Dr Leighton James is a historian of late eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe, with a particular interest in the social and cultural history of the Seven Years’ War and the Revolutionary and Napoleonic epoch.
He is a founder member of the Society for the History of War (SHOW) and of the Research Group for the Study of Conflict, Reconstruction and Memory (CRAM).
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.
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.
This module offers an introduction to current debates in heritage and public history and a chance to develop practical skills in the communication of history to broad audiences. It will provide an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between academic study and the past as portrayed by, with and for the public (or publics). You will explore case-studies in heritage from around the world. Why have museum presentations of history proved so controversial? What is the role of heritage in national and community-building? There will be opportunities to try out a variety of practical techniques in historical communication, and to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses. You will familiarise themselves with current policy contexts for heritage and public history, and will acquire valuable skills for careers in the heritage sector and beyond.
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.
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.
Across the three centuries of the early modern period, from 1500 to 1800, the globe became increasingly connected as a consequence of what is often referred to as the European overseas expansion. Travellers, traders, missionaries, and colonists found their way from Europe to Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Australasia, with profound and often tragic consequences for the native peoples, cultures, and ecosystems with which they came into contact. The lives of non-Europeans and Europeans became more closely intertwined than ever before; a truly global economic system began to emerge; empires rose and fell. In this module, you will explore the processes by which the world was transformed over the course of three centuries, and reflect on the long-term significance of the outcomes, many of which have shaped the world as we experience it today.
Ar draws tair canrif y cyfnod modern cynnar, o 1500 i 1800, daeth y byd yn fwyfwy cysylltiedig o ganlyniad i'r hyn y cyfeirir ato'n aml fel yr ehangiad tramor Ewropeaidd. Gwnaeth teithwyr, masnachwyr, cenhadwyr a gwladychwyr ddod o hyd i'w ffordd o Ewrop i Affrica, Asia, cyfandiroedd America, ac Awstralasia, gyda chanlyniadau dwys, a oedd yn aml yn drist iawn, i'r bobl, y diwylliannau a'r ecosystemau brodorol y daethant i gysylltiad â nhw. Daeth bywydau pobl nad oeddent yn Ewropeaidd a'r bobl Ewropeaidd yn fwy cydblethedig nag erioed; dechreuodd system economaidd fyd-eang go iawn ddod i'r amlwg; gwelwyd cynnydd a chwymp ymerodraethau. Yn y modiwl hwn, byddwch chi'n archwilio'r prosesau a drawsnewidiodd y byd dros gyfnod o dair canrif, yn ogystal â myfyrio ar arwyddocâd hirdymor y canlyniadau, y mae llawer ohonynt wedi llunio'r byd rydyn ni'n byw ynddo heddiw.
Using an intersectional framework, this module will introduce you to the historical construction of gendered violence and the various contemporary forms of gender-based violence, their prevalence, and impacts and consequences. It will focus on the current empirical evidence base and conceptual frameworks relating to different forms of GBV, including emergent online forms such as Tech-Facilitated Sexual Violence (TFSV ¿ e.g., revenge porn, deepfakes and cyberflashing) and extreme misogyny. You will explore different forms of Gender Based Violence and key issues related to each, such as Domestic Violence and Abuse (including coercive control), sexual violence, so-called honour-based violence and abuse, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, human trafficking, and femicide and the potential issues and barriers to support and justice. You will directly engage with empirical work examining GBV in social and cultural contexts, such as sport, schools and universities, and the nighttime economy, and critically assess current legislative and policy approaches to tackling GBV. You will learn how to synthesise this wealth of evidence in relation to the field of harms in order understand why these forms of gendered harms occur what is working to tackle them.
This module examines military conflict through the dual lenses of culture and technology. Because the field is vast, our approach is organized around key questions that allow us to move across historical periods, analytical levels, and disciplinary boundaries. We will explore how cultural values and technological innovations have shaped not only the conduct of war but also how societies understand violence, power, and leadership. Readings will range from historically grounded analyses to contemporary accounts of soldiering, allowing us to interrogate how narratives of conflict are created and sustained. We will begin with foundational debates on war, violence, and human nature: why do humans wage war, and why societies fight the way they do? Is war primarily a cultural or political activity? Can the pursuit of peace itself give rise to war? How do societies become militarized¿and to what ends? Another central concern will be the role of technology: how has it influenced strategy, policy, and the experience of warfare? To what extent does technology determine victory in modern conflicts, and how transformative are new military technologies in practice? Our case studies will move from the Napoleonic wars of the early nineteenth century to insurgency and drone warfare in the twenty-first, tracing continuities and ruptures along the way. By the end of the module, you will be equipped to engage critically with historical and contemporary debates on the interplay of culture, technology, and war¿and to reflect on what these debates reveal about humanity, violence, and the future of conflict.
