HST201: International History of the State
20 credits (semester 2)
Module Leader: Dr. Gerold Krozewski, (module leader for 2011-12 TBC)
| Pre-requisites |
Pass in at least two of the Level One modules offered by the Department of History.
| Module Summary |
This is a genuinely integrative module that focusses on a core interest of both history and politics: the modern state. It examines the different ways states have been built and consolidated through history. The module will trace the emergence of the modern state in Europe and discuss the different ways states have been constructed, identifying the different functions of the state over time. It will also introduce students to the range of theories that have been used in the disciplines of history and politics to study the state, including Historical Sociology, Marxism, Institutionalism and World Systems Theory. Students will be invited to assess these theories through a series of case studies.
| Teaching |
The module is taught through weekly lectures and seminars. The lectures provide an overview of some of the most important themes, supported by discussion of set readings in the seminar groups. In the second half of the semester, students will focus on a particular strand, allowing for more detailed engagement with a topic.
The general topics covered in the module include: an introduction to modern historiography, professionalisation, social scientific approaches, the Annales school of historians, the influence of Marxism, women's history and the study of gender, cultural history, narrative, and the impact of postmodernism.
Seminars strands in the second half of the module will cover topics including history and anthropology, oral history, studying material culture, microhistory, postcolonialism, and narrative.
| Assessment |
The word limit for essays includes footnotes, but excludes the bibliography.
| Selected Reading |
To follow.
| Intended Learning Outcomes |
Students completing the module will have developed:
- Their ability to understand and deploy the comparative, regional and global approaches used in international history and politics.
- A broad understanding of the development of the 'state' in an international context since the late Nineteenth-century.
- Their ability to employ both theoretical arguments and particular examples supporting their arguments in essays.
- Their ability to critically discuss material in seminars, exchanging views with both the tutor and other students.