IPM0820 - HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY 1945

Module Identifier	IPM0820
Module Title	HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY 1945 - PRESENT (RT)
Academic Year	2002/2003
Co-ordinator	Professor Mick Cox
Semester	Semester 2
Course delivery	Seminars / Tutorials	22 Hours 1 x 2 hour seminar per week
Assessment	Semester Exam	2 Hours	60%
	Semester Assessment	Essay: 1 x 2,000 words	40%
	Supplementary Exam	Students may, subject to Faculty approval, have the opportunity to resit this module, normally during the supplementary examination period. For further clarification please contact the Teaching Programme Administrator in the Department of International Politics.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course students will:

have been introduced to the way in which general issues of philosophy and method relate to the specific context of International History
have appropriate training in the use of a broad range of historical source materials
be able to demonstrate a familiarity with different schools of historical thought
be able to apply research design skills to the specific field of international history

Brief description

The module examines some of the key historiographical debates about the second half of the twentieth century, and looks in depth at some of the sources that have been central to these debates.

Aims

ESRC Postgraduate Training Guidelines state that ‘Students in the field of International History will require specialised training in the philosophy of history, the main historiographical trends of the twentieth century, and case study analysis and archival research’. The main aim of this module is to provide this specialised training. It links to the subject specific research training provided in IPM2120 by exploring the issues of philosophy and method within the context of International History. It examines the relationship between the historian and the writing of history by concentrating upon some of the most contentious historiographical debates of the first half of the twentieth century. While each of the seminars is self-standing, common themes will emerge in each: the impact of total war upon the course of twentieth century history; the role of historical sources and the meaning of historical 'facts'; the relationship between the international and the national; the role of structure and the impact of the individual in history; and finally, the relevance of looking at history from above and below.

The course aims to provide specialised training in the critical use of various kinds of historical source materials. These will be broadly conceived and will include: archival sources; memoir literature; oral history and transcripts; film, literature, and other media; and quantitative social and economic data.

Content

The course begins with an overview of how issues in historical method impinge on the study of international history specifically. Thereafter, it reviews a number of critical debates, including the origins of the Cold War,Stalinism, decolonization, the Cuban missile crisis, and the end of the Cold War. Topics are discussed in pairs, and in the second of each pair the focus is upon a set of sources relevant to that topic.

Transferable skills

Throughout the course, students will practise and enhance their reading, comprehension and thinking skills, as well as self-management skills. In seminars, students will enhance listening, explaining and debating skills, as well as oral presentational skills. Essay writing will encourage students to practise independent research skills, including data collection and retrieval, writing, IT and time management. The examination tests these skills under time constraint conditions.

10 ECTS Credits

Reading Lists

Books
E. H. Carr. (reiss 2001) What is History.
Sally Marks. (2002) The Ebbing of European Ascendancy: An International History of the world 1914-45. Arnold
J.L Gaddis. We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History.