BA (Hons) History

Contemporary British History:1945-1979

This module examines the fundamental aspects of contemporary British history in a period of rapidly changing global redefinitions and reorganisations.

You will consider the introduction of the welfare state within an interventionist economic structure, the shifting power relationship between majority and minority cultures, and the notion of national identity.

England in Europe C.1154-C.1400: An Introduction to the Late Medieval World

This module explores major themes and events in English History from the 12th to the 15th century.

You will study events including: the Angevin Empire and its loss, Magna Carta and the role of the Papal Monarchy, the relative peace and prosperity of the mid- 13th century, Edward I’s campaigns in Wales and Scotland, the upheavals of 1307-27, the Black Death of 1348 and the Hundred Years’ War.

Making History: Theory and Practice

This module examines different approaches to a range of historical case studies. These will include, amongst others, social and cultural history, the history of women, gender and sexuality, ideology and discourse analysis, postcolonial, the history of the visual image, landscape and public history, the legacy of modern war, and heritage studies. Key concepts common to history writing such as periodisation and the nature of the archive are also examined.

Renaissance and Reformation Europe: 1350-1600

This module evaluates the political, intellectual and religious development, popular, elite and court culture, warfare and international relations and gender issues across Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire within the Renaissance and Reformation periods.

In doing so, you will gain a better understanding of Early Modern European society and the way it responded to pressure and change.

Russia and China: An Introduction to Post-Communism

This module introduces you to the contemporary politics of the two great powers, Russia and China, and explores their comparative journeys into versions of post-Communism. You will understand the evolution and/or collapse of ‘communist’ ideology and practice in each state. It acknowledges the new state-society dynamics in each state, offering an introduction to politics and society in the twenty-first century Russia and China.

The United States: An Introduction: 1763-1970

This module analyses the distinctive origins of American political thought and constitutional practice, the structures and effects of slavery, the origins of the civil war, the evolution of popular culture with special reference to jazz, the pursuit of civil rights and the emergence of the United States as a world power.

Torture to Terror: European Order and Repression: 1492-1792

This module explores the brutality, atrocity and savagery of the so-called ‘Age of Reason’, with the persecution of witches and religious minorities, endemic warfare and the trade in slavery, concluding with the French Revolutionary Terror, 1792-94.
You will consider recurrent themes and debates, such as the interaction between European and non-European cultures, ‘just’ welfare, colonial exploitation, religious and cultural oppression, torture, slavery and human rights.

War and Peace: Twentieth-Century Europe and Global Conflict

This module provides you with an overview of European political, cultural, and military history during the 20th century through the study of its major conflicts and global forces.

The central focus of the module is the international history of the major Great Powers between 1914 and 2000. You will examine of some of the common debates that often surround the origins of the First World War; the Second World War; the Cold War and debates on the ‘New World Order’.

A Social History of Early Modern England: 1550-1750

This module will explore the lives of ‘ordinary’ (i.e. non elite) men, women and children living in England from c1550 to c1750.

You will consider key defining factors of the society during this period including social structures; gender relations; lifecycles; urban and rural life; poverty and welfare; crime and punishment; popular culture; and the church.

Colonialism and Anti-Colonialism in Africa

This module explores the role and impact of colonialism on Africa, as well as how, despite the impact and upheaval of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and various encroachments by the representatives of the European powers, Africans were still the key makers in their own history.

You will examine key aspects of African history from the 1800s through to the 2000s and consider their impact on the growth of anti-colonial nationalism, and the extent to which the end of colonial rule was brought about by the actions of anti-colonial activity in Africa.

The module concludes by assessing the impact of colonial rule, considering the nature of neo-colonialism.

Ideologies, Politics, and Culture

This module aims to provide you with a robust understanding of the nature of ideology, its operation within different political and cultural contexts, including Marxist, liberal, and conservative approaches.
You will also explore and analyse a range of indicative political ideologies, including conservatism, socialism, fascism, feminism and ecologism, enhanced through analysis of historical and contemporary case studies, and discussion of a diverse range of texts.

Kingdom of Heaven: Crusading and the Holy Land: 1095-1291

This module assesses the causes and consequences of crusading to the Holy Land between 1095-1291.

You will examine the motives of the First Crusaders and the subsequent defence of the Holy Land, including leaders such as Richard the Lionheart, as well as the political and economic ramifications for the Latin East and the indigenous populations of the invaded territories.

Re-Litigating the Past: State, Media and Historical Injustice in Contemporary Britain

This module focuses on how public histories have been rewritten in Britain over the past three decades, through the interventions of state, media, and voluntary sector institutions.

By studying these forms of investigations, you will learn about how private traumas are integrated into or transformed public memory, the ways in which and reasons why silences are maintained or broken, and the place of ‘the past’ in judicial processes.

Women and Gender: 1000-1600

This module explores the term ‘gender’ and its usefulness as a category of historical analysis. It will then explore major areas of research on gender and sexuality by medieval and early modern historians, examining women across all social strata, from queens and regents to prophets and peasants.

Approaches to Research

This module will build on your earlier explorations of research techniques, with a focus on the development of time and project management skills as you begin to prepare for your dissertation.
Questions concerning how one starts on a research project and establishes viability of subject to a range of different approaches/theoretical perspectives will be discussed in detail, in relation to how you will choose their own dissertation topic.

Art & Knowledge in Europe: From Early Renaissance to Baroque: 1250-1650

This module examines the development of art, knowledge, taste, fashion and beliefs in Europe from c.1250-1650 as you consider the importance of intellectual history, cultural history, science and art as key aspects of European culture.

You will pay close attention to a range of textual and visual sources — from literature, diaries, correspondence, journals, painting, sculpture and architecture.

Culture and Civilisation in Late Medieval England: C.1200-1550

This module offers a thematic and contextual survey of late-medieval England.

It commences by problematising ‘The Middle Ages’, focusing on historiography, myth, public perception, and the constructed nature of historical periodisation.

The focus is on England, but material from elsewhere may be used, and videos and field trips are normally employed in order to enhance your understanding of late-medieval culture and its conceptualisation.

Enlightenment Europe: 1688-1789

The ideas of the Enlightenment provided new ways of thinking about science, religion, education, politics and society and the place of ‘mankind’ in the world, but to what extent did the ‘philosophers’ transform society and how enlightened were they?

You will explore these ideas as you engage with the works of Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau, Beccaria and Wollstonecraft.

Environment and State in Britain Since 1945

This module explores the British state’s evolving stewardship over the environment since the end of the Second World War.

You will examine the connected environmental challenges that the state has faced in this time including pollution, urban change, resource depletion, species conservation and control, epidemics, extreme weather, the threat of nuclear war, and climate change.

Fascism and Post-Fascism in Europe

By looking at a variety of case studies from across Europe throughout the first half of the 20th century, we will discuss the way in which fascism was both embraced and fought against.

In addition, by using literary and cultural forms of post-fascism you will explore how many of the core messages of ideological fascism survived despite being politically discredited.

Heritage in Practice: Work Placements for History Students

The aim of the module is to introduce you to the ways in which your learning experiences in the discipline of History can be applied to the working environment.

The work placement experience will provide you with an understanding of the practical, ethical and technical issues involved in the collection, cataloguing and preservation or conservation of physical traces of the past.

Identity and Conflict in Russia and Eurasia

This module provides you with an understanding of contemporary Russia and Eurasia.

You will examine the recent conflicts across the region through the prism of nationalism and identity politics.

The module re-examines these conflicts by focusing on the sources of demand for national self-determination in secessionist conflicts in Azerbaijan (Nagorno Karabakh), Georgia (Abkhazia/South Ossetia), Moldova (Transnistria), Ukraine (Crimea/Eastern Ukraine); Chechnya (Russian Federation), as well as causes of intra- and inter-ethnic violence in Central Asia.

Study Visit

This module enhances your knowledge of the practical working of national and international institutions, as well as civil society groups and think tanks looking to influence these bodies from outside. You will take part in study visits that give you the opportunity to visit Brussels, where you will visit the main institutions of the EU (European Commission, European Council and EU Parliament), as well as the headquarters of NATO and Brussels-based lobby groups. You will be able to see how international politics plays out in the real world, how is it similar, or different to the developments at the national level and to understand the complexities and intricacies of decision- and policy-making, as well as the functioning of these complex systems of governance.

British Culture Wars

This module explores conflict within British culture from the start of the 19th century to the turn of the new millennium.

You will consider the reaction to obscene publications and other literary controversies and moral panics of Victorian Britain, through to the liberal reforms in the 1960s and the self-censorship and the baleful influence of Hollywood on British cinema.

Dissertation

The dissertation represents the culmination of your History studies as you complete an individual research project on a topic of your choosing.

The 10,500-word thesis will include explicit methodological and historiographical dimensions and where appropriate, theoretical discussions integrated into the text.

France and the Modern World

This module introduces you to the key themes and trends in Modern French History. You will study the post-war development of a major European nation, looking at the ways in which it sought to reassert its strengths in international politics. You will also examine how this impacted on its people, analysing aspects of French society and culture to track major changes in national identity.

Gothic, Romanticism and Women’s Writing: From Mary Wollstonecraft to Jane Austen

The aim of this module is to introduce you to the exciting range of women’s prose writing in the late 18th century, as you consider the relationship between such writing and the political debates of the period.

You will discover how this writing, while often underrated, was of importance to Romantic aesthetics, often primarily understood and defined in terms of poetry written by men.

Henry VIII and Court Culture 1509-1547: Faction, Faith and Fornication

This module examines the structures and cultures of royal courts of the Tudor period.
In particular, you will consider court culture through the eyes of contemporaries in order to explore the centrality of the royal court and its relationship to the localities during this period of such immense change.
You will explore the royal court’s political influence, the role of faction and division and the relationship to the literary arts.

International Law

This module introduces you to international law: the body of law which governs the legal relations between or among states and nations.

You will study the theories, principles and processes of international law, including its sources, legal personality, jurisdiction and realms of responsibility.

In addition, you will also be introduced to debates about the regulation of international activities, including the use of force, dispute settlement processes, human rights, and the role of the UN.

Louis XVI’s France: 1643-1715

This module assesses the extent to which an ‘absolutist’ monarchy was established in France in the seventeenth century. You will consider various historiographical perspectives of the French monarchy, with a focus on the social and cultural contexts of the period as well as the impact of the military tensions with other European nations.

Kingship, Queenship and Power in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe

This module considers the nature of social, cultural and political power in the late medieval and early modern periods by examining a variety of different topics such as royal ritual and law-making, visual and material culture, and social exclusion and popular rebellion.

You will understand how power was conceptualised and exercised in different socio-cultural contexts and chronological periods, as well as consider the role of gendered within power structures and social responses to rulers.

The Cultural History of Death

This module explores how literary representations of the historical and social treatment of the dead presents a vivid insight into the cultural behaviour, ideology and social order of different cultural and historical contexts.
You will explore the beliefs and attitudes towards the dead within literature from the Middles Ages through to more contemporary examples and debates.

Unforgettable Corpses: Literature, Cultural Memory and the First World War

This module will examine literary products of the First World War, the methods by which the authors reproduced, described and fictionalised their experiences.

The second half of the module will also consider the use of First World War tropes in literature produced in the latter half of the 20th century, compare the application of those narrative devices, and critically assess the later use of those devices.

A Global History of the Cold War

This module introduces you to a wider view of the effects of the Cold War beyond the traditional Western-centric view. You will examine the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union in the Middle East, the decolonisation processes in Asia and Africa, the political influence on developing nations in Latin America, and the emergence of China as an additional player.

Birds, Beasts and Bestiaries: Animals and Animal Symbolism in Late Medieval and Renaissance Europe: C.1100-1650

This module explores the various roles of animals within Late Medieval and Renaissance Europe, both in reality and within cultural arts. You will examine: the role of animals as diplomatic gifts; domestication and pet keeping; animals and warfare; exotic animals and mythological beasts; hunting and lordship; animals and Christianity; chivalric animals (in heraldry and romances), and animals and national identity.

Commerce and Consumption in Early Modern England: C. 1600-1750

This module examines the emerging commercial cultures of Early Modern England. Using primary sources of wills, business accounts, personal letters, and diaries, you will consider the changing attitudes to business and consumption of the period and how they laid the groundwork for further economic evolutions that influence the way we live today.

Dictatorship, Conformity and Resistance in Hater’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy and Stalin’s Russia

This module explores the distinctive ideologies of Soviet Communism, Italian Fascism and German National Socialism, and to consider if and how these were in fact new forms of religion. The module will also examine the construction of these ‘totalitarian’ states in practice, and the experiences of individual and institutions caught up within these contexts, with particular reference to the churches and to cultural movements.

Dissertation

The dissertation represents the culmination of your History studies as you complete an individual research project on a topic of your choosing.

The 10,500-word thesis will include explicit methodological and historiographical dimensions and where appropriate, theoretical discussions integrated into the text.

Globalisation and Its Malcontents

This module looks at key moments in the development of globalization focusing on moments in which the world came together, such as the Bretton Woods conference in 1944, when the terms of global trade were outlined after the rupture of the Second World War.
You will use these examples to contextualise the work of theorists like Arjun Appadurai to develop your understanding of how globalization has shaped twentieth-century history and politics.

Vice to Virtue? the Origins and Outcomes of the French Revolution: 1744-94

This module examines the roots and consequences of the French Revolution, as well the major historiographical debates that continue through to today. You will gain a clear understanding of the political, social and economic context of the revolution’s origins, the complexities and evolution of the Revolution itself, and the fallout and ramifications across the subsequent decades.