Course Catalogue

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This course will introduce students to global history, transcending the traditional focus on single states, regions and culture. After an introduction to concepts and methodologies the course will focus on mobility, using commodities, people and empires over the period from c. 1500 to the present to explore some of the ways in which the connected modern world came into being.

Tuesdays and Fridays at 11am over 10 weeks as scheduled in MyCampus; plus six one hour seminars (choice of times) as scheduled in MyCampus.

A grade D3 or above in History 1A or History 1B,or at the discretion of the Head of History.

HIST2002

None

Exam (90 minute duration) - 50%

Essay (2,000 words) - 30%

Seminar Presentation (5 minutes) - 10%

Seminar Participation - 10%

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

Seminar Participation (10%) and Seminar Presentation (10%)

This course will provide the opportunity to:

■ Understand what global history is, how it is practiced, and how it changes understanding of the past and the making of the modern world;

■ Improve critical and evaluative skills in the handling of a variety of primary and secondary sources, and as wide a range of evidence as possible, enabling progress to Honours in History;

■ Broaden awareness of a range of historical methods, historiography, interdisciplinary and theory;

■ Enhance confidence and independence of judgement in dealing with conflicting interpretations of major issues;

■ Improve presentational and analytical skills through assessed essays, seminar papers, discussion, and group work.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Identify the key characteristics of global history, and interpret the histories of places, people and ideas which transcend or cross national or imperial borders;

■ Establish an understanding of how historians have analysed the movement of commodities, people and states/empires in global contexts;

■ Identify and differentiate between types of scholarship that contribute to global history, including narrative, synthetic, analytical and interpretive writing;

■ Explain the role that theory may play in historical explanation and interpretation;

■ Interrogate a variety of source materials, including texts, images, data and objects , explain the problems and advantages of working with each, and describe their role in the process of historical explanation;

■ Establish critical and analytical skills in the deployment of primary and secondary sources to support clear and valid arguments both in writing and in discussion.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.