This module is designed to provide an introduction to some of the key themes in modern and contemporary world history, covering the period approximately 1750-1945. The geographic focus will be Europe and the Americas, but the thematic structure of the module will provide understanding of the main political, social, economic and cultural factors that have shaped the modern world more broadly. The module will prepare students, conceptually and methodologically, for more in-depth study of various aspects of modern (and not just modern) history in the subsequent years of their degrees. Students will engage with questions of period, such as ‘What made the modern world distinctly modern?’, and they will engage with complex but fascinating questions about how ideas and technologies migrate across borders in an increasingly interconnected, transnational world. However, does the ‘modern’ era of history mean that the world as a whole is uniformly ‘modern’?

Lectures and seminars will adhere to a coherent thematic structure, but some will have more specific geographic focus. The study of modern history is one of major developments and revolutions in ideas, politics, social relations, cultural forms and technology. It is a story of dramatic leaps in human progress, but it is also a story with some of the most horrifying chapters of human history. Engagement with the complexities, contradictions, and contingencies that have shaped the modern world, as well as with the major challenges and alternatives to the dominant ways in which we live, will challenge students to think deeply and with historical awareness about the world around them.

On successful completion of the module a student will be able to:

• demonstrate a broad knowledge and an understanding of the historical processes that contributed to the making of the modern world;
• demonstrate a critical understanding of a range of historical approaches used to analyse the making of the modern world;
• demonstrate a critical ability to gather, assimilate and interpret historical knowledge;
• demonstrate, as a necessary foundation for more detailed analysis in the second and final years of the degree, an understanding of concepts such as “modernization”;
• use a range of techniques to initiate and undertake analysis of information;
• identify strengths, weaknesses, problems, and/or peculiarities of alternative historiographies;
• develop causal explanations of historical processes;
• demonstrate skills in comparative historical analysis;
• deepen understanding of broad themes and developments considered in the course through case studies of particular historical phenomena.

A range of teaching methods will be used in each of the sessions of the course, comprising a combination of lectures and seminar discussion of major issues. The syllabus is divided into a series of major course themes, then sub-divided into principal topics for the study of each theme.

Lectures:

The aim of the lectures is to provide a brief introduction to a particular topic, establishing the salient features of major course themes, identifying key issues and providing historiographical guidance. The lectures aim to provide a basic framework for understanding and should be thought of as useful starting points for further discussion and individual study. Where appropriate, handouts and other materials may be distributed to reinforce the material discussed.

Seminars:

The primary aim of seminars will be to generate debate and discussion amongst course participants. Seminars for each of the course topics will provide an opportunity for students to analyse and further discuss key issues and topics relating to lectures.

• communicate ideas and arguments effectively, whether in class discussion or in written form, in an accurate, succinct and lucid manner;
• formulate and justify arguments and conclusions about a range of issues, and present appropriate supporting evidence;
• an ability to modify as well as to defend their own position;
• an  ability to think critically and challenge assumptions;
• an ability to use a range of information technology resources to assist with information retrieval and assignment presentation;
• time management skills and an ability to independently organise their own study methods and workload;
• work effectively with others as part of a team or group in seminar or tutorial discussions.   

Students will be assessed by means of a combination of two 2,000 word assessed essays (excluding empirical appendices and references), the best of which will count towards the final mark [50%], and one two-hour unseen written examination paper in which the student will answer two questions [50%].

Course assignments:

1. The Assessed Essays are designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to review evidence, draw appropriate conclusions from it and employ the formal conventions of scholarly presentation. They must be no longer than 2,000 words (excluding empirical appendices and references). The best mark of the two will count towards the final mark.
2. The Examination will take place during the second assessment period [May/June] and will consist of an unseen two hour paper that will contribute the remaining 50% of the final mark for this module. Students must write 2 answers in total.

The opportunity for reassessment in this module

The usual provisions for reassessment are made in this respect. Individual cases will be decided by the Examination Board of the History Board of Studies. Reassessment generally will take the form of a reassessment of the failed component in the August Resit Examination Period.

The course will cover a wide range of topics including:

ENLIGHTENMENT AND THE AGE OF REVOLUTION

• What was the Enlightenment?
• The Age of Revolution in the Atlantic World
• Slavery and Race

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL CHANGE

• The Industrial Revolution and Modernization
• Mass Culture
• The Built Environment and Modernity

NATIONALISM AND IMPERIALISM

• Nationalism
• Imperialist Expansion
• Managing Empire: Medicine and Empire

WAR, VIOLENCE AND REVOLUTION

• The Development of Total Warfare: From Napoleon to World War I
• The First World War and Social Change
• Revolutionary Russia and International Socialism
• Alternative Modernities: Fascism and Communism
• War and Genocide

IDENTITIES

• Class
• Race
• Gender

Given the nature of the module and research-led teaching, it would be impossible to provide a single textbook or overview.  However, for those students who are seeking useful narrative histories or introductions to the period and global history, please see 'Background Reading and Resource List'.

C.A. Bayly, The Birth of the Modern World (2004)

Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789-1848 (London, 1973)

Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Capital, 1848-1875 (London, 1977)

Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Empire, 1875-1914 (London, 1987)

Eric Hobsbawm, Age of Extremes: The short twentieth century, 1914-1991 (London, 1994)

Pat Hudson, The Industrial Revolution (1992)