ddiwedd y Rhyfel Oer. Mae hyn yn cynnwys ffurfio sefydliadau a gwerthoedd democrataidd hanfodol, nad oedd yr un ohonynt yn anochel ac mae llawer ohonynt dan fygythiad heddiw. Yn y pen draw, bydd y modiwl hwn yn eich helpu i ddeall digwyddiadau cyfredol yn Ewrop fel cynnydd pleidiau gwleidyddol eithafol a'u gosod yng nghyd-destun datblygiadau a chyd-destunau hanesyddol mwy hirdymor, gan gynnwys cynnydd a dirywiad y wladwriaeth les a globaleiddio.
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WS-M95
Experiences of War and Conflict: War, Identity and Society
Throughout history, wars and conflicts have shaped personal and collective experiences and identities. Hot wars have laid waste to cities and entire national economies. Those fighting wars have suffered traumatic experiences, as did non-combatants, including children. Even where no armed conflict took place, preparedness for a potential war led to the militarization of civil societies, including the use of massive economic resources. Or, military planners and strategists gamed likely war scenarios to prepare for the worst case ¿ even the unthinkable that is nuclear war. Likewise, propaganda ¿ both by states and anti-war or peace movements ¿ emerged in response to conflicts (actual and imaginary), contributing to war and conflict becoming part of official government discourse and everyday language. But the legacies of wars have also entered national identity through their memorialization within specific historical and ideological contexts. Popular culture, too, addressed wars and conflicts through films and popular music, thereby disseminating particular interpretations and myths to mass audiences.
This module takes a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the multifaceted experiences of war and conflict. We will examine how such experiences of violence shape and are in turn shaped by social, economic and cultural forces. In this, we will explore war and conflict as both a catalyst for societal change and a reflection of historical developments. Through critical analysis, the module encourages reflection on how war is represented and the lasting impact it has on personal and collective identities.
