History BA (Hons)

The module provides a basis for the study of history at university level. It is designed to introduce students to the development, current state and relevance of history as a discipline. The module will help students engage with real historical questions, examining one important historiographical discussion by focusing on a key text or issue related to their tutor’s specific research. It will address some of the vocational skills and aptitudes required for and developed through the study of history.

The module will provide students with an understanding of the complexity of the historical record, including an awareness of types of primary and secondary sources, and an appreciation of a range of problems associated with the interpretation of evidence. Students will be encouraged to think about the discipline of history, the nature of historical enquiry and how professional historians go about their work.

This module covers a period of crucial significance for European history, including interactions between Europe and other parts of the world in the premodern period. Much of it will be unfamiliar to many of you, but, we hope, will be all the more interesting for that reason. At its broadest, this module covers more than a millennium, from the rise of Christianity to the European arrival in and settlement of the Americas. We start with the origins of Christianity in the eastern Mediterranean, before moving on to the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Islam. In Europe, we chronicle the rise of post-Roman kingdoms, the settlements of Vikings in Europe and more distant locations, the launching and objectives of the crusades. In light of the expansion of the papacy, we assess the emergence of new forms of spirituality and heresy, political conflicts between nascent states, and the impact of the Reformation and Catholic Reformation on other parts of the world. Underlying these events are some continuous themes, such as the foundation of the Christian Church, the development and evolution of notions of holiness, and the effect of religious belief on methods of education, ideas of difference and deviance, and responses to natural disasters. Another theme that runs through the module is to assess how gender mores affected the experiences of and possibilities for individuals who lived in these periods. Course content also looks at the practice of, and ideology behind, political activity and war. We aim to give you an appreciation of world views and of methods of representation based on the mental horizons possible in the age before modern technology.

This module explores contemporary issues and debates through considering global relationships in the past and how they have shaped the world in which we live. In light of the tremendous impact that modern imperialism and colonialism have had in shaping our world, the module focuses, in particular, on questions relating to race, empire and their legacies.

By exploring some of the ways in which historical investigation enriches urgent contemporary debates, the module aims to introduce students to a range of new ways of approaching the past, both in terms of subject matter and of approaches to history, and to broaden students’ historical understanding of both western and non-western
history (or what scholars refer to as the ‘Global North’ and ‘Global South’) and the myriad connections between them.
In addition, therefore, to preparing students for the range of subject matter, geographical areas, and approaches that they will be able to study in the second and third years of their History degree programme, this module also aims to make them better global citizens.

In this module students will work independently and in groups to produce a polished research project on a topic and in a medium approved by the tutor. The group will then present the final project to an audience explaining and reflecting upon the project’s rationale and the research and creative process. The emphasis is on research skills, dealing with primary sources, communicating arguments about the past, and on learning to work independently and in groups.

This module provides students with an introduction to modern British history.   It broadens their existing understanding by first considering factors of a general importance in the development of modern Britain, and then looking at particular events and themes.   In this way, students will be given a grasp both of broad themes in British history – such as demographics, political units, ideologies and social change – and of the specific way history unfolded at key moments and turning points.

This module provides students with an introduction to modern continental European history.   It broadens their understanding by first considering factors of a general importance in the development of modern Europe, and then looking at particular events and countries.   In this way, students will be given a grasp both of broad themes in European history – such as demographics, political units, ideologies and social change – and of the specific way history unfolded in certain times and places.

ALGY101 introduces students to the concepts, methods and evidence that archaeologists use to study and interpret the past. Students gain core skills essential to building and evaluating knowledge about the human past from material remains.

ALGY109 is designed as an introductory, level one module aiming to provide students with an overview of Ancient Egyptian history from prehistory to AD 395 both in its chronological development and in its environmental and geographical setting, including the fundamentals of the chronology of Ancient Egypt (including the limitations of available evidence), and a good awareness of how major archaeological sites and other forms of primary evidence fit within this framework.

The module covers the ideas, policies of the main political parties in UK politics and how they are conditioned by wider ideologies. It examines the key reasons why people vote the way they do, analysing recent elections. The module assesses the importance of the media and political rhetoric and also analyses the importance of gender.

This module enables students to understand the historical background to the development of the Troubles in Northern Ireland with reference to the underlying political, social, economic, cultural and religious context. It gives an overview of the main events and underlying causes of the outbreak of violent conflict in the late 1960s and examines the motives of main participating elements including the Northern Ireland and British governments, extra-parliamentary and political movements.

This course will provide an introduction to Ireland’s indigenous language, offering the chance to deepen your understanding of the culture and history of Ireland and to begin exploring Irish-language art, writing and film. Starting with some basic words and expressions, the course will guide students through the first steps towards achieving an A1 ‘beginner’ level in Irish (following the European framework for language learning). No previous knowledge of Irish is required.

This module introduces the history and society of the ancient Greek world, from the liberation of Athens from tyranny in the late sixth century BC through to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. The module offers students a foundation of knowledge in the history of events, as well as exploring a range of aspects of Greek society and culture, including the Greek ‘way of war’, sexuality and religion. It also introduces a range of sources for the study of ancient history, especially the two great Greek history writers, Herodotus and Thucydides.

This module introduces students to the design and implementation of archaeological projects (and thereby research design more generally). It is concerned with how archaeological questions are addressed through projects, the practices involved in the various stages of archaeological projects, including desk-based assessment, mapping, data collection and analysis, field recording, excavation strategy, interpretation and site/heritage management planning. There is a strong practical element to the module which focusses on the planning and execution of a project relating to a cemetery in Liverpool.

ALGY116 is designed as a year one module which aims to provide students with an overview of Ancient Egyptian culture. In particular it has as its core aim the development of students’ understanding of the broader thematic aspects of Egyptian society, such as writing, religion, art and social structure. The emphasis will be on the use of primary data (written and material culture), and on awareness of how major archaeological sites fit within this framework.

This introductory politics module focuses on the distribution of power in Britain and the nature of the British state. It outlines the traditional conception of the British political system as the ‘Westminster Model’ and considers the implications of this model for how democracy is conceived and how political power is mobilised, in whose interests and with what consequences, primarily in the UK but also in former British colonies and dependencies. The module examines the various component parts of the British political system including the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Parliament, the judiciary, the civil service , regional and local government and devolved institutions, from both a constitutional and political-sociological perspective. It also assesses the emerging impact of Brexit on the UK political system and for the distribution of political power within it, including consideration of the role of ‘imperialist imaginaries’ in shaping discussion of the UK’s post-Brexit future. The module assumes no prior knowledge of the British political system or the particular issues under consideration.

This module aims to explore the various ideas that have contributed to the development of modern Ireland. It will explain how these ideas have interacted with one another and how they have shaped political debates and brought about social change.

This course follows on from IRIS141: Beginners’ Irish Language 1, bringing students to a more detailed understanding of Irish. We will continue to cover themes based on the TEG (Teastas Eorpach Gaeilge) syllabus and will delve further into key aspects of Irish language, literature and culture.

This module deals with the history and society of Rome and the Roman world from the foundation of Rome to the end of the second century AD, i.e. the periods of the ‘Roman Republic’ and the ‘Principate’ (named after the princeps, a title of the Roman emperor). The aims are to provide (1) an introductory survey of the political and military history of Rome and the Roman empire; (2) to build a sound
chronological, geographical and conceptual framework for understanding the ancient Roman world; (3) to introduce students to reading primary sources in translation and evaluating their historical significance; (4) to introduce students to a limited range of scholarly views on ancient Roman history; and (5) to teach fundamental research skills.

In this module you will explore the visual modes and media by which people have expressed themselves individually and societally in different periods of human history. We will start by exploring ideas of visual culture and art, as well as the historical context of the module. You will be introduced to some of the core theoretical issues that underpin the production and consumption of visual culture including questions of what an image is and its relationship to ideology and theories of representation.

We will explore contexts across the ancient Mediterranean from the Palaeolithic to Imperial Rome. We wlll explore a range of themes and you will learn about a wide variety of visual culture from monuments and statues to painted pottery and the visual culture of everyday life. You will learn how to ‘read’ these different media to reconstruct ancient culture and to appreciate the tastes, desires and ideas from the ancient Mediterranean. As you learn about the ancient world you will develop a range of valuable skills that will be of use in academic studies and employment.

Humans want to know what the future holds for them. Many imagine what a future society might look like. Some act upon their vision – either to try and bring about radical change or to warn and save society from dangers ahead. Our module will look at Utopian and Dystopian projects and visions from the 16th to the 21st century. Our sources will range from past to present futures and include ambiguous sixteenth-century treatises describing the ideal society to recent sci-fi films imagining the relationship between human and machine in the immediate future.

This module introduces students to the Enlightenment, an intellectual movement that swept across 18th century Europe heralding a wave of social, cultural and political change. Enlightenment philosophers and social commentators sought to harness the power of reason to improve the world around them, encouraging their fellow men (and, in some cases, women) to throw off the shackles of feudalism and religious extremism. They worked together to expose the abuses of Ancien Régime church and state, culminating in the triumph of reason and universal human rights enshrined in the American and French Revolutions. Yet the Enlightenment has also proved deeply divisive, with historians arguing bitterly about its impact at the time and about its legacy for later generations. Students will study the principal features of Enlightenment thought, seeking to understand what Enlightenment writers considered was wrong about the world around them – and what they hoped to do about it.

This module will look at the impact of the Lisbon earthquake in Portugal and in Europe.

This module will examine the development of journalism in Britain across the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, introducing students to the main themes and debates in the history of news media. Lectures will juxtapose key drivers of change – social, political, technological, and cultural movements – with individual titles to reveal the evolving nature of news, its changing formats, and role in society across the period. The module will cover topics including the new literary genres that appeared in 1709 and 1711 with the publication of The Tatler and The Spectator, the growth in circulation rates thanks to improved technologies and repealed taxation, the role of news media in public debates, and the enduring fascination with celebrity and crime, spurring the advent of the tabloid press, ‘new’ journalism, and the 1896 launch of the Daily Mail. Final sessions will discuss tips and techniques for writing journalism today.

War was a regrettable yet ubiquitous fact of ancient civilisation. This module provides a diachronic and cross-cultural comparative study of warfare as practiced in Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe and the Near East, including Classical Greece and the East Mediterranean. The study addresses six cross-cultural themes: Technology and Sources, Tactics, Society, Infrastructure, Death and Commemoration, and Religion and Ethics. These themes are then applied to the examination of three case study cultures (Archaic and Classical Greece, Iron Age Europe and the Bronze Age Near East).

ALGY253 aims to introduce students to Coptic; the last phase of the Ancient Egyptian language and the only one to be recorded in an alphabetic script showing vowels.

Students taking Coptic will develop a fuller understanding of the ancient Egyptian language and how it developed over time. As well as students of Egyptology, students of Classics will also find this module of interest, not least in the way the script utilises the Greek alphabet and vocabulary.

Overall, Coptic is a unique phase of the ancient Egyptian language, and this module is designed to promote the acquisition of key skills for the understanding of the language, texts and culture in Late Antique Egypt.

How did the world begin? Who controls our universe – one god or many? What is the purpose of our being here in the world? Are the gods good? Are humans good? Why does evil exist? What happens after we die?

This module explores the fundamental ideas found in Egyptian religious belief, and studies their impact on Egyptian social structure. With an eye to broader anthropological theory, this module provides an in-depth look at textual, archaeological, and artefactual evidence to build up a rich portrait of the Egyptian intellectual universe – and sketches out their answers to the questions quoted above.

We cover gods, mythology, temples, rituals and priesthood, private expressions of religion, magic, concepts of death the soul and the afterlife, Egyptian religion and the influence of Greece and Rome, and the religion of the Amarna Period.

Teaching is lecture based, with tutorials covering specific questions.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS MODULE ASSUMES STUDENTS HAVE ALREADY STUDIED AT LEAST ONE EGYPTOLOGY MODULE IN YEAR 1 (either ALGY 109 or ALGY 116).

This module covers Later British/Irish Prehistory from the Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age. Moving on from a brief introduction to European Prehistory in Year 1 (ALGY106 and ALGY131), we now focus on the key issues currently under debate in Prehistoric studies in Britain: Neolithic sedentism and mobility, how we think about Stonehenge, the new science of migration, settlement and land use, ritual traditions, climate change, and the nature of prehistoric society. This module considers how we have often constructed an uncritical understanding of the past, particularly its power structures, in our own image. As archaeologists of the post-colonial era, we instead investigate how a critical archaeology is working to discover the real ‘difference’ of the past. The aim is to gain a developed understanding of prehistoric social practice and a critical understanding of prehistoric studies.

The Trojan War is one of the ‘great stories’ of Western culture. The Iliad most famously replays a crucial episode: the anger of Achilles following insult from the Achaean (Greek) leader Agamemnon and its deadly consequences. But alongside other contemporary epic poems, events from the ten-year struggle between the Achaeans and Trojans have been rewritten, restaged, and represented in literature and art across antiquity and down the centuries into modern times. This module examines some of these various attempts to ‘rebuild Troy’, tracing the myth through a range of source material, including epic poetry, Greek sculpture and painted pottery, Athenian tragedy, Hellenistic inscriptions, Roman poetry, nineteenth-century European art and film. By putting each ‘reception’ of the myth into its social, political and historical contexts, the module traces the fluidity and malleability of Troy in the cultural imagination, and asks what Trojan stories reveal about the societies that tell them, ancient and modern.

‘Empire’ is not a word that often follows ‘Athenian democracy’. We usually associate democratic origins with equality and fifth century BC Athens with exceptional cultural creativity. So how did ‘empire’ come to be associated with democracy? This module explores the relationship between the evolution of democratic structures and the extraordinary rise of drama, monuments, and art on the one hand; and the emergence of a territorial ‘empire’ across the Aegean Sea on the other. There are lessons, too, for our own understanding of how culture is connected to politics and resources.

This module is about politics, about policies, political institutions, and the political culture of Rome in the Late Republic. It does not only trace the deterioration of political consensus amongst the senate aristocracy and the rise of powerful individuals like Marius, Sulla, Pompey, or Caesar put also aims to explore the wider cultural context within which politics unfolds.

Early Musical Cultures from the Islamicate Court to the English Reformation introduces students to a wide range of early cultures of song and instrumental music from before 1600. Students will learn about the role of musicians in diverse contexts, including: the troubadours and trobaritz (12th-century France); music and mysticism (including Abbess Hildegard von Bingen and the pilgrimages of Margery Kempe); gender-queer musicians working at court in modern Syria, Israel, and Iraq (7th – 13th century); the role of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish musicians in late medieval Iberia; disability and musicianship (Notker, Landini, Machaut); and English composers negotiating their music during a period of dramatic religious change (Dunstaple, Fayrfax, Tallis, Queen Katherine Parr, Byrd). Teaching will take the form of lectures based on key themes, and seminars and workshops that consider sources relevant to certain musical traditions. Students will have the opportunity to work first-hand with early musical sources (digitally and using the archives), to explore early notations, and to engage in informal practical work. On the completion of this module, students will have a strong knowledge of the ways in which musicians played key roles in culture, and of the musical repertories that they produced. They will be able to identify compositional styles, and will know about how to handle early manuscript and print sources in their research, in person or via key online resources. Final projects combining written and practice-based elements will be encouraged, but may alternatively be fully written.

This module will help you demonstrate that the specialist skills learned through the study of history can be used in a wide variety of career contexts: from law, journalism, accountancy and auditing, to politics and human rights, charities and third sector, civil service and local government, administrative roles, business (e.g. HR, finance), information roles and cultural heritage roles. We will explore the personal, organisational, and societal benefits of creating and preserving records in all forms, and discuss their relevance to contemporary debates on transparency, accountability, privacy and good governance. The module has a practical focus on the information systems, models, policies and processes used in a wide variety of organisations, including a 5-day field trip to Dublin to interact with professionals across a range of cultural heritage institutions.

What does it mean to be ‘Indigenous’? How did Indigenous peoples live in the Americas and how did European conquest and colonisation affect them? How did (and does) the knowledge systems and land stewardship of Indigenous people impact European ‘science’? This module scrutinises these important questions, offering a unique opportunity for students to explore the Americas between the 14th and 19th centuries AD from comparative perspectives.

How does our knowledge of pre-colonial and colonial America inform our understanding of the Americas today? Taking the pre-colonial Indigenous societies as starting point, the module will especially focus on issues revolving around ingenuity, dispossession, resistance, gender, colonialism, environmental sustainability, slavery, race, and their legacies.

The module is taught through a series of lectures, seminars, handling sessions in the World Museum and the International Slavery Museum, class discussion, and group work. Combining academic readings with an array of media (ranging from film, to blog posts, podcasts, social media, among others), you will be introduced to the exceptional new evidence coming from archaeology, history, bioanthropology, geography, art history, literary and Indigenous studies.

This is a survey module on Chinese religious history, covering from the Han (B.C 202-220) to the Qing (1644- 1911) Dynasty. Pre-modern period here refer to prior to 1911, the end of Chinese imperial dynasties. This module is not arranged chronologically, but a very basic knowledge about the imperial history is needed. Chinese religion differs from Christianity in a fundamental way. Unlike Christian faith, Chinese religion is polytheistic and even pantheistic rather than monotheistic. This means that sometimes “faith” is of secondary importance to “ritual”. Religion permeated in all aspects of people’s daily life in pre-modern Chinese societies. To use C. K. Yang’s term, Chinese religion is more “diffused” than “institutional”. In other words, Chinese religious life is better described as “doing religion” rather than “believing in religion”. However, religious institutions such as Buddhist sangha (monastery) and Taoist church did exist. But institutional religion is never as powerful as the Church in Medieval Europe, and always subordinate to the state power. Students, thus, should break away from “Christendom model” when studying Chinese religion.
In this course, we will be looking at both “religion” of scriptural traditions such as Buddhism and Taoism, and popular ritual practices without traceable textual tradition. The purpose is to convey the idea that the boundary between the two are not clear-cut at social/popular level. For example, many Buddhist liturgies in fact derive from indigenous rituals from the pre-Buddhist era on the one hand; some shamanic practices blend many Buddho-Taoist elements on the other. We should see “Chinese religion” from the ritualist perspective.

This module aims to prepare and empower students to participate successfully in professional work experience, such as a year in a placement or internship, or volunteering opportunity, and to develop, in a pro-active way, life-long skills, attitudes, and behaviours. Students will have the opportunity to engage in inter-disciplinary, team-based research, gain the knowledge, confidence, and self-awareness to source and successfully apply for professional work opportunities.

This module examines patterns of popular belief in late medieval England (c.1300 – c.1520). The later middle ages was marked by frequent warfare, high mortality, rising literacy, the spread of heresy, and new opportunities for the lower orders and women. We will explore how popular ideas about life and death, gender and sex, magic and miracles, heresy and deviance, and the authority of the social elites and the church, were acquired, debated and evolved during the late medieval period.

This module will explore the spiritual landscape of early modern England following the Protestant Reformation, and how the tensions caused by a period of profound religious change led to political and military conflict. It will consider how and why a group of religious radicals, known as the Reformers or the Puritans, were dissatisfied with the religious settlement in England, and how this sense of unease grew into a much broader-based set of movements.

The module will explore in close detail changing ideas about religious identity during the early modern period, as well as themes of republicanism and kingship, what they meant to people in Stuart England and how such ideas were fought out between competing factions. The module will develop students’ understanding of the importance of belief in early modern England, and how ‘radical’ ideas had so significant an impact on the cultural, political and social events of the period.

The module will explore post-Reformation culture in Elizabethan and Stuart England. It will consider how contestation between groups of Protestants over the nature of the English Church came to have such an impact the English politics, culture and society? We will explore the circumstances that led to the outbreak and continuation of war; the attempts to reach a settlement between the parties; and the factions which shaped the post-war period, from the regicides to the Restoration. The module will also offer students the opportunity to consider how these histories have been written by succeeding generations – how various historians have understood and represented the war and the beliefs that powered it.

This is a workshop-based module that specifically equips students with a ‘toolkit’ of practical and theoretical skills for writing a piece of independent historical research but with wider application beyond the academy. Students work in groups to explore different ways of doing research and using theory. They learn to use these tools initially by applying them to topics the students are studying in other modules, thereby reinforcing and deepening their learning on those other modules, too. It then provides opportunities to use these tools in real-life contexts such as statistical analysis, funding and job applications. The module bridges progression from Year 1 towards Year 3, prepares students for Year 3 special subject and research dissertation, and exposes students to workplace-based applications of critical thinking skills.

This 30 credit module will introduce students to the history of Black people in Britain from Roman times to the twentieth century in a chronological survey of the major periods. We will employ an inter-disciplinary approach in our examination of the lives and contributions of people of African descent in Britain, using social, political and economic history as well as cultural history to deepen our understanding.

This module explores struggles for power and authority over bodies, health and medicine in modern American society. The module begins by examining important approaches, critical perspectives and scholarly debates within the fields of American social and cultural history, body studies, public health, critical medical humanities and medical history, to develop a relevant analytical toolkit and raise awareness of changes and continuities within these disciplines. The module then examines a range of case studies that inform how ideas and experiences of gender, race, class, disability, ethnicity, and sexuality were framed and contested within the realms of health and medicine in the recent American past.

This module is about ‘African history’. By this, I mean ‘what interests historians of Africa’ rather than ‘what happened in the past in Africa’. It’s an important distinction. So this is not a chronological account of the whole history of the whole continent. Instead, it looks at broad themes that have attracted interest from a range of historians. Although much of the history covered by the module is based on the records of imperial administrators, it is not imperial history. The focus is on African people and events on the African continent. Africans’ lives were affected by imperial administrators, but the historical subjects of this module are not the imperial outsiders; they are the people born and raised on the continent.  

This module is an introduction to cinema from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. We will look at a wide range of genres which include Kung Fu comedies as well as Chinese independent arthouse cinema. We will get to know some of the region’s finest directors, including Jia Zhangke, Wong Kar-Wai, Ann Hui or Hou Hsiao-hsien. It develops your knowledge and understanding of the historical development of cinema in the region but also how some landmarks in the history of twentieth-century China (such as the Warlord era, the Cultural Revolution and post-Maoist reforms) are represented in filmic texts. We will discuss the role of censorship and how the mainland Chinese government finances big blockbuster productions that glorify the Communist Party. The Greater China region is becoming increasingly important for transnational cinema and we will look at how the rise of China is already transforming Hollywood. The title of the module, “Projecting China”, points not only to China’s cinematic production but also to how the ideas of “China” and “Chineseness” are projected on screen. We will become familiar with themes such as gender and sexuality, nationalism, post-colonialism and transnationalism. No prior knowledge of Chinese is required to enrol in this module.

Learn how to read an image, images from advertising (commercial and public service), company logotypes, Asterix and satirical political cartoons (Charlie Hebdo)

Situated between the end of World War One and the Nazi takeover of power, the Weimar Republic witnessed a ‘crisis of classical modernity’; the period retains a reputation for modernity and decadence. Against a background of political and economic experimentation and uncertainty, it saw a growth in advertising, shopping, urban life and transport, fashion and film. Taught in a mixture of lectures and seminars, this module focuses on cultural representations of the period, through the study of two films: Berlin: Sinfonie der Großstadt (Berlin: Symphony of the Metropolis, 1927) and Marlene Dietrich’s first major feature, Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel, 1931); and two literary texts: Erich Kästner, Emil und die Detektive (Emil and the Detectives, 1928), and Irmgard Keun, Das kunstseidene Mädchen (The Artificial Silk Girl, 1932). Through close reading and thematic analysis, we will consider how they depict and define the modern metropolis; changing ideas about class and gender; and new forms of working life, entertainment and leisure.

The establishment of the UfA studios near Berlin in 1917 turned the German film industry, for at least a decade, into the major European film industry and into Hollywood’s main competitor in the world. Even through periods of crisis and turmoil, the German industry has remained an important site of creativity and German films have continued to garner international acclaim. This module provides an introduction to key movements in German national cinema, from Expressionist film, with its characteristic ghosts and shadows, through the ‘new wave’ of the New German Cinema to the present. From Lang to Fassbinder, Herzog and Wenders, it also offers an opportunity to study key films by some of the most influential directors to have emerged from the German speaking world. From Weimar film to Fassbinder’s appropriation of the melodrama of Douglas Sirk and Wenders’ turn to the ‘road movie’, the rivalry and dialogue with Hollywood also provides an important thematic strand that runs through the module.

The Basque language is the axis of a long-standing culture that came to feel at risk around the late 19th century. The Basque nation has since embarked on a fight for survival that has largely contributed to transform the Basque Country into an open, modern, and dynamic society. But contemporary Basque society is characterised by its conflicting identities, Basque and Spanish being the most noted of them. This module will analyse the most relevant areas of that conflict from a cultural, historical, and anthropological perspective. It will also offer a taste of contemporary Basque arts and the identity play between the local and the global in which they are inscribed. This is not a theoretical module. It is practical through and through. But by means of studying contemporary Basque society and culture students are invited to reflect about the concept of identity, both its importance to all of us and its striking fragility, and the way all that is linked to their own experience of nationality.

The legislative and management structures related to heritage, and the purpose, scale and effectiveness of these varies greatly across the globe, and is constantly being changed in response to economic, social, cultural and legislative forces. This module examines current agendas, policies and practices in a historical perspective, and then concentrates on a critical review of current practice. Aspects of the varied UK systems are considered within a comparative international context, considering the management issues associated with sites, monuments and buildings, and objects, museums and archives. Heritage managers mediate between remnants of the past and political, cultural and economic structures in the present. Whilst the module contains much that relates to practice within current legislative, cultural and economic systems, it also reflects on the ethical and socio-political dilemmas often facing heritage management.

This module explores the most significant periods and some of the major genres / films of Italian cinema from its origin to the present.

This module guides the students through the history of how economic modernisation, war, and revolution transformed the Russian empire into a socialist great power. Traditional political history is considered side-by-side with the history of collective action and mobilisation, by looking in turn at the behaviour and internal dynamics of various groups (workers, peasants, national and religious minorities, intellectuals, and women) before the war, during the "continuum of crisis" of the revolution and civil war, and at the time of Stalin’s "revolution from above". By so doing, the module provides exposure to themes in economic history, labour history, and peasant studies.

This module explores global nuclear culture and heritage since 1945, focusing particularly on Britain and the United States, the Soviet Union, France and Japan. Whilst the military, strategic, political, scientific and diplomatic history surrounding the atomic attacks on Japan and the ensuing Cold War has been thoroughly explored, the more complex study of the global nuclear cultures and ‘nuclear colonialism’ that developed in the years following 1945 has been marginalised until recently. Students will engage with a diverse range of studies focused on Cold War histories of science, of the environment, of literature and culture, and heritage. This module particularly explores the themes of nuclear anxiety (including fears over contamination, mutation, nuclear war, fallout from nuclear tests, the future, and parenthood), nuclear heritage, popular culture, and individual experience. The assessment activities on HIST238 require students to develop and apply analytical skills to primary and secondary source material, and to present and communicate their work in innovative and varied ways.

This course examines the histories of crime, deviance, and punishment through a series of case studies. There is no single focal point in terms of period or place. Case studies are drawn from Britain, the USA, Australia and South Africa, and range over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Through these case studies, we explore the relationships between crime (and deviance) and the cleavages of class, sex, and race. We also explore the role of the media in generating fear of crime and forging stereotypes of criminals and deviants. Finally, we examine the historical development of systems of punishment and the ways in which criminal justice systems have both reflected and reinforced wider social inequalities. Indicative topics include: young women and ‘flash’ style; street robbery and moral panics; eugenics and the regulation of female sexuality; prisoners’ memoirs; the ‘war’ on drugs; the rise of the ‘gangster.’

​This module charts the impact warfare had in shaping England over the course of the long eighteenth century. It introduces students to the inter-relationship between politics, finance, culture and the forging of the English identity during this period. The seemingly endless stream of military conflict, especially with France, cost a great deal of money to finance. To generate the necessary revenue required the people to be taxed like they had never been before, fuelling an ideological and political backlash centring upon notions of rights, public credit and liberty.  

This course will explore the history and culture of the Gaelic-speaking world and neighbouring territories from the end of Roman Britain to the beginning of the Viking Age—a period of immense social, political and religious change in these islands. Students will be introduced to the literature of early medieval Ireland – stories of miracle-working saints, visions of hell, and voyages across wondrous and monstrous seas. A special comparative lecture will draw out common threads in the history of Ireland and Aksum (modern-day Ethiopia), two non Roman territories that became Christian at roughly the same time. Students will also explore the connections between Irish territories and the neighbouring Pictish, British and English kingdoms—this will provide an opportunity to explore how the peoples of this era defined themselves and to reflect on the later regional and religious identities of Ireland and Britain.

Poverty, inequality, and “the 1%” are inescapably part of our modern politics. For ancient Romans, this was not always true. The idea that there was such a thing as a class of “poor” Romans only became widespread in Late Antiquity, as Christian bishops invented a role for themselves as carers of the poor to solicit charitable donations from the wealthy.

In this module, we will explore how and why poverty came to occupy this new prominence in the late Roman social imagination and the effects of this development on Roman ideas about wealth. We will pay particularly close attention to radical voices who challenged inequality, such as the anonymous Sicilian who called for the abolition of the rich, and to their more mainstream opponents who justified and legitimised inequality. Students will develop their ability to analyse historical ideas in context, using their new knowledge of late Roman politics, economics, and law to understand how and why our sources wrote about wealth and poverty in the ways that they did. Finally, we will reflect together on how this history of late Roman radicalism (and counterradicalism) might help us theorise and explain wealth inequality in other contexts – like our own.

This module looks at specific themes in Roman archaeology in their British context. The study of the monuments of Roman Britain is arguably the oldest facet of archaeological research in Britain. With a history than spans over 500 years, Britain as a Roman province possesses an unrivalled data base of archaeological research and its interpretation. In addition to this, recent work on the province has placed it in the vanguard of the on-going debate of the use of archaeological theory to practical applications.

ALGY244 is designed to explore themes of how the ancient Egyptians viewed the world around them. In particular, it will look at the ways in which they conceptualised the presence and operation of the divine within the natural environment, and how they modified the latter by building structures that allowed contact between their world and the supernatural domain. The module will especially emphasise the ways in which the Egyptians integrated notions of ‘sacred landscape’ into their everyday lives, and will focus on the non-mortuary evidence.

This module explores the funerary environment of private tombs in Pharaonic Egypt through the comparative study of the three main groups of evidence: Architecture / archaeological material, iconography and texts.

This module provides an introduction to the Sumerian language and literature.

This module introduces students to Herodotus’ Histories, the first piece of historiographical prose to survive from Greek antiquity, and to some of the other evidence (especially Persian and Egyptian) that is needed for a proper contextualisation of Herodotus’ historical and literary enterprise. It examines a series of key themes in the study of Herodotus: for example, his representation of foreign peoples, or of Persian or Athenian imperialism, the role of religion in the Histories, and the causes of the Persian wars.

This module considers the institutions of government in the Roman Empire, the differing social groups within the empire, and the financial, agricultural and economic life of the Roman world.

This module introduces you to aspects of life in Britain and Europe between about 1740 and 1815. This period is often seen as the beginning of the modern world, when the ideas about human nature and society that still shape our own lives came into circulation and when the global entanglements generated by trade and colonisation began to have a lasting impact on everyday life in Europe. The module is taught by tutors from French, German and English Studies, and History, as well as staff from the National Museums Liverpool. It gives you an insight into the range of materials and methods that are used in research in eighteenth-century studies. Interactive lectures, seminars and fieldwork encourage a hands-on approach to learning. You start by inventing an 18th-century character and you follow that character through various experiences typical of the period: shopping, reading, travelling, thinking about political issues of the day. Images, artefacts and contemporary texts in English and other languages are made available to support your research. The aim is for you to develop your capacity for asking questions (curiosity) as well as for answering them (research skills).

The module provides students with a work-based placement, to take place in a relevant public history institution, such as a museum, archive or library (other institutions may also be relevant). Students will normally spend half a day per week (or one school teaching day) a
week during one semester working with the chosen institution, which might involve teaching assistance, archiving, conservation, researching, building an exhibition, developing a public engagement project, etc.
In addition, they will attend fortnightly sessions on career development and fortnightly seminars on academic approaches to public history.

The module will examine the cosmovisions of four key indigenous American civilisations: the Mayans, the Aztecs, the Incas and the Huarochirí. It will explore what happened when the Spanish and the indigenous cosmovisions came together. We will look at the methods used by the Catholic missionaries and institutional church in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to convert the indigenous peoples to Christianity (persuasion, debate, cultural production, as well as coercion) and will look at the indigenous responses to these efforts. We will look themes such as Baroque Christianity, the Jesuits, mysticism and magic in context in c.16th-c.17th Latin America.

This module is about the history of public entertainment in the Roman Empire c. 300-600 CE. Students will explore the fascinating textual and material evidence for arena games (gladiatorial combat and wild beast hunts), charioteer racing, the theatre, and civic festivals in late antiquity.

They will analyse the social and political functions of these events in a dizzyingly hierarchical society under an autocratic regime. Such games and festivals may have been intended to support the power of emperors, senators and civic grandees, but these crowd scenes all too easily resulted in expressions of political subversion and social unrest, from derisive chants to rioting and violence.

Students will explore the experiences of the spectators and professional performers, ranging from charioteers and faction leaders to actors and sex workers. Finally, they will consider how Christian churchmen sought to discourage attendance at such sinful—even pagan—spectacles, and replace them with (theoretically!) more wholesome Christian holy days—and whether they were successful in stopping all this fun.

The module provides students with a work-based placement, to take place in a relevant public history institution, such as a museum, archive or library (other institutions may also be relevant). You will normally spend one day per week during one semester working with the chosen institution, which might involve archiving, conservation, building an exhibition, developing a public engagement project, etc. In addition, you will attend fortnightly seminars on career development and academic approaches to public history.

This module introduces you to the turbulent history of France from the Paris Commune of 1871 to the Paris terrorist attacks of 2015. During this time, the French experienced two world wars unfold on their soil, as well as political extremism, imperial expansion, military occupation, rapid economic modernization, diminishing global influence, and the difficult process of decolonization and its legacies. Despite moments of national triumph, such as the 1998 World Cup victory, wars, political upheaval, social conflicts, modernization, decolonization, and globalization severely tested what it meant to be ‘French.’ As well as being interesting in its own right, the global importance of French Republican ideas and culture and the international significance of dramatic events, such as the May 1968 protests and the 2015 attacks, make France an important country to study if we wish to understand developments in contemporary history. It also offers an excellent opportunity to explore histories of gender, race, and other identities.  

From the 1970s, scholars working across the humanities and social sciences have made increasing use of firstperson testimonies to investigate how ‘ordinary’ individuals and groups experience, think and act in the social world. This level 5 module introduces students to this ‘turn to the personal’ via consideration of the development of Oral History as one of the most dynamic and powerful methodologies for studying human experience in history. Combining close reading of seminal theoretical texts with in-depth historical case studies and practical exercises in the analysis and interpretation of oral history narratives, students will acquire critical understanding of the historical development of oral history as a form of research practice and social activism; epistemological debates concerning the special credibility of oral history and the problem of subjectivity in history; and different approaches to the analysis of oral narratives with special reference to notions of everyday life, the self, memory and emotion. Culminating in an extended case study of the uses of oral history in researching personal experiences of modern war, Experience, Memory and Emotion provides students with practical and theoretical understanding of an exciting and adaptable historical methodology, enhancing their capacity to employ autobiographical sources on other history courses and in the development of independent research projects.

The module will introduce students to the main themes and debates regarding the history of Black settlement in the UK following the Second World War, with, when applicable, a particular focus on the North and North West. Lectures will provide an overview of key political, cultural and social developments from 1945-1999, covering topics such as migration, housing, the introduction of anti-racist discrimination legislation, the British Black Panthers, and the development of Caribbean Carnivals across Britain. Seminars will focus more closely on different source material, and engage with historiographical debates.

This module will study the ‘long’ history of the Civil Rights Movement in America, pioneered by African-Americans still living in the shadow of slavery, in the latter years of the 19th century, proceeding through the monumental political and social upheavals of the first half of the 20th century and culminating in the activism of the 1950s and 1960s that would end ‘Jim Crow’ racial segregation. Strategy and leadership will be a consistent theme, but the role of individuals in shaping the movement will be considered in relation to the broader context of the immense social, economic and cultural changes occurring within the United States over this period.           

This module offers an in-depth examination of key themes in the cultural, social and political history of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1949-1990, as well as questions of memory after 1990. It explores key milestones in the history and politics of the GDR (e.g. the uprisings of 17 June 1953, the building of the Berlin Wall and the demonstrations of 1989), as well as central themes within society and culture, such as gender, youth and cultural policy. Each theme will be examined through a range of texts, films and other primary and secondary resources, to develop a detailed knowledge and understanding of the meaning and significance of life and culture in the GDR and its relevance for contemporary eastern Germany.

This module aims to provide students with an in depth analysis of British Foreign Policy. The module covers Britain’s responses to the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as the two main superpowers; the end of Empire and the emergence of the Commonwealth; relations with Africa and the Middle East; the growth of new institutions of global governance; Britain and Europe; and the ethical foreign policy, and the long road to Brexit. As such, this module seeks to fill that gap by providing further optionality to already popular programmes in the Department of Politics.

This module considers display and public interpretation in museums and galleries on the one hand and publicly accessible sites and monuments on the other. This module examines current UK interpretation theories, policies and practices in an international comparative perspective. Heritage interpretation and display brings understanding of the past to peoples in the present, though what aspects of the past to reveal and emphasise can be highly political and controversial. The module concentrates on current practice, but it also reflects on the selectivity of heritage interpretation decisions, and the ways interpretation can exclude as well as include various sectors of society.

The module develops a decolonial approach to the history of Italy, Africa and the Mediterranean, focusing on trajectories of colonialism and migration to and from Italy, from the age of the empires to the present. Adopting a decolonial perspective on the history of the Italian empire, its languages and cultures, the module examines some of the cultural and geopolitical tensions that shape ideas of heritage, citizenship and belonging between Italy and Africa. Exploring the making of individual and collective memories through a variety of media and languages, the module develops a language-sensitive approach to the study of history, memory and culture in the 21 st century.

This module offers an introduction to economic and social development in Latin America over the past fifty years and more recently the effects of globalisation in Latin America. We discuss key themes in the study of globalisation and development, including the nature of globalisation and the state, and the concept of development. After the introductory sessions, different weeks will look at changes in development policies in Latin America, from the post-war period to the most recent introduction of neoliberal reforms and the turn to left-wing politics. Subsequently, we will discuss key actors in the Latin American development process (the state, civil society, social movements, and international institutions). The module finishes with an overview of the international context of Latin American development, including US-Latin American relations.

This team-taught module invites students to an expansive, yet focused investigation of public spaces – real and digital – across Belgium, Germany, Colombia, China, United States, and Italy: we start with an introduction that familiarises the students with key concepts and questions of public space and its embodiments through, for instance, monuments, statues, and museums, drawing from theories of ‘the everyday’ (i.e. Michel de Certeau, David Harvey Edward Soja, Henri Lefebvre, etc.) and Memory Studies (i.e.Michael Rothberg’s multidirectional memory). The Introduction invites students to understand political change and protest movements in public spaces within a global context. Each week then focuses on a different case study, a statue, a museum, their digital representations, a neighbourhood, etc., such as the Berlin Wall Memorial and Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. To ensure coherence across these vastly different geographical and historical contexts, the sessions will be structured around a set of recurring key themes and questions (heritage, memory, justice, everyday use and creative transformation) to draw students’ attention to global connections and local specificities.

Beyond Binaries is module about the cultural and social history of genders and sexualities in a largely modern British context. Focusing on the later-nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the module introduces students to a wide range of historiographical and theoretical approaches to gender and sexuality, taking account of trajectories in feminist thought, postcolonial work and queer theory. The module uses a variety of modern British case studies to unpack and challenge the dominance of heteronormative discourses. It also seeks to situate trends in ideas and practices within broader international contexts. Themes covered by the module include constructions of masculinity, intersections of race and gender, feminist activism and transgender experiences.

Many details of the past don’t appear in written records and would be missed if historians only relied on words. In the field of material culture, the past is interpreted through ‘things’ rather than conventional primary sources. This module examines the post-war history of Germany using material culture as primary evidence. We will study the period between 1945-1990 through a selection of materials that relate to the political, cultural, and social development of East and West Germany.

This module offers an analytical survey of key aspects of American foreign policy from the 1890s to the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961), paying particular attention to the roles of presidents, secretaries of state and other senior advisors. There is a programme of eleven lectures, each lasting one hour, which address American attitudes and policies from the New Manifest Destiny in the 1890s through Woodrow Wilson and the First World War, interwar isolationism and Franklin Roosevelt and the Second World War to Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower and the Cold War. In addition, weekly two-hour seminars explore selected issues in greater detail.

The History Dissertation serves as the capstone student research project for History Single and Major students and for History Joint students who choose to study a History dissertation.

In this module, we will examine the contemporary uses of history. We will reflect on how, as a society, we consume history. You will use your own historical research (for your dissertation, research essay or another piece of historical research that you have undertaken at university) as a case study to explore some of these issues. Industry
practitioners will help you to reflect on how to present your training as an historian in non-academic contexts. You will consider how to communicate your work to a non-academic audience – in both written and visual forms – and reflect on the potential interest of your research to a wider public (through the heritage, museums and entertainment industries) and/or to policy-makers.

This module explores the great problems that affected nineteenth- and twentieth- century cities—disease, deprivation, bad housing, crime and haphazard planning—and the reforms that aimed to solve them. It examines new techniques, such as social investigation, ‘underworld’ journalism, slum photography and film-making that shaped understanding of the city as a dangerous place, but also a place of spectacle and pleasure. In so doing, it introduces a range of sources and methods that expand your research skills as you move through the final year.

This module will help you demonstrate that the specialist skills learned through the study of history can be used in a wide variety of career contexts: from law, journalism, accountancy and auditing, to politics and human rights, charities and third sector, civil service and local government, administrative roles, business (e.g. HR, finance), information roles and cultural heritage roles. We will explore the personal, organisational, and societal benefits of creating and preserving records in all forms, and discuss their relevance to contemporary debates on transparency, accountability, privacy and good governance. The module has a practical focus on the information systems, models, policies and processes used in a wide variety of organisations, including a 5-day field trip to Dublin to interact with professionals across a range of cultural heritage institutions.

Why do ordinary people resort to war to achieve their political aims? What are the personal impacts of political violence for members of a divided society? And how do communities emerging from protracted conflict live with its emotional legacies? This module explores human experiences of the Northern Ireland Troubles, using personal narratives to re-tell the history of the conflict from the standpoint of individuals, families and groups who participated in, lived through, and were impacted by its 30- year history of violence. Focusing on the relationship between conflict, culture and human subjectivity, Civil War & the Self shows how historical analysis of personal perspectives, motivations and memories can enrich understanding of the causes, experience and consequences of civil war, and considers the value of such ‘human histories’ for the work of post-conflict reconciliation.

Combining close readings of key historical debates with in-depth case studies and practical exercises in the analysis of oral history narratives, students will acquire critical knowledge of the contested historiography of the Troubles, gain expertise in using personal narratives to research the human history of civil war, and deepen their understanding of the ethical, emotional and political importance of history for divided and post-conflict societies. Themes addressed include the human histories of Provisional IRA volunteers and British military personnel; civilian experiences of trauma, sectarian intimidation, and residential displacement; migrant histories of settlement and personal adaption in Troubles-era Britain; and the creative uses of oral history as a method of ‘conflict transformation’ in post-conflict Northern Ireland.

This 15-credit, third-year module draws upon the insights and methods of social and cultural history to examine the impact of the First World War upon both British and German societies. Total war meant that all areas of British and German social and cultural life, from food production to art and media, from ideas about nationhood and patriotism to gender roles and concerns about sexual morality, were unsettled by the conflict. The module introduces students to British and German primary sources and challenges students to draw upon key historiography to critically reflect on the popular narratives promoted in both Britain and Germany during the First World War. The module is taught via eleven lectures and eight hours of seminar time.

Greek culture was spread to the furthest limits of the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions by a series of so-called ‘colonies’, including such important modern cities as Marseilles and Istanbul. The motivations and methods behind this huge archaeological phenomenon remain unclear, but in the hands of the scholars writing in an age of neo-classical revivalism, the analogy to their own British Empire was clear and self-evident. This module combines History, Ancient History and Archaeology in its examination this crucial moment in world history and its subsequent use and abuse by imperialist scholars. No prior knowledge is required and the module includes a team presentation that aims to develop transferrable employment skills.

This module examines Egypt and the Near East during the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550-1200 BCE) as part of the world’s earliest well-documented international system. Students are introduced to the key events and political actors of this period, as well as the critical analysis of relevant primary sources. Key issues in International Relations theory are introduced through their application to the Late Bronze Age.

This module will introduce students to the broader context of professional practice in the fields of heritage and archaeology in our contemporary society. Specifically, this module seeks to enhance students’ skills in identifying points of contention or interest between different sections of the community in relation to a series of key themes. The module will also enable students to think clearly through the potential ramifications of following particular courses of action related to the management of heritage assets – including archaeological remains, standing buildings and monuments, and landscapes both human and natural. These themes include the ownership of heritage assets, access to heritage assets, the presentation of heritage assets, issues of sustainability and the development of assets and, lastly, claims to authority over such assets by archaeological and heritage professionals. Teaching methods and assessment will concentrate on helping students to identifying potential conflicts of interest in the study and management of heritage, exploring the political and ethical nature of these conflicts of interest and presenting a specific case for action or resolution. The module will require students to become familiar with the detail of a series of current case studies.

This module studies the history, politics, and culture of Rome and its empire under the Julio-Claudian emperors. Along with rigorous study of literary, documentary, and archaeological evidence and modern bibliography, students will focus on the Annals of Cornelius Tacitus, our most important source.

This module aims to examine the age of the Emperor Justinian, a fascinating period which is particularly well attested through a number of different sources. It will shed light on features such as the life of a Late Classical court, diplomatic relations between great powers, religious conflict and change, and trace the processes that changed the ancient world of late antiquity in the 6th century AD, which is a period of transition and change, in which the beginning of the Medieval Mediterranean took shape.

We, as a society, confront narratives of migrant experience daily. The rhetoric of crisis, disaster and emergency often defines the stories of those who have fled or been forced out of their homelands as powerfully as it pervades related debates around conflict, climate change and the Coronavirus pandemic. In recent years, as the UK’s relationship with the rest of Europe and the rest of the world has been radically reconceived, our islands are imagined, by some, as places of refuge and, by others, as bastions vulnerable to invasion. But the complex ways in which migrants themselves experience, interpret and represent their settlement histories in Britain rarely feature within public accounts of the making of contemporary British society. This new interdisciplinary module takes a long view of the migrant experience in postwar Britain, guiding students through relevant aspects of social theory, moments in modern history, and literary texts. We will encounter the migrant experience through literature, film, performance, journalism, critical writing, and first-hand accounts. The module also features an alternative assessment: students will be guided by experts in creating oral history and verbatim theatre practitioners to generate new analyses and narratives of migration.

With films such as Nigendwo in Afrika (Nowhere in Africa, 2001), Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) and Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others, 2005), German film has once more been greeted with international acclaim. However, in contrast to the ‘art house’ film-making of the New German Cinema of the 1960s and 1970s, today’s ‘post-Wall’ German cinema is resolutely commercial, employing genres and forms familiar to international audiences. This module offers an examination of key developments in German film since the 1990s. It traces the rise and international success of a German variant of the ‘heritage’ film in which the trauma of German history in the twentieth century – through the Third Reich, German division and the urban terrorism of the 1970s – is reimagined and mined as the source cinematic narratives. The module also explores a return to an ‘art-house’ film-making preoccupied with questions of realism and representation in the work of Andreas Dresen and the so-called Berlin School of film makers. All films are available with subtitles and the module is suitable both for students of German and students without German who are interested in film and its relation to society.

This module develops research and critical skills when examining digital cultures with a particular focus on the Americas. It takes examples that encompass North, Central, and South America as well as the Caribbean. Building confidence in handling theoretical tools in the analysis of digital cultures it examines a range of professional and amateur content creators from social, institutional and personal perspectives and considers issues of curatorship, archival approaches, the ethics of (re)appropriation and remediation, and the relationship between the self and the public and private spheres.

This module will introduce students to debates about democracy in Latin American during and after the Cold War, including the breakdown of democratic regimes and democratisation. By examining the changing relationship between the state, civil society and citizens since the mid-twentieth century, we cover various aspects of the democratisation process in the region, including theoretical explanations. In the first half of the module, we examine the influence of the Cold War on Latin American politics, including the Cuban Revolution, US-Latin American relations, and the emergence of military regime. This is followed by an examination of the ‘transitions to democracy’, including topics such as transitional justice, human rights, and the memory and legacy of dictatorship. We finish by studying some of the challenges confronting Latin America societies today and the prospects for democracy.

This module will introduce students to approaches to memory and to a body of textual, visual, material representation of terror that has become a key focus for critical analysis in recent cultural studies. It will provide a context in which students can engage in systematic comparisons between European, Latin American and East Asian experiences and representations of social and political trauma. It will also encourage students to reflect systematically on the political and ethical implications of literary, material, digital and cinematic representations of traumatic histories. You will have the opportunity to study in depth and compare examples of representation through different media and across different national and linguistic boundaries. Lectures provide background both to the main theoretical approaches, and to specific representations. In weekly seminars, you will work on the case studies covered in class, and on related materials. Assessment is on the basis of a poster and an essay.

The module will typically provide an introduction to the history of slavery in the Francophone and Hispanic Worlds, situating the phenomenon of modern slavery within an understanding of historical slavery. Students will then study a range of representations of slavery that have arisen in response to historical slavery. These will typically range from first person slave accounts from the early modern period which provide an individual perspective on the history of slavery; literary and filmic representations of slavery and cultural responses to slavery, particularly in the heritage industries through the practice of Dark Tourism. The module will typically include a visit to the International Slavery Museum in the Albert Dock, Liverpool.

Northern Ireland is justifiably considered a place apart in UK politics. The region experienced thirty years of violent conflict, known as ‘the Troubles’ (c.1968-1998), and it remains a deeply divided society. Northern Ireland’s devolution settlement was designed by international treaty, its party system is unlike any other in the UK, and its model of government is unusual even by international standards. This module introduces students to the principal debates associated with the conflict, politics, and governance of Northern Ireland. Topics explored in the module include: interpretations of the conflict; the strategy and evolution of paramilitary organisations; British state policy; the use and effectiveness of consociational powersharing since 1998; and ‘post-conflict’ politics and community relations in Northern Ireland.

Race, as a concept, is generally understood as a product of modernity. But many aspects of our ideas of race and ethnicity (from the Greek ethnos, ‘people’) have a long—indeed, an ancient—history. The forms of prejudice which have done such damage in ‘western’ modernity, and now motivate the resurgence of far-right and neo-Nazi groups, can be traced back to classical Greek and Roman notions of who was (or was not) civilised. Paradoxically, contemporary ethnonationalists often claim descent from the (so-called) ‘barbarian’ groups who helped bring about the end of the Western Roman Empire, and formed new kingdoms which—if you squint hard enough— look a bit like modern European nation states.
This module explores how late ancient people thought about ethnic groups, and traces the impact these concepts and identities had on the lives of those who inhabited late and post-Roman societies. It follows these ideas in action in the Western Mediterranean over the late fourth to the sixth century CE: that is, the period of the ‘Fall of Rome’. Students will examine a series of case studies which illuminate how late Roman people understood ethnic belonging, the ways in which these were reshaped by the creation of new, post-imperial polities, and the manner in which they intersected with other forms of identity and community (e.g. gender, religion and social status). Together we will place ancient and modern notions of identity, ethnicity, and race in dialogue. In so doing, we will seek to attain a better understanding of both, and debate whether we should revisit the idea that ancient and medieval people did not think in racial terms.

This module looks at the topic of gender and women in popular religious thought in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In late imperial China, Buddhist belief and practice was part and parcel of people’s everyday life. At the same time, Confucianism was enshrined as the state ideology and social moral code. We will explore the following questions:

1) Was there any tension between Confucian and Buddhist ideas on gender and women?

2) If so, how was the tension addressed and solved?

3) How did women express their Buddhist piety while complying with social mores?

4) How might Buddhist piety have conflicted with social expectations on women?

We will look at the social-religious tensions inherent in the roles of daughter, wife, daughter-in-law, mother and religious teacher in Qing China. We will also look at the theme of female suffering and sacrifice, which is portrayed as a virtue in both popular Buddhist and Confucian texts. Many popular Buddhist texts are translated to English. So knowledge of Chinese is not a requirement for this module. There is also plenty of secondary scholarship in English.

This project-based module provides an introduction to oral history as a research method for historians, whilst also offering students the exciting opportunity to engage with ongoing, oral history-based research projects in the History department. As a group we will explore the theory, method, and practice of oral history, considering issues like myth, memory, and nostalgia. Ongoing discussions with practitioners in the field will also allow us to explore the many benefits of oral history as a method for recovering ‘voices of the past’ before students undertake their own interviews.

This module explores the relationship between humans and the environment in modern Britain, Europe and the United States. At a time when environmental issues are never far from the headlines, and drawing on the approaches and insights of environmental history, one of history’s newest and most exciting sub-disciplines, this module assesses the environmental dimensions of key historical processes in the West, including industrialization, colonialism, urbanization, and war. It also attends to heightened political and cultural concerns about the environment in the twentieth century. An exploration of real and imagined environmental catastrophes frames this module. We will ask whether the modern West has courted environmental and social catastrophe with its attitudes towards, and uses of, the environment. We will also explore the ramifications of various environmental disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina that struck New Orleans in 2005, and the ways in which they affect different communities, thereby addressing issues of environmental racism and justice. At the same time, we will analyse the catastrophic narratives of environmentalism. The module draws on a wide variety of primary sources, including texts, photographs and paintings, film, and environmental literature. No prior knowledge of the subject is required. Nor are you required to have any scientific background.

The history of human experimentation is as old as the practice of medicine and has always targeted disadvantaged, marginalised, institutionalised, stigmatised and vulnerable populations – prisoners, the condemned, orphans, the mentally ill, students, the poor, women, the disabled, children, peoples of colour, indigenous peoples and the enslaved. Since the end of World War II, the scale and the scope of human subject research has massively expanded, particularly in the United States, largely because of developments in professional medicine. This module explores what happens when professional medicine exceeds its limits.

When Tocqueville toured the United States in 1830 the fluidity of the social structure, the energy and equality of the people, and the success of the democratic experiment struck him as unique. Only in America, he concluded, had freedom and equality been so successfully balanced. His four-volume report of his travels Democracy in America celebrated the American exception, establishing it as a model for emulation but also served as a warning about the dangers a democratic republic faced. Numerous challenges, contradictions and denials – including slavery, Civil War, mass immigration, Empire, depression, and World War – have troubled the American democratic creed in the two centuries since Tocqueville wrote. This module will examine the ideas and events that animated and motivated American democracy from the early nineteenth- to the early twenty-first centuries and assess how Americans have responded to democracy’s failings as well as its triumphs.

This module involves detailed scrutiny of US foreign policy from the eve of the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939 to the end of hostilities with Japan in 1945.      

We think of natural disasters in terms of destruction, loss and extinction. Casualties and physical damages inflicted by an earthquake, a pandemic, a volcanic eruption or a flood, all point to the vulnerability of the built environment and the transience of our lives. It epitomises the power of nature against human frailty. However, by experiencing and surviving natural disasters, societies are forced to reimagine and rebuild the world in which they were living, and which no longer exists. As destructive as natural disasters are, they bring fundamental changes; they prompt new beginnings. Every time a natural disaster happens, it obliges humans to rethink their environment, their relation to nature, their ways of seeing and making the world around them. This module will look at how specific catastrophes (each used a case-study) in the history of the Western world brought about significant changes in the political, social, and cultural spheres.

How did the mid-twentieth century crisis in Europe transform the relationship between politics, culture and the individual? This module addresses that question through sources such as diaries, memoirs, films and fiction to explore how Europeans experienced fascism and antifascism, dictatorship, war, occupation and liberation, leading to new forms of individuality and selfhood between 1930 and 1950. We will ask how cultural forms, such as the theatrical and artistic avant-garde, as well as the everyday experiences of economic depression, political extremism and mass violence influenced the making of the self in the context of the ideological clash between Right and Left during Europe’s age of catastrophe.

Charlemagne’s coronation as ‘Roman Emperor’ on 25 December 800 established a new political norm in Europe that would last for over a thousand years. One of his flattering courtiers described him as ‘Father of Europe’; in his reign, for the first time ‘Europe’ was identified with lands under Christian rulership. Even today, a prize in his name rewards those who have done the most ‘in the service of European unification’ since Charlemagne (not counting Napoleon and Hitler). Myths about him abound. But what was the reality? Was he an autocrat? What were his ideals and goals, and how far, in the context of early medieval reality, was it possible for him to meet them?    

The theme of this module focuses primarily upon British industrialisation between 1640 and 1842. Understanding this process is one of the most controversial and hotly contested topics in history. What were the origins of the British Industrial Revolution? Was it simply driven by a distinct set of national characteristics – most notably Protestantism, the embracing of Newtonian science, and an entrepreneurial spirit, as some cultural and economic historians argue? Conversely is the explanation more mundane. Were there a unique set of institutional features vital to British industrialisation – most notably the work of State bodies and a national policy of economic regulation? What role did foreign trade and the colonies play? Was it crucial or simply of secondary importance? This module demonstrates the complexity and contingency of British industrialisation by situating it fully in the global world. Finally, did the withdrawal of State regulation and the emergence of free trade during the nineteenth century have a more negative than positive impact upon British industrialisation?

‘Rights and Resistance’ focuses on the relationships between the law, social change and historically contingent attitudes towards genders and sexualities in modern Britain. The module requires students to address changes in the law, socio-legal debates and the development of social justice campaigns pertaining to gender and sexuality between the late nineteenth century and the latter half of the twentieth century. Topics covered include the criminalisation and decriminalisation of male homosexuality, the regulation of prostitution, transgender rights and abortion law reform. In the seminars we will analyse different types of evidence, including Home Office papers, newspaper reports, film, and activist collections.
The module is assessed via coursework assignments.

The extensive sociological literature on social movements has traditionally focused on movements in the United States and Western Europe since the 1960s, but there is an increasing awareness amongst scholars that comparable examples of collective action have existed since at least the eighteenth century. This course uses concrete case studies of collective action in Europe from the Suffragettes to Extinction Rebellion to investigate questions about how movements mobilize activists, how they communicate with their publics, the importance of mass media, what unites a movement, and what makes a movement successful. In the process, we will cover revolutionary movements, feminist organizing, hate speech, terrorism, and anti-Communism over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

The mass killing of people is a depressingly familiar feature of human existence, from the Thalheim Death Pit (c. 5000 BC) to the Royhinga genocide in contemporary Myanmar. Mass killings are nonetheless exceptional and emerge from specific contexts and human decisions. This module explores and compares the contexts, dynamics, and discourses as well as the afterlife of mass killings from ancient history to the present day. Looking at case studies from across the world, students will be able to apply different approaches and methodologies relevant to the study of the history of violence.

Violence is a phenomenon that historians have long had a hard time grappling with, since historical works on subjects such as wars, colonialism, violent crime, terrorism, or even genocide are generally oddly silent on the nature of violence itself, its origins, and its impact on human minds, bodies and societies. This module will challenge such absences through interrogating violence as an historical force and considering its causes, rationales, forms, impacts, and consequences in a variety of western and non-western contexts (including Britain, the United States, and India) from the nineteenth century onwards. Taking a thematic approach, the module will focus on subjects such as the ways in which law serves to rationalise violence, different forms of violence (such as war, conquest and colonisation, genocide and massacre, torture, gendered violence, and structural violence), and the impact of violence on individuals, groups, and societies.