Module Identifier |
IPM0830 |
Module Title |
HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY 1945 - PRESENT (S) |
Academic Year |
2004/2005 |
Co-ordinator |
Mr James R Vaughan |
Semester |
Semester 2 |
Course delivery |
Seminars / Tutorials | 22 Hours 1 x 2 hour seminar |
Assessment |
Assessment Type | Assessment Length/Details | Proportion |
Semester Exam | 3 Hours | 60% |
Semester Assessment | Essay: 1 x 3,000 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
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
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
-
have practised the necessary skills to make critical use of them;
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demonstrate detailed knowledge of the more significant historiographical debates of the period;
-
be able to account for fluctuations in historical interpretation over time; and
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be able to demonstrate a familiarity with different schools of historical thought.
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
The main aim of this module is to provide specialised training in historiographical trends, and in the use of historical sources. 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 within 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, the Cuban missile crisis, the Middle East in the Cold War, the end of the Cold War and September 11. 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.
15 ECTS Credits
Reading Lists
Books
C Elman and MF Elman (Eds) (2001) Bridges and Boundaries: Historians, Political Scientists and the Study of International Relations
Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press
D Reynolds (2000) One World Divisible
London: Penguin
AO Westad (ed) (2000) Reviewing the Cold War
London: CASS
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7