• Class code: V1102
• Level: 1
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: lectures, seminars, tutorials

Class descriptor

The aim of this class is to introduce students to the discipline of history by means of a survey of Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Students may proceed to History 1B, held in semester two, which examines twentieth century topics. The modules are designed to offer an introduction to history for newcomers, whilst broadening the perspectives of students with a grounding in history.

This Semester 1 module focuses on the History of Britain from 1700 to 1900, a period of phenomenal change in terms of who ruled the country, the main economic activities, emerging cultural expression and attitudes, and the growth of British power overseas on an unprecedented scale. It will also use Britain as a historical 'laboratory' to discuss key themes that have shaped the modern world. It will examine the formation of the British state, the ideas that were shaped by the Enlightenment, in which Scottish writers played an important part, and ask why Britain industrialised and Ireland did not. It will also look at the often dire social consequences of industrialisation and ask how and why Britain created the Empire.

The growth of British overseas trade will be looked at. For example, we will ask why Britain dominated the slave trade in the 18th century and why it was abolished, despite its profitability, and consider the new ways in which Britain exerted economic and military power around the world in the 19th century, and the Scottish role in that process.

The module will also examine the impact of Britain on Asian, African and American societies, and vice-versa, and the ideological effects of the American War of Independence, the French Revolution and the 1798 rebellion in Ireland.

The module will look at the meaning of Victorian values in Britain and the development of modern political parties and the growth of democracy.

The roles of gender and class in shaping modern British and Irish society will also be charted. This module will enable students to understand the origins of both modern British society and the beginnings of an increasingly integrated global community. In the tutorials, each meeting will involve the examination of a key document or two, as well as a discussion of that week's topic.

• Class code: V1343
• Level: 3
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: lectures, seminars, tutorials

Class descriptor

This course explores the idea that childhood is not a self-evident biological category, but a social construct that has varied across time and space. By focusing on nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the course seeks to understand how childhood has been imagined throughout history; how children’s lives have been impacted by that changing definition; and how a particular construction of childhood, which emerged in the context of modern Europe, has come to be viewed as universal. Considering broad themes such as education, leisure, health, work and children’s rights, the module investigates what it meant to be a child and how different adults sought to control and regulate children’s lives. Using a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, the course investigates the methodological challenges around capturing the experience and voice of children as historical agents, and seeks to show how children were active participants in the formation of other social categories such as race, gender and class and were important contributors to global processes such as imperialism, humanitarianism and resistance.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1384
• Level: 3
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

The history of 20th Century Britain has well known events and markers such as the two World Wars, the 1960s, the crises of the 1970s, the Thatcher era, to name but a few. Often, the history we read and write is that of the dominant voices – the politicians, the military, the policy makers, the official stories of the 20th Century. In recent years, there has been a shift towards making sure there are histories rather than History (with a “H”). In this module we will explore some of the marginalised, or rarely heard voices of the 20th Century to understand the past as a rich and complex story. We will focus on listening to people’s stories and understand the value of Oral History to create histories that simply did not exist previously. Oral History is a methodology that has the potential to re-evaluate historical events. To ask what was the lived experiences of immigration policy? What was it like to be a woman in the 1970s? How did changes in legislation impact on queer lives? Histories that are not well documented through traditional sources can be reinstated into our narratives about the 20th Century to reassess our past and also the relationship of the past to the present. Through the course, we will hear some of the earliest stories from the 20th Century to more recent oral histories of queer communities in Britain.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1303
• Level: 3
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

Between the years 1870 and 1962, France was invaded three times and suffered a humiliating colonial retreat. It nevertheless maintained myths of unity and national grandeur. The period saw the consolidation of the French republican tradition and the separation of Church and State, yet it also saw enduring internal divisions, culminating in the Vichy regime of 1940-44. This module asks whether internal conflicts were signs of an enduring ‘civil war’, or whether the truly defining conflicts were those against France’s external enemies. The module begins with the traumatic episodes of the Franco-Prussian War and the Communes of 1871. By analysing the often problematic political and cultural consolidation of the Third Republic, this module will explore the ‘culture wars’ and the internal divisions that culminated in the Dreyfus Affair. After the humiliation of losing its status as Europe’s dominant power, France sought greatness in colonial expansion in Africa and Indochina, while seeking to consolidate national identity by transforming ‘peasants into Frenchmen’. Students will then explore the experiences of the First World War, assessing the strength of French unity in the face of the German enemy. The interwar clashes between fascism and the Popular Front will then be examined and how the First World War impacted upon French foreign policy and attitudes towards future war. Students will spend three weeks exploring the enduring controversies of the Second World War, focusing upon the collapse, resistance, collaboration, and French involvement in the persecution of the Jews, as France faced its ‘hereditary enemy’ once again. The module concludes with an analysis of the French withdrawal from Indochina and Algeria and an assessment of France’s position in the postwar global order. A variety of sources will be explored throughout the module, including paintings, monuments, films, literary sources, newspaper reports, memoirs and archival documents.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1349
• Level: 3
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

This is a social history class on everyday life and the Troubles in the north of Ireland. Much of the historiography of the war in Northern Ireland has focused on the dynamics of the conflict and on the political manoeuvring that orbited those dynamics. This module takes a different tack to consider everyday life during the Troubles, and in particular the way in which people from the north of Ireland intervened in everyday life in both mundane and spectacular ways. Drawing on various case studies (housing protests and the emergence of social housing; the feminist movement; the punk scene; gay and lesbian activism; prisons and imprisonment), students will engage with oral histories, documentaries, novels and other primary sources to consider how these movements emerged from and related to the war. In doing so, they will become aware of the global dimensions of a conflict sometimes misunderstood as atavistic or anachronistic, the connections between Irish and British social history, and the issues around 'dealing with the past' in contemporary NI.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1711
• Level: 3
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a seminal event in the history of the Twentieth Century and it changed the world. This module introduces students to major debates in the history of the Russian Revolution, especially through the eyes of those who either participated in revolutionary events or were affected by it. In particular, the course aims to combine discussion of key interpretive texts with an analysis of eye-witness accounts, memoirs, as well as rich cultural production-poems, art, and literature—which was inspired by the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. Arranged chronologically, ‘The Russian Revolution’ covers the Bolshevik victory in 1917, the Russian Civil War, and investigates the first ten years of Bolshevik rule. The course ends with an investigation of the global impact of the Russian Revolution, especially in Europe, China, and the colonized world. By the end of the course, students will be able to answer the following questions: Why did the Bolsheviks win? How did various groups among the Russian intelligentsia, workers and the peasants respond to these events? What was their vision of the new world order? Why did the revolution become violent? What was the impact of the Russian Revolution in Europe, Russia and the colonized world? Whilst most courses on the Russian Revolution focus on domestic events, this aims to look at its global impact. The course is an in-depth study of these events and the people who either participated or were inspired by 1917.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1347
• Level: 3
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

This class explores the history of Irish diaspora and the relationships between migrants and the homeland. It examines the history of Irish people in a variety of locations, including Scotland, England, the United States, Argentina and Australasia, and also investigates how emigrants 2 shaped the history of Ireland itself. We focus on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and examine themes of political activism, labour, religion, gender, ethnicity, race and discrimination. We will also examine the relationship of the Irish diaspora to major events of modern Irish history: the Great Famine and the Irish Revolution. Students will use a range of sources including primary documents, letters, film and images along with secondary sources to explore each theme. We will also analyse concepts of ‘diaspora' and why we even use that term instead of migrants.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1713
• Level: 4
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

This is a social history class on everyday life and the Troubles in the north of Ireland. Much of the historiography of the war in Northern Ireland has focused on the dynamics of the conflict and on the political manoeuvring that orbited those dynamics. This module takes a different tack to consider everyday life during the Troubles, and in particular the way in which people from the north of Ireland intervened in everyday life in both mundane and spectacular ways. Drawing on various case studies (housing protests and the emergence of social housing; the feminist movement; the punk scene; gay and lesbian activism; prisons and imprisonment), students will engage with oral histories, documentaries, novels and other primary sources to consider how these movements emerged from and related to the war. In doing so, they will become aware of the global dimensions of a conflict sometimes misunderstood as atavistic or anachronistic, the connections between Irish and British social history, and the issues around 'dealing with the past' in contemporary NI.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1725
• Level: 4
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

This course explores the idea that childhood is not a self-evident biological category, but a social construct that has varied across time and space. By focusing on nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the course seeks to understand how childhood has been imagined throughout history; how children’s lives have been impacted by that changing definition; and how a particular construction of childhood, which emerged in the context of modern Europe, has come to be viewed as universal. Considering broad themes such as education, leisure, health, work and children’s rights, the module investigates what it meant to be a child and how different adults sought to control and regulate children’s lives. Using a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, the course investigates the methodological challenges around capturing the experience and voice of children as historical agents, and seeks to show how children were active participants in the formation of other social categories such as race, gender and module and were important contributors to global processes such as imperialism, humanitarianism and resistance.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1440
• Level: 4
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

Between the years 1870 and 1962, France was invaded three times and suffered a humiliating colonial retreat. It nevertheless maintained myths of unity and national grandeur. The period saw the consolidation of the French republican tradition and the separation of Church and State, yet it also saw enduring internal divisions, culminating in the Vichy regime of 1940-44. This module asks whether internal conflicts were signs of an enduring ‘civil war’, or whether the truly defining conflicts were those against France’s external enemies. The module begins with the traumatic episodes of the Franco-Prussian War and the Communes of 1871. By analysing the often problematic political and cultural consolidation of the Third Republic, this module will explore the ‘culture wars’ and the internal divisions that culminated in the Dreyfus Affair. After the humiliation of losing its status as Europe’s dominant power, France sought greatness in colonial expansion in Africa and Indochina, while seeking to consolidate national identity by transforming ‘peasants into Frenchmen’. Students will then explore the experiences of the First World War, assessing the strength of French unity in the face of the German enemy. The interwar clashes between fascism and the Popular Front will then be examined and how the First World War impacted upon French foreign policy and attitudes towards future war. Students will spend three weeks exploring the enduring controversies of the Second World War, focusing upon the collapse, resistance, collaboration, and French involvement in the persecution of the Jews, as France faced its ‘hereditary enemy’ once again. The module concludes with an analysis of the French withdrawal from Indochina and Algeria and an assessment of France’s position in the postwar global order. A variety of sources will be explored throughout the module, including paintings, monuments, films, literary sources, newspaper reports, memoirs and archival documents.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1490
• Level: 4
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

The history of twentieth century Britain has well known events and markers such as the two world wars, the 1960s, the crises of the 1970s, the Thatcher era, to name but a few. Often, the history we read and write is that of the dominant voices – the politicians, the military, the policy makers, the official stories of the twentieth century. In recent years, there has been a shift towards making sure there are histories rather than History (with a ‘H’). In this module we will explore some of the marginalised, or rarely heard voices of the twentieth century to understand the past as a rich and complex story. We will focus on listening to people’s stories and understand the value of Oral History to create histories that simply did not exist previously. Oral History is a methodology that has the potential to re-evaluate historical events. To ask what was the lived experiences of immigration policy? What was it like to be a woman in the 1970s? How did changes in legislation impact on queer lives? Histories that are not well documented through traditional sources can be reinstated into our narratives about the twentieth century to reassess our past and also the relationship of the past to the present. Throughout the course, we will hear some of the earliest stories from the twentieth century to more recent oral histories of queer communities in Britain.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1714
• Level: 4
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

This class explores the history of Irish diaspora and the relationships between migrants and the homeland. It examines the history of Irish people in a variety of locations, including Scotland, England, the United States, Argentina and Australasia, and also investigates how emigrants 2 shaped the history of Ireland itself. We focus on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and examine themes of political activism, labour, religion, gender, ethnicity, race and discrimination. We will also examine the relationship of the Irish diaspora to major events of modern Irish history: the Great Famine and the Irish Revolution. Students will use a range of sources including primary documents, letters, film and images along with secondary sources to explore each theme. We will also analyse concepts of ‘diaspora' and why we even use that term instead of migrants.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1712
• Level: 4
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a seminal event in the history of the Twentieth Century and it changed the world. This module introduces students to major debates in the history of the Russian Revolution, especially through the eyes of those who either participated in revolutionary events or were affected by it. In particular, the course aims to combine discussion of key interpretive texts with an analysis of eye-witness accounts, memoirs, as well as rich cultural production-poems, art, and literature—which was inspired by the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. Arranged chronologically, ‘The Russian Revolution’ covers the Bolshevik victory in 1917, the Russian Civil War, and investigates the first ten years of Bolshevik rule. The course ends with an investigation of the global impact of the Russian Revolution, especially in Europe, China, and the colonized world. By the end of the course, students will be able to answer the following questions: Why did the Bolsheviks win? How did various groups among the Russian intelligentsia, workers and the peasants respond to these events? What was their vision of the new world order? Why did the revolution become violent? What was the impact of the Russian Revolution in Europe, Russia and the colonized world? Whilst most courses on the Russian Revolution focus on domestic events, this aims to look at its global impact. The course is an in-depth study of these events and the people who either participated or were inspired by 1917.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1932
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

This team-taught module will introduce students to the key research skills and resources required for successful completion of this programme and for pursuing further research.  It will provide them with greater understanding and deeper historical awareness of methodological approaches (e.g., international and diplomatic history, oral history) and historiographical debates (theories of history); students will learn how to locate and use key archival depositaries (for early modern sources as well as more contemporary material) and online resources, how to approach the use of newspapers, personal testimonies and non-literary sources. Students will be able to apply their understanding of the theories and methods of historical research in the two pieces of coursework set up for this module, the literature review and the research proposal, which will also constitute the foundation of their dissertation.

• Class code: V1912
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

This class explores the diplomacy of the post war world. It will provide students with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the key international issues faced by Britain, France and the United States after the Second World War. Students will examine the issues which strengthened the post-war alliance and those which challenged it.

• Class code: V1987
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Group Work, Private Study, Seminar/Tutorials

Class descriptor

This class allows students to explore advanced oral history theory and practices as a valuable means of understanding the past. In weekly seminars, we will examine the advantages and limitations of oral history as both a research methodology and an outcome by reading and discussing key texts written by leading oral historians and related practitioners. In addition, students will gain practical experience designing and implementing a mini oral history project directly related to their postgraduate dissertations. By the end of the semester, students will have submitted their dissertation project proposals for ethics approval, and gained preliminary experience in conducting and analysing an interview of relevance to their dissertation topic. Students seeking careers in history, museum studies, human rights advocacy, international law, diplomacy, and journalism will find this course particularly relevant.

• Class code: V1998
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

This module is designed to help students develop a detailed knowledge of some of the principal national experiences of Resistance in the Second World War and gain insights into the complexities of the relationships between the various forces involved, including Allied strategists, governments in exile and forces on the ground. Through the weekly seminars, students will explore the factors, both external and internal, which shaped the various Resistance movements in the Second World War and examine the nature and manifestations of the Resistance legacy over the long term, including its place in the history of cinema. Learning in the class will lead students to interrogate the interaction between history and culture, broadly conceived and to reflect on the ‘public use of history’ in a range of European countries. Home study and preparation for the seminars are crucial to this module. Students will be given weekly seminar reading assignments, including journal articles, book chapters and primary sources to be undertaken individually or in small groups.

• Class code: V1993
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

This course provides an advanced study of the evolution of diplomacy. While giving an historical overview it asks questions throughout about the current relevance of various diplomatic practices such as the appointment of ambassadors and the elite nature of policy-making in the diplomatic field. The class will also discusses the broader issues about the definition and purpose of diplomacy.

• Class code: V1932
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

This class introduces students to methodological and practical issues in historical research. The class is designed to help you decide a research topic and a design that you will use for your dissertation. Topics covered include formulating research questions, developing concepts, and how to select cases to study.

• Class code: V1912
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 1 (September to December)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

This class explores the diplomacy of the post war world. It will provide students with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the key international issues faced by Britain, France and the United States after the Second World War. Students will examine the issues which strengthened the post-war alliance and those which challenged it.

• Class code: V1103
• Level: 1
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

This module will follow on from V1102 and take the story up to the end of the twentieth century. The module will examine the effects of World War One on British society and explore the reasons for the breakaway of Ireland from the United Kingdom. The growth of the Labour party and the rise of socialism will be charted as will the effects of the Great Depression on British society. The role of the National government in formulating the policy of appeasement will be charted to show the ways in which foreign policy and domestic policy were inextricably linked. The challenge of nationalism in the empire will show how the idea of Britain as a global power was already under threat. The impact of World war Two and how it mobilised British society will be charted and the forces that led to the creation of the Welfare State will be explored. The changed global realities facing Britain and the beginnings of the Cold War will be examined to show how Britain adapted to the loss of Great Power status. Post war society is put under the microscope and the cultural revolution of the swinging sixties is explored to show how a generation gap was growing. The long slow march of women’s rights is charted and the impact of immigration is explored to show the ways in which British society was changing. The collapse of the traditional industrial economy in the 1980s and the fundamental changes in family life will be explored to show how traditional social norms were overturned. Finally, the module will consider the advent of devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

• Class code: V1213
• Level: 2
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

This module provides a broad introduction to the historical relationship between diseases and human societies in the early modern and modern periods. It examines the core thesis that diseases and other health conditions have had dramatic impacts on history, shaping economic relations, political and social structures and cultural and religious beliefs. However, it also explores the reverse of this, the thesis that human activities, ideas and behaviours have radically altered the diseases and conditions that afflict our societies over the last 500 years. The course is grouped around 3 themes, infectious disease, chronic disease, and society’s responses to disease. Lectures in the first two sections focus on exploring the origins of key diseases/debilities, the ways in which social structures/behaviours have caused or abetted these conditions, and their impacts on society, economics, politics and culture. In the final section, lectures focus more on the ways in which societies have sought to conceptualise, control and cure diseases. The key questions that students should be able to answer by the end are how have diseases and debilities shaped human societies, and how have human societies shaped diseases and debilities?

• Class code: V1214
• Level: 2
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

This course will explore Scotland’s political, economic, religious, intellectual and social development in the aftermath of the Union of 1707 through to 1832. The benefits, disadvantages and tensions that arose from the process of becoming part of the British state will be explored through such issues as causes and impact of union, the significance of Jacobitism, the nature and consequence of agricultural and industrial change, Empire, and the role of the Scottish Enlightenment.

• Class code: V1217
• Level: 2
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

This module examines some of the principal developments in international history of twentieth century Europe. It pays particular attention to the causes of the First World War; the impact of the war upon the international system; the rise of new powers within the international community after 1919; the causes of the Second World War; the Cold War and the forces driving European integration since 1945. Due attention is also paid to the role of the USA and USSR in recent European history. In terms of geographical coverage, the module will seek to balance consideration of Europe wide developments with finer-focus treatment of French, Italian, Russian, and German history. The module will introduce students to some of the main debates in the academic literature and encourage them to look at a range of relevant primary sources.

• Class code: V1216
• Level: 2
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

If students take full advantage of the learning opportunities and satisfy the assessment requirements of the module, they will know the broad outlines of the post-Civil War growth and development of the United States from Reconstruction to Reagan. In addition, they will understand the significance during key periods of American History since 1877 of industrialisation, immigration and ethnicity, urbanisation, reform, war government management of the economy and the constitution. They will be familiar with the experience of minority groups in American society and understand the causes and effects of the growth of the post-1945 civil rights movement and women’s movement. They will also understand the causes of the emergence of the United States as major superpowers and economy; demonstrate awareness of a variety of perspectives in his/her written and oral contributions to the work of the module; locate and use a range of secondary sources effectively; enhance their analytical skills in the oral and written discussion of historical problems.

• Class code: V1237
• Level: 2
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

This module examines the relationship between war and society over the past 100 years, particularly the everyday experience, memory and representation of modern conflict. Focusing predominantly on the two World Wars, but also looking at more recent conflicts such as the Cold War, Vietnam and the Gulf Wars, the module is informed by national and transnational perspectives and adopts a range of historical approaches, including military history, social and cultural history, gender history, life history and the history of trauma. Drawing on a variety of sources, including official reports, propaganda, films, images and personal testimonies, we will examine how war has been studied in political, social, legal, economic, ethical and cultural terms. We will also explore the various ways in which individuals, communities and societies are implicated in war, from the experiences of soldiers in battle to those left at home.

• Class code: V1326
• Level: 3
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Private Study

Class descriptor

This module will introduce students to the methods used by historians to reconstruct the past. It will explore and discuss the techniques used by historians in doing primary research. The class is designed to demonstrate how students can use these techniques in their own work. Among the topics that will be covered are; constructing bibliographies, using evidence, using academic conventions, constructing research plans and writing historical prose. The module will also introduce students to the subject of historiography – crudely put as a history of history. The ways in which historians have constructed the past and how our understanding of history has evolved will be discussed. The module is designed to promote independent learning and encourage students to reflect more deeply on the subject matter. Other than research methods, this module will not require students to do additional reading. Rather, it will encourage students to reflect on the work that they have done and think more deeply about the work they are doing in other modules.

• Class code: V1346
• Level: 3
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

Sexual practices and attitudes to sex have changed dramatically since the nineteenth century. This module will examine how and why these have been transformed through an exploration of the social, cultural and medical history of sex and reproductive health in modern Britain and Ireland from the late Victorian period to beyond the ‘sexual revolution’ of the 1960s and 1970s.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1334
• Level: 3
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

The class provides a broad survey of twentieth century Scottish social history. It will provide exposure to different interpretations and approaches to the social history of Scotland - the ways in which historians develop and use different theories for understanding societies and power. As such it encourages critical examination of continuities and changes in Scotland’s social fabric – the extent to which people’s lives have been transformed during a century of quite radical developments. Included is evaluation of the impact of two world wars; the effects of the inter war economic depression; changes in rural and urban lifestyles; trends in work, industrial relations, religion and the role of the state in people’s lives. We also examine some of the prevailing stereotypes: including the notion of ‘Red Clydeside’, of a ‘poorer’ and unhealthier nation; of an increasingly ‘classless’ society; and of the ‘hard man’ and a particularly patriarchal culture where gender inequalities persisted. The final seminar part of the course explores the impact of de-industrialisation, economic change, urban development and modernisation since World War Two. Throughout the course students are exposed to and encouraged to think critically about a range of primary sources used to reconstruct the social and cultural lives of Scots in the past, including newspapers, government papers, memoirs, autobiographies, film and oral interview testimonies.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1324
• Level: 3
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

The course aims to place medicinal substances in their social context. It will invite students to assess the idea that the creation of new drugs and medicines and the attitudes towards these within a given society are often determined by relationships and concepts other than those derived from medical or pharmacological theory. It will also show that the introduction of new medicines and drugs into societies has impacts other than that of simply curing a disease or altering a health condition and indeed that these impacts are often unanticipated. After outlining a number of issues and themes that underlie the social history of medicinal substances the course will proceed on a broadly chronological approach and will use the case study as the basis of the course structure.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1325
• Level: 3
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

Within the space of just over sixty years, from the Meiji Restoration of 1868 to Pearl Harbor, Japan underwent a process of rapid political, social and economic change. This transformed the country into one regarded by the west as “feudal” into a nation capable of challenging Western colonial hegemony in Asia. This class analyses concepts of feudalism, modernism and colonialism, while considering the transformation of this major non- European challenge to the west. It assesses the strains upon life within Japan as its leaders sought to develop it into an Asian imperial state. In turn, this created major tensions in the relationships that Japan had with its neighbouring states, tensions with consequences to the present. The class is part of the International History stream and is embedded within global historiography. The use of a wide range of contemporary primary materials, including official documents, posters and testamentary evidence, allows a critical evaluation of the prevailing views in the secondary literature. The class opens students to a wide range of Japanese, East Asian and western historiography.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1337
• Level: 3
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures

Class descriptor

This module looks at the period of Covenanting rule in Scotland within the wider context of early modern British and European History. Its focus is on the period 1637 to 1651, from the emergence of the Covenanting movement to the Cromwellian conquest of Scotland. These were some of the most turbulent years in British History. Students will be exposed to historiographical debates relating to the ‘new’ British History and the terminology and concepts that have been used by historians in recent years to describe the interaction of the three kingdoms of the British Isles during these years. Students will have the opportunity to examine and analyse original source material from the period. The course has a chronological coverage looking at the emergence of the movement, the nature of ‘The Scottish Revolution’ whereby the Covenanters took control of Scotland, and why the Covenanters thereafter intervened in Ireland and England in the 1640s in the context of wider ‘British’ developments and how these events unfolded in a series of complicated interventions throughout the 1640s. In addition to considering political, economic, military, diplomatic, religious and constitutional issues, the course also examines social issues in the context of the drive for a godly society and a significant amount of witch-hunting. By the end of the course, students should have a solid awareness of conceptual approaches, historiography and key events, as well as exposure to primary source analysis.

• Class code: V1379
• Level: 3
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Placement, Private Study, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

This class offers third year students the opportunity to spend eight weeks on a placement of their choice where their wider historical knowledge and set of skills can be applied; placements can range from museums, libraries, archives, historical associations to schools, charities, community organisations, healthcare providers, local authorities, etc. This module aims to provide students with an insight into the day-to-day workings of an organisation, in order to develop history-specific vocational skills and promote reflection on employability as well as the issues involved in disseminating history outside academia. This class aims to help students develop and consolidate an understanding of the specific research and personal skills gained through the study of History at undergraduate level and their application in a wider work context. As such, this class is designed to help students transition from university into employment and to contribute to the development of Strathclyde History graduate employability defined as : ‘a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes - that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy.’

• Class code: V1468
• Level: 4
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

Sexual practices and attitudes to sex have changed dramatically since the nineteenth century. This module will examine how and why these have been transformed through an exploration of the social, cultural and medical history of sex and reproductive health in modern Britain and Ireland from the late Victorian period to beyond the ‘sexual revolution’ of the 1960s and 1970s.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice

• Class code: V1471
• Level: 4
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

The module provides a broad survey of the socio-economic and political history of South Asia under British colonial rule. Its aim is to explore the development of South Asian politics by analysing the growth of the colonial state and the emergence of mass-based nationalist movements. It analyses the ways in which different social groups were able to participate in the state and the anti- state factions. It considers the conflicts which arose in the nationalist movements in attempts to engage with community, caste and gender based identities. The struggles and ultimate failure of the colonial state to deal with these pressures will also be analysed. Students will utilise a broad range of primary sources, including contemporary art, memoirs, newspaper articles and popular songs, with which to assess the relevant secondary source material. These will allow them to assess whether decolonization was ultimately a result of radicalizing anti-colonial movements within the sub-continent or contemporary domestic pressures facing the metropolitan authorities.

• Class code: V1432
• Level: 4
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

Within the space of just over sixty years, from the Meiji Restoration of 1868 to Pearl Harbor, Japan underwent a process of rapid political, social and economic change. This transformed the country into one regarded by the west as “feudal” into a nation capable of challenging Western colonial hegemony in Asia. This class analyses concepts of feudalism, modernism and colonialism, while considering the transformation of this major non- European challenge to the west. It assesses the strains upon life within Japan as its leaders sought to develop it into an Asian imperial state. In turn, this created major tensions in the relationships that Japan had with its neighbouring states, tensions with consequences to the present. The class is part of the International History stream and is embedded within global historiography. The use of a wide range of contemporary primary materials, including official documents, posters and testamentary evidence, allows a critical evaluation of the prevailing views in the secondary literature. The class opens students to a wide range of Japanese, East Asian and western historiography.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice.

• Class code: V1946
• Level: 4
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

The course aims to place medicinal substances in their social context. It will invite students to assess the idea that the creation of new drugs and medicines and the attitudes towards these within a given society are often determined by relationships and concepts other than those derived from medical or pharmacological theory. It will also show that the introduction of new medicines and drugs into societies has impacts other than that of simply curing a disease or altering a health condition and indeed that these impacts are often unanticipated. After outlining a number of issues and themes that underlie the social history of medicinal substances the course will proceed on a broadly chronological approach and will use the case study as the basis of the course structure.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice.

• Class code: V1405
• Level: 4
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

The module provides a broad survey of twentieth century Scottish social history. It will provide exposure to different interpretations and approaches to the social history of Scotland - the ways in which historians develop and use different theories for understanding societies and power. As such it encourages critical examination of continuities and changes in Scotland’s social fabric – the extent to which people’s lives have been transformed during a century of quite radical developments. Included is evaluation of the impact of two world wars; the effects of the inter war economic depression; changes in rural and urban lifestyles; trends in work, industrial relations, religion and the role of the state in people’s lives. We also examine some of the prevailing stereotypes: including the notion of ‘Red Clydeside’, of a ‘poorer’ and unhealthier nation; of an increasingly ‘classless’ society; and of the ‘hard man’ and a particularly patriarchal culture where gender inequalities persisted. The final seminar part of the course explores the impact of de-industrialisation, economic change, urban development and modernisation since World War Two. Throughout the course students are exposed to and encouraged to think critically about a range of primary sources used to reconstruct the social and cultural lives of Scots in the past, including newspapers, government papers, memoirs, autobiographies, film and oral interview testimonies.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice.

• Class code: V1424
• Level: 4
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Undergraduate
• Prerequisites: None
• Teaching methods: Lectures, Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

This module looks at the period of Covenanting rule in Scotland within the wider context of early modern British and European History. Its focus is on the period 1637 to 1651, from the emergence of the Covenanting movement to the Cromwellian conquest of Scotland. These were some of the most turbulent years in British History. Students will be exposed to historiographical debates relating to the ‘new’ British History and the terminology and concepts that have been used by historians in recent years to describe the interaction of the three kingdoms of the British Isles during these years. Students will have the opportunity to examine and analyse original source material from the period. The course has a chronological coverage looking at the emergence of the movement, the nature of ‘The Scottish Revolution’ whereby the Covenanters took control of Scotland, and why the Covenanters thereafter intervened in Ireland and England in the 1640s in the context of wider ‘British’ developments and how these events unfolded in a series of complicated interventions throughout the 1640s. In addition to considering political, economic, military, diplomatic, religious and constitutional issues, the course also examines social issues in the context of the drive for a godly society and a significant amount of witch-hunting. By the end of the course, students should have a solid awareness of conceptual approaches, historiography and key events, as well as exposure to primary source analysis.

This class can be taken in both third and fourth year under different class codes, it should NOT be taken twice.

• Class code: V1805
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Project Supervision

Class descriptor

This module provides a structured approach to preparing Masters students for their dissertation projects. The nature of the class is to ensure that students can make use of the time dedicated to dissertation preparation in Semester 2 by following a structured programme focused on productive supervisory conversations and assessments targeted at supporting them towards robust and innovative dissertation research.

• Class code: V1992
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Placement, Private Study, Seminars/Tutorials

Class descriptor

This class is designed to help students reflect on the subject specific and transferable skills they have acquired through their academic journey, articulate them to a potential employer and apply them in the workplace. This module aims to provide students with an insight into the day to day workings of an organisation, in order to develop history-specific vocational skills and promote reflection on employability and also on the issues involved in disseminating history outside academia. The class offers students the opportunity of spending eight weeks in a placement of their choice with museums, archives, historical associations, third sector organisations, university professional services. Placements are provided but students who have already identified an organisation or project they would like to work with, can discuss this with the class lecturer. Students will be asked to complete a small project or piece of research for their host. Assessment for this class include an initial work plan and a reflective essay on the student's work experience.

• Class code: V1996
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

The class surveys and analyses the changing nature of conflict management and resolution in the Arab-Israeli dispute, together with the range of conceptual tools that seek to explain the international activity in this region. The objective is to examine the relationship between the theoretical literature within the field of diplomacy and conflict resolution and specific case studies with a particular focus on the period from the 1947 UN Partition Plan to the brink of the 1979 Camp David settlement, realised under President Jimmy Carter. The first part of the module will focus on the influence of the United Nations on the region and the establishment of Israel in 1948. Students will then explore the impact of the Cold War on the Middle East and the role of the UN in international conflict resolution. Then the course will examine the 1973 crisis management and the US-Soviet competition to become a unilateral peacemaker in the region. Students will then explore Henry Kissinger’s negotiation tactics, including shuttle diplomacy, step-by-step approach and hard bargaining. The latter part of the module will then focus on summit diplomacy with Jimmy Carter’s single-negotiating text approach and Camp David Accords as a case study. 

• Class code: V1999
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

This class introduces students to major debates in the history of the Cold War in Africa, especially focusing on the agency of Africans in international politics. The class is arranged roughly chronologically. The opening weeks set out major themes of the course, such as the nature of African nationalism and the outcomes of decolonization, before moving onto debates about development, modernisation, and culture in the African context. The class then considers several thematic case studies, which explore the causes of war, and conflict resolution, in southern Africa before finishing off with a discussion of the repercussions of the Cold War for the African continent. We will look in detail at the decolonisation in British and French Africa, before looking in some depth at the upheaval in the Congo. We will also investigate the ‘diplomacy of liberation’, employed by African revolutionaries from the Portuguese colonies and South Africa to achieve majority rule and independence; examine the onset of the civil war in Angola, and the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. While the course will deal with the policies of the Soviet Union and the United States in Africa, its main objective is to study the diplomacy, strategies and statecraft of Africans in the twentieth century and investigate their impact on the ‘Global Cold War’. Were Africans simply proxies of superpower competition or did they use diplomacy to their own advantage? The class thus aims to assess the ways in which the Cold War affected the processes of decolonisation, nation-building and democratisation in Africa. It also studies the importance of the continent for the global struggles and transformations of the post-War era. The course also allows students to creatively engage with a growing body of secondary literature and documentary evidence.

• Class code: V1981
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

This class analyses the role of medicine in the emergence of ‘modern’ forms of warfare, particularly the vital contribution that medicine made to manpower economy, discipline and morale. It explores the ways that different countries have responded to the medical issues posed by modern warfare, the key objective being to place these military-medical developments within wider social, cultural and political contexts.

• Class code: V1988
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

This class explores the complex interactions between medicine, gender, health and illness in the 19th and 20th centuries. You'll explore the key role that gender has played in the emergence of modern healthcare and medicine in a variety of settings, such as Britain, Ireland and the United States. You'll also examine a diverse range of topics to assess how men and women, and concepts of femininity and masculinity were defined by the medical profession and how responses to men and women’s health issues became increasingly gendered over time. As well as developing your critical thinking skills through engagement with the secondary literature on these themes, you'll have the opportunity to get to grips with a variety of primary sources such as women’s magazines, advertisements, films, medical journals and oral histories.

• Class code: V1994
• Level: 5
• Semester (including exams): 2 (January to May)
• Credits: 20 (10 ECTS)
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Prerequisites: First or upper second-class Honours degree in History or overseas equivalent.
• Teaching methods: Seminars/Tutorials, Private Study

Class descriptor

Embassies are integral to international diplomacy, their staff instrumental to inter-governmental dialogue, strategic partnerships, trading relationships and cultural exchange. But embassies are also discreet political spaces. Notionally sovereign territory ‘immune’ from local jurisdiction, in moments of crisis embassies have often been targets of protest and sites of confrontation. It is this aspect of embassy experience that this class will explore.