| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
~
|
AMS-30032 |
Under God: Religion and Society in the U.S. Since World War II |
EA |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
When it comes to the study of American politics and society, there is no getting away from religion. About 96 percent of Americans believe in God; 87 percent consider themselves Christians; and upwards of 40 percent regard biblical prophesies as predictions of real events. Moreover, political leaders in the United States tend to openly declare their religious faith and frequently invoke the powerful imagery of the "nation under God". This module examines the origins of religious vitality in the United States and explores its role in American society and culture since World War II. In the process, it not only revises common assumptions about the link between religion and modernity, but also about the separation of church and state in the United States.
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~
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HIS-30083 |
German Occupation Policy and Warfare in Europe 1938-1945, II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Building on Part I, this module extends the exploration of German rule over large parts of Europe between 1938 and 1945. We will deepen the analysis of the close and dynamic links between German occupation policy and the ongoing war. Economic, social, political and cultural aspects will be scrutinised, always trying to analyse the phenomena from different angles and perspectives. Methodological and historiographical issues will be discussed in the light of contemporary sources.
Through the close study of different countries under German rule in Eastern, Western and Southern Europe the module analyses the dynamic relationship between the occupiers and the occupied. What societies did the Germans encounter?
The principal themes to be explored in part II (of the linked modules) are focussed on the analysis of mass crimes:
Resettlements and 'ethnic cleansing'
Prisoners of War
The Shoah
Ghettos
Concentration Camps
Forced Labour in and from Europe
Resistance
The module comprises 10 two-hour seminars involving informal group presentations, the critical analysis of primary sources and historiographical debates.
This module explores World War II, which was and is crucial for the formation of modern Europe. |
|
~
|
HIS-30083 |
German Occupation Policy and Warfare in Europe 1938-1945, II |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Building on Part I, this module extends the exploration of German rule over large parts of Europe between 1938 and 1945. We will deepen the analysis of the close and dynamic links between German occupation policy and the ongoing war. Economic, social, political and cultural aspects will be scrutinised, always trying to analyse the phenomena from different angles and perspectives. Methodological and historiographical issues will be discussed in the light of contemporary sources.
Through the close study of different countries under German rule in Eastern, Western and Southern Europe the module analyses the dynamic relationship between the occupiers and the occupied. What societies did the Germans encounter?
The principal themes to be explored in part II (of the linked modules) are focussed on the analysis of mass crimes:
Resettlements and 'ethnic cleansing'
Prisoners of War
The Shoah
Ghettos
Concentration Camps
Forced Labour in and from Europe
Resistance
The module comprises 10 two-hour seminars involving informal group presentations, the critical analysis of primary sources and historiographical debates.
This module explores World War II, which was and is crucial for the formation of modern Europe. |
|
~
|
HIS-30085 |
The French Revolution: Terror and Dictatorship, 1793-1799 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The French Revolution was a world-historical event and its outbreak in 1789 is widely regarded as marking the beginning of modern history. It is a topic that continues to attract attention from scholars across the globe and its interpretation remains deeply controversial, not least because so many of our current political practices and preoccupations originated during this period. Especially significant is the problem of violence in the Revolution. This module will explore how the democratic republic established in 1792 developed the repressive mechanisms of the Terror in 1793-94, as well as analysing the cultural experiments which accompanied this process. The subsequent attempt to end the Revolution after 1795, on the basis of a moderate republic, proved no more successful than the creation of a constitutional monarchy after 1789. An explanation for this political failure needs to be found, for historians have spent far more time studying how revolutions begin than how they can be brought to a conclusion. The module will end with an examination of the Napoleonic dictatorship that finally restored stability to France after a decade of upheaval, albeit at the cost of the liberal ideals which the Revolution proclaimed.
This module is linked to another, The French Revolution: Monarchy to Republic, 1789-1792, which precedes it. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History for which, as for these free-standing modules, there is a wealth of relevant material available in English, both at Keele and online.
For preparatory reading, you should try PM Jones, The French Revolution (Pearson, 2010) or Peter McPhee, The French Revolution (OUP, 2001). Greater detail and debate is to be found in William Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Revolution (OUP, 2002), Paul Hanson, Contesting the French Revolution (Wiley, 2009), Hugh Gough, The Terror in the French Revolution (Palgrave, 2010) and Malcolm Crook, Napoleon Comes to Power (University of Wales Press, 1998). |
|
~
|
HIS-30085 |
The French Revolution: Terror and Dictatorship, 1793-1799 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The French Revolution was a world-historical event and its outbreak in 1789 is widely regarded as marking the beginning of modern history. It is a topic that continues to attract attention from scholars across the globe and its interpretation remains deeply controversial, not least because so many of our current political practices and preoccupations originated during this period. Especially significant is the problem of violence in the Revolution. This module will explore how the democratic republic established in 1792 developed the repressive mechanisms of the Terror in 1793-94, as well as analysing the cultural experiments which accompanied this process. The subsequent attempt to end the Revolution after 1795, on the basis of a moderate republic, proved no more successful than the creation of a constitutional monarchy after 1789. An explanation for this political failure needs to be found, for historians have spent far more time studying how revolutions begin than how they can be brought to a conclusion. The module will end with an examination of the Napoleonic dictatorship that finally restored stability to France after a decade of upheaval, albeit at the cost of the liberal ideals which the Revolution proclaimed.
This module is linked to another, The French Revolution: Monarchy to Republic, 1789-1792, which precedes it. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History for which, as for these free-standing modules, there is a wealth of relevant material available in English, both at Keele and online.
For preparatory reading, you should try PM Jones, The French Revolution (Pearson, 2010) or Peter McPhee, The French Revolution (OUP, 2001). Greater detail and debate is to be found in William Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Revolution (OUP, 2002), Paul Hanson, Contesting the French Revolution (Wiley, 2009), Hugh Gough, The Terror in the French Revolution (Palgrave, 2010) and Malcolm Crook, Napoleon Comes to Power (University of Wales Press, 1998). |
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~
|
HIS-30087 |
The World Turned Upside Down: the English Revolution, c.1646-53 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The English civil wars, the execution of King Charles I, the abolition of the monarchy and house of lords, and the establishment of the first (and currently last) republic in England constitute the most revolutionary period in English history. To contemporaries they were the world turned upside down. They retain their hold today over the popular and scholarly imaginations and can still bitterly divide amateur and professional historian. Many issues of the period - such as the nature of the relationship between England, Scotland, and Ireland, the character of the political process, or what to do about the monarchy or house of lords - find echoes today.. This module will seek to explore and analyse the character and events of the 'English revolution' from the the end of the first civil war and the surrender of the king to the Scots, through the regicide and establishment of the first English republic, to the establishment of the Protectorate in 1653, which some saw as the destruction of the changes they had fought for in the previous decade.. Topics to be covered will include the causes of the war, political crisis 1640-2, the agony of choosing sides and the outbreak of the war, the impact of the war on society, religious change and the growth of radical religious ideas.
This module is linked to the module, The English Civil War, c.1640-6, which precedes this. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History: there is a wealth of source material for a dissertation on the political, social, cultural, military or local history of mid seventeenth-century England available at Keele, including access to every book published in Britain in the period through Early English Books Online.
Students interested in some introductory reading should start with one of the many histories of the civil wars. Probably the most useful (and worth buying) is Michael Braddick, God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars (2008), but also useful for the module are Ian Gentles, The English Revolution and the Wars in the Three Kingdoms 1638-1652 (2007), which is particularly good on the military side, or Diane Purkiss, The English Civil War: A People’s History (2006) for the social history of England in the 1640s. For an overview of the 1640s and 1650s, see Barry Coward, The Stuart Age (3rd or 4th edition, 2003, 2011), or Austin Woolrych, Britain in Revolution 1625-1660 (2004).
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~
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HIS-30087 |
The World Turned Upside Down: the English Revolution, c.1646-53 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The English civil wars, the execution of King Charles I, the abolition of the monarchy and house of lords, and the establishment of the first (and currently last) republic in England constitute the most revolutionary period in English history. To contemporaries they were the world turned upside down. They retain their hold today over the popular and scholarly imaginations and can still bitterly divide amateur and professional historian. Many issues of the period - such as the nature of the relationship between England, Scotland, and Ireland, the character of the political process, or what to do about the monarchy or house of lords - find echoes today.. This module will seek to explore and analyse the character and events of the 'English revolution' from the the end of the first civil war and the surrender of the king to the Scots, through the regicide and establishment of the first English republic, to the establishment of the Protectorate in 1653, which some saw as the destruction of the changes they had fought for in the previous decade.. Topics to be covered will include the causes of the war, political crisis 1640-2, the agony of choosing sides and the outbreak of the war, the impact of the war on society, religious change and the growth of radical religious ideas.
This module is linked to the module, The English Civil War, c.1640-6, which precedes this. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History: there is a wealth of source material for a dissertation on the political, social, cultural, military or local history of mid seventeenth-century England available at Keele, including access to every book published in Britain in the period through Early English Books Online.
Students interested in some introductory reading should start with one of the many histories of the civil wars. Probably the most useful (and worth buying) is Michael Braddick, God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars (2008), but also useful for the module are Ian Gentles, The English Revolution and the Wars in the Three Kingdoms 1638-1652 (2007), which is particularly good on the military side, or Diane Purkiss, The English Civil War: A People’s History (2006) for the social history of England in the 1640s. For an overview of the 1640s and 1650s, see Barry Coward, The Stuart Age (3rd or 4th edition, 2003, 2011), or Austin Woolrych, Britain in Revolution 1625-1660 (2004).
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~
|
HIS-30097 |
Spirituality and Social Change in the Eleventh Century, II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Building on Part I, this module extends the exploration of the key areas of social and religious change in eleventh-century Europe, by focusing on the nature of religious reform and the role of the reform papacy in promoting, effecting and substantiating these changes. By examining topics such as the $ùunreformed&© Church, the $ùGregorian&© reform and its rhetoric of purity and pollution, the mechanisms to deal with heresy and promote the crusade, along with issues of hierarchy and social control, the module will explore the paradox that the clergy both sanctioned and protested against the hegemony of the powerful over the poor.
|
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~
|
HIS-30097 |
Spirituality and Social Change in the Eleventh Century, II |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Building on Part I, this module extends the exploration of the key areas of social and religious change in eleventh-century Europe, by focusing on the nature of religious reform and the role of the reform papacy in promoting, effecting and substantiating these changes. By examining topics such as the $ùunreformed&© Church, the $ùGregorian&© reform and its rhetoric of purity and pollution, the mechanisms to deal with heresy and promote the crusade, along with issues of hierarchy and social control, the module will explore the paradox that the clergy both sanctioned and protested against the hegemony of the powerful over the poor.
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~
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HIS-30101 |
From Sawbones to Social Hero? Doctors and medicine 1808-1886 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In 1808 the medical profession was largely unregulated and was compelled to diagnose and treat patients without anaesthetic, lacking stethoscopes, and unaware of the existence of germs. By 1886 access to the profession was closely monitored, anaesthetic was routinely administered, and Lister's work on aseptic surgery was being accepted. Therefore, this was a period of scientific change and professional consolidation with enormous significance for the ways doctors related to patients and the ways the sick formed expectations of their medical practitioners. This module treats aspects of the social history of medicine in nineteenth-century England by considering the development of medical relationships from the 1808 County Asylums Act up to the Medical Registration Amendment Act of 1886.
Topics may include medical education and professionalisation, the evolution of institutional medical care, medical practitioners in fiction, insanity and the emergence of psychiatry, anatomy and bodysnatching, the roles for women in medicine and the drive for sanitary reform.
|
|
~
|
HIS-30101 |
From Sawbones to Social Hero? Doctors and medicine 1808-1886 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In 1808 the medical profession was largely unregulated and was compelled to diagnose and treat patients without anaesthetic, lacking stethoscopes, and unaware of the existence of germs. By 1886 access to the profession was closely monitored, anaesthetic was routinely administered, and Lister's work on aseptic surgery was being accepted. Therefore, this was a period of scientific change and professional consolidation with enormous significance for the ways doctors related to patients and the ways the sick formed expectations of their medical practitioners. This module treats aspects of the social history of medicine in nineteenth-century England by considering the development of medical relationships from the 1808 County Asylums Act up to the Medical Registration Amendment Act of 1886.
Topics may include medical education and professionalisation, the evolution of institutional medical care, medical practitioners in fiction, insanity and the emergence of psychiatry, anatomy and bodysnatching, the roles for women in medicine and the drive for sanitary reform.
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|
HIS-30102 |
The Art of Dying: Death and Society in Medieval and Early Modern Europe |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
'Dying well' was a fundamental concern for all in the Medieval and Early Modern Europe, but what did that mean? This module will explore the history of death in medieval and early modern Europe from /c/. 1000 to /c/. 1750.
If our society has what Geoffrey Gorer has called a 'pornography of death', whereby all practices surrounding death should be done out of public view, just like sexual pornography, it is important to understand how public death and dying were in medieval and early modern Europe. The module takes a comparative approach, comparing and contrasting ways of dying, burial, attitudes to good and bad death, especially suicide, expectations of the afterlife, and the experience of famine and plague, in medieval and early modern Europe. The ways in which a society treated death reveals a great deal about its assumptions and ideas, and so this module offers a fascinating insight into the social, religious and cultural history of a world which is very different from our own.
For an introduction, see Philippe Aries, Western Attitudes toward Death from the Middle Ages to the Present (1976), or dip into his The Hour of Our Death (1981).
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HIS-30106 |
Suffrage Stories: lifestories |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module allows you to study, in depth, the British campaign to give women the vote that began in the 1860s and which was finally won in 1928.
Many stories have been told about the women and men who gave their energies, health and even lives to this cause. This course looks at the different ways in which historians have interpreted this struggle, the strategies and tactics of the various suffrage organisations and the competing assessments of what finally won the vote for women. Yet it is not only historians who narrate suffrage history in different ways, so did many of those who were actually involved in all sides of this fight. This module is as much concerned with the individual stories of suffragists and those who opposed them as with the accounts of historians. Indeed, during the course we will use the autobiographies, diaries, newspapers, literature, posters and banners produced by the suffrage campaign so that we can explore the relationship between individual experiences and the stories historians have told.
As part of the module, every student will choose an individual woman or man involved in the Edwardian suffrage debate and research their motivations, views and activities in the campaign. At the end of the semester we will hold a hustings where we will debate the issue of women's suffrage from the point of view of these individuals.
By the end of the module you will not only understand why the campaign for women&©s suffrage took so long to achieve its goal and why suffrage history continues to be hotly debated but also why so many people were so passionate about their desire for women to be able to put a cross on a ballot paper. This, therefore, is a module about the many stories told about the fight to give women the vote by those who took part, those who opposed them, those who admire them, those who think they were misguided and those who have reflected on this period in history with hindsight. |
|
|
HIS-30106 |
Suffrage Stories: lifestories |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module allows you to study, in depth, the British campaign to give women the vote that began in the 1860s and which was finally won in 1928.
Many stories have been told about the women and men who gave their energies, health and even lives to this cause. This course looks at the different ways in which historians have interpreted this struggle, the strategies and tactics of the various suffrage organisations and the competing assessments of what finally won the vote for women. Yet it is not only historians who narrate suffrage history in different ways, so did many of those who were actually involved in all sides of this fight. This module is as much concerned with the individual stories of suffragists and those who opposed them as with the accounts of historians. Indeed, during the course we will use the autobiographies, diaries, newspapers, literature, posters and banners produced by the suffrage campaign so that we can explore the relationship between individual experiences and the stories historians have told.
As part of the module, every student will choose an individual woman or man involved in the Edwardian suffrage debate and research their motivations, views and activities in the campaign. At the end of the semester we will hold a hustings where we will debate the issue of women's suffrage from the point of view of these individuals.
By the end of the module you will not only understand why the campaign for women&©s suffrage took so long to achieve its goal and why suffrage history continues to be hotly debated but also why so many people were so passionate about their desire for women to be able to put a cross on a ballot paper. This, therefore, is a module about the many stories told about the fight to give women the vote by those who took part, those who opposed them, those who admire them, those who think they were misguided and those who have reflected on this period in history with hindsight. |
|
|
HIS-30112 |
Water Histories. A Cultural History of Water, II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
$ùWater is a common good .. belonging to all. Yet, from privatization in Britain to the displacement of millions through dam-building in the developing world, it has been appropriated as a commodity by the powerful.&© This new special subject will consider the long history which underpins this contemporary observation on a resource more important than oil. We will thus consider changing attitudes to the use of water, fresh rather than salt, from the ancient world to the present day. The approach will be thematic and will include ritual and religious uses in the middle ages, the social contexts of bathing, the sanitation revolution of the nineteenth century, attitudes to water in nature, and modern water wars. The approach will be multi-disciplinary and students will be encouraged to look for connections with their other principal and subsidiary subject areas.
Water provides an appropriate area in which to examine, compare and contrast a range of disparate issues including, for example, baptism and cleansing in religious rituals, the impact of religious reform on water as a healing agent, the range of attitudes to cleanliness and bathing, the medicalisation of water from holy wells to spa resorts to sports medicine, the connection of water and disease, the Romantic appreciation of water in the landscape, disputes over water and modern water law, the manipulation of water as a demonstration of political power.
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|
|
HIS-30112 |
Water Histories. A Cultural History of Water, II |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
$ùWater is a common good .. belonging to all. Yet, from privatization in Britain to the displacement of millions through dam-building in the developing world, it has been appropriated as a commodity by the powerful.&© This new special subject will consider the long history which underpins this contemporary observation on a resource more important than oil. We will thus consider changing attitudes to the use of water, fresh rather than salt, from the ancient world to the present day. The approach will be thematic and will include ritual and religious uses in the middle ages, the social contexts of bathing, the sanitation revolution of the nineteenth century, attitudes to water in nature, and modern water wars. The approach will be multi-disciplinary and students will be encouraged to look for connections with their other principal and subsidiary subject areas.
Water provides an appropriate area in which to examine, compare and contrast a range of disparate issues including, for example, baptism and cleansing in religious rituals, the impact of religious reform on water as a healing agent, the range of attitudes to cleanliness and bathing, the medicalisation of water from holy wells to spa resorts to sports medicine, the connection of water and disease, the Romantic appreciation of water in the landscape, disputes over water and modern water law, the manipulation of water as a demonstration of political power.
|
|
|
HIS-30113 |
The Making of Contemporary Africa II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Can a continent possess 'a history' or 'a people'? To what extent are ideas of Africa and Africans still tied to race and other colonial legacies? To understand the ways we imagine Africa today, the module examines the cultural, political and economic dialogues which took place regarding Africa c.1945 to the present. The course uses the latest scholarship and, in challenging a hitherto dominant national historiography, emphasises the importance of both the $ùlocal&© (e.g. diverse subaltern experiences in Ghana, Kenya, Algeria, South Africa or Nigeria) and the $ùglobal&© (e.g. decolonisation, socialism, postcolonialism and pan-Africanism), in shaping Africa. Perhaps most controversially, the module asks: do you have to be black to be African? And is Africa, as The Economist recently wrote, a 'hopeless continent', inherently violent, poor and diseased? While the main focus will be on English-language primary sources and former British colonies, there will also be a chance to compare different colonial legacies within Africa. This will enable students to critically analyse a variety of historiographical approaches to African history and introduce them to a range of primary source materials which have been utilised by historians to interpret key events and processes. For example, students will have a chance to read the works of: Leopold Senghor, Kwame Nkrumah, Frantz Fanon, Steven Biko, Nelson Mandela, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Julius Nyerere, Walter Rodney, George Padmore, and recent works by people like C. N. Adichie and Thabo Mbeki. Films and other media formats will also be incorporated into the module's analysis, as will official documents. |
|
|
HIS-30113 |
The Making of Contemporary Africa II |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Can a continent possess 'a history' or 'a people'? To what extent are ideas of Africa and Africans still tied to race and other colonial legacies? To understand the ways we imagine Africa today, the module examines the cultural, political and economic dialogues which took place regarding Africa c.1945 to the present. The course uses the latest scholarship and, in challenging a hitherto dominant national historiography, emphasises the importance of both the $ùlocal&© (e.g. diverse subaltern experiences in Ghana, Kenya, Algeria, South Africa or Nigeria) and the $ùglobal&© (e.g. decolonisation, socialism, postcolonialism and pan-Africanism), in shaping Africa. Perhaps most controversially, the module asks: do you have to be black to be African? And is Africa, as The Economist recently wrote, a 'hopeless continent', inherently violent, poor and diseased? While the main focus will be on English-language primary sources and former British colonies, there will also be a chance to compare different colonial legacies within Africa. This will enable students to critically analyse a variety of historiographical approaches to African history and introduce them to a range of primary source materials which have been utilised by historians to interpret key events and processes. For example, students will have a chance to read the works of: Leopold Senghor, Kwame Nkrumah, Frantz Fanon, Steven Biko, Nelson Mandela, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Julius Nyerere, Walter Rodney, George Padmore, and recent works by people like C. N. Adichie and Thabo Mbeki. Films and other media formats will also be incorporated into the module's analysis, as will official documents. |
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|
HIS-30116 |
After Hitler: West Germany and the Transition to Democracy II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The Third Reich lasted only twelve years, but its impact was enormous. Germany was occupied, discredited, humiliated, and shamed. In 1945, few people could imagine that a country that had
been responsible for mass warfare and genocide would one day emerge as a stable, democratic,
and peaceful state in Europe. In the fall semester, we analyzed theoretical issues pertaining to the subject, including definitions of democracy and conditions for democratization. We also examined earlier traditions (Weimar and the Third Reich) that affected politics and culture after 1945 as well as Allied (and particularly American) plans for denazification, democratization, and demilitarization. In this module, we shall focus on West German history from the 1960s to unification, including the emergence of new gender roles, the student movement, terrorism, unemployment, the East-West conflict, and various efforts at coming to terms with the past. Where the fall module addressed the
early transition from dictatorship to democracy, this module addresses the cultural and political consolidation of democracy in the Federal Republic. |
|
|
HIS-30116 |
After Hitler: West Germany and the Transition to Democracy II |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The Third Reich lasted only twelve years, but its impact was enormous. Germany was occupied, discredited, humiliated, and shamed. In 1945, few people could imagine that a country that had
been responsible for mass warfare and genocide would one day emerge as a stable, democratic,
and peaceful state in Europe. In the fall semester, we analyzed theoretical issues pertaining to the subject, including definitions of democracy and conditions for democratization. We also examined earlier traditions (Weimar and the Third Reich) that affected politics and culture after 1945 as well as Allied (and particularly American) plans for denazification, democratization, and demilitarization. In this module, we shall focus on West German history from the 1960s to unification, including the emergence of new gender roles, the student movement, terrorism, unemployment, the East-West conflict, and various efforts at coming to terms with the past. Where the fall module addressed the
early transition from dictatorship to democracy, this module addresses the cultural and political consolidation of democracy in the Federal Republic. |
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~
|
HIS-30119 |
Urban Lives in Modern Europe, 1914-1939 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
‘Urban Lives in Modern Europe 1890-1914’ investigated how urban elites began to imagine a new future for Europe’s cities before the First World War. This module examines how the inter-war period provided the opportunity to put many of their ideas into practice. Yet if anything, cities in the inter-war period proved to be even more difficult to govern than they had been before the war. Political tensions ran high across Europe, and many historians have characterised Germany’s Weimar Republic in particular as being in an almost permanent state of crisis. More recent analyses have also seen its cities, and especially Berlin, as a ‘laboratory of modernity’, in which new forms of urban living were tested, and it is on these approaches that this module will concentrate.
While the rise of right-wing politics and the concomitant emergence of Fascism has often been seen as the defining element of the period, the module will also develop an understanding of how the spaces of Europe’ s cities contributed to changing cultures of sex, violence, work and consumption. A particular emphasis will be placed on how measures to identify and control urban problems may have exacerbated existing tensions or produced new ones. While exploring these aspects, you will be asked to consider approaches which emphasise the role of the state in attempting to order and control the city, providing continuities with both totalitarian regimes and the ‘permissiveness’ and welfare states of post-war Western Europe. |
|
~
|
HIS-30119 |
Urban Lives in Modern Europe, 1914-1939 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
‘Urban Lives in Modern Europe 1890-1914’ investigated how urban elites began to imagine a new future for Europe’s cities before the First World War. This module examines how the inter-war period provided the opportunity to put many of their ideas into practice. Yet if anything, cities in the inter-war period proved to be even more difficult to govern than they had been before the war. Political tensions ran high across Europe, and many historians have characterised Germany’s Weimar Republic in particular as being in an almost permanent state of crisis. More recent analyses have also seen its cities, and especially Berlin, as a ‘laboratory of modernity’, in which new forms of urban living were tested, and it is on these approaches that this module will concentrate.
While the rise of right-wing politics and the concomitant emergence of Fascism has often been seen as the defining element of the period, the module will also develop an understanding of how the spaces of Europe’ s cities contributed to changing cultures of sex, violence, work and consumption. A particular emphasis will be placed on how measures to identify and control urban problems may have exacerbated existing tensions or produced new ones. While exploring these aspects, you will be asked to consider approaches which emphasise the role of the state in attempting to order and control the city, providing continuities with both totalitarian regimes and the ‘permissiveness’ and welfare states of post-war Western Europe. |
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
HIS-10026 |
History, Media, Memory: The Presentation of the Past in Contemporary Culture |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is for anyone who reads historical novels, watches historical films, or visits museums and stately homes. Our understanding of 'history' comes not simply from school or university study but from the versions of the past that are all around us. This module thus focuses on 'public history' rather than academic history, exploring the forms, purposes and impact of these broader, 'popular' representations of history. We will explore how visions of the past are central to individual and collective memory, and to the constructions of individual and community identities. Accounts of the past are always constructed and debated, and play a crucial role in most modern political and international conflicts. Weekly lectures will explore these general issues through analysis of the presentation of historical accounts in newspapers, film and television programmes, historical novels, and of the versions of the past displayed in museums, historic buildings and sites, in reenactments (such as the Sealed Knot), through anniversaries and memorials. One detailed case study will focus on the commemorations in 2007 that marked the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. Through a variety of written exercises and oral presentations students will make their own choice of sites, films, and written accounts for discussion and analysis in seminars.
Throught this module, students will develop a critical understanding of the various media through which accounts of the past are presented, of the social, cultural and political purposes of these presentations, and of their impact on audiences and participants. They will be able to compare 'heritage' or public history with history as an academic discipline. The module is a good introduction to a second level offering on heritage management. It will be of particular interest to students taking principal English, History, Media Communication and Culture, Politics and Sociology, but also to anyone eager to understand the widespread popularity of 'history' in our culture, and how it affects the present world. Assessment is by group presentation, a short written report and a module essay.
Introductory reading
Jerome de Groot, Consuming History: historians and heritage in contemporary popular culture (Routledge, 2009) – the set book for the module
Ludmilla Jordanova, History in Practice (Hodder Arnold, 2nd edition, 2006)
John Tosh, Why History Matters (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)
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HIS-10029 |
Modern History |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The study of Modern History offers a wide-ranging introduction to the political debates and conflicts that frame our lives in the 21st century. In this course we unravel key tenets of the history of our recent past, looking at how societies modernised, populations grew and political ideologies developed since the eighteenth century. This is an era of empire and democracy, the growth of capitalism, huge technological advances, modern warfare, the decline and rise of religion and new political voices such as the Suffragettes and subaltern that have created new histories.
Five main themes are addressed: Politics - in which we look at the rise of nationalism and the age of revolutions; the Economy - in which we look at the process of modernisation and the development of capitalism; Religion - in which we look at secularisation and political ideologies; Marginal Histories - in which we discuss gender history and crime and deviance and Europe and the Wider World which takes us to the impact of imperialism and globalisation across the world.
This module is taught by leading scholars of modern history through weekly lectures and weekly small group seminars, which will involve discussions across the class and in smaller groups, looking at primary sources and engaging with the secondary literature. There are rich online resources and a range of stimulating course set books which you will use.
No previous knowledge of modern history is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Preparatory Reading can be undertaken by consulting the following textbooks: T.C.W Blanning (ed.), The Oxford History of Modern Europe (OUP, 2000) and C.A. Bayley, The Birth of the Modern World (Blackwell, 2004). |
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|
HIS-10029 |
Modern History |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The study of Modern History offers a wide-ranging introduction to the political debates and conflicts that frame our lives in the 21st century. In this course we unravel key tenets of the history of our recent past, looking at how societies modernised, populations grew and political ideologies developed since the eighteenth century. This is an era of empire and democracy, the growth of capitalism, huge technological advances, modern warfare, the decline and rise of religion and new political voices such as the Suffragettes and subaltern that have created new histories.
Five main themes are addressed: Politics - in which we look at the rise of nationalism and the age of revolutions; the Economy - in which we look at the process of modernisation and the development of capitalism; Religion - in which we look at secularisation and political ideologies; Marginal Histories - in which we discuss gender history and crime and deviance and Europe and the Wider World which takes us to the impact of imperialism and globalisation across the world.
This module is taught by leading scholars of modern history through weekly lectures and weekly small group seminars, which will involve discussions across the class and in smaller groups, looking at primary sources and engaging with the secondary literature. There are rich online resources and a range of stimulating course set books which you will use.
No previous knowledge of modern history is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Preparatory Reading can be undertaken by consulting the following textbooks: T.C.W Blanning (ed.), The Oxford History of Modern Europe (OUP, 2000) and C.A. Bayley, The Birth of the Modern World (Blackwell, 2004). |
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HIS-10030 |
Historical Research and Writing |
C |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This course introduces first-year students to the study of History at university. It will provide you with the particular skills you will need to study History and which you will apply throughout your degree course. Your tutor will devise a historical topic or debate through which to identify and apply the skills needed to undertake historical research and writing. The lecture programme provides an introduction to the practises expected of and the resources available to a History student at Keele. It also introduces you to the range of historical research undertaken by History staff at Keele - the questions asked; the techniques used; the range of historical writing produced and its relevance to today. Small group seminars supported by a series of exercises will provide the means to locate the acquisition and development of skills within the study of a specific historical debate or topic.
The course is assessed by a number of written exercises and an essay. Although primarily designed for History students, this course will also appeal to students of other Humanities and Social Science subjects.
As a useful start to thinking about History, we suggest you read:
John H. Arnold, History. A very short introduction (Oxford University Press, 2000)
There are also a number of books which focus on the practical skills required of a history student. We suggest:
I.W. Mabbett, Writing History Essays. A Student’s Guide (Palgrave, 2007)
If you don’t acquire Mabbett, you might want to consider one of the following books which would provide a useful reference for you during this course and throughout your undergraduate studies in history:
Mary Abbott (ed.), History Skills. A student’s handbook (Routledge, 1996)
Jeremy Black & Donald MacRaild, Studying History (Palgrave, 2000)
John Tosh, The Pursuit of History (Longman, 4th edition 2006)
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HIS-10033 |
Anglo-Saxon England |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The history of Britain in period from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West in the early 400s AD to the mid 900s witnessed the eventual, but not inevitable, creation (from several political units) of the twin kingdoms of England and Scotland, with residual native British rule in Wales.
Concentrating on the resultant Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England, the course discusses the ways in which migrant Germanic tribes gained political and cultural control of southern Britian and how their conversion from paganism to Christianity informed that process and led to the pervading influence of the new religion throughout society.
The Viking attacks of the mid 800s and consequent Scandinavian settlement, together with renewed invasion in the early 1000s, for a time brought England closer to Scandinavia, but that development was halted by the Norman Conquest of 1066.
Sources of information for the period are limited but cover a wide range (documentary, linguistic, archaeological, artistic), and so provide the student with challenging opportunities for analysis and interpretation. Moreover, many of the themes discussed in the lectures and seminars have a modern resonance, such as the effect of the collapse of empire, the impact of immigrants, and the role of religion.
The module is taught through linked weekly lectures and seminars, and makes use of a course text book as well as online sites.
Recommended introductory reading
James Campbell (ed.), The Anglo-Saxons (Penguin, 1991).
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|
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HIS-10037 |
Local History: medieval and early modern periods |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Nearly all villages and towns in England had their origins in the medieval period, and knowing about their early history is essential to understanding why they look the way they do now. Even so, certain aspects of life (political, economic, and religious) changed significantly over time, often at a different rate: so, no two places have precisely the same history.
This module will look at what factors contributed to form and characterise local communities before modern developments introduced more standardisation. A range of topics may be covered, such as different kinds of landholders from lords of the manor to peasants, the origin of towns and aspects of urban life, the role of the parish church and the impact of the Reformation, and what constituted the traditional forms of agricultural life.
The module will equip students with many of the skills needed to be a practising local historian, by explaining how to use the key sources for the study of people and places in the pre-modern world.
The sessions are taught in the evening (7pm-9pm), as the module is also taken by adults working on the Certificate in Local History. |
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
AMS-10026 |
The American Past: Explorations in U.S. History |
EA |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The American Past module is designed to equip students with a basic grounding in U.S. history from the colonial period to the present day. It stresses the multifaceted character of American development, interweaving such issues as nationalism, race, gender, and class in a broad narrative and thematic synthesis. Students will be particularly encouraged to develop specific insights into the American historical experience through investigation of documentary evidence which will provide the the basis for seminar discussion. |
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HIS-10025 |
Medieval Europe |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Medieval Europe offers a wide-ranging introduction to a formative period of European history, the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. This was a time of tremendous social, political, economic and intellectual transformation, indeed a time, according to many historians, when European civilisation as we know it was created. Having safely negotiated the year 1000, which many believed would bring the second Coming of Christ and the end of the world, Medieval Europe embarked upon a phenomenal expansion over the following centuries that would see the creation of new political entities and institutions, increasing urbanisation and expanding trade, and the extension of Christianity and European civilisation to the peripheries. The increasing development of a European identity, however, had grave implications for those living on the margins or who were deemed to be outsiders and the module will explore the increasing persecution of heretics and Jews through the development of institutions such as the Inquisition and violent encounters during the crusades.
The module will address a number of key topics including: power structures and the political development of Europe; the economy, urbanisation and the expansion of trade; the significance of the Church in providing a cohesive bond for medieval society; heresy and deviance; Jews and other outsiders in Medieval Europe and the question of whether medieval Europe was a persecuting society; and finally the crusades and medieval Europe's relations with the wider world.
The module is taught by leading scholars of medieval Europe through weekly lectures and weekly small group seminars. There are rich online resources and a range of stimulating course set-books.
No previous knowledge of medieval Europe is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Preliminary reading.
William C. Jordan, Europe in the High Middle Ages (Penguin, 2002)
Barbara Rosenwein, A short History of the Middle Ages (University of Toronto Press, 3rd edition, 2009) which is richly illustrated and has good maps.
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|
|
HIS-10025 |
Medieval Europe |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Medieval Europe offers a wide-ranging introduction to a formative period of European history, the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. This was a time of tremendous social, political, economic and intellectual transformation, indeed a time, according to many historians, when European civilisation as we know it was created. Having safely negotiated the year 1000, which many believed would bring the second Coming of Christ and the end of the world, Medieval Europe embarked upon a phenomenal expansion over the following centuries that would see the creation of new political entities and institutions, increasing urbanisation and expanding trade, and the extension of Christianity and European civilisation to the peripheries. The increasing development of a European identity, however, had grave implications for those living on the margins or who were deemed to be outsiders and the module will explore the increasing persecution of heretics and Jews through the development of institutions such as the Inquisition and violent encounters during the crusades.
The module will address a number of key topics including: power structures and the political development of Europe; the economy, urbanisation and the expansion of trade; the significance of the Church in providing a cohesive bond for medieval society; heresy and deviance; Jews and other outsiders in Medieval Europe and the question of whether medieval Europe was a persecuting society; and finally the crusades and medieval Europe's relations with the wider world.
The module is taught by leading scholars of medieval Europe through weekly lectures and weekly small group seminars. There are rich online resources and a range of stimulating course set-books.
No previous knowledge of medieval Europe is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Preliminary reading.
William C. Jordan, Europe in the High Middle Ages (Penguin, 2002)
Barbara Rosenwein, A short History of the Middle Ages (University of Toronto Press, 3rd edition, 2009) which is richly illustrated and has good maps.
|
|
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HIS-10031 |
Princes and Peoples: European History, c.1490-c.1700 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
'Princes and Peoples' is concerned with the early modern period, a time of dramatic change for all people in Europe and a time of unremitting hardship and struggle for many. Between the late fifteenth and the late seventeenth centuries, European rulers tried to strengthen their authority, often involving an increase in military power. These attempts provoked internal resistance and revolt, as well as frequent foreign wars. Expansion in trade and rising population brought rich opportunities for some social groups, as well as increased poverty for others. The fragmentation of religious unity through the challenge of the Protestant Reformation to the medieval Catholic church inaugurated a century or more of religious conflict within communities and between states. The religious map of Europe had changed fundamentally by the end of the seventeenth century, as medieval Christendom fragmented into a range of different affiliations, whether to a revitalised Catholicism or one of many Protestant churches.
As well as analysing the aims and successes of the powerful, this module also examines the ways in which poorer individuals and families made a living and sought to improve their existence. These centuries are the period of the witch-craze and one lecture explores the claims of witches and the fears of their persecutors. Finally we study the 'discovery' of the New World as Europeans reached the Caribbean and the Americas, a process which had a significant impact on the imagination and social life of the people of the 'old' world, as well as a traumatic effect on indigenous peoples of the 'new' world.
Five main themes are addressed: in 'Power' we discuss the nature of monarchical authority, developments in warfare, and resistance to government; 'Economy' includes consideration of population change and the growth of towns; 'Religion' focuses on the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, and responses to religious division; 'Life at the margins' explores the experiences of poor and marginal groups, including a study of witchcraft; and 'Europe and the Wider World' looks at the encounters between Europeans and indigenous peoples in the Caribbean and the Americas.
This module is taught by leading scholars of early modern Europe, and is delivered via weekly lectures and weekly, small-group seminars. There are rich online resources available to support this module, including those connected to the course set-books.
No previous knowledge of early modern Europe is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Students may find the following works helpful as introductions to the period and themes of the module, and throughout the study of this module:
Merry Wiesner Hanks, Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, 2005)
B. Kümin, The European World, 1500-1800 (London, 2008)
Richard Bonney, The European Dynastic States, 1494-1660, (Oxford, 1991)
Euan Cameron, ed, Early Modern Europe (Oxford, 2001).
|
|
|
HIS-10031 |
Princes and Peoples: European History, c.1490-c.1700 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
'Princes and Peoples' is concerned with the early modern period, a time of dramatic change for all people in Europe and a time of unremitting hardship and struggle for many. Between the late fifteenth and the late seventeenth centuries, European rulers tried to strengthen their authority, often involving an increase in military power. These attempts provoked internal resistance and revolt, as well as frequent foreign wars. Expansion in trade and rising population brought rich opportunities for some social groups, as well as increased poverty for others. The fragmentation of religious unity through the challenge of the Protestant Reformation to the medieval Catholic church inaugurated a century or more of religious conflict within communities and between states. The religious map of Europe had changed fundamentally by the end of the seventeenth century, as medieval Christendom fragmented into a range of different affiliations, whether to a revitalised Catholicism or one of many Protestant churches.
As well as analysing the aims and successes of the powerful, this module also examines the ways in which poorer individuals and families made a living and sought to improve their existence. These centuries are the period of the witch-craze and one lecture explores the claims of witches and the fears of their persecutors. Finally we study the 'discovery' of the New World as Europeans reached the Caribbean and the Americas, a process which had a significant impact on the imagination and social life of the people of the 'old' world, as well as a traumatic effect on indigenous peoples of the 'new' world.
Five main themes are addressed: in 'Power' we discuss the nature of monarchical authority, developments in warfare, and resistance to government; 'Economy' includes consideration of population change and the growth of towns; 'Religion' focuses on the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, and responses to religious division; 'Life at the margins' explores the experiences of poor and marginal groups, including a study of witchcraft; and 'Europe and the Wider World' looks at the encounters between Europeans and indigenous peoples in the Caribbean and the Americas.
This module is taught by leading scholars of early modern Europe, and is delivered via weekly lectures and weekly, small-group seminars. There are rich online resources available to support this module, including those connected to the course set-books.
No previous knowledge of early modern Europe is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Students may find the following works helpful as introductions to the period and themes of the module, and throughout the study of this module:
Merry Wiesner Hanks, Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, 2005)
B. Kümin, The European World, 1500-1800 (London, 2008)
Richard Bonney, The European Dynastic States, 1494-1660, (Oxford, 1991)
Euan Cameron, ed, Early Modern Europe (Oxford, 2001).
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HIS-10034 |
Histories of the Extraordinary and the Everyday |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module specifically designed for Single Honours History and History Major students. It will introduce students to new topics of historical inquiry and the different approaches taken by historians when challenged by the vastness of extraordinary events and the minutiae and banality of the everyday. It is a seminar-based module in which students will undertake key readings each week in preparation for detailed analysis and discussion within the class. It is as much about how historians engage with the challenges of writing about the extraordinary and the everyday, as identifying what they have found out, the arguments they make and the conclusions they draw.
The module will consider in alternate weeks a specific example of an extraordinary event or an everyday experience. The idea is not to be bound by chronological periods but to draw examples from a range of different histories. Some of the 'everyday' topics might include: dirt; food; an 'ordinary' life; love; reading; shopping; walking. Some of the 'extraordinary' topics might include: massacre; famine; defeat, the 'hero'; mass deportations; pandemics. The aim is to pair topics, thus food and famine or the 'ordinary life' and the 'hero' or love and massacre or walking and mass deportations. |
|
|
HIS-10038 |
Local History before 1750 |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Local history is the core of all history, and in recent years it has enjoyed something of a renaissance among professional historians (forming, for example, part of the National Curriculum). This module is designed to help students master some of the practical skills of English local history in the medieval and early modern periods (before about 1750).
Unlike most level-one History modules, where the emphasis is on analyzing what other historians have said on a particular topic, this is a practical, hands-on History module introducing students to the skills and techniques of doing local history. Many of the examples and illustrations will be drawn from the history of Staffordshire, Cheshire, and the Midlands, although the module will not concentrate on any one place.
The topics covered in this module differ from those in the companion module HIS 10037, and will typically include sessions on social and economic relations both before and after the Black Death, changes in religious affiliation and their impact on society at large, and the character of early industrial activity.
The sessions are taught in the evening (7pm-9pm), as the module is also taken by adults working on the Certificate in Local History.
Two teaching sessions take place at the county record at Stafford.
|
History Major - Level 2 Modules
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
AMS-20063 |
History of the United States in the Twentieth Century |
EA |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The module seeks to engage students in a critical and analytical look at the central themes of America's domestic development in the twentieth century as a backdrop for understanding society and politics in the United States today. It offers a diversity of social, economic, political and cultural perspectives and will equip students with the basic historical tools for more detailed investigation. On the one hand the module examines the general political, social, and cultural undercurrents since 1900. On the other hand it takes a closer look at some of the key events and developments during the past century that left a long-term imprint on American society. |
|
|
AMS-20074 |
Discovering America: From Empires to Revolutions |
EA |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is suitable for students who have already taken history modules and acquired a solid grounding in the methods of historical research, analysis, and writing. This module looks in detail at the development of the Atlantic world from exploration through imperial settlement, the growth of European empires in North and South America, revolutions and American independence. It covers a wide range of topics; exploration and the age of enlightenment, the growth of empires and colonisation in the early modern period, migration patterns, the development of international trade networks, changing notions of race, class and gender, the age of revolutions and the struggle for independence in the Americas. Learners will gain an in-depth familiarity of a variety of case-studies related to the role and place of Europe in the wider Atlantic world between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. It will explore the impact and influence of Europe on the development and growth of the New World and, equally, the impact and influence of the New World on the political, economic, and cultural development of the Old World. Furthermore, it will look at the Atlantic as part of the new global order including Africa. It will also look at the political and intellectual links between the social orders which evolved in the New and Old Worlds, in both slave and free societies. By the application of advanced historiographical methods of research students will be able to to piece together the narrative of the Atlantic world and debate issues surrounding discovery, peopling and de-peopling of the Americas, migration and labour, the slave trade and Africa, the growth of European ports and cities, and the development of colonial rule and the 'Revolutionary Atlantic' including the American and Haitian revolutions. Furthermore, they will gain a conceptual understanding that enables them to apply critically paradigms generated by historians and social scientists, some of which are at the forefront of debates over the development of world and comparative histories of empire. Students taking this module will obtain the ability to evaluate the differing value of conflicting approaches, a process that throws into relief the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge but also the possibility of achieving methodological objectivity. They will also learn or improve their time management skills and be able to manage their own learning by generating essay topics themselves, and make use of scholarly articles and primary sources relating to Atlantic histories in a way that goes beyond the insights available from secondary sources alone. |
|
|
HIS-20024 |
History - Study Abroad I |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
HIS-20025 |
History - Study Abroad II |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
HIS-20066 |
Imperialism and Empire |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module examines the dynamics of the `imperial age' of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. What were the motives for the expansion of the imperial power? What tools and methods did the imperial powers use to govern huge empires? How did imperial ideas contribute to the creation of new racial, ethnic, sexual and religious identities amongst the subject peoples of Empire? How did Empire reshape the identities of European societies? These questions are considered from the perspective of both the colonizer and the colonized within British and German Empires, drawing on case studies from Africa and India. Topics include: Sex and Empire; Hunting and Empire; Disease, Medicine and Empire; Colonialism and the Camera; Christianity and Empire; the German Occupation of Namibia, and Post-colonialism. |
|
|
HIS-20066 |
Imperialism and Empire |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module examines the dynamics of the `imperial age' of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. What were the motives for the expansion of the imperial power? What tools and methods did the imperial powers use to govern huge empires? How did imperial ideas contribute to the creation of new racial, ethnic, sexual and religious identities amongst the subject peoples of Empire? How did Empire reshape the identities of European societies? These questions are considered from the perspective of both the colonizer and the colonized within British and German Empires, drawing on case studies from Africa and India. Topics include: Sex and Empire; Hunting and Empire; Disease, Medicine and Empire; Colonialism and the Camera; Christianity and Empire; the German Occupation of Namibia, and Post-colonialism. |
|
|
HIS-20069 |
State and Empire in Britain c. 1530-c. 1720 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The module explores British history from the Reformation, through the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (or British civil wars) of the mid seventeenth century, to the Act of Union of 1707 and the beginnings of an overseas empire. Since much of what is called 'British' history is in fact the history of England, or even of London and the south-east, the module approaches 'Britain' and 'British history' as complex and contested concepts through a focus on two troubled centuries when a British state emerged through English dominance over Wales, Ireland and Scotland, Celtic nations struggled to maintain a sense of history and identity, and a 'British' empire began to develop overseas. Developments in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are still relevant to current political debates, especially in Ulster and the Irish republic, while devolution in Wales and Scotland has also made the meaning of 'Britain' controversial in our own times.
Key textbooks for the module are:
Patrick Collinson (ed.), The Sixteenth Century (Short Oxford History of the British Isles, 2002)
Derek Hirst, Dominion: England and its Island Neighbours 1500-1707 (2012)
David Lawrence Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles. The Double Crown 1603-1707 (1998).
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|
|
HIS-20069 |
State and Empire in Britain c. 1530-c. 1720 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The module explores British history from the Reformation, through the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (or British civil wars) of the mid seventeenth century, to the Act of Union of 1707 and the beginnings of an overseas empire. Since much of what is called 'British' history is in fact the history of England, or even of London and the south-east, the module approaches 'Britain' and 'British history' as complex and contested concepts through a focus on two troubled centuries when a British state emerged through English dominance over Wales, Ireland and Scotland, Celtic nations struggled to maintain a sense of history and identity, and a 'British' empire began to develop overseas. Developments in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are still relevant to current political debates, especially in Ulster and the Irish republic, while devolution in Wales and Scotland has also made the meaning of 'Britain' controversial in our own times.
Key textbooks for the module are:
Patrick Collinson (ed.), The Sixteenth Century (Short Oxford History of the British Isles, 2002)
Derek Hirst, Dominion: England and its Island Neighbours 1500-1707 (2012)
David Lawrence Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles. The Double Crown 1603-1707 (1998).
|
|
|
HIS-20075 |
Right-wing movements in Interwar-Europe 1918-1938 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In this module we will explore the history of Europe between the two World Wars as a period in its own right, and not just as the prehistory of World War II. We will analyse a wide range of topics: the end of World War I and its legacies in Western and Eastern Europe 1918-1921, the peace treaties 1919, the reconstruction of Europe until 1929, the hinge years 1929-1933, the variety of European reactions to the coming to power of Hitler in Germany 1933-1938. We will analyse the development of conservative and extreme right-wing movements on a Europe-wide scale, the foundation and rise of extreme right-wing movements in all European states, the different reactions of left-wing and right-wing conservative movements and parties to the $ùrevolution from the right&©. Methodologically we will evaluate approaches of transnational and comparative history and assess the interdependencies of political, social and cultural processes in the specific context of Interwar-Europe
|
|
|
HIS-20075 |
Right-wing movements in Interwar-Europe 1918-1938 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In this module we will explore the history of Europe between the two World Wars as a period in its own right, and not just as the prehistory of World War II. We will analyse a wide range of topics: the end of World War I and its legacies in Western and Eastern Europe 1918-1921, the peace treaties 1919, the reconstruction of Europe until 1929, the hinge years 1929-1933, the variety of European reactions to the coming to power of Hitler in Germany 1933-1938. We will analyse the development of conservative and extreme right-wing movements on a Europe-wide scale, the foundation and rise of extreme right-wing movements in all European states, the different reactions of left-wing and right-wing conservative movements and parties to the $ùrevolution from the right&©. Methodologically we will evaluate approaches of transnational and comparative history and assess the interdependencies of political, social and cultural processes in the specific context of Interwar-Europe
|
|
|
HIS-20083 |
Nature, Society and the Past: An Environmental History of the Western World, 1800-2000 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The scale and pace of human-generated environmental change, which has occurred in the wake of global industrialization, is historically unprecedented. This module will explore the roots of modern environmentalism through an examination of environmental change and cultural responses to it. We will explore the contentious meaning of such terms as 'the environment', 'nature' and 'wilderness', the tension between social and natural histories, and the role/s of science, technology, colonialism, imperialism and ideology in reshaping the concepts of the environment. The module will focus on an analysis of the political, religious and scientific beliefs that have shaped society's relationship with nature, and how such relationships have been challanged by competing visions of progress, modernity and a sustainable future in the light of on-going environmental change. Principally, this module will provide an intellectual and political history of modern environmentalism from the eighteenth century to the present. |
|
|
HIS-20083 |
Nature, Society and the Past: An Environmental History of the Western World, 1800-2000 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The scale and pace of human-generated environmental change, which has occurred in the wake of global industrialization, is historically unprecedented. This module will explore the roots of modern environmentalism through an examination of environmental change and cultural responses to it. We will explore the contentious meaning of such terms as 'the environment', 'nature' and 'wilderness', the tension between social and natural histories, and the role/s of science, technology, colonialism, imperialism and ideology in reshaping the concepts of the environment. The module will focus on an analysis of the political, religious and scientific beliefs that have shaped society's relationship with nature, and how such relationships have been challanged by competing visions of progress, modernity and a sustainable future in the light of on-going environmental change. Principally, this module will provide an intellectual and political history of modern environmentalism from the eighteenth century to the present. |
|
|
HIS-20084 |
The Kingdom of England 954-1154 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module, while providing a socio-political and religious history of the Kingdom of England c.954-c.1154, looks to explore aspects of the 'Englishing of England' in a period which historians have begun to define as formative in the history of the country. In 954 Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of Northumbria, was killed on Stainmore and England was ever after the land of one king. In 1154 Henry II, count of Anjou, succeeded to the English throne as ruler of a cross-channel empire which stretched from the north of Britain to the south-west of France.
This then is when England itself, from a myriad of smaller kingdoms, came into geographical existence, even though (it has been argued) the idea of 'England' may have preceded the fact. It is when the 'English' elite effectively invented their past in order to understand themselves in the present, and when they began to imagine themselves as a community and fashion for themselves an identity. Through an examination of topics such as the consolidation of the country by Alfred's successors, the 'Englishing of the North', the impact of the Danish and Norman invasions, the innovations (and continuities) that resulted in the development of monasticism, the church, and society at large, as well as the chronicling of such changes, the course looks to explore the paradox as to why the English became more English during this period in spite of repeated foreign invasion. It will look to argue that the process of unification may be a far more important feature of English history than conquest. |
|
|
HIS-20084 |
The Kingdom of England 954-1154 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module, while providing a socio-political and religious history of the Kingdom of England c.954-c.1154, looks to explore aspects of the 'Englishing of England' in a period which historians have begun to define as formative in the history of the country. In 954 Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of Northumbria, was killed on Stainmore and England was ever after the land of one king. In 1154 Henry II, count of Anjou, succeeded to the English throne as ruler of a cross-channel empire which stretched from the north of Britain to the south-west of France.
This then is when England itself, from a myriad of smaller kingdoms, came into geographical existence, even though (it has been argued) the idea of 'England' may have preceded the fact. It is when the 'English' elite effectively invented their past in order to understand themselves in the present, and when they began to imagine themselves as a community and fashion for themselves an identity. Through an examination of topics such as the consolidation of the country by Alfred's successors, the 'Englishing of the North', the impact of the Danish and Norman invasions, the innovations (and continuities) that resulted in the development of monasticism, the church, and society at large, as well as the chronicling of such changes, the course looks to explore the paradox as to why the English became more English during this period in spite of repeated foreign invasion. It will look to argue that the process of unification may be a far more important feature of English history than conquest. |
| Semester 1-2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
HIS-20082 |
Work Experience for Historians |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module gives history students the opportunity to use their skills and knowledge in the world beyond the university - in museums, archives, libraries, and churches, or any workplace where the research, analyitical and communication skills of historians can be used. Students will be supported to arrange and develop an individual historically focused work-based project (helping with a museum exhibit or study day, cataloguing or publicising an archive, producing a leaflet or blog for a heritage organisation) that will be undertaken in semester two. Advice will be given on contacting placements and on composing a CV, and support will be provided throughout the placement. A focus on employability is central to the Distinctive Keele Curriculum and through this module you will obtain crucial first-hand experience of a relevant working environment and enhance your own employment opportunities. You should also enjoy the challenge of discussing and presenting historical events, issues and dilemmas to a greater variety of people, and the satisfaction of making a lasting, personal contribution to an outside body. |
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
AMS-20073 |
The New World in Chains: Slavery and the Bonds of Race in America, 1619- 1877 |
EA |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is suitable for students who have already taken history modules and acquired a solid grounding in the methods of historical research, analysis, and writing. This module looks in detail at the development of Slavery in North America from settlement to emancipation. It covers a wide range of topics, notions of race and racism, slavery in Africa, the transition from white to black labour, the development of the slave trade, slave life and culture, punishment and resistance, plantation management and overseers, female slaves and plantation mistresses, the economics of slavery, slavery during the American Revolution and Civil War, the lives and position of free people of colour living in a slave society, the international abolition movement, and the effect of slavery on the social, cultural and economic development of North America. Learners will gain an in-depth familiarity of a variety of case-studies related to slavery and the slave experience in 18th and 19th century North America informed by the latest stage in the scholarly debate concerning the nature of slavery and race in American history. This module explores key moments in the history of western philosophy, disclosing the extent to which this history participates in the production of the concepts of race and racisms.
By the application of advanced historiographical methods of research students will be able to to piece together the narrative of slavery and the debate surrounding how slavery and race have evolved over time. Furthermore, they will gain a conceptual understanding that enables them to apply critically paradigms generated by historians and social scientists, some of which are at the forefront of debates over slavery in North America and comparative slave studies. Students taking this module will obtain the ability to evaluate the differing value of conflicting approaches, a process that throws into relief the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge but also the possibility of achieving methodological objectivity. They will also improve their time management skills and be able to manage their own learning by generating essay topics themselves, and make use of scholarly articles and primary sources relating to slavery in a way that goes beyond the insights available from secondary sources alone.
|
|
|
HIS-20033 |
History - Study Abroad III |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
HIS-20034 |
History - Study Abroad IV |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
HIS-20067 |
Sources and Debates |
C |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Most students who read history as undergraduates tend to read one book (at most) concerned with the question 'What is History?', and they usually do this before they have done any real historical research. Thereafter, their training tends to be conducted 'on the job'. If they reflect on the nature, theory or ideology which underpins what they practice, they tend to focus on issues which surface in assessments, learning that writing which is merely descriptive is not rewarded but that writing which is analytical gains good marks. Via the electives website you are asked to choose between medieval and modern history, or between political and social history, where the nature of the historian's work in each case is left as self-evident.
But ask yourself the following questions:
On what basis do historians claim to 'know' about the past?
Why do historians disagree?
What exactly is history which is 'out of date'?
What is historical evidence?
Aside from the area of their interest, can I tell the difference between any two of the historians who have taught me?
If you can't think how to respond to these questions, should you be able to call yourself a graduate in history? This module has been designed to help you to reflect on the nature of the subject in which you are being trained. We believe that history is a distinctive discipline and that you will acquire a deeper understanding of how it is (and has been) practised, partly by listening and reading, partly by practical experience.
|
|
|
HIS-20071 |
Saints and Society in Medieval Europe |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In 2004 animal rights activists kidnapped the corpse of 82-year-old Gladys Hammond from a Staffordshire church-yard. In 2006 Argentine trades unionists fought a gun battle over the coffin of former dictator, Juan Perón, when it was reburied. And, in 2007 the home and grave of Elvis Presley attracted 600,000 visitors. An anthropologist might explain these phenomena as cultures in which the dead are seen as powerful. In this module we will look at an important group of powerful dead, saints, who are critical to the formation of European culture, embodying concepts of ritual, power and celebrity. The course will cover a wide range of issues including the development of the cult of saints in the early Church, its development and spread during the period c.900-c.1250, as well as the religious, social and political use functions of the saints in medieval culture.
Particular attention will be devoted to the changing nature of who was a saint, the extent to which popular acclamation made a saint, medieval society&©s belief in the saints, the difference between local and universal saints as well as the increasing procedures demanded by the Church for canonization. With case studies on martyr and confessor saints and other models of sanctity and the use of translations of primary sources, it will also look to address the problems faced by historians of medieval saints due to the nature of the historical record.
|
|
|
HIS-20071 |
Saints and Society in Medieval Europe |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In 2004 animal rights activists kidnapped the corpse of 82-year-old Gladys Hammond from a Staffordshire church-yard. In 2006 Argentine trades unionists fought a gun battle over the coffin of former dictator, Juan Perón, when it was reburied. And, in 2007 the home and grave of Elvis Presley attracted 600,000 visitors. An anthropologist might explain these phenomena as cultures in which the dead are seen as powerful. In this module we will look at an important group of powerful dead, saints, who are critical to the formation of European culture, embodying concepts of ritual, power and celebrity. The course will cover a wide range of issues including the development of the cult of saints in the early Church, its development and spread during the period c.900-c.1250, as well as the religious, social and political use functions of the saints in medieval culture.
Particular attention will be devoted to the changing nature of who was a saint, the extent to which popular acclamation made a saint, medieval society&©s belief in the saints, the difference between local and universal saints as well as the increasing procedures demanded by the Church for canonization. With case studies on martyr and confessor saints and other models of sanctity and the use of translations of primary sources, it will also look to address the problems faced by historians of medieval saints due to the nature of the historical record.
|
|
|
HIS-20074 |
The Holocaust |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In this module we are going to study the history and historiography of the Holocaust on a European-wide scale. We will explore the different stages of the process of discrimination, persecution, deportation and eventually the murder of European Jewry. We will contextualize and analyse sources and interpretations. Topics of historical processes and memory will be explored and we will learn how to deal with them confidently. A special focus will be laid on researching and understanding historical processes from several perspectives: the perpetrators, the bystanders, the collaborators, and the victims. Questions of historiography, memory and methodological issues will be discussed throughout the module.
|
|
|
HIS-20074 |
The Holocaust |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In this module we are going to study the history and historiography of the Holocaust on a European-wide scale. We will explore the different stages of the process of discrimination, persecution, deportation and eventually the murder of European Jewry. We will contextualize and analyse sources and interpretations. Topics of historical processes and memory will be explored and we will learn how to deal with them confidently. A special focus will be laid on researching and understanding historical processes from several perspectives: the perpetrators, the bystanders, the collaborators, and the victims. Questions of historiography, memory and methodological issues will be discussed throughout the module.
|
|
|
HIS-20078 |
Power in the Modern World |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
What is power? How is it attained, maintained, and relinquished? Who
has power, and for what reasons? Is it located in individuals, groups,
classes, or nations? How does it change? This course covers models, theories,
and themes that address the question of power since the French
Revolution. The module seeks to examine the impact of specific historical
forces, including nationalism, fascism, state building and imperialism.
It also endeavours to assess different explanations for power in the past
two hundred years, including gender, Marxism, and post-structuralist
approaches (Foucault, Bourdieu). The course will provide students with
the analytical tools to study the nature of power as it emerged in
the modern period. |
|
|
HIS-20078 |
Power in the Modern World |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
What is power? How is it attained, maintained, and relinquished? Who
has power, and for what reasons? Is it located in individuals, groups,
classes, or nations? How does it change? This course covers models, theories,
and themes that address the question of power since the French
Revolution. The module seeks to examine the impact of specific historical
forces, including nationalism, fascism, state building and imperialism.
It also endeavours to assess different explanations for power in the past
two hundred years, including gender, Marxism, and post-structuralist
approaches (Foucault, Bourdieu). The course will provide students with
the analytical tools to study the nature of power as it emerged in
the modern period. |
|
|
HIS-20080 |
Race and the Body in Colonial Africa |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will introduce students to some of the most important themes in the history of Africa from the abolition of the slave trade to decolonization. We will analyse diverse forms of difference, especially those related to race and the body, amongst European colonisers and Africans, and to chart changing views of difference. Students will develop an awareness of the diversity of the African continent through a range of critical perspectives, such as: theorising race in different geographical spaces; understanding inequality among and between peoples and how this varies over time and space; and the relationship between colonialism, nation, 'race', class, ethnicity, gender, and capitalism. Lectures and seminars will engage with a range of primary source materials including: travel writing, contemporary accounts, official reports, newspapers, photographs and paintings, literature and film, in addition to the diverse historiography available. |
|
|
HIS-20080 |
Race and the Body in Colonial Africa |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will introduce students to some of the most important themes in the history of Africa from the abolition of the slave trade to decolonization. We will analyse diverse forms of difference, especially those related to race and the body, amongst European colonisers and Africans, and to chart changing views of difference. Students will develop an awareness of the diversity of the African continent through a range of critical perspectives, such as: theorising race in different geographical spaces; understanding inequality among and between peoples and how this varies over time and space; and the relationship between colonialism, nation, 'race', class, ethnicity, gender, and capitalism. Lectures and seminars will engage with a range of primary source materials including: travel writing, contemporary accounts, official reports, newspapers, photographs and paintings, literature and film, in addition to the diverse historiography available. |
History Major - Level 3 Modules
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
AMS-30029 |
Social Thought and Social Movements in the US |
EA |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
For a nation conceived in revolution, radical social thought has always had a special cultural and political significance, in spite of the apparent dominance of liberal capitalism as the main mode of ordering political, socio-economic, and cultural relations. This module explores selected critical social movements and intellectual traditions in the US, using both primary and secondary sources. This will serve both as an introduction to the field of the history of ideas and as a means of understanding the main contributions American culture has made to traditions of Western social thought. |
|
~
|
AMS-30035 |
'Eyes on the Prize': The Struggle for Civil Rights in America |
EA |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is suitable for students who have already taken history modules and acquired a solid grounding in the methods of historical research, analysis, and writing. This module allows students to study one of the most dramatic processes to shape contemporary America: the African-American struggle for civil rights. From a South blighted by $ùJim Crow&© segregation, and lynching to today&©s America, where equality before the law has been achieved but fissures of race still divide society, we will assess the aims and achievements of black leadership; the contribution of $ùmainstream protest&© by ordinary men and women, black and white, Northern and Southern, to re-shaping American society and the broader African-American contribution to American culture. The rise of more radical strategies will also be addressed and placed within the larger context of this, the most significant dilemma to confront American democracy over the last century.
This module gives students an in-depth familiarity with a case-study of a mass movement for civil rights, with some attention to other kinds of campaigns and freedom struggles, particularly before the emergence of mass activism. The module will be informed by the latest stage in the scholarly debate concerning the nature of mass activism and protest by African-Americans in an effort to gain full citizenship rights and economic opportunities. This module will give students the ability to the application of advanced historiographical methods of research to piece together the narrative of the Civil Rights movement and how scholarly debate reflects contemporary race related issues. Furthermore students will gain the ability to evaluate the differing value of conflicting approaches, a process that throws into relief the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge but also the possibility of achieving methodological objectivity. Students taking this module will also gain the abiltiy to manage their own learning by generating essay topics themselves, and make use of scholarly articles and primary sources relating to Civil Rights in a way that goes beyond the insights available from secondary sources alone.
|
|
|
HIS-30082 |
German Occupation Policy and warfare in Europe 1938-1945, I |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module explores the immense impact that German occupational rule had on occupied societies in Eastern, Western and Southern Europe. We will examine the close and dynamic links between German occupation policy and the ongoing war. Economic, social, political and cultural aspects will be considered, always trying to analyse the phenomena from different angles and perspectives.
Through the close study of different countries under German rule in Eastern, Western and Southern Europe the module analyses the dynamic relationship between the occupiers and the occupied. What societies did the Germans encounter? The period of German occupation will always be embedded in the wider context of pre-war experiences.
During 10 two-hour weekly seminars we will continously discuss methodological and historiographical issues, involving informal group presentations, the critical analysis of primary sources and historiographical debates.
The principal themes to be explored in part I (of the linked modules) will be:
First World War and Its Impact
Nazi-Germany: The State, the Party, other Agencies
German Conquests and Conduct of War
War Economies
German occupation policies in Poland, France, Soviet Union and Italy or Hungary.
This module explores World War II, which was and is crucial for the formation of modern Europe. |
|
|
HIS-30082 |
German Occupation Policy and warfare in Europe 1938-1945, I |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module explores the immense impact that German occupational rule had on occupied societies in Eastern, Western and Southern Europe. We will examine the close and dynamic links between German occupation policy and the ongoing war. Economic, social, political and cultural aspects will be considered, always trying to analyse the phenomena from different angles and perspectives.
Through the close study of different countries under German rule in Eastern, Western and Southern Europe the module analyses the dynamic relationship between the occupiers and the occupied. What societies did the Germans encounter? The period of German occupation will always be embedded in the wider context of pre-war experiences.
During 10 two-hour weekly seminars we will continously discuss methodological and historiographical issues, involving informal group presentations, the critical analysis of primary sources and historiographical debates.
The principal themes to be explored in part I (of the linked modules) will be:
First World War and Its Impact
Nazi-Germany: The State, the Party, other Agencies
German Conquests and Conduct of War
War Economies
German occupation policies in Poland, France, Soviet Union and Italy or Hungary.
This module explores World War II, which was and is crucial for the formation of modern Europe. |
|
|
HIS-30084 |
The French Revolution: Monarchy to Republic, 1789-1792 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The French Revolution is a world-historical event and its outbreak in 1789 is widely regarded as marking the beginning of modern history. It is a topic that continues to attract attention from scholars across the globe and its interpretation remains deeply controversial, not least because so many of our current political ideas and practices originated during this period. These days the Revolution is seen primarily from the perspective of political culture and this module will explore the significant transition from subjecthood to citizenship that occurred as absolute monarchy gave way first to constitutional monarchy after 1789, and then to a republic in 1792. Contemporaries were well aware that citizens needed to be made for the new order and that cultural change was required to accompany the construction of new political arrangements, all of which will be considered along with explanations for the collapse of the old regime in the late 1780s.
This module is linked to a second, The French Revolution: Terror and Dictatorship, 1793-1799, which follows on. It may also be linked to the disseration in History for which, as for these free-standing modules, there is a wealth of relevant material available in English, both at Keele and online. |
|
|
HIS-30084 |
The French Revolution: Monarchy to Republic, 1789-1792 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The French Revolution is a world-historical event and its outbreak in 1789 is widely regarded as marking the beginning of modern history. It is a topic that continues to attract attention from scholars across the globe and its interpretation remains deeply controversial, not least because so many of our current political ideas and practices originated during this period. These days the Revolution is seen primarily from the perspective of political culture and this module will explore the significant transition from subjecthood to citizenship that occurred as absolute monarchy gave way first to constitutional monarchy after 1789, and then to a republic in 1792. Contemporaries were well aware that citizens needed to be made for the new order and that cultural change was required to accompany the construction of new political arrangements, all of which will be considered along with explanations for the collapse of the old regime in the late 1780s.
This module is linked to a second, The French Revolution: Terror and Dictatorship, 1793-1799, which follows on. It may also be linked to the disseration in History for which, as for these free-standing modules, there is a wealth of relevant material available in English, both at Keele and online. |
|
|
HIS-30086 |
The English Civil War, c.1640-46 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The English civil war was one of the most dramatic events in English history, retaining its hold today over both popular and scholarly imaginations. Many issues of the period - such as the nature of the relationship between England, Scotland, and Ireland, the character of the political process, or what to do about the monarchy - find echoes today. This special subject will seek to explore the character and events of the first civil war in England from the collapse of the king&©s authority in 1640 to the end of the first civil war in 1646. Topics to be covered will include the causes of the war; the development of Royalist and Parliamentarian parties; the military course of the first civil war; the impact of the war on society; the diversity of religious beliefs; and the political fragmentation of the Parliamentarian cause.
This module is linked to the module, The World Turned Upside Down: the English Revolution, c.1646-53, which follows this. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History: there is a wealth of source material for a dissertation on the political, social, cultural, military or local history of mid seventeenth-century England available at Keele, including access to every book published in Britain in the period through Early English Books Online.
Students interested in some introductory reading should start with one of the many histories of the civil wars. Probably the most useful (and worth buying) is Michael Braddick, God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars (2008), but also useful for the module are Ian Gentles, The English Revolution and the Wars in the Three Kingdoms 1638-1652 (2007), which is particularly good on the military side, or Diane Purkiss, The English Civil War: A People’s History (2006) for the social history of England in the 1640s. |
|
|
HIS-30086 |
The English Civil War, c.1640-46 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The English civil war was one of the most dramatic events in English history, retaining its hold today over both popular and scholarly imaginations. Many issues of the period - such as the nature of the relationship between England, Scotland, and Ireland, the character of the political process, or what to do about the monarchy - find echoes today. This special subject will seek to explore the character and events of the first civil war in England from the collapse of the king&©s authority in 1640 to the end of the first civil war in 1646. Topics to be covered will include the causes of the war; the development of Royalist and Parliamentarian parties; the military course of the first civil war; the impact of the war on society; the diversity of religious beliefs; and the political fragmentation of the Parliamentarian cause.
This module is linked to the module, The World Turned Upside Down: the English Revolution, c.1646-53, which follows this. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History: there is a wealth of source material for a dissertation on the political, social, cultural, military or local history of mid seventeenth-century England available at Keele, including access to every book published in Britain in the period through Early English Books Online.
Students interested in some introductory reading should start with one of the many histories of the civil wars. Probably the most useful (and worth buying) is Michael Braddick, God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars (2008), but also useful for the module are Ian Gentles, The English Revolution and the Wars in the Three Kingdoms 1638-1652 (2007), which is particularly good on the military side, or Diane Purkiss, The English Civil War: A People’s History (2006) for the social history of England in the 1640s. |
|
|
HIS-30094 |
Religion, Rebellion and the Raj : The Partition of India I |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In August 1947 British India was partitioned to create two independent countries, India and Pakistan. This partition resulted in an estimated one million deaths and the largest migration of people in modern history. What were the forces which led to the Partition of India in 1947: British policy; Muslim separatism or the unitary impulses of Indian nationalism? Based upon specific sources and documents, this course will explore why the end of British rule in India was accompanied by Partition and the creation of Pakistan and assess some of the consequences of Partition for the subcontinent after independence. |
|
|
HIS-30094 |
Religion, Rebellion and the Raj : The Partition of India I |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In August 1947 British India was partitioned to create two independent countries, India and Pakistan. This partition resulted in an estimated one million deaths and the largest migration of people in modern history. What were the forces which led to the Partition of India in 1947: British policy; Muslim separatism or the unitary impulses of Indian nationalism? Based upon specific sources and documents, this course will explore why the end of British rule in India was accompanied by Partition and the creation of Pakistan and assess some of the consequences of Partition for the subcontinent after independence. |
|
|
HIS-30096 |
Spirituality and Social Change in the Eleventh Century, I |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is a 'social history' of the eleventh century. This was a time of tremendous social, political and intellectual transformation, indeed a time, according to many historians, when European civilisation as we know it was created.
The course will open with a discussion of some classic and recent historiography. Primary sources revealing the exercise of power by the landed elite will then be considered in the context of radical changes in family structure such as the institution of primogeniture, a new concept of masculinity and the enforcement of incest taboos. A crucial question arising from these sources is the extent to which we can see the impact of the changes among the elite on the 'people'. Using sources describing peace of God movement, the persecution of heretics and the veneration of holy men and women, we will then look to assess the claim that 'crowd' enters European history during this period.
|
|
|
HIS-30096 |
Spirituality and Social Change in the Eleventh Century, I |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is a 'social history' of the eleventh century. This was a time of tremendous social, political and intellectual transformation, indeed a time, according to many historians, when European civilisation as we know it was created.
The course will open with a discussion of some classic and recent historiography. Primary sources revealing the exercise of power by the landed elite will then be considered in the context of radical changes in family structure such as the institution of primogeniture, a new concept of masculinity and the enforcement of incest taboos. A crucial question arising from these sources is the extent to which we can see the impact of the changes among the elite on the 'people'. Using sources describing peace of God movement, the persecution of heretics and the veneration of holy men and women, we will then look to assess the claim that 'crowd' enters European history during this period.
|
|
|
HIS-30110 |
The Making of Contemporary Africa I |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Can a continent possess 'a history' or 'a people'? To what extent are ideas of Africa and Africans still tied to race, violence or other colonial legacies? What of other factors, such as pre-colonial African culture, Islam, or the environment? To understand the ways we imagine Africa today, the module examines the cultural, political and economic dialogues which took place regarding Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. Students will analyse the various images of Africa (its people, environment and history) which have developed within particular historical and regional contexts, such as slavery, the African diaspora, European colonisation, sex and religion from c.1800 through WWII. While the main focus will be on English-language primary sources and British colonies, there will also be a chance to compare different colonial systems and their legacies within Africa, especially the French and Belgian empires. It will also explore the ways in which Africans responded to colonisation and how local interpretations of Africa emerged. This will enable students to critically analyse a variety of historiographical approaches to African history and introduce them to a range of primary source materials which have been utilised by historians to interpret key events and processes. For example, students will have a chance to read African and British literature, in addition to official colonial records, films, photography and other images depicting Africa.
Linked Module: HIS-30113
|
|
|
HIS-30110 |
The Making of Contemporary Africa I |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Can a continent possess 'a history' or 'a people'? To what extent are ideas of Africa and Africans still tied to race, violence or other colonial legacies? What of other factors, such as pre-colonial African culture, Islam, or the environment? To understand the ways we imagine Africa today, the module examines the cultural, political and economic dialogues which took place regarding Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. Students will analyse the various images of Africa (its people, environment and history) which have developed within particular historical and regional contexts, such as slavery, the African diaspora, European colonisation, sex and religion from c.1800 through WWII. While the main focus will be on English-language primary sources and British colonies, there will also be a chance to compare different colonial systems and their legacies within Africa, especially the French and Belgian empires. It will also explore the ways in which Africans responded to colonisation and how local interpretations of Africa emerged. This will enable students to critically analyse a variety of historiographical approaches to African history and introduce them to a range of primary source materials which have been utilised by historians to interpret key events and processes. For example, students will have a chance to read African and British literature, in addition to official colonial records, films, photography and other images depicting Africa.
Linked Module: HIS-30113
|
|
|
HIS-30111 |
Water Histories. A Cultural History of Water, I |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
$ùWater is a common good .. belonging to all. Yet, from privatization in Britain to the displacement of millions through dam-building in the developing world, it has been appropriated as a commodity by the powerful.&© This new special subject will consider the long history which underpins this contemporary observation on a resource more important than oil. We will thus consider changing attitudes to the use of water, fresh rather than salt, from the ancient world to the present day. The approach will be thematic and will include ritual and religious uses in the middle ages, the social contexts of bathing, the sanitation revolution of the nineteenth century, attitudes to water in nature, and modern water wars. The approach will be multi-disciplinary and students will be encouraged to look for connections with their other principal and subsidiary subject areas.
Water provides an appropriate area in which to examine, compare and contrast a range of disparate issues including, for example, baptism and cleansing in religious rituals, the impact of religious reform on water as a healing agent, the range of attitudes to cleanliness and bathing, the medicalisation of water from holy wells to spa resorts to sports medicine, the connection of water and disease, the Romantic appreciation of water in the landscape, disputes over water and modern water law, the manipulation of water as a demonstration of political power.
|
|
|
HIS-30111 |
Water Histories. A Cultural History of Water, I |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
$ùWater is a common good .. belonging to all. Yet, from privatization in Britain to the displacement of millions through dam-building in the developing world, it has been appropriated as a commodity by the powerful.&© This new special subject will consider the long history which underpins this contemporary observation on a resource more important than oil. We will thus consider changing attitudes to the use of water, fresh rather than salt, from the ancient world to the present day. The approach will be thematic and will include ritual and religious uses in the middle ages, the social contexts of bathing, the sanitation revolution of the nineteenth century, attitudes to water in nature, and modern water wars. The approach will be multi-disciplinary and students will be encouraged to look for connections with their other principal and subsidiary subject areas.
Water provides an appropriate area in which to examine, compare and contrast a range of disparate issues including, for example, baptism and cleansing in religious rituals, the impact of religious reform on water as a healing agent, the range of attitudes to cleanliness and bathing, the medicalisation of water from holy wells to spa resorts to sports medicine, the connection of water and disease, the Romantic appreciation of water in the landscape, disputes over water and modern water law, the manipulation of water as a demonstration of political power.
|
|
|
HIS-30115 |
Reconstructing Eastern Europe, 1918-2000: Space, Place and Society II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Building on the topics covered in Constructing Eastern Europe, this module will investigate how space, place and society were reconstructed under the revolutionary forces of communism and fascism during the ‘short twentieth century’. Taking a comparative approach to the study of Nazism, Stalinism and communism as it was applied to Eastern and Central Europe, it will look at how visions for a new society and 'new man' shaped society and culture within the region. We will see how the imposition of varying forms of totalitarian society both consolidated the idea of Eastern Europe as a distinct ‘other’ in relation to the West and served to undermine the idea of Eastern and Central Europe as it had emerged in the nineteenth century. Finally, it will investigate how totalitarianism tried to transform the physical space of Eastern and Central Europe – its geopolitics, its landscape and its environment – under the guise of creating new, utopian societies. |
|
|
HIS-30115 |
Reconstructing Eastern Europe, 1918-2000: Space, Place and Society II |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Building on the topics covered in Constructing Eastern Europe, this module will investigate how space, place and society were reconstructed under the revolutionary forces of communism and fascism during the ‘short twentieth century’. Taking a comparative approach to the study of Nazism, Stalinism and communism as it was applied to Eastern and Central Europe, it will look at how visions for a new society and 'new man' shaped society and culture within the region. We will see how the imposition of varying forms of totalitarian society both consolidated the idea of Eastern Europe as a distinct ‘other’ in relation to the West and served to undermine the idea of Eastern and Central Europe as it had emerged in the nineteenth century. Finally, it will investigate how totalitarianism tried to transform the physical space of Eastern and Central Europe – its geopolitics, its landscape and its environment – under the guise of creating new, utopian societies. |
|
|
HIS-30117 |
After Hitler: West Germany and the Transition to Democracy l |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The Third Reich lasted only twelve years, but its impact was enormous. Germany was occupied, discredited, humiliated, and shamed. In 1945, few people could imagine that a country that had
been responsible for mass warfare and genocide would one day emerge as a stable, democratic,
and peaceful state in Europe. This module examines West Germany's transition from dictatorship to democracy. In the first weeks of the course we shall discuss theoretical issues pertaining to the subject, including definitions of democracy and conditions for democratization. We will also analyze earlier traditions (Weimar and the Third Reich) that affected politics and culture after 1945 as well as Allied (and particularly American) plans for denazification, democratization, and demilitarization. The remainder of the course will deal with various developments that (possibly) enabled West Germans to embrace a form of government that many had rejected in the past. These include the Economic Miracle, the birth of consumer society, West Germany's Americanization and Westernization, and the emergence of a new middle class.
Linked module: HIS-30045
|
|
|
HIS-30117 |
After Hitler: West Germany and the Transition to Democracy l |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The Third Reich lasted only twelve years, but its impact was enormous. Germany was occupied, discredited, humiliated, and shamed. In 1945, few people could imagine that a country that had
been responsible for mass warfare and genocide would one day emerge as a stable, democratic,
and peaceful state in Europe. This module examines West Germany's transition from dictatorship to democracy. In the first weeks of the course we shall discuss theoretical issues pertaining to the subject, including definitions of democracy and conditions for democratization. We will also analyze earlier traditions (Weimar and the Third Reich) that affected politics and culture after 1945 as well as Allied (and particularly American) plans for denazification, democratization, and demilitarization. The remainder of the course will deal with various developments that (possibly) enabled West Germans to embrace a form of government that many had rejected in the past. These include the Economic Miracle, the birth of consumer society, West Germany's Americanization and Westernization, and the emergence of a new middle class.
Linked module: HIS-30045
|
|
|
HIS-30118 |
Urban Lives in Modern Europe, 1890-1914 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
For most of continental Europe, the rapid urbanisation of the late-nineteenth century presented radical new challenges to states, local elites and intellectuals. How should these new urban societies be governed? How can the quality of life in cities be improved? Who should have responsibility for managing which urban space? These were the questions posed by people living in the chaotically expanding cities of late-nineteenth-century Western Europe - London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, and a whole host of smaller cities, towns and suburbs. Their solutions included eugenic policies, town planning, social reform and a whole host of fitness regimes, and have been blamed for National Socialist disaster, as well as heralding the welfare states and closely regulated spaces that characterise European cities today.
This module will explore how and why competing ways of defining urban problems emerged, and the development of new solutions in the years before World War One. We will examine new ways of thinking about cities and urban living from three angles – the intellectuals who identified urban problems at the turn-of-the-century, the planners, architects and social reformers who put themselves forward as those best placed to provide solutions, and the ways in which the urban experience was structured through new technologies of press, consumption and regulation.
|
|
|
HIS-30118 |
Urban Lives in Modern Europe, 1890-1914 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
For most of continental Europe, the rapid urbanisation of the late-nineteenth century presented radical new challenges to states, local elites and intellectuals. How should these new urban societies be governed? How can the quality of life in cities be improved? Who should have responsibility for managing which urban space? These were the questions posed by people living in the chaotically expanding cities of late-nineteenth-century Western Europe - London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, and a whole host of smaller cities, towns and suburbs. Their solutions included eugenic policies, town planning, social reform and a whole host of fitness regimes, and have been blamed for National Socialist disaster, as well as heralding the welfare states and closely regulated spaces that characterise European cities today.
This module will explore how and why competing ways of defining urban problems emerged, and the development of new solutions in the years before World War One. We will examine new ways of thinking about cities and urban living from three angles – the intellectuals who identified urban problems at the turn-of-the-century, the planners, architects and social reformers who put themselves forward as those best placed to provide solutions, and the ways in which the urban experience was structured through new technologies of press, consumption and regulation.
|
| Semester 1-2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
HIS-30103 |
Dissertation for History - ISP |
C |
C
|
15 |
30 |
|
|
A dissertation is a piece of personal research, testing students' ability to ask interesting questions, find and assess evidence in the quest to answer them, and fit questions and answers together in an extended piece of written work. The finished piece should express students' final conclusions in a convincing and coherent way.
This dissertation module allows you to produce your own piece of independent historical research, guided by a supervisor who will be a world-leading expert in the field. The dissertation, of between 8,000 and 12,000 words, will normally be linked to a semester-one History programme elective but this is a matter for negotiation with your supervisor. The dissertation will allow you to engage in personalised research, into questions or source genres of interest to you. The very best dissertations are of publishable quality and are submissible to national prize competitions. Keele students have been successful in the past in the History Today competition, and the Maritime History competition. Successful completion of the dissertation will represent a substantial piece of final-year undergraduate work that will facilitate entry to a postgraduate course and/or demonstrate writing and research skills relevant to a number of different careers. It should also give you considerable satisfaction; the dissertation is often the History module that people enjoy the most during their three year degree programme. |
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
~
|
AMS-30032 |
Under God: Religion and Society in the U.S. Since World War II |
EA |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
When it comes to the study of American politics and society, there is no getting away from religion. About 96 percent of Americans believe in God; 87 percent consider themselves Christians; and upwards of 40 percent regard biblical prophesies as predictions of real events. Moreover, political leaders in the United States tend to openly declare their religious faith and frequently invoke the powerful imagery of the "nation under God". This module examines the origins of religious vitality in the United States and explores its role in American society and culture since World War II. In the process, it not only revises common assumptions about the link between religion and modernity, but also about the separation of church and state in the United States.
|
|
~
|
HIS-30083 |
German Occupation Policy and Warfare in Europe 1938-1945, II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Building on Part I, this module extends the exploration of German rule over large parts of Europe between 1938 and 1945. We will deepen the analysis of the close and dynamic links between German occupation policy and the ongoing war. Economic, social, political and cultural aspects will be scrutinised, always trying to analyse the phenomena from different angles and perspectives. Methodological and historiographical issues will be discussed in the light of contemporary sources.
Through the close study of different countries under German rule in Eastern, Western and Southern Europe the module analyses the dynamic relationship between the occupiers and the occupied. What societies did the Germans encounter?
The principal themes to be explored in part II (of the linked modules) are focussed on the analysis of mass crimes:
Resettlements and 'ethnic cleansing'
Prisoners of War
The Shoah
Ghettos
Concentration Camps
Forced Labour in and from Europe
Resistance
The module comprises 10 two-hour seminars involving informal group presentations, the critical analysis of primary sources and historiographical debates.
This module explores World War II, which was and is crucial for the formation of modern Europe. |
|
~
|
HIS-30083 |
German Occupation Policy and Warfare in Europe 1938-1945, II |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Building on Part I, this module extends the exploration of German rule over large parts of Europe between 1938 and 1945. We will deepen the analysis of the close and dynamic links between German occupation policy and the ongoing war. Economic, social, political and cultural aspects will be scrutinised, always trying to analyse the phenomena from different angles and perspectives. Methodological and historiographical issues will be discussed in the light of contemporary sources.
Through the close study of different countries under German rule in Eastern, Western and Southern Europe the module analyses the dynamic relationship between the occupiers and the occupied. What societies did the Germans encounter?
The principal themes to be explored in part II (of the linked modules) are focussed on the analysis of mass crimes:
Resettlements and 'ethnic cleansing'
Prisoners of War
The Shoah
Ghettos
Concentration Camps
Forced Labour in and from Europe
Resistance
The module comprises 10 two-hour seminars involving informal group presentations, the critical analysis of primary sources and historiographical debates.
This module explores World War II, which was and is crucial for the formation of modern Europe. |
|
~
|
HIS-30085 |
The French Revolution: Terror and Dictatorship, 1793-1799 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The French Revolution was a world-historical event and its outbreak in 1789 is widely regarded as marking the beginning of modern history. It is a topic that continues to attract attention from scholars across the globe and its interpretation remains deeply controversial, not least because so many of our current political practices and preoccupations originated during this period. Especially significant is the problem of violence in the Revolution. This module will explore how the democratic republic established in 1792 developed the repressive mechanisms of the Terror in 1793-94, as well as analysing the cultural experiments which accompanied this process. The subsequent attempt to end the Revolution after 1795, on the basis of a moderate republic, proved no more successful than the creation of a constitutional monarchy after 1789. An explanation for this political failure needs to be found, for historians have spent far more time studying how revolutions begin than how they can be brought to a conclusion. The module will end with an examination of the Napoleonic dictatorship that finally restored stability to France after a decade of upheaval, albeit at the cost of the liberal ideals which the Revolution proclaimed.
This module is linked to another, The French Revolution: Monarchy to Republic, 1789-1792, which precedes it. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History for which, as for these free-standing modules, there is a wealth of relevant material available in English, both at Keele and online.
For preparatory reading, you should try PM Jones, The French Revolution (Pearson, 2010) or Peter McPhee, The French Revolution (OUP, 2001). Greater detail and debate is to be found in William Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Revolution (OUP, 2002), Paul Hanson, Contesting the French Revolution (Wiley, 2009), Hugh Gough, The Terror in the French Revolution (Palgrave, 2010) and Malcolm Crook, Napoleon Comes to Power (University of Wales Press, 1998). |
|
~
|
HIS-30085 |
The French Revolution: Terror and Dictatorship, 1793-1799 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The French Revolution was a world-historical event and its outbreak in 1789 is widely regarded as marking the beginning of modern history. It is a topic that continues to attract attention from scholars across the globe and its interpretation remains deeply controversial, not least because so many of our current political practices and preoccupations originated during this period. Especially significant is the problem of violence in the Revolution. This module will explore how the democratic republic established in 1792 developed the repressive mechanisms of the Terror in 1793-94, as well as analysing the cultural experiments which accompanied this process. The subsequent attempt to end the Revolution after 1795, on the basis of a moderate republic, proved no more successful than the creation of a constitutional monarchy after 1789. An explanation for this political failure needs to be found, for historians have spent far more time studying how revolutions begin than how they can be brought to a conclusion. The module will end with an examination of the Napoleonic dictatorship that finally restored stability to France after a decade of upheaval, albeit at the cost of the liberal ideals which the Revolution proclaimed.
This module is linked to another, The French Revolution: Monarchy to Republic, 1789-1792, which precedes it. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History for which, as for these free-standing modules, there is a wealth of relevant material available in English, both at Keele and online.
For preparatory reading, you should try PM Jones, The French Revolution (Pearson, 2010) or Peter McPhee, The French Revolution (OUP, 2001). Greater detail and debate is to be found in William Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Revolution (OUP, 2002), Paul Hanson, Contesting the French Revolution (Wiley, 2009), Hugh Gough, The Terror in the French Revolution (Palgrave, 2010) and Malcolm Crook, Napoleon Comes to Power (University of Wales Press, 1998). |
|
~
|
HIS-30087 |
The World Turned Upside Down: the English Revolution, c.1646-53 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The English civil wars, the execution of King Charles I, the abolition of the monarchy and house of lords, and the establishment of the first (and currently last) republic in England constitute the most revolutionary period in English history. To contemporaries they were the world turned upside down. They retain their hold today over the popular and scholarly imaginations and can still bitterly divide amateur and professional historian. Many issues of the period - such as the nature of the relationship between England, Scotland, and Ireland, the character of the political process, or what to do about the monarchy or house of lords - find echoes today.. This module will seek to explore and analyse the character and events of the 'English revolution' from the the end of the first civil war and the surrender of the king to the Scots, through the regicide and establishment of the first English republic, to the establishment of the Protectorate in 1653, which some saw as the destruction of the changes they had fought for in the previous decade.. Topics to be covered will include the causes of the war, political crisis 1640-2, the agony of choosing sides and the outbreak of the war, the impact of the war on society, religious change and the growth of radical religious ideas.
This module is linked to the module, The English Civil War, c.1640-6, which precedes this. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History: there is a wealth of source material for a dissertation on the political, social, cultural, military or local history of mid seventeenth-century England available at Keele, including access to every book published in Britain in the period through Early English Books Online.
Students interested in some introductory reading should start with one of the many histories of the civil wars. Probably the most useful (and worth buying) is Michael Braddick, God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars (2008), but also useful for the module are Ian Gentles, The English Revolution and the Wars in the Three Kingdoms 1638-1652 (2007), which is particularly good on the military side, or Diane Purkiss, The English Civil War: A People’s History (2006) for the social history of England in the 1640s. For an overview of the 1640s and 1650s, see Barry Coward, The Stuart Age (3rd or 4th edition, 2003, 2011), or Austin Woolrych, Britain in Revolution 1625-1660 (2004).
|
|
~
|
HIS-30087 |
The World Turned Upside Down: the English Revolution, c.1646-53 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The English civil wars, the execution of King Charles I, the abolition of the monarchy and house of lords, and the establishment of the first (and currently last) republic in England constitute the most revolutionary period in English history. To contemporaries they were the world turned upside down. They retain their hold today over the popular and scholarly imaginations and can still bitterly divide amateur and professional historian. Many issues of the period - such as the nature of the relationship between England, Scotland, and Ireland, the character of the political process, or what to do about the monarchy or house of lords - find echoes today.. This module will seek to explore and analyse the character and events of the 'English revolution' from the the end of the first civil war and the surrender of the king to the Scots, through the regicide and establishment of the first English republic, to the establishment of the Protectorate in 1653, which some saw as the destruction of the changes they had fought for in the previous decade.. Topics to be covered will include the causes of the war, political crisis 1640-2, the agony of choosing sides and the outbreak of the war, the impact of the war on society, religious change and the growth of radical religious ideas.
This module is linked to the module, The English Civil War, c.1640-6, which precedes this. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History: there is a wealth of source material for a dissertation on the political, social, cultural, military or local history of mid seventeenth-century England available at Keele, including access to every book published in Britain in the period through Early English Books Online.
Students interested in some introductory reading should start with one of the many histories of the civil wars. Probably the most useful (and worth buying) is Michael Braddick, God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars (2008), but also useful for the module are Ian Gentles, The English Revolution and the Wars in the Three Kingdoms 1638-1652 (2007), which is particularly good on the military side, or Diane Purkiss, The English Civil War: A People’s History (2006) for the social history of England in the 1640s. For an overview of the 1640s and 1650s, see Barry Coward, The Stuart Age (3rd or 4th edition, 2003, 2011), or Austin Woolrych, Britain in Revolution 1625-1660 (2004).
|
|
~
|
HIS-30097 |
Spirituality and Social Change in the Eleventh Century, II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Building on Part I, this module extends the exploration of the key areas of social and religious change in eleventh-century Europe, by focusing on the nature of religious reform and the role of the reform papacy in promoting, effecting and substantiating these changes. By examining topics such as the $ùunreformed&© Church, the $ùGregorian&© reform and its rhetoric of purity and pollution, the mechanisms to deal with heresy and promote the crusade, along with issues of hierarchy and social control, the module will explore the paradox that the clergy both sanctioned and protested against the hegemony of the powerful over the poor.
|
|
~
|
HIS-30097 |
Spirituality and Social Change in the Eleventh Century, II |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Building on Part I, this module extends the exploration of the key areas of social and religious change in eleventh-century Europe, by focusing on the nature of religious reform and the role of the reform papacy in promoting, effecting and substantiating these changes. By examining topics such as the $ùunreformed&© Church, the $ùGregorian&© reform and its rhetoric of purity and pollution, the mechanisms to deal with heresy and promote the crusade, along with issues of hierarchy and social control, the module will explore the paradox that the clergy both sanctioned and protested against the hegemony of the powerful over the poor.
|
|
~
|
HIS-30101 |
From Sawbones to Social Hero? Doctors and medicine 1808-1886 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In 1808 the medical profession was largely unregulated and was compelled to diagnose and treat patients without anaesthetic, lacking stethoscopes, and unaware of the existence of germs. By 1886 access to the profession was closely monitored, anaesthetic was routinely administered, and Lister's work on aseptic surgery was being accepted. Therefore, this was a period of scientific change and professional consolidation with enormous significance for the ways doctors related to patients and the ways the sick formed expectations of their medical practitioners. This module treats aspects of the social history of medicine in nineteenth-century England by considering the development of medical relationships from the 1808 County Asylums Act up to the Medical Registration Amendment Act of 1886.
Topics may include medical education and professionalisation, the evolution of institutional medical care, medical practitioners in fiction, insanity and the emergence of psychiatry, anatomy and bodysnatching, the roles for women in medicine and the drive for sanitary reform.
|
|
~
|
HIS-30101 |
From Sawbones to Social Hero? Doctors and medicine 1808-1886 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In 1808 the medical profession was largely unregulated and was compelled to diagnose and treat patients without anaesthetic, lacking stethoscopes, and unaware of the existence of germs. By 1886 access to the profession was closely monitored, anaesthetic was routinely administered, and Lister's work on aseptic surgery was being accepted. Therefore, this was a period of scientific change and professional consolidation with enormous significance for the ways doctors related to patients and the ways the sick formed expectations of their medical practitioners. This module treats aspects of the social history of medicine in nineteenth-century England by considering the development of medical relationships from the 1808 County Asylums Act up to the Medical Registration Amendment Act of 1886.
Topics may include medical education and professionalisation, the evolution of institutional medical care, medical practitioners in fiction, insanity and the emergence of psychiatry, anatomy and bodysnatching, the roles for women in medicine and the drive for sanitary reform.
|
|
|
HIS-30102 |
The Art of Dying: Death and Society in Medieval and Early Modern Europe |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
'Dying well' was a fundamental concern for all in the Medieval and Early Modern Europe, but what did that mean? This module will explore the history of death in medieval and early modern Europe from /c/. 1000 to /c/. 1750.
If our society has what Geoffrey Gorer has called a 'pornography of death', whereby all practices surrounding death should be done out of public view, just like sexual pornography, it is important to understand how public death and dying were in medieval and early modern Europe. The module takes a comparative approach, comparing and contrasting ways of dying, burial, attitudes to good and bad death, especially suicide, expectations of the afterlife, and the experience of famine and plague, in medieval and early modern Europe. The ways in which a society treated death reveals a great deal about its assumptions and ideas, and so this module offers a fascinating insight into the social, religious and cultural history of a world which is very different from our own.
For an introduction, see Philippe Aries, Western Attitudes toward Death from the Middle Ages to the Present (1976), or dip into his The Hour of Our Death (1981).
|
|
|
HIS-30106 |
Suffrage Stories: lifestories |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module allows you to study, in depth, the British campaign to give women the vote that began in the 1860s and which was finally won in 1928.
Many stories have been told about the women and men who gave their energies, health and even lives to this cause. This course looks at the different ways in which historians have interpreted this struggle, the strategies and tactics of the various suffrage organisations and the competing assessments of what finally won the vote for women. Yet it is not only historians who narrate suffrage history in different ways, so did many of those who were actually involved in all sides of this fight. This module is as much concerned with the individual stories of suffragists and those who opposed them as with the accounts of historians. Indeed, during the course we will use the autobiographies, diaries, newspapers, literature, posters and banners produced by the suffrage campaign so that we can explore the relationship between individual experiences and the stories historians have told.
As part of the module, every student will choose an individual woman or man involved in the Edwardian suffrage debate and research their motivations, views and activities in the campaign. At the end of the semester we will hold a hustings where we will debate the issue of women's suffrage from the point of view of these individuals.
By the end of the module you will not only understand why the campaign for women&©s suffrage took so long to achieve its goal and why suffrage history continues to be hotly debated but also why so many people were so passionate about their desire for women to be able to put a cross on a ballot paper. This, therefore, is a module about the many stories told about the fight to give women the vote by those who took part, those who opposed them, those who admire them, those who think they were misguided and those who have reflected on this period in history with hindsight. |
|
|
HIS-30106 |
Suffrage Stories: lifestories |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module allows you to study, in depth, the British campaign to give women the vote that began in the 1860s and which was finally won in 1928.
Many stories have been told about the women and men who gave their energies, health and even lives to this cause. This course looks at the different ways in which historians have interpreted this struggle, the strategies and tactics of the various suffrage organisations and the competing assessments of what finally won the vote for women. Yet it is not only historians who narrate suffrage history in different ways, so did many of those who were actually involved in all sides of this fight. This module is as much concerned with the individual stories of suffragists and those who opposed them as with the accounts of historians. Indeed, during the course we will use the autobiographies, diaries, newspapers, literature, posters and banners produced by the suffrage campaign so that we can explore the relationship between individual experiences and the stories historians have told.
As part of the module, every student will choose an individual woman or man involved in the Edwardian suffrage debate and research their motivations, views and activities in the campaign. At the end of the semester we will hold a hustings where we will debate the issue of women's suffrage from the point of view of these individuals.
By the end of the module you will not only understand why the campaign for women&©s suffrage took so long to achieve its goal and why suffrage history continues to be hotly debated but also why so many people were so passionate about their desire for women to be able to put a cross on a ballot paper. This, therefore, is a module about the many stories told about the fight to give women the vote by those who took part, those who opposed them, those who admire them, those who think they were misguided and those who have reflected on this period in history with hindsight. |
|
|
HIS-30112 |
Water Histories. A Cultural History of Water, II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
$ùWater is a common good .. belonging to all. Yet, from privatization in Britain to the displacement of millions through dam-building in the developing world, it has been appropriated as a commodity by the powerful.&© This new special subject will consider the long history which underpins this contemporary observation on a resource more important than oil. We will thus consider changing attitudes to the use of water, fresh rather than salt, from the ancient world to the present day. The approach will be thematic and will include ritual and religious uses in the middle ages, the social contexts of bathing, the sanitation revolution of the nineteenth century, attitudes to water in nature, and modern water wars. The approach will be multi-disciplinary and students will be encouraged to look for connections with their other principal and subsidiary subject areas.
Water provides an appropriate area in which to examine, compare and contrast a range of disparate issues including, for example, baptism and cleansing in religious rituals, the impact of religious reform on water as a healing agent, the range of attitudes to cleanliness and bathing, the medicalisation of water from holy wells to spa resorts to sports medicine, the connection of water and disease, the Romantic appreciation of water in the landscape, disputes over water and modern water law, the manipulation of water as a demonstration of political power.
|
|
|
HIS-30112 |
Water Histories. A Cultural History of Water, II |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
$ùWater is a common good .. belonging to all. Yet, from privatization in Britain to the displacement of millions through dam-building in the developing world, it has been appropriated as a commodity by the powerful.&© This new special subject will consider the long history which underpins this contemporary observation on a resource more important than oil. We will thus consider changing attitudes to the use of water, fresh rather than salt, from the ancient world to the present day. The approach will be thematic and will include ritual and religious uses in the middle ages, the social contexts of bathing, the sanitation revolution of the nineteenth century, attitudes to water in nature, and modern water wars. The approach will be multi-disciplinary and students will be encouraged to look for connections with their other principal and subsidiary subject areas.
Water provides an appropriate area in which to examine, compare and contrast a range of disparate issues including, for example, baptism and cleansing in religious rituals, the impact of religious reform on water as a healing agent, the range of attitudes to cleanliness and bathing, the medicalisation of water from holy wells to spa resorts to sports medicine, the connection of water and disease, the Romantic appreciation of water in the landscape, disputes over water and modern water law, the manipulation of water as a demonstration of political power.
|
|
|
HIS-30113 |
The Making of Contemporary Africa II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Can a continent possess 'a history' or 'a people'? To what extent are ideas of Africa and Africans still tied to race and other colonial legacies? To understand the ways we imagine Africa today, the module examines the cultural, political and economic dialogues which took place regarding Africa c.1945 to the present. The course uses the latest scholarship and, in challenging a hitherto dominant national historiography, emphasises the importance of both the $ùlocal&© (e.g. diverse subaltern experiences in Ghana, Kenya, Algeria, South Africa or Nigeria) and the $ùglobal&© (e.g. decolonisation, socialism, postcolonialism and pan-Africanism), in shaping Africa. Perhaps most controversially, the module asks: do you have to be black to be African? And is Africa, as The Economist recently wrote, a 'hopeless continent', inherently violent, poor and diseased? While the main focus will be on English-language primary sources and former British colonies, there will also be a chance to compare different colonial legacies within Africa. This will enable students to critically analyse a variety of historiographical approaches to African history and introduce them to a range of primary source materials which have been utilised by historians to interpret key events and processes. For example, students will have a chance to read the works of: Leopold Senghor, Kwame Nkrumah, Frantz Fanon, Steven Biko, Nelson Mandela, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Julius Nyerere, Walter Rodney, George Padmore, and recent works by people like C. N. Adichie and Thabo Mbeki. Films and other media formats will also be incorporated into the module's analysis, as will official documents. |
|
|
HIS-30113 |
The Making of Contemporary Africa II |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Can a continent possess 'a history' or 'a people'? To what extent are ideas of Africa and Africans still tied to race and other colonial legacies? To understand the ways we imagine Africa today, the module examines the cultural, political and economic dialogues which took place regarding Africa c.1945 to the present. The course uses the latest scholarship and, in challenging a hitherto dominant national historiography, emphasises the importance of both the $ùlocal&© (e.g. diverse subaltern experiences in Ghana, Kenya, Algeria, South Africa or Nigeria) and the $ùglobal&© (e.g. decolonisation, socialism, postcolonialism and pan-Africanism), in shaping Africa. Perhaps most controversially, the module asks: do you have to be black to be African? And is Africa, as The Economist recently wrote, a 'hopeless continent', inherently violent, poor and diseased? While the main focus will be on English-language primary sources and former British colonies, there will also be a chance to compare different colonial legacies within Africa. This will enable students to critically analyse a variety of historiographical approaches to African history and introduce them to a range of primary source materials which have been utilised by historians to interpret key events and processes. For example, students will have a chance to read the works of: Leopold Senghor, Kwame Nkrumah, Frantz Fanon, Steven Biko, Nelson Mandela, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Julius Nyerere, Walter Rodney, George Padmore, and recent works by people like C. N. Adichie and Thabo Mbeki. Films and other media formats will also be incorporated into the module's analysis, as will official documents. |
|
|
HIS-30116 |
After Hitler: West Germany and the Transition to Democracy II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The Third Reich lasted only twelve years, but its impact was enormous. Germany was occupied, discredited, humiliated, and shamed. In 1945, few people could imagine that a country that had
been responsible for mass warfare and genocide would one day emerge as a stable, democratic,
and peaceful state in Europe. In the fall semester, we analyzed theoretical issues pertaining to the subject, including definitions of democracy and conditions for democratization. We also examined earlier traditions (Weimar and the Third Reich) that affected politics and culture after 1945 as well as Allied (and particularly American) plans for denazification, democratization, and demilitarization. In this module, we shall focus on West German history from the 1960s to unification, including the emergence of new gender roles, the student movement, terrorism, unemployment, the East-West conflict, and various efforts at coming to terms with the past. Where the fall module addressed the
early transition from dictatorship to democracy, this module addresses the cultural and political consolidation of democracy in the Federal Republic. |
|
|
HIS-30116 |
After Hitler: West Germany and the Transition to Democracy II |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The Third Reich lasted only twelve years, but its impact was enormous. Germany was occupied, discredited, humiliated, and shamed. In 1945, few people could imagine that a country that had
been responsible for mass warfare and genocide would one day emerge as a stable, democratic,
and peaceful state in Europe. In the fall semester, we analyzed theoretical issues pertaining to the subject, including definitions of democracy and conditions for democratization. We also examined earlier traditions (Weimar and the Third Reich) that affected politics and culture after 1945 as well as Allied (and particularly American) plans for denazification, democratization, and demilitarization. In this module, we shall focus on West German history from the 1960s to unification, including the emergence of new gender roles, the student movement, terrorism, unemployment, the East-West conflict, and various efforts at coming to terms with the past. Where the fall module addressed the
early transition from dictatorship to democracy, this module addresses the cultural and political consolidation of democracy in the Federal Republic. |
|
~
|
HIS-30119 |
Urban Lives in Modern Europe, 1914-1939 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
‘Urban Lives in Modern Europe 1890-1914’ investigated how urban elites began to imagine a new future for Europe’s cities before the First World War. This module examines how the inter-war period provided the opportunity to put many of their ideas into practice. Yet if anything, cities in the inter-war period proved to be even more difficult to govern than they had been before the war. Political tensions ran high across Europe, and many historians have characterised Germany’s Weimar Republic in particular as being in an almost permanent state of crisis. More recent analyses have also seen its cities, and especially Berlin, as a ‘laboratory of modernity’, in which new forms of urban living were tested, and it is on these approaches that this module will concentrate.
While the rise of right-wing politics and the concomitant emergence of Fascism has often been seen as the defining element of the period, the module will also develop an understanding of how the spaces of Europe’ s cities contributed to changing cultures of sex, violence, work and consumption. A particular emphasis will be placed on how measures to identify and control urban problems may have exacerbated existing tensions or produced new ones. While exploring these aspects, you will be asked to consider approaches which emphasise the role of the state in attempting to order and control the city, providing continuities with both totalitarian regimes and the ‘permissiveness’ and welfare states of post-war Western Europe. |
|
~
|
HIS-30119 |
Urban Lives in Modern Europe, 1914-1939 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
‘Urban Lives in Modern Europe 1890-1914’ investigated how urban elites began to imagine a new future for Europe’s cities before the First World War. This module examines how the inter-war period provided the opportunity to put many of their ideas into practice. Yet if anything, cities in the inter-war period proved to be even more difficult to govern than they had been before the war. Political tensions ran high across Europe, and many historians have characterised Germany’s Weimar Republic in particular as being in an almost permanent state of crisis. More recent analyses have also seen its cities, and especially Berlin, as a ‘laboratory of modernity’, in which new forms of urban living were tested, and it is on these approaches that this module will concentrate.
While the rise of right-wing politics and the concomitant emergence of Fascism has often been seen as the defining element of the period, the module will also develop an understanding of how the spaces of Europe’ s cities contributed to changing cultures of sex, violence, work and consumption. A particular emphasis will be placed on how measures to identify and control urban problems may have exacerbated existing tensions or produced new ones. While exploring these aspects, you will be asked to consider approaches which emphasise the role of the state in attempting to order and control the city, providing continuities with both totalitarian regimes and the ‘permissiveness’ and welfare states of post-war Western Europe. |
History Minor - Level 1 Modules
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
HIS-10026 |
History, Media, Memory: The Presentation of the Past in Contemporary Culture |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is for anyone who reads historical novels, watches historical films, or visits museums and stately homes. Our understanding of 'history' comes not simply from school or university study but from the versions of the past that are all around us. This module thus focuses on 'public history' rather than academic history, exploring the forms, purposes and impact of these broader, 'popular' representations of history. We will explore how visions of the past are central to individual and collective memory, and to the constructions of individual and community identities. Accounts of the past are always constructed and debated, and play a crucial role in most modern political and international conflicts. Weekly lectures will explore these general issues through analysis of the presentation of historical accounts in newspapers, film and television programmes, historical novels, and of the versions of the past displayed in museums, historic buildings and sites, in reenactments (such as the Sealed Knot), through anniversaries and memorials. One detailed case study will focus on the commemorations in 2007 that marked the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. Through a variety of written exercises and oral presentations students will make their own choice of sites, films, and written accounts for discussion and analysis in seminars.
Throught this module, students will develop a critical understanding of the various media through which accounts of the past are presented, of the social, cultural and political purposes of these presentations, and of their impact on audiences and participants. They will be able to compare 'heritage' or public history with history as an academic discipline. The module is a good introduction to a second level offering on heritage management. It will be of particular interest to students taking principal English, History, Media Communication and Culture, Politics and Sociology, but also to anyone eager to understand the widespread popularity of 'history' in our culture, and how it affects the present world. Assessment is by group presentation, a short written report and a module essay.
Introductory reading
Jerome de Groot, Consuming History: historians and heritage in contemporary popular culture (Routledge, 2009) – the set book for the module
Ludmilla Jordanova, History in Practice (Hodder Arnold, 2nd edition, 2006)
John Tosh, Why History Matters (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)
|
|
|
HIS-10029 |
Modern History |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The study of Modern History offers a wide-ranging introduction to the political debates and conflicts that frame our lives in the 21st century. In this course we unravel key tenets of the history of our recent past, looking at how societies modernised, populations grew and political ideologies developed since the eighteenth century. This is an era of empire and democracy, the growth of capitalism, huge technological advances, modern warfare, the decline and rise of religion and new political voices such as the Suffragettes and subaltern that have created new histories.
Five main themes are addressed: Politics - in which we look at the rise of nationalism and the age of revolutions; the Economy - in which we look at the process of modernisation and the development of capitalism; Religion - in which we look at secularisation and political ideologies; Marginal Histories - in which we discuss gender history and crime and deviance and Europe and the Wider World which takes us to the impact of imperialism and globalisation across the world.
This module is taught by leading scholars of modern history through weekly lectures and weekly small group seminars, which will involve discussions across the class and in smaller groups, looking at primary sources and engaging with the secondary literature. There are rich online resources and a range of stimulating course set books which you will use.
No previous knowledge of modern history is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Preparatory Reading can be undertaken by consulting the following textbooks: T.C.W Blanning (ed.), The Oxford History of Modern Europe (OUP, 2000) and C.A. Bayley, The Birth of the Modern World (Blackwell, 2004). |
|
|
HIS-10029 |
Modern History |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The study of Modern History offers a wide-ranging introduction to the political debates and conflicts that frame our lives in the 21st century. In this course we unravel key tenets of the history of our recent past, looking at how societies modernised, populations grew and political ideologies developed since the eighteenth century. This is an era of empire and democracy, the growth of capitalism, huge technological advances, modern warfare, the decline and rise of religion and new political voices such as the Suffragettes and subaltern that have created new histories.
Five main themes are addressed: Politics - in which we look at the rise of nationalism and the age of revolutions; the Economy - in which we look at the process of modernisation and the development of capitalism; Religion - in which we look at secularisation and political ideologies; Marginal Histories - in which we discuss gender history and crime and deviance and Europe and the Wider World which takes us to the impact of imperialism and globalisation across the world.
This module is taught by leading scholars of modern history through weekly lectures and weekly small group seminars, which will involve discussions across the class and in smaller groups, looking at primary sources and engaging with the secondary literature. There are rich online resources and a range of stimulating course set books which you will use.
No previous knowledge of modern history is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Preparatory Reading can be undertaken by consulting the following textbooks: T.C.W Blanning (ed.), The Oxford History of Modern Europe (OUP, 2000) and C.A. Bayley, The Birth of the Modern World (Blackwell, 2004). |
|
|
HIS-10030 |
Historical Research and Writing |
C |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This course introduces first-year students to the study of History at university. It will provide you with the particular skills you will need to study History and which you will apply throughout your degree course. Your tutor will devise a historical topic or debate through which to identify and apply the skills needed to undertake historical research and writing. The lecture programme provides an introduction to the practises expected of and the resources available to a History student at Keele. It also introduces you to the range of historical research undertaken by History staff at Keele - the questions asked; the techniques used; the range of historical writing produced and its relevance to today. Small group seminars supported by a series of exercises will provide the means to locate the acquisition and development of skills within the study of a specific historical debate or topic.
The course is assessed by a number of written exercises and an essay. Although primarily designed for History students, this course will also appeal to students of other Humanities and Social Science subjects.
As a useful start to thinking about History, we suggest you read:
John H. Arnold, History. A very short introduction (Oxford University Press, 2000)
There are also a number of books which focus on the practical skills required of a history student. We suggest:
I.W. Mabbett, Writing History Essays. A Student’s Guide (Palgrave, 2007)
If you don’t acquire Mabbett, you might want to consider one of the following books which would provide a useful reference for you during this course and throughout your undergraduate studies in history:
Mary Abbott (ed.), History Skills. A student’s handbook (Routledge, 1996)
Jeremy Black & Donald MacRaild, Studying History (Palgrave, 2000)
John Tosh, The Pursuit of History (Longman, 4th edition 2006)
|
|
|
HIS-10033 |
Anglo-Saxon England |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The history of Britain in period from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West in the early 400s AD to the mid 900s witnessed the eventual, but not inevitable, creation (from several political units) of the twin kingdoms of England and Scotland, with residual native British rule in Wales.
Concentrating on the resultant Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England, the course discusses the ways in which migrant Germanic tribes gained political and cultural control of southern Britian and how their conversion from paganism to Christianity informed that process and led to the pervading influence of the new religion throughout society.
The Viking attacks of the mid 800s and consequent Scandinavian settlement, together with renewed invasion in the early 1000s, for a time brought England closer to Scandinavia, but that development was halted by the Norman Conquest of 1066.
Sources of information for the period are limited but cover a wide range (documentary, linguistic, archaeological, artistic), and so provide the student with challenging opportunities for analysis and interpretation. Moreover, many of the themes discussed in the lectures and seminars have a modern resonance, such as the effect of the collapse of empire, the impact of immigrants, and the role of religion.
The module is taught through linked weekly lectures and seminars, and makes use of a course text book as well as online sites.
Recommended introductory reading
James Campbell (ed.), The Anglo-Saxons (Penguin, 1991).
|
|
|
HIS-10037 |
Local History: medieval and early modern periods |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Nearly all villages and towns in England had their origins in the medieval period, and knowing about their early history is essential to understanding why they look the way they do now. Even so, certain aspects of life (political, economic, and religious) changed significantly over time, often at a different rate: so, no two places have precisely the same history.
This module will look at what factors contributed to form and characterise local communities before modern developments introduced more standardisation. A range of topics may be covered, such as different kinds of landholders from lords of the manor to peasants, the origin of towns and aspects of urban life, the role of the parish church and the impact of the Reformation, and what constituted the traditional forms of agricultural life.
The module will equip students with many of the skills needed to be a practising local historian, by explaining how to use the key sources for the study of people and places in the pre-modern world.
The sessions are taught in the evening (7pm-9pm), as the module is also taken by adults working on the Certificate in Local History. |
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
AMS-10026 |
The American Past: Explorations in U.S. History |
EA |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The American Past module is designed to equip students with a basic grounding in U.S. history from the colonial period to the present day. It stresses the multifaceted character of American development, interweaving such issues as nationalism, race, gender, and class in a broad narrative and thematic synthesis. Students will be particularly encouraged to develop specific insights into the American historical experience through investigation of documentary evidence which will provide the the basis for seminar discussion. |
|
|
HIS-10025 |
Medieval Europe |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Medieval Europe offers a wide-ranging introduction to a formative period of European history, the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. This was a time of tremendous social, political, economic and intellectual transformation, indeed a time, according to many historians, when European civilisation as we know it was created. Having safely negotiated the year 1000, which many believed would bring the second Coming of Christ and the end of the world, Medieval Europe embarked upon a phenomenal expansion over the following centuries that would see the creation of new political entities and institutions, increasing urbanisation and expanding trade, and the extension of Christianity and European civilisation to the peripheries. The increasing development of a European identity, however, had grave implications for those living on the margins or who were deemed to be outsiders and the module will explore the increasing persecution of heretics and Jews through the development of institutions such as the Inquisition and violent encounters during the crusades.
The module will address a number of key topics including: power structures and the political development of Europe; the economy, urbanisation and the expansion of trade; the significance of the Church in providing a cohesive bond for medieval society; heresy and deviance; Jews and other outsiders in Medieval Europe and the question of whether medieval Europe was a persecuting society; and finally the crusades and medieval Europe's relations with the wider world.
The module is taught by leading scholars of medieval Europe through weekly lectures and weekly small group seminars. There are rich online resources and a range of stimulating course set-books.
No previous knowledge of medieval Europe is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Preliminary reading.
William C. Jordan, Europe in the High Middle Ages (Penguin, 2002)
Barbara Rosenwein, A short History of the Middle Ages (University of Toronto Press, 3rd edition, 2009) which is richly illustrated and has good maps.
|
|
|
HIS-10025 |
Medieval Europe |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Medieval Europe offers a wide-ranging introduction to a formative period of European history, the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. This was a time of tremendous social, political, economic and intellectual transformation, indeed a time, according to many historians, when European civilisation as we know it was created. Having safely negotiated the year 1000, which many believed would bring the second Coming of Christ and the end of the world, Medieval Europe embarked upon a phenomenal expansion over the following centuries that would see the creation of new political entities and institutions, increasing urbanisation and expanding trade, and the extension of Christianity and European civilisation to the peripheries. The increasing development of a European identity, however, had grave implications for those living on the margins or who were deemed to be outsiders and the module will explore the increasing persecution of heretics and Jews through the development of institutions such as the Inquisition and violent encounters during the crusades.
The module will address a number of key topics including: power structures and the political development of Europe; the economy, urbanisation and the expansion of trade; the significance of the Church in providing a cohesive bond for medieval society; heresy and deviance; Jews and other outsiders in Medieval Europe and the question of whether medieval Europe was a persecuting society; and finally the crusades and medieval Europe's relations with the wider world.
The module is taught by leading scholars of medieval Europe through weekly lectures and weekly small group seminars. There are rich online resources and a range of stimulating course set-books.
No previous knowledge of medieval Europe is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Preliminary reading.
William C. Jordan, Europe in the High Middle Ages (Penguin, 2002)
Barbara Rosenwein, A short History of the Middle Ages (University of Toronto Press, 3rd edition, 2009) which is richly illustrated and has good maps.
|
|
|
HIS-10031 |
Princes and Peoples: European History, c.1490-c.1700 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
'Princes and Peoples' is concerned with the early modern period, a time of dramatic change for all people in Europe and a time of unremitting hardship and struggle for many. Between the late fifteenth and the late seventeenth centuries, European rulers tried to strengthen their authority, often involving an increase in military power. These attempts provoked internal resistance and revolt, as well as frequent foreign wars. Expansion in trade and rising population brought rich opportunities for some social groups, as well as increased poverty for others. The fragmentation of religious unity through the challenge of the Protestant Reformation to the medieval Catholic church inaugurated a century or more of religious conflict within communities and between states. The religious map of Europe had changed fundamentally by the end of the seventeenth century, as medieval Christendom fragmented into a range of different affiliations, whether to a revitalised Catholicism or one of many Protestant churches.
As well as analysing the aims and successes of the powerful, this module also examines the ways in which poorer individuals and families made a living and sought to improve their existence. These centuries are the period of the witch-craze and one lecture explores the claims of witches and the fears of their persecutors. Finally we study the 'discovery' of the New World as Europeans reached the Caribbean and the Americas, a process which had a significant impact on the imagination and social life of the people of the 'old' world, as well as a traumatic effect on indigenous peoples of the 'new' world.
Five main themes are addressed: in 'Power' we discuss the nature of monarchical authority, developments in warfare, and resistance to government; 'Economy' includes consideration of population change and the growth of towns; 'Religion' focuses on the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, and responses to religious division; 'Life at the margins' explores the experiences of poor and marginal groups, including a study of witchcraft; and 'Europe and the Wider World' looks at the encounters between Europeans and indigenous peoples in the Caribbean and the Americas.
This module is taught by leading scholars of early modern Europe, and is delivered via weekly lectures and weekly, small-group seminars. There are rich online resources available to support this module, including those connected to the course set-books.
No previous knowledge of early modern Europe is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Students may find the following works helpful as introductions to the period and themes of the module, and throughout the study of this module:
Merry Wiesner Hanks, Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, 2005)
B. Kümin, The European World, 1500-1800 (London, 2008)
Richard Bonney, The European Dynastic States, 1494-1660, (Oxford, 1991)
Euan Cameron, ed, Early Modern Europe (Oxford, 2001).
|
|
|
HIS-10031 |
Princes and Peoples: European History, c.1490-c.1700 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
'Princes and Peoples' is concerned with the early modern period, a time of dramatic change for all people in Europe and a time of unremitting hardship and struggle for many. Between the late fifteenth and the late seventeenth centuries, European rulers tried to strengthen their authority, often involving an increase in military power. These attempts provoked internal resistance and revolt, as well as frequent foreign wars. Expansion in trade and rising population brought rich opportunities for some social groups, as well as increased poverty for others. The fragmentation of religious unity through the challenge of the Protestant Reformation to the medieval Catholic church inaugurated a century or more of religious conflict within communities and between states. The religious map of Europe had changed fundamentally by the end of the seventeenth century, as medieval Christendom fragmented into a range of different affiliations, whether to a revitalised Catholicism or one of many Protestant churches.
As well as analysing the aims and successes of the powerful, this module also examines the ways in which poorer individuals and families made a living and sought to improve their existence. These centuries are the period of the witch-craze and one lecture explores the claims of witches and the fears of their persecutors. Finally we study the 'discovery' of the New World as Europeans reached the Caribbean and the Americas, a process which had a significant impact on the imagination and social life of the people of the 'old' world, as well as a traumatic effect on indigenous peoples of the 'new' world.
Five main themes are addressed: in 'Power' we discuss the nature of monarchical authority, developments in warfare, and resistance to government; 'Economy' includes consideration of population change and the growth of towns; 'Religion' focuses on the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, and responses to religious division; 'Life at the margins' explores the experiences of poor and marginal groups, including a study of witchcraft; and 'Europe and the Wider World' looks at the encounters between Europeans and indigenous peoples in the Caribbean and the Americas.
This module is taught by leading scholars of early modern Europe, and is delivered via weekly lectures and weekly, small-group seminars. There are rich online resources available to support this module, including those connected to the course set-books.
No previous knowledge of early modern Europe is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Students may find the following works helpful as introductions to the period and themes of the module, and throughout the study of this module:
Merry Wiesner Hanks, Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, 2005)
B. Kümin, The European World, 1500-1800 (London, 2008)
Richard Bonney, The European Dynastic States, 1494-1660, (Oxford, 1991)
Euan Cameron, ed, Early Modern Europe (Oxford, 2001).
|
|
|
HIS-10038 |
Local History before 1750 |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Local history is the core of all history, and in recent years it has enjoyed something of a renaissance among professional historians (forming, for example, part of the National Curriculum). This module is designed to help students master some of the practical skills of English local history in the medieval and early modern periods (before about 1750).
Unlike most level-one History modules, where the emphasis is on analyzing what other historians have said on a particular topic, this is a practical, hands-on History module introducing students to the skills and techniques of doing local history. Many of the examples and illustrations will be drawn from the history of Staffordshire, Cheshire, and the Midlands, although the module will not concentrate on any one place.
The topics covered in this module differ from those in the companion module HIS 10037, and will typically include sessions on social and economic relations both before and after the Black Death, changes in religious affiliation and their impact on society at large, and the character of early industrial activity.
The sessions are taught in the evening (7pm-9pm), as the module is also taken by adults working on the Certificate in Local History.
Two teaching sessions take place at the county record at Stafford.
|
History Minor - Level 2 Modules
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
AMS-20063 |
History of the United States in the Twentieth Century |
EA |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The module seeks to engage students in a critical and analytical look at the central themes of America's domestic development in the twentieth century as a backdrop for understanding society and politics in the United States today. It offers a diversity of social, economic, political and cultural perspectives and will equip students with the basic historical tools for more detailed investigation. On the one hand the module examines the general political, social, and cultural undercurrents since 1900. On the other hand it takes a closer look at some of the key events and developments during the past century that left a long-term imprint on American society. |
|
|
AMS-20074 |
Discovering America: From Empires to Revolutions |
EA |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is suitable for students who have already taken history modules and acquired a solid grounding in the methods of historical research, analysis, and writing. This module looks in detail at the development of the Atlantic world from exploration through imperial settlement, the growth of European empires in North and South America, revolutions and American independence. It covers a wide range of topics; exploration and the age of enlightenment, the growth of empires and colonisation in the early modern period, migration patterns, the development of international trade networks, changing notions of race, class and gender, the age of revolutions and the struggle for independence in the Americas. Learners will gain an in-depth familiarity of a variety of case-studies related to the role and place of Europe in the wider Atlantic world between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. It will explore the impact and influence of Europe on the development and growth of the New World and, equally, the impact and influence of the New World on the political, economic, and cultural development of the Old World. Furthermore, it will look at the Atlantic as part of the new global order including Africa. It will also look at the political and intellectual links between the social orders which evolved in the New and Old Worlds, in both slave and free societies. By the application of advanced historiographical methods of research students will be able to to piece together the narrative of the Atlantic world and debate issues surrounding discovery, peopling and de-peopling of the Americas, migration and labour, the slave trade and Africa, the growth of European ports and cities, and the development of colonial rule and the 'Revolutionary Atlantic' including the American and Haitian revolutions. Furthermore, they will gain a conceptual understanding that enables them to apply critically paradigms generated by historians and social scientists, some of which are at the forefront of debates over the development of world and comparative histories of empire. Students taking this module will obtain the ability to evaluate the differing value of conflicting approaches, a process that throws into relief the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge but also the possibility of achieving methodological objectivity. They will also learn or improve their time management skills and be able to manage their own learning by generating essay topics themselves, and make use of scholarly articles and primary sources relating to Atlantic histories in a way that goes beyond the insights available from secondary sources alone. |
|
|
HIS-20024 |
History - Study Abroad I |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
HIS-20025 |
History - Study Abroad II |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
HIS-20066 |
Imperialism and Empire |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module examines the dynamics of the `imperial age' of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. What were the motives for the expansion of the imperial power? What tools and methods did the imperial powers use to govern huge empires? How did imperial ideas contribute to the creation of new racial, ethnic, sexual and religious identities amongst the subject peoples of Empire? How did Empire reshape the identities of European societies? These questions are considered from the perspective of both the colonizer and the colonized within British and German Empires, drawing on case studies from Africa and India. Topics include: Sex and Empire; Hunting and Empire; Disease, Medicine and Empire; Colonialism and the Camera; Christianity and Empire; the German Occupation of Namibia, and Post-colonialism. |
|
|
HIS-20066 |
Imperialism and Empire |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module examines the dynamics of the `imperial age' of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. What were the motives for the expansion of the imperial power? What tools and methods did the imperial powers use to govern huge empires? How did imperial ideas contribute to the creation of new racial, ethnic, sexual and religious identities amongst the subject peoples of Empire? How did Empire reshape the identities of European societies? These questions are considered from the perspective of both the colonizer and the colonized within British and German Empires, drawing on case studies from Africa and India. Topics include: Sex and Empire; Hunting and Empire; Disease, Medicine and Empire; Colonialism and the Camera; Christianity and Empire; the German Occupation of Namibia, and Post-colonialism. |
|
|
HIS-20069 |
State and Empire in Britain c. 1530-c. 1720 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The module explores British history from the Reformation, through the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (or British civil wars) of the mid seventeenth century, to the Act of Union of 1707 and the beginnings of an overseas empire. Since much of what is called 'British' history is in fact the history of England, or even of London and the south-east, the module approaches 'Britain' and 'British history' as complex and contested concepts through a focus on two troubled centuries when a British state emerged through English dominance over Wales, Ireland and Scotland, Celtic nations struggled to maintain a sense of history and identity, and a 'British' empire began to develop overseas. Developments in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are still relevant to current political debates, especially in Ulster and the Irish republic, while devolution in Wales and Scotland has also made the meaning of 'Britain' controversial in our own times.
Key textbooks for the module are:
Patrick Collinson (ed.), The Sixteenth Century (Short Oxford History of the British Isles, 2002)
Derek Hirst, Dominion: England and its Island Neighbours 1500-1707 (2012)
David Lawrence Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles. The Double Crown 1603-1707 (1998).
|
|
|
HIS-20069 |
State and Empire in Britain c. 1530-c. 1720 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The module explores British history from the Reformation, through the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (or British civil wars) of the mid seventeenth century, to the Act of Union of 1707 and the beginnings of an overseas empire. Since much of what is called 'British' history is in fact the history of England, or even of London and the south-east, the module approaches 'Britain' and 'British history' as complex and contested concepts through a focus on two troubled centuries when a British state emerged through English dominance over Wales, Ireland and Scotland, Celtic nations struggled to maintain a sense of history and identity, and a 'British' empire began to develop overseas. Developments in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are still relevant to current political debates, especially in Ulster and the Irish republic, while devolution in Wales and Scotland has also made the meaning of 'Britain' controversial in our own times.
Key textbooks for the module are:
Patrick Collinson (ed.), The Sixteenth Century (Short Oxford History of the British Isles, 2002)
Derek Hirst, Dominion: England and its Island Neighbours 1500-1707 (2012)
David Lawrence Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles. The Double Crown 1603-1707 (1998).
|
|
|
HIS-20075 |
Right-wing movements in Interwar-Europe 1918-1938 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In this module we will explore the history of Europe between the two World Wars as a period in its own right, and not just as the prehistory of World War II. We will analyse a wide range of topics: the end of World War I and its legacies in Western and Eastern Europe 1918-1921, the peace treaties 1919, the reconstruction of Europe until 1929, the hinge years 1929-1933, the variety of European reactions to the coming to power of Hitler in Germany 1933-1938. We will analyse the development of conservative and extreme right-wing movements on a Europe-wide scale, the foundation and rise of extreme right-wing movements in all European states, the different reactions of left-wing and right-wing conservative movements and parties to the $ùrevolution from the right&©. Methodologically we will evaluate approaches of transnational and comparative history and assess the interdependencies of political, social and cultural processes in the specific context of Interwar-Europe
|
|
|
HIS-20075 |
Right-wing movements in Interwar-Europe 1918-1938 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In this module we will explore the history of Europe between the two World Wars as a period in its own right, and not just as the prehistory of World War II. We will analyse a wide range of topics: the end of World War I and its legacies in Western and Eastern Europe 1918-1921, the peace treaties 1919, the reconstruction of Europe until 1929, the hinge years 1929-1933, the variety of European reactions to the coming to power of Hitler in Germany 1933-1938. We will analyse the development of conservative and extreme right-wing movements on a Europe-wide scale, the foundation and rise of extreme right-wing movements in all European states, the different reactions of left-wing and right-wing conservative movements and parties to the $ùrevolution from the right&©. Methodologically we will evaluate approaches of transnational and comparative history and assess the interdependencies of political, social and cultural processes in the specific context of Interwar-Europe
|
|
|
HIS-20083 |
Nature, Society and the Past: An Environmental History of the Western World, 1800-2000 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The scale and pace of human-generated environmental change, which has occurred in the wake of global industrialization, is historically unprecedented. This module will explore the roots of modern environmentalism through an examination of environmental change and cultural responses to it. We will explore the contentious meaning of such terms as 'the environment', 'nature' and 'wilderness', the tension between social and natural histories, and the role/s of science, technology, colonialism, imperialism and ideology in reshaping the concepts of the environment. The module will focus on an analysis of the political, religious and scientific beliefs that have shaped society's relationship with nature, and how such relationships have been challanged by competing visions of progress, modernity and a sustainable future in the light of on-going environmental change. Principally, this module will provide an intellectual and political history of modern environmentalism from the eighteenth century to the present. |
|
|
HIS-20083 |
Nature, Society and the Past: An Environmental History of the Western World, 1800-2000 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The scale and pace of human-generated environmental change, which has occurred in the wake of global industrialization, is historically unprecedented. This module will explore the roots of modern environmentalism through an examination of environmental change and cultural responses to it. We will explore the contentious meaning of such terms as 'the environment', 'nature' and 'wilderness', the tension between social and natural histories, and the role/s of science, technology, colonialism, imperialism and ideology in reshaping the concepts of the environment. The module will focus on an analysis of the political, religious and scientific beliefs that have shaped society's relationship with nature, and how such relationships have been challanged by competing visions of progress, modernity and a sustainable future in the light of on-going environmental change. Principally, this module will provide an intellectual and political history of modern environmentalism from the eighteenth century to the present. |
|
|
HIS-20084 |
The Kingdom of England 954-1154 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module, while providing a socio-political and religious history of the Kingdom of England c.954-c.1154, looks to explore aspects of the 'Englishing of England' in a period which historians have begun to define as formative in the history of the country. In 954 Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of Northumbria, was killed on Stainmore and England was ever after the land of one king. In 1154 Henry II, count of Anjou, succeeded to the English throne as ruler of a cross-channel empire which stretched from the north of Britain to the south-west of France.
This then is when England itself, from a myriad of smaller kingdoms, came into geographical existence, even though (it has been argued) the idea of 'England' may have preceded the fact. It is when the 'English' elite effectively invented their past in order to understand themselves in the present, and when they began to imagine themselves as a community and fashion for themselves an identity. Through an examination of topics such as the consolidation of the country by Alfred's successors, the 'Englishing of the North', the impact of the Danish and Norman invasions, the innovations (and continuities) that resulted in the development of monasticism, the church, and society at large, as well as the chronicling of such changes, the course looks to explore the paradox as to why the English became more English during this period in spite of repeated foreign invasion. It will look to argue that the process of unification may be a far more important feature of English history than conquest. |
|
|
HIS-20084 |
The Kingdom of England 954-1154 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module, while providing a socio-political and religious history of the Kingdom of England c.954-c.1154, looks to explore aspects of the 'Englishing of England' in a period which historians have begun to define as formative in the history of the country. In 954 Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of Northumbria, was killed on Stainmore and England was ever after the land of one king. In 1154 Henry II, count of Anjou, succeeded to the English throne as ruler of a cross-channel empire which stretched from the north of Britain to the south-west of France.
This then is when England itself, from a myriad of smaller kingdoms, came into geographical existence, even though (it has been argued) the idea of 'England' may have preceded the fact. It is when the 'English' elite effectively invented their past in order to understand themselves in the present, and when they began to imagine themselves as a community and fashion for themselves an identity. Through an examination of topics such as the consolidation of the country by Alfred's successors, the 'Englishing of the North', the impact of the Danish and Norman invasions, the innovations (and continuities) that resulted in the development of monasticism, the church, and society at large, as well as the chronicling of such changes, the course looks to explore the paradox as to why the English became more English during this period in spite of repeated foreign invasion. It will look to argue that the process of unification may be a far more important feature of English history than conquest. |
| Semester 1-2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
HIS-20082 |
Work Experience for Historians |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module gives history students the opportunity to use their skills and knowledge in the world beyond the university - in museums, archives, libraries, and churches, or any workplace where the research, analyitical and communication skills of historians can be used. Students will be supported to arrange and develop an individual historically focused work-based project (helping with a museum exhibit or study day, cataloguing or publicising an archive, producing a leaflet or blog for a heritage organisation) that will be undertaken in semester two. Advice will be given on contacting placements and on composing a CV, and support will be provided throughout the placement. A focus on employability is central to the Distinctive Keele Curriculum and through this module you will obtain crucial first-hand experience of a relevant working environment and enhance your own employment opportunities. You should also enjoy the challenge of discussing and presenting historical events, issues and dilemmas to a greater variety of people, and the satisfaction of making a lasting, personal contribution to an outside body. |
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
AMS-20073 |
The New World in Chains: Slavery and the Bonds of Race in America, 1619- 1877 |
EA |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is suitable for students who have already taken history modules and acquired a solid grounding in the methods of historical research, analysis, and writing. This module looks in detail at the development of Slavery in North America from settlement to emancipation. It covers a wide range of topics, notions of race and racism, slavery in Africa, the transition from white to black labour, the development of the slave trade, slave life and culture, punishment and resistance, plantation management and overseers, female slaves and plantation mistresses, the economics of slavery, slavery during the American Revolution and Civil War, the lives and position of free people of colour living in a slave society, the international abolition movement, and the effect of slavery on the social, cultural and economic development of North America. Learners will gain an in-depth familiarity of a variety of case-studies related to slavery and the slave experience in 18th and 19th century North America informed by the latest stage in the scholarly debate concerning the nature of slavery and race in American history. This module explores key moments in the history of western philosophy, disclosing the extent to which this history participates in the production of the concepts of race and racisms.
By the application of advanced historiographical methods of research students will be able to to piece together the narrative of slavery and the debate surrounding how slavery and race have evolved over time. Furthermore, they will gain a conceptual understanding that enables them to apply critically paradigms generated by historians and social scientists, some of which are at the forefront of debates over slavery in North America and comparative slave studies. Students taking this module will obtain the ability to evaluate the differing value of conflicting approaches, a process that throws into relief the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge but also the possibility of achieving methodological objectivity. They will also improve their time management skills and be able to manage their own learning by generating essay topics themselves, and make use of scholarly articles and primary sources relating to slavery in a way that goes beyond the insights available from secondary sources alone.
|
|
|
HIS-20033 |
History - Study Abroad III |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
HIS-20034 |
History - Study Abroad IV |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
HIS-20067 |
Sources and Debates |
C |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Most students who read history as undergraduates tend to read one book (at most) concerned with the question 'What is History?', and they usually do this before they have done any real historical research. Thereafter, their training tends to be conducted 'on the job'. If they reflect on the nature, theory or ideology which underpins what they practice, they tend to focus on issues which surface in assessments, learning that writing which is merely descriptive is not rewarded but that writing which is analytical gains good marks. Via the electives website you are asked to choose between medieval and modern history, or between political and social history, where the nature of the historian's work in each case is left as self-evident.
But ask yourself the following questions:
On what basis do historians claim to 'know' about the past?
Why do historians disagree?
What exactly is history which is 'out of date'?
What is historical evidence?
Aside from the area of their interest, can I tell the difference between any two of the historians who have taught me?
If you can't think how to respond to these questions, should you be able to call yourself a graduate in history? This module has been designed to help you to reflect on the nature of the subject in which you are being trained. We believe that history is a distinctive discipline and that you will acquire a deeper understanding of how it is (and has been) practised, partly by listening and reading, partly by practical experience.
|
|
|
HIS-20071 |
Saints and Society in Medieval Europe |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In 2004 animal rights activists kidnapped the corpse of 82-year-old Gladys Hammond from a Staffordshire church-yard. In 2006 Argentine trades unionists fought a gun battle over the coffin of former dictator, Juan Perón, when it was reburied. And, in 2007 the home and grave of Elvis Presley attracted 600,000 visitors. An anthropologist might explain these phenomena as cultures in which the dead are seen as powerful. In this module we will look at an important group of powerful dead, saints, who are critical to the formation of European culture, embodying concepts of ritual, power and celebrity. The course will cover a wide range of issues including the development of the cult of saints in the early Church, its development and spread during the period c.900-c.1250, as well as the religious, social and political use functions of the saints in medieval culture.
Particular attention will be devoted to the changing nature of who was a saint, the extent to which popular acclamation made a saint, medieval society&©s belief in the saints, the difference between local and universal saints as well as the increasing procedures demanded by the Church for canonization. With case studies on martyr and confessor saints and other models of sanctity and the use of translations of primary sources, it will also look to address the problems faced by historians of medieval saints due to the nature of the historical record.
|
|
|
HIS-20071 |
Saints and Society in Medieval Europe |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In 2004 animal rights activists kidnapped the corpse of 82-year-old Gladys Hammond from a Staffordshire church-yard. In 2006 Argentine trades unionists fought a gun battle over the coffin of former dictator, Juan Perón, when it was reburied. And, in 2007 the home and grave of Elvis Presley attracted 600,000 visitors. An anthropologist might explain these phenomena as cultures in which the dead are seen as powerful. In this module we will look at an important group of powerful dead, saints, who are critical to the formation of European culture, embodying concepts of ritual, power and celebrity. The course will cover a wide range of issues including the development of the cult of saints in the early Church, its development and spread during the period c.900-c.1250, as well as the religious, social and political use functions of the saints in medieval culture.
Particular attention will be devoted to the changing nature of who was a saint, the extent to which popular acclamation made a saint, medieval society&©s belief in the saints, the difference between local and universal saints as well as the increasing procedures demanded by the Church for canonization. With case studies on martyr and confessor saints and other models of sanctity and the use of translations of primary sources, it will also look to address the problems faced by historians of medieval saints due to the nature of the historical record.
|
|
|
HIS-20074 |
The Holocaust |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In this module we are going to study the history and historiography of the Holocaust on a European-wide scale. We will explore the different stages of the process of discrimination, persecution, deportation and eventually the murder of European Jewry. We will contextualize and analyse sources and interpretations. Topics of historical processes and memory will be explored and we will learn how to deal with them confidently. A special focus will be laid on researching and understanding historical processes from several perspectives: the perpetrators, the bystanders, the collaborators, and the victims. Questions of historiography, memory and methodological issues will be discussed throughout the module.
|
|
|
HIS-20074 |
The Holocaust |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In this module we are going to study the history and historiography of the Holocaust on a European-wide scale. We will explore the different stages of the process of discrimination, persecution, deportation and eventually the murder of European Jewry. We will contextualize and analyse sources and interpretations. Topics of historical processes and memory will be explored and we will learn how to deal with them confidently. A special focus will be laid on researching and understanding historical processes from several perspectives: the perpetrators, the bystanders, the collaborators, and the victims. Questions of historiography, memory and methodological issues will be discussed throughout the module.
|
|
|
HIS-20078 |
Power in the Modern World |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
What is power? How is it attained, maintained, and relinquished? Who
has power, and for what reasons? Is it located in individuals, groups,
classes, or nations? How does it change? This course covers models, theories,
and themes that address the question of power since the French
Revolution. The module seeks to examine the impact of specific historical
forces, including nationalism, fascism, state building and imperialism.
It also endeavours to assess different explanations for power in the past
two hundred years, including gender, Marxism, and post-structuralist
approaches (Foucault, Bourdieu). The course will provide students with
the analytical tools to study the nature of power as it emerged in
the modern period. |
|
|
HIS-20078 |
Power in the Modern World |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
What is power? How is it attained, maintained, and relinquished? Who
has power, and for what reasons? Is it located in individuals, groups,
classes, or nations? How does it change? This course covers models, theories,
and themes that address the question of power since the French
Revolution. The module seeks to examine the impact of specific historical
forces, including nationalism, fascism, state building and imperialism.
It also endeavours to assess different explanations for power in the past
two hundred years, including gender, Marxism, and post-structuralist
approaches (Foucault, Bourdieu). The course will provide students with
the analytical tools to study the nature of power as it emerged in
the modern period. |
|
|
HIS-20080 |
Race and the Body in Colonial Africa |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will introduce students to some of the most important themes in the history of Africa from the abolition of the slave trade to decolonization. We will analyse diverse forms of difference, especially those related to race and the body, amongst European colonisers and Africans, and to chart changing views of difference. Students will develop an awareness of the diversity of the African continent through a range of critical perspectives, such as: theorising race in different geographical spaces; understanding inequality among and between peoples and how this varies over time and space; and the relationship between colonialism, nation, 'race', class, ethnicity, gender, and capitalism. Lectures and seminars will engage with a range of primary source materials including: travel writing, contemporary accounts, official reports, newspapers, photographs and paintings, literature and film, in addition to the diverse historiography available. |
|
|
HIS-20080 |
Race and the Body in Colonial Africa |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will introduce students to some of the most important themes in the history of Africa from the abolition of the slave trade to decolonization. We will analyse diverse forms of difference, especially those related to race and the body, amongst European colonisers and Africans, and to chart changing views of difference. Students will develop an awareness of the diversity of the African continent through a range of critical perspectives, such as: theorising race in different geographical spaces; understanding inequality among and between peoples and how this varies over time and space; and the relationship between colonialism, nation, 'race', class, ethnicity, gender, and capitalism. Lectures and seminars will engage with a range of primary source materials including: travel writing, contemporary accounts, official reports, newspapers, photographs and paintings, literature and film, in addition to the diverse historiography available. |
History Minor - Level 3 Modules
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
AMS-30029 |
Social Thought and Social Movements in the US |
EA |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
For a nation conceived in revolution, radical social thought has always had a special cultural and political significance, in spite of the apparent dominance of liberal capitalism as the main mode of ordering political, socio-economic, and cultural relations. This module explores selected critical social movements and intellectual traditions in the US, using both primary and secondary sources. This will serve both as an introduction to the field of the history of ideas and as a means of understanding the main contributions American culture has made to traditions of Western social thought. |
|
~
|
AMS-30035 |
'Eyes on the Prize': The Struggle for Civil Rights in America |
EA |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is suitable for students who have already taken history modules and acquired a solid grounding in the methods of historical research, analysis, and writing. This module allows students to study one of the most dramatic processes to shape contemporary America: the African-American struggle for civil rights. From a South blighted by $ùJim Crow&© segregation, and lynching to today&©s America, where equality before the law has been achieved but fissures of race still divide society, we will assess the aims and achievements of black leadership; the contribution of $ùmainstream protest&© by ordinary men and women, black and white, Northern and Southern, to re-shaping American society and the broader African-American contribution to American culture. The rise of more radical strategies will also be addressed and placed within the larger context of this, the most significant dilemma to confront American democracy over the last century.
This module gives students an in-depth familiarity with a case-study of a mass movement for civil rights, with some attention to other kinds of campaigns and freedom struggles, particularly before the emergence of mass activism. The module will be informed by the latest stage in the scholarly debate concerning the nature of mass activism and protest by African-Americans in an effort to gain full citizenship rights and economic opportunities. This module will give students the ability to the application of advanced historiographical methods of research to piece together the narrative of the Civil Rights movement and how scholarly debate reflects contemporary race related issues. Furthermore students will gain the ability to evaluate the differing value of conflicting approaches, a process that throws into relief the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge but also the possibility of achieving methodological objectivity. Students taking this module will also gain the abiltiy to manage their own learning by generating essay topics themselves, and make use of scholarly articles and primary sources relating to Civil Rights in a way that goes beyond the insights available from secondary sources alone.
|
|
|
HIS-30082 |
German Occupation Policy and warfare in Europe 1938-1945, I |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module explores the immense impact that German occupational rule had on occupied societies in Eastern, Western and Southern Europe. We will examine the close and dynamic links between German occupation policy and the ongoing war. Economic, social, political and cultural aspects will be considered, always trying to analyse the phenomena from different angles and perspectives.
Through the close study of different countries under German rule in Eastern, Western and Southern Europe the module analyses the dynamic relationship between the occupiers and the occupied. What societies did the Germans encounter? The period of German occupation will always be embedded in the wider context of pre-war experiences.
During 10 two-hour weekly seminars we will continously discuss methodological and historiographical issues, involving informal group presentations, the critical analysis of primary sources and historiographical debates.
The principal themes to be explored in part I (of the linked modules) will be:
First World War and Its Impact
Nazi-Germany: The State, the Party, other Agencies
German Conquests and Conduct of War
War Economies
German occupation policies in Poland, France, Soviet Union and Italy or Hungary.
This module explores World War II, which was and is crucial for the formation of modern Europe. |
|
|
HIS-30084 |
The French Revolution: Monarchy to Republic, 1789-1792 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The French Revolution is a world-historical event and its outbreak in 1789 is widely regarded as marking the beginning of modern history. It is a topic that continues to attract attention from scholars across the globe and its interpretation remains deeply controversial, not least because so many of our current political ideas and practices originated during this period. These days the Revolution is seen primarily from the perspective of political culture and this module will explore the significant transition from subjecthood to citizenship that occurred as absolute monarchy gave way first to constitutional monarchy after 1789, and then to a republic in 1792. Contemporaries were well aware that citizens needed to be made for the new order and that cultural change was required to accompany the construction of new political arrangements, all of which will be considered along with explanations for the collapse of the old regime in the late 1780s.
This module is linked to a second, The French Revolution: Terror and Dictatorship, 1793-1799, which follows on. It may also be linked to the disseration in History for which, as for these free-standing modules, there is a wealth of relevant material available in English, both at Keele and online. |
|
|
HIS-30086 |
The English Civil War, c.1640-46 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The English civil war was one of the most dramatic events in English history, retaining its hold today over both popular and scholarly imaginations. Many issues of the period - such as the nature of the relationship between England, Scotland, and Ireland, the character of the political process, or what to do about the monarchy - find echoes today. This special subject will seek to explore the character and events of the first civil war in England from the collapse of the king&©s authority in 1640 to the end of the first civil war in 1646. Topics to be covered will include the causes of the war; the development of Royalist and Parliamentarian parties; the military course of the first civil war; the impact of the war on society; the diversity of religious beliefs; and the political fragmentation of the Parliamentarian cause.
This module is linked to the module, The World Turned Upside Down: the English Revolution, c.1646-53, which follows this. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History: there is a wealth of source material for a dissertation on the political, social, cultural, military or local history of mid seventeenth-century England available at Keele, including access to every book published in Britain in the period through Early English Books Online.
Students interested in some introductory reading should start with one of the many histories of the civil wars. Probably the most useful (and worth buying) is Michael Braddick, God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars (2008), but also useful for the module are Ian Gentles, The English Revolution and the Wars in the Three Kingdoms 1638-1652 (2007), which is particularly good on the military side, or Diane Purkiss, The English Civil War: A People’s History (2006) for the social history of England in the 1640s. |
|
|
HIS-30094 |
Religion, Rebellion and the Raj : The Partition of India I |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In August 1947 British India was partitioned to create two independent countries, India and Pakistan. This partition resulted in an estimated one million deaths and the largest migration of people in modern history. What were the forces which led to the Partition of India in 1947: British policy; Muslim separatism or the unitary impulses of Indian nationalism? Based upon specific sources and documents, this course will explore why the end of British rule in India was accompanied by Partition and the creation of Pakistan and assess some of the consequences of Partition for the subcontinent after independence. |
|
|
HIS-30096 |
Spirituality and Social Change in the Eleventh Century, I |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is a 'social history' of the eleventh century. This was a time of tremendous social, political and intellectual transformation, indeed a time, according to many historians, when European civilisation as we know it was created.
The course will open with a discussion of some classic and recent historiography. Primary sources revealing the exercise of power by the landed elite will then be considered in the context of radical changes in family structure such as the institution of primogeniture, a new concept of masculinity and the enforcement of incest taboos. A crucial question arising from these sources is the extent to which we can see the impact of the changes among the elite on the 'people'. Using sources describing peace of God movement, the persecution of heretics and the veneration of holy men and women, we will then look to assess the claim that 'crowd' enters European history during this period.
|
|
|
HIS-30110 |
The Making of Contemporary Africa I |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Can a continent possess 'a history' or 'a people'? To what extent are ideas of Africa and Africans still tied to race, violence or other colonial legacies? What of other factors, such as pre-colonial African culture, Islam, or the environment? To understand the ways we imagine Africa today, the module examines the cultural, political and economic dialogues which took place regarding Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. Students will analyse the various images of Africa (its people, environment and history) which have developed within particular historical and regional contexts, such as slavery, the African diaspora, European colonisation, sex and religion from c.1800 through WWII. While the main focus will be on English-language primary sources and British colonies, there will also be a chance to compare different colonial systems and their legacies within Africa, especially the French and Belgian empires. It will also explore the ways in which Africans responded to colonisation and how local interpretations of Africa emerged. This will enable students to critically analyse a variety of historiographical approaches to African history and introduce them to a range of primary source materials which have been utilised by historians to interpret key events and processes. For example, students will have a chance to read African and British literature, in addition to official colonial records, films, photography and other images depicting Africa.
Linked Module: HIS-30113
|
|
|
HIS-30111 |
Water Histories. A Cultural History of Water, I |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
$ùWater is a common good .. belonging to all. Yet, from privatization in Britain to the displacement of millions through dam-building in the developing world, it has been appropriated as a commodity by the powerful.&© This new special subject will consider the long history which underpins this contemporary observation on a resource more important than oil. We will thus consider changing attitudes to the use of water, fresh rather than salt, from the ancient world to the present day. The approach will be thematic and will include ritual and religious uses in the middle ages, the social contexts of bathing, the sanitation revolution of the nineteenth century, attitudes to water in nature, and modern water wars. The approach will be multi-disciplinary and students will be encouraged to look for connections with their other principal and subsidiary subject areas.
Water provides an appropriate area in which to examine, compare and contrast a range of disparate issues including, for example, baptism and cleansing in religious rituals, the impact of religious reform on water as a healing agent, the range of attitudes to cleanliness and bathing, the medicalisation of water from holy wells to spa resorts to sports medicine, the connection of water and disease, the Romantic appreciation of water in the landscape, disputes over water and modern water law, the manipulation of water as a demonstration of political power.
|
|
|
HIS-30115 |
Reconstructing Eastern Europe, 1918-2000: Space, Place and Society II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Building on the topics covered in Constructing Eastern Europe, this module will investigate how space, place and society were reconstructed under the revolutionary forces of communism and fascism during the ‘short twentieth century’. Taking a comparative approach to the study of Nazism, Stalinism and communism as it was applied to Eastern and Central Europe, it will look at how visions for a new society and 'new man' shaped society and culture within the region. We will see how the imposition of varying forms of totalitarian society both consolidated the idea of Eastern Europe as a distinct ‘other’ in relation to the West and served to undermine the idea of Eastern and Central Europe as it had emerged in the nineteenth century. Finally, it will investigate how totalitarianism tried to transform the physical space of Eastern and Central Europe – its geopolitics, its landscape and its environment – under the guise of creating new, utopian societies. |
|
|
HIS-30117 |
After Hitler: West Germany and the Transition to Democracy l |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The Third Reich lasted only twelve years, but its impact was enormous. Germany was occupied, discredited, humiliated, and shamed. In 1945, few people could imagine that a country that had
been responsible for mass warfare and genocide would one day emerge as a stable, democratic,
and peaceful state in Europe. This module examines West Germany's transition from dictatorship to democracy. In the first weeks of the course we shall discuss theoretical issues pertaining to the subject, including definitions of democracy and conditions for democratization. We will also analyze earlier traditions (Weimar and the Third Reich) that affected politics and culture after 1945 as well as Allied (and particularly American) plans for denazification, democratization, and demilitarization. The remainder of the course will deal with various developments that (possibly) enabled West Germans to embrace a form of government that many had rejected in the past. These include the Economic Miracle, the birth of consumer society, West Germany's Americanization and Westernization, and the emergence of a new middle class.
Linked module: HIS-30045
|
|
|
HIS-30118 |
Urban Lives in Modern Europe, 1890-1914 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
For most of continental Europe, the rapid urbanisation of the late-nineteenth century presented radical new challenges to states, local elites and intellectuals. How should these new urban societies be governed? How can the quality of life in cities be improved? Who should have responsibility for managing which urban space? These were the questions posed by people living in the chaotically expanding cities of late-nineteenth-century Western Europe - London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, and a whole host of smaller cities, towns and suburbs. Their solutions included eugenic policies, town planning, social reform and a whole host of fitness regimes, and have been blamed for National Socialist disaster, as well as heralding the welfare states and closely regulated spaces that characterise European cities today.
This module will explore how and why competing ways of defining urban problems emerged, and the development of new solutions in the years before World War One. We will examine new ways of thinking about cities and urban living from three angles – the intellectuals who identified urban problems at the turn-of-the-century, the planners, architects and social reformers who put themselves forward as those best placed to provide solutions, and the ways in which the urban experience was structured through new technologies of press, consumption and regulation.
|
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
~
|
AMS-30032 |
Under God: Religion and Society in the U.S. Since World War II |
EA |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
When it comes to the study of American politics and society, there is no getting away from religion. About 96 percent of Americans believe in God; 87 percent consider themselves Christians; and upwards of 40 percent regard biblical prophesies as predictions of real events. Moreover, political leaders in the United States tend to openly declare their religious faith and frequently invoke the powerful imagery of the "nation under God". This module examines the origins of religious vitality in the United States and explores its role in American society and culture since World War II. In the process, it not only revises common assumptions about the link between religion and modernity, but also about the separation of church and state in the United States.
|
|
~
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HIS-30083 |
German Occupation Policy and Warfare in Europe 1938-1945, II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Building on Part I, this module extends the exploration of German rule over large parts of Europe between 1938 and 1945. We will deepen the analysis of the close and dynamic links between German occupation policy and the ongoing war. Economic, social, political and cultural aspects will be scrutinised, always trying to analyse the phenomena from different angles and perspectives. Methodological and historiographical issues will be discussed in the light of contemporary sources.
Through the close study of different countries under German rule in Eastern, Western and Southern Europe the module analyses the dynamic relationship between the occupiers and the occupied. What societies did the Germans encounter?
The principal themes to be explored in part II (of the linked modules) are focussed on the analysis of mass crimes:
Resettlements and 'ethnic cleansing'
Prisoners of War
The Shoah
Ghettos
Concentration Camps
Forced Labour in and from Europe
Resistance
The module comprises 10 two-hour seminars involving informal group presentations, the critical analysis of primary sources and historiographical debates.
This module explores World War II, which was and is crucial for the formation of modern Europe. |
|
~
|
HIS-30085 |
The French Revolution: Terror and Dictatorship, 1793-1799 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The French Revolution was a world-historical event and its outbreak in 1789 is widely regarded as marking the beginning of modern history. It is a topic that continues to attract attention from scholars across the globe and its interpretation remains deeply controversial, not least because so many of our current political practices and preoccupations originated during this period. Especially significant is the problem of violence in the Revolution. This module will explore how the democratic republic established in 1792 developed the repressive mechanisms of the Terror in 1793-94, as well as analysing the cultural experiments which accompanied this process. The subsequent attempt to end the Revolution after 1795, on the basis of a moderate republic, proved no more successful than the creation of a constitutional monarchy after 1789. An explanation for this political failure needs to be found, for historians have spent far more time studying how revolutions begin than how they can be brought to a conclusion. The module will end with an examination of the Napoleonic dictatorship that finally restored stability to France after a decade of upheaval, albeit at the cost of the liberal ideals which the Revolution proclaimed.
This module is linked to another, The French Revolution: Monarchy to Republic, 1789-1792, which precedes it. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History for which, as for these free-standing modules, there is a wealth of relevant material available in English, both at Keele and online.
For preparatory reading, you should try PM Jones, The French Revolution (Pearson, 2010) or Peter McPhee, The French Revolution (OUP, 2001). Greater detail and debate is to be found in William Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Revolution (OUP, 2002), Paul Hanson, Contesting the French Revolution (Wiley, 2009), Hugh Gough, The Terror in the French Revolution (Palgrave, 2010) and Malcolm Crook, Napoleon Comes to Power (University of Wales Press, 1998). |
|
~
|
HIS-30087 |
The World Turned Upside Down: the English Revolution, c.1646-53 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The English civil wars, the execution of King Charles I, the abolition of the monarchy and house of lords, and the establishment of the first (and currently last) republic in England constitute the most revolutionary period in English history. To contemporaries they were the world turned upside down. They retain their hold today over the popular and scholarly imaginations and can still bitterly divide amateur and professional historian. Many issues of the period - such as the nature of the relationship between England, Scotland, and Ireland, the character of the political process, or what to do about the monarchy or house of lords - find echoes today.. This module will seek to explore and analyse the character and events of the 'English revolution' from the the end of the first civil war and the surrender of the king to the Scots, through the regicide and establishment of the first English republic, to the establishment of the Protectorate in 1653, which some saw as the destruction of the changes they had fought for in the previous decade.. Topics to be covered will include the causes of the war, political crisis 1640-2, the agony of choosing sides and the outbreak of the war, the impact of the war on society, religious change and the growth of radical religious ideas.
This module is linked to the module, The English Civil War, c.1640-6, which precedes this. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History: there is a wealth of source material for a dissertation on the political, social, cultural, military or local history of mid seventeenth-century England available at Keele, including access to every book published in Britain in the period through Early English Books Online.
Students interested in some introductory reading should start with one of the many histories of the civil wars. Probably the most useful (and worth buying) is Michael Braddick, God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars (2008), but also useful for the module are Ian Gentles, The English Revolution and the Wars in the Three Kingdoms 1638-1652 (2007), which is particularly good on the military side, or Diane Purkiss, The English Civil War: A People’s History (2006) for the social history of England in the 1640s. For an overview of the 1640s and 1650s, see Barry Coward, The Stuart Age (3rd or 4th edition, 2003, 2011), or Austin Woolrych, Britain in Revolution 1625-1660 (2004).
|
|
~
|
HIS-30097 |
Spirituality and Social Change in the Eleventh Century, II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Building on Part I, this module extends the exploration of the key areas of social and religious change in eleventh-century Europe, by focusing on the nature of religious reform and the role of the reform papacy in promoting, effecting and substantiating these changes. By examining topics such as the $ùunreformed&© Church, the $ùGregorian&© reform and its rhetoric of purity and pollution, the mechanisms to deal with heresy and promote the crusade, along with issues of hierarchy and social control, the module will explore the paradox that the clergy both sanctioned and protested against the hegemony of the powerful over the poor.
|
|
~
|
HIS-30101 |
From Sawbones to Social Hero? Doctors and medicine 1808-1886 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In 1808 the medical profession was largely unregulated and was compelled to diagnose and treat patients without anaesthetic, lacking stethoscopes, and unaware of the existence of germs. By 1886 access to the profession was closely monitored, anaesthetic was routinely administered, and Lister's work on aseptic surgery was being accepted. Therefore, this was a period of scientific change and professional consolidation with enormous significance for the ways doctors related to patients and the ways the sick formed expectations of their medical practitioners. This module treats aspects of the social history of medicine in nineteenth-century England by considering the development of medical relationships from the 1808 County Asylums Act up to the Medical Registration Amendment Act of 1886.
Topics may include medical education and professionalisation, the evolution of institutional medical care, medical practitioners in fiction, insanity and the emergence of psychiatry, anatomy and bodysnatching, the roles for women in medicine and the drive for sanitary reform.
|
|
|
HIS-30102 |
The Art of Dying: Death and Society in Medieval and Early Modern Europe |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
'Dying well' was a fundamental concern for all in the Medieval and Early Modern Europe, but what did that mean? This module will explore the history of death in medieval and early modern Europe from /c/. 1000 to /c/. 1750.
If our society has what Geoffrey Gorer has called a 'pornography of death', whereby all practices surrounding death should be done out of public view, just like sexual pornography, it is important to understand how public death and dying were in medieval and early modern Europe. The module takes a comparative approach, comparing and contrasting ways of dying, burial, attitudes to good and bad death, especially suicide, expectations of the afterlife, and the experience of famine and plague, in medieval and early modern Europe. The ways in which a society treated death reveals a great deal about its assumptions and ideas, and so this module offers a fascinating insight into the social, religious and cultural history of a world which is very different from our own.
For an introduction, see Philippe Aries, Western Attitudes toward Death from the Middle Ages to the Present (1976), or dip into his The Hour of Our Death (1981).
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|
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HIS-30106 |
Suffrage Stories: lifestories |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module allows you to study, in depth, the British campaign to give women the vote that began in the 1860s and which was finally won in 1928.
Many stories have been told about the women and men who gave their energies, health and even lives to this cause. This course looks at the different ways in which historians have interpreted this struggle, the strategies and tactics of the various suffrage organisations and the competing assessments of what finally won the vote for women. Yet it is not only historians who narrate suffrage history in different ways, so did many of those who were actually involved in all sides of this fight. This module is as much concerned with the individual stories of suffragists and those who opposed them as with the accounts of historians. Indeed, during the course we will use the autobiographies, diaries, newspapers, literature, posters and banners produced by the suffrage campaign so that we can explore the relationship between individual experiences and the stories historians have told.
As part of the module, every student will choose an individual woman or man involved in the Edwardian suffrage debate and research their motivations, views and activities in the campaign. At the end of the semester we will hold a hustings where we will debate the issue of women's suffrage from the point of view of these individuals.
By the end of the module you will not only understand why the campaign for women&©s suffrage took so long to achieve its goal and why suffrage history continues to be hotly debated but also why so many people were so passionate about their desire for women to be able to put a cross on a ballot paper. This, therefore, is a module about the many stories told about the fight to give women the vote by those who took part, those who opposed them, those who admire them, those who think they were misguided and those who have reflected on this period in history with hindsight. |
|
|
HIS-30112 |
Water Histories. A Cultural History of Water, II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
$ùWater is a common good .. belonging to all. Yet, from privatization in Britain to the displacement of millions through dam-building in the developing world, it has been appropriated as a commodity by the powerful.&© This new special subject will consider the long history which underpins this contemporary observation on a resource more important than oil. We will thus consider changing attitudes to the use of water, fresh rather than salt, from the ancient world to the present day. The approach will be thematic and will include ritual and religious uses in the middle ages, the social contexts of bathing, the sanitation revolution of the nineteenth century, attitudes to water in nature, and modern water wars. The approach will be multi-disciplinary and students will be encouraged to look for connections with their other principal and subsidiary subject areas.
Water provides an appropriate area in which to examine, compare and contrast a range of disparate issues including, for example, baptism and cleansing in religious rituals, the impact of religious reform on water as a healing agent, the range of attitudes to cleanliness and bathing, the medicalisation of water from holy wells to spa resorts to sports medicine, the connection of water and disease, the Romantic appreciation of water in the landscape, disputes over water and modern water law, the manipulation of water as a demonstration of political power.
|
|
|
HIS-30113 |
The Making of Contemporary Africa II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Can a continent possess 'a history' or 'a people'? To what extent are ideas of Africa and Africans still tied to race and other colonial legacies? To understand the ways we imagine Africa today, the module examines the cultural, political and economic dialogues which took place regarding Africa c.1945 to the present. The course uses the latest scholarship and, in challenging a hitherto dominant national historiography, emphasises the importance of both the $ùlocal&© (e.g. diverse subaltern experiences in Ghana, Kenya, Algeria, South Africa or Nigeria) and the $ùglobal&© (e.g. decolonisation, socialism, postcolonialism and pan-Africanism), in shaping Africa. Perhaps most controversially, the module asks: do you have to be black to be African? And is Africa, as The Economist recently wrote, a 'hopeless continent', inherently violent, poor and diseased? While the main focus will be on English-language primary sources and former British colonies, there will also be a chance to compare different colonial legacies within Africa. This will enable students to critically analyse a variety of historiographical approaches to African history and introduce them to a range of primary source materials which have been utilised by historians to interpret key events and processes. For example, students will have a chance to read the works of: Leopold Senghor, Kwame Nkrumah, Frantz Fanon, Steven Biko, Nelson Mandela, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Julius Nyerere, Walter Rodney, George Padmore, and recent works by people like C. N. Adichie and Thabo Mbeki. Films and other media formats will also be incorporated into the module's analysis, as will official documents. |
|
|
HIS-30116 |
After Hitler: West Germany and the Transition to Democracy II |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The Third Reich lasted only twelve years, but its impact was enormous. Germany was occupied, discredited, humiliated, and shamed. In 1945, few people could imagine that a country that had
been responsible for mass warfare and genocide would one day emerge as a stable, democratic,
and peaceful state in Europe. In the fall semester, we analyzed theoretical issues pertaining to the subject, including definitions of democracy and conditions for democratization. We also examined earlier traditions (Weimar and the Third Reich) that affected politics and culture after 1945 as well as Allied (and particularly American) plans for denazification, democratization, and demilitarization. In this module, we shall focus on West German history from the 1960s to unification, including the emergence of new gender roles, the student movement, terrorism, unemployment, the East-West conflict, and various efforts at coming to terms with the past. Where the fall module addressed the
early transition from dictatorship to democracy, this module addresses the cultural and political consolidation of democracy in the Federal Republic. |
|
~
|
HIS-30119 |
Urban Lives in Modern Europe, 1914-1939 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
‘Urban Lives in Modern Europe 1890-1914’ investigated how urban elites began to imagine a new future for Europe’s cities before the First World War. This module examines how the inter-war period provided the opportunity to put many of their ideas into practice. Yet if anything, cities in the inter-war period proved to be even more difficult to govern than they had been before the war. Political tensions ran high across Europe, and many historians have characterised Germany’s Weimar Republic in particular as being in an almost permanent state of crisis. More recent analyses have also seen its cities, and especially Berlin, as a ‘laboratory of modernity’, in which new forms of urban living were tested, and it is on these approaches that this module will concentrate.
While the rise of right-wing politics and the concomitant emergence of Fascism has often been seen as the defining element of the period, the module will also develop an understanding of how the spaces of Europe’ s cities contributed to changing cultures of sex, violence, work and consumption. A particular emphasis will be placed on how measures to identify and control urban problems may have exacerbated existing tensions or produced new ones. While exploring these aspects, you will be asked to consider approaches which emphasise the role of the state in attempting to order and control the city, providing continuities with both totalitarian regimes and the ‘permissiveness’ and welfare states of post-war Western Europe. |
History Single Honours - Level 1 Modules
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
HIS-10026 |
History, Media, Memory: The Presentation of the Past in Contemporary Culture |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is for anyone who reads historical novels, watches historical films, or visits museums and stately homes. Our understanding of 'history' comes not simply from school or university study but from the versions of the past that are all around us. This module thus focuses on 'public history' rather than academic history, exploring the forms, purposes and impact of these broader, 'popular' representations of history. We will explore how visions of the past are central to individual and collective memory, and to the constructions of individual and community identities. Accounts of the past are always constructed and debated, and play a crucial role in most modern political and international conflicts. Weekly lectures will explore these general issues through analysis of the presentation of historical accounts in newspapers, film and television programmes, historical novels, and of the versions of the past displayed in museums, historic buildings and sites, in reenactments (such as the Sealed Knot), through anniversaries and memorials. One detailed case study will focus on the commemorations in 2007 that marked the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. Through a variety of written exercises and oral presentations students will make their own choice of sites, films, and written accounts for discussion and analysis in seminars.
Throught this module, students will develop a critical understanding of the various media through which accounts of the past are presented, of the social, cultural and political purposes of these presentations, and of their impact on audiences and participants. They will be able to compare 'heritage' or public history with history as an academic discipline. The module is a good introduction to a second level offering on heritage management. It will be of particular interest to students taking principal English, History, Media Communication and Culture, Politics and Sociology, but also to anyone eager to understand the widespread popularity of 'history' in our culture, and how it affects the present world. Assessment is by group presentation, a short written report and a module essay.
Introductory reading
Jerome de Groot, Consuming History: historians and heritage in contemporary popular culture (Routledge, 2009) – the set book for the module
Ludmilla Jordanova, History in Practice (Hodder Arnold, 2nd edition, 2006)
John Tosh, Why History Matters (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)
|
|
|
HIS-10026 |
History, Media, Memory: The Presentation of the Past in Contemporary Culture |
O |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is for anyone who reads historical novels, watches historical films, or visits museums and stately homes. Our understanding of 'history' comes not simply from school or university study but from the versions of the past that are all around us. This module thus focuses on 'public history' rather than academic history, exploring the forms, purposes and impact of these broader, 'popular' representations of history. We will explore how visions of the past are central to individual and collective memory, and to the constructions of individual and community identities. Accounts of the past are always constructed and debated, and play a crucial role in most modern political and international conflicts. Weekly lectures will explore these general issues through analysis of the presentation of historical accounts in newspapers, film and television programmes, historical novels, and of the versions of the past displayed in museums, historic buildings and sites, in reenactments (such as the Sealed Knot), through anniversaries and memorials. One detailed case study will focus on the commemorations in 2007 that marked the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. Through a variety of written exercises and oral presentations students will make their own choice of sites, films, and written accounts for discussion and analysis in seminars.
Throught this module, students will develop a critical understanding of the various media through which accounts of the past are presented, of the social, cultural and political purposes of these presentations, and of their impact on audiences and participants. They will be able to compare 'heritage' or public history with history as an academic discipline. The module is a good introduction to a second level offering on heritage management. It will be of particular interest to students taking principal English, History, Media Communication and Culture, Politics and Sociology, but also to anyone eager to understand the widespread popularity of 'history' in our culture, and how it affects the present world. Assessment is by group presentation, a short written report and a module essay.
Introductory reading
Jerome de Groot, Consuming History: historians and heritage in contemporary popular culture (Routledge, 2009) – the set book for the module
Ludmilla Jordanova, History in Practice (Hodder Arnold, 2nd edition, 2006)
John Tosh, Why History Matters (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)
|
|
|
HIS-10029 |
Modern History |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The study of Modern History offers a wide-ranging introduction to the political debates and conflicts that frame our lives in the 21st century. In this course we unravel key tenets of the history of our recent past, looking at how societies modernised, populations grew and political ideologies developed since the eighteenth century. This is an era of empire and democracy, the growth of capitalism, huge technological advances, modern warfare, the decline and rise of religion and new political voices such as the Suffragettes and subaltern that have created new histories.
Five main themes are addressed: Politics - in which we look at the rise of nationalism and the age of revolutions; the Economy - in which we look at the process of modernisation and the development of capitalism; Religion - in which we look at secularisation and political ideologies; Marginal Histories - in which we discuss gender history and crime and deviance and Europe and the Wider World which takes us to the impact of imperialism and globalisation across the world.
This module is taught by leading scholars of modern history through weekly lectures and weekly small group seminars, which will involve discussions across the class and in smaller groups, looking at primary sources and engaging with the secondary literature. There are rich online resources and a range of stimulating course set books which you will use.
No previous knowledge of modern history is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Preparatory Reading can be undertaken by consulting the following textbooks: T.C.W Blanning (ed.), The Oxford History of Modern Europe (OUP, 2000) and C.A. Bayley, The Birth of the Modern World (Blackwell, 2004). |
|
|
HIS-10029 |
Modern History |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The study of Modern History offers a wide-ranging introduction to the political debates and conflicts that frame our lives in the 21st century. In this course we unravel key tenets of the history of our recent past, looking at how societies modernised, populations grew and political ideologies developed since the eighteenth century. This is an era of empire and democracy, the growth of capitalism, huge technological advances, modern warfare, the decline and rise of religion and new political voices such as the Suffragettes and subaltern that have created new histories.
Five main themes are addressed: Politics - in which we look at the rise of nationalism and the age of revolutions; the Economy - in which we look at the process of modernisation and the development of capitalism; Religion - in which we look at secularisation and political ideologies; Marginal Histories - in which we discuss gender history and crime and deviance and Europe and the Wider World which takes us to the impact of imperialism and globalisation across the world.
This module is taught by leading scholars of modern history through weekly lectures and weekly small group seminars, which will involve discussions across the class and in smaller groups, looking at primary sources and engaging with the secondary literature. There are rich online resources and a range of stimulating course set books which you will use.
No previous knowledge of modern history is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Preparatory Reading can be undertaken by consulting the following textbooks: T.C.W Blanning (ed.), The Oxford History of Modern Europe (OUP, 2000) and C.A. Bayley, The Birth of the Modern World (Blackwell, 2004). |
|
|
HIS-10030 |
Historical Research and Writing |
C |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This course introduces first-year students to the study of History at university. It will provide you with the particular skills you will need to study History and which you will apply throughout your degree course. Your tutor will devise a historical topic or debate through which to identify and apply the skills needed to undertake historical research and writing. The lecture programme provides an introduction to the practises expected of and the resources available to a History student at Keele. It also introduces you to the range of historical research undertaken by History staff at Keele - the questions asked; the techniques used; the range of historical writing produced and its relevance to today. Small group seminars supported by a series of exercises will provide the means to locate the acquisition and development of skills within the study of a specific historical debate or topic.
The course is assessed by a number of written exercises and an essay. Although primarily designed for History students, this course will also appeal to students of other Humanities and Social Science subjects.
As a useful start to thinking about History, we suggest you read:
John H. Arnold, History. A very short introduction (Oxford University Press, 2000)
There are also a number of books which focus on the practical skills required of a history student. We suggest:
I.W. Mabbett, Writing History Essays. A Student’s Guide (Palgrave, 2007)
If you don’t acquire Mabbett, you might want to consider one of the following books which would provide a useful reference for you during this course and throughout your undergraduate studies in history:
Mary Abbott (ed.), History Skills. A student’s handbook (Routledge, 1996)
Jeremy Black & Donald MacRaild, Studying History (Palgrave, 2000)
John Tosh, The Pursuit of History (Longman, 4th edition 2006)
|
|
|
HIS-10033 |
Anglo-Saxon England |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The history of Britain in period from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West in the early 400s AD to the mid 900s witnessed the eventual, but not inevitable, creation (from several political units) of the twin kingdoms of England and Scotland, with residual native British rule in Wales.
Concentrating on the resultant Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England, the course discusses the ways in which migrant Germanic tribes gained political and cultural control of southern Britian and how their conversion from paganism to Christianity informed that process and led to the pervading influence of the new religion throughout society.
The Viking attacks of the mid 800s and consequent Scandinavian settlement, together with renewed invasion in the early 1000s, for a time brought England closer to Scandinavia, but that development was halted by the Norman Conquest of 1066.
Sources of information for the period are limited but cover a wide range (documentary, linguistic, archaeological, artistic), and so provide the student with challenging opportunities for analysis and interpretation. Moreover, many of the themes discussed in the lectures and seminars have a modern resonance, such as the effect of the collapse of empire, the impact of immigrants, and the role of religion.
The module is taught through linked weekly lectures and seminars, and makes use of a course text book as well as online sites.
Recommended introductory reading
James Campbell (ed.), The Anglo-Saxons (Penguin, 1991).
|
|
|
HIS-10033 |
Anglo-Saxon England |
O |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The history of Britain in period from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West in the early 400s AD to the mid 900s witnessed the eventual, but not inevitable, creation (from several political units) of the twin kingdoms of England and Scotland, with residual native British rule in Wales.
Concentrating on the resultant Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England, the course discusses the ways in which migrant Germanic tribes gained political and cultural control of southern Britian and how their conversion from paganism to Christianity informed that process and led to the pervading influence of the new religion throughout society.
The Viking attacks of the mid 800s and consequent Scandinavian settlement, together with renewed invasion in the early 1000s, for a time brought England closer to Scandinavia, but that development was halted by the Norman Conquest of 1066.
Sources of information for the period are limited but cover a wide range (documentary, linguistic, archaeological, artistic), and so provide the student with challenging opportunities for analysis and interpretation. Moreover, many of the themes discussed in the lectures and seminars have a modern resonance, such as the effect of the collapse of empire, the impact of immigrants, and the role of religion.
The module is taught through linked weekly lectures and seminars, and makes use of a course text book as well as online sites.
Recommended introductory reading
James Campbell (ed.), The Anglo-Saxons (Penguin, 1991).
|
|
|
HIS-10037 |
Local History: medieval and early modern periods |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Nearly all villages and towns in England had their origins in the medieval period, and knowing about their early history is essential to understanding why they look the way they do now. Even so, certain aspects of life (political, economic, and religious) changed significantly over time, often at a different rate: so, no two places have precisely the same history.
This module will look at what factors contributed to form and characterise local communities before modern developments introduced more standardisation. A range of topics may be covered, such as different kinds of landholders from lords of the manor to peasants, the origin of towns and aspects of urban life, the role of the parish church and the impact of the Reformation, and what constituted the traditional forms of agricultural life.
The module will equip students with many of the skills needed to be a practising local historian, by explaining how to use the key sources for the study of people and places in the pre-modern world.
The sessions are taught in the evening (7pm-9pm), as the module is also taken by adults working on the Certificate in Local History. |
|
|
HIS-10037 |
Local History: medieval and early modern periods |
O |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Nearly all villages and towns in England had their origins in the medieval period, and knowing about their early history is essential to understanding why they look the way they do now. Even so, certain aspects of life (political, economic, and religious) changed significantly over time, often at a different rate: so, no two places have precisely the same history.
This module will look at what factors contributed to form and characterise local communities before modern developments introduced more standardisation. A range of topics may be covered, such as different kinds of landholders from lords of the manor to peasants, the origin of towns and aspects of urban life, the role of the parish church and the impact of the Reformation, and what constituted the traditional forms of agricultural life.
The module will equip students with many of the skills needed to be a practising local historian, by explaining how to use the key sources for the study of people and places in the pre-modern world.
The sessions are taught in the evening (7pm-9pm), as the module is also taken by adults working on the Certificate in Local History. |
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
AMS-10026 |
The American Past: Explorations in U.S. History |
EA |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The American Past module is designed to equip students with a basic grounding in U.S. history from the colonial period to the present day. It stresses the multifaceted character of American development, interweaving such issues as nationalism, race, gender, and class in a broad narrative and thematic synthesis. Students will be particularly encouraged to develop specific insights into the American historical experience through investigation of documentary evidence which will provide the the basis for seminar discussion. |
|
|
HIS-10025 |
Medieval Europe |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Medieval Europe offers a wide-ranging introduction to a formative period of European history, the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. This was a time of tremendous social, political, economic and intellectual transformation, indeed a time, according to many historians, when European civilisation as we know it was created. Having safely negotiated the year 1000, which many believed would bring the second Coming of Christ and the end of the world, Medieval Europe embarked upon a phenomenal expansion over the following centuries that would see the creation of new political entities and institutions, increasing urbanisation and expanding trade, and the extension of Christianity and European civilisation to the peripheries. The increasing development of a European identity, however, had grave implications for those living on the margins or who were deemed to be outsiders and the module will explore the increasing persecution of heretics and Jews through the development of institutions such as the Inquisition and violent encounters during the crusades.
The module will address a number of key topics including: power structures and the political development of Europe; the economy, urbanisation and the expansion of trade; the significance of the Church in providing a cohesive bond for medieval society; heresy and deviance; Jews and other outsiders in Medieval Europe and the question of whether medieval Europe was a persecuting society; and finally the crusades and medieval Europe's relations with the wider world.
The module is taught by leading scholars of medieval Europe through weekly lectures and weekly small group seminars. There are rich online resources and a range of stimulating course set-books.
No previous knowledge of medieval Europe is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Preliminary reading.
William C. Jordan, Europe in the High Middle Ages (Penguin, 2002)
Barbara Rosenwein, A short History of the Middle Ages (University of Toronto Press, 3rd edition, 2009) which is richly illustrated and has good maps.
|
|
|
HIS-10025 |
Medieval Europe |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Medieval Europe offers a wide-ranging introduction to a formative period of European history, the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. This was a time of tremendous social, political, economic and intellectual transformation, indeed a time, according to many historians, when European civilisation as we know it was created. Having safely negotiated the year 1000, which many believed would bring the second Coming of Christ and the end of the world, Medieval Europe embarked upon a phenomenal expansion over the following centuries that would see the creation of new political entities and institutions, increasing urbanisation and expanding trade, and the extension of Christianity and European civilisation to the peripheries. The increasing development of a European identity, however, had grave implications for those living on the margins or who were deemed to be outsiders and the module will explore the increasing persecution of heretics and Jews through the development of institutions such as the Inquisition and violent encounters during the crusades.
The module will address a number of key topics including: power structures and the political development of Europe; the economy, urbanisation and the expansion of trade; the significance of the Church in providing a cohesive bond for medieval society; heresy and deviance; Jews and other outsiders in Medieval Europe and the question of whether medieval Europe was a persecuting society; and finally the crusades and medieval Europe's relations with the wider world.
The module is taught by leading scholars of medieval Europe through weekly lectures and weekly small group seminars. There are rich online resources and a range of stimulating course set-books.
No previous knowledge of medieval Europe is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Preliminary reading.
William C. Jordan, Europe in the High Middle Ages (Penguin, 2002)
Barbara Rosenwein, A short History of the Middle Ages (University of Toronto Press, 3rd edition, 2009) which is richly illustrated and has good maps.
|
|
|
HIS-10031 |
Princes and Peoples: European History, c.1490-c.1700 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
'Princes and Peoples' is concerned with the early modern period, a time of dramatic change for all people in Europe and a time of unremitting hardship and struggle for many. Between the late fifteenth and the late seventeenth centuries, European rulers tried to strengthen their authority, often involving an increase in military power. These attempts provoked internal resistance and revolt, as well as frequent foreign wars. Expansion in trade and rising population brought rich opportunities for some social groups, as well as increased poverty for others. The fragmentation of religious unity through the challenge of the Protestant Reformation to the medieval Catholic church inaugurated a century or more of religious conflict within communities and between states. The religious map of Europe had changed fundamentally by the end of the seventeenth century, as medieval Christendom fragmented into a range of different affiliations, whether to a revitalised Catholicism or one of many Protestant churches.
As well as analysing the aims and successes of the powerful, this module also examines the ways in which poorer individuals and families made a living and sought to improve their existence. These centuries are the period of the witch-craze and one lecture explores the claims of witches and the fears of their persecutors. Finally we study the 'discovery' of the New World as Europeans reached the Caribbean and the Americas, a process which had a significant impact on the imagination and social life of the people of the 'old' world, as well as a traumatic effect on indigenous peoples of the 'new' world.
Five main themes are addressed: in 'Power' we discuss the nature of monarchical authority, developments in warfare, and resistance to government; 'Economy' includes consideration of population change and the growth of towns; 'Religion' focuses on the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, and responses to religious division; 'Life at the margins' explores the experiences of poor and marginal groups, including a study of witchcraft; and 'Europe and the Wider World' looks at the encounters between Europeans and indigenous peoples in the Caribbean and the Americas.
This module is taught by leading scholars of early modern Europe, and is delivered via weekly lectures and weekly, small-group seminars. There are rich online resources available to support this module, including those connected to the course set-books.
No previous knowledge of early modern Europe is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Students may find the following works helpful as introductions to the period and themes of the module, and throughout the study of this module:
Merry Wiesner Hanks, Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, 2005)
B. Kümin, The European World, 1500-1800 (London, 2008)
Richard Bonney, The European Dynastic States, 1494-1660, (Oxford, 1991)
Euan Cameron, ed, Early Modern Europe (Oxford, 2001).
|
|
|
HIS-10031 |
Princes and Peoples: European History, c.1490-c.1700 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
'Princes and Peoples' is concerned with the early modern period, a time of dramatic change for all people in Europe and a time of unremitting hardship and struggle for many. Between the late fifteenth and the late seventeenth centuries, European rulers tried to strengthen their authority, often involving an increase in military power. These attempts provoked internal resistance and revolt, as well as frequent foreign wars. Expansion in trade and rising population brought rich opportunities for some social groups, as well as increased poverty for others. The fragmentation of religious unity through the challenge of the Protestant Reformation to the medieval Catholic church inaugurated a century or more of religious conflict within communities and between states. The religious map of Europe had changed fundamentally by the end of the seventeenth century, as medieval Christendom fragmented into a range of different affiliations, whether to a revitalised Catholicism or one of many Protestant churches.
As well as analysing the aims and successes of the powerful, this module also examines the ways in which poorer individuals and families made a living and sought to improve their existence. These centuries are the period of the witch-craze and one lecture explores the claims of witches and the fears of their persecutors. Finally we study the 'discovery' of the New World as Europeans reached the Caribbean and the Americas, a process which had a significant impact on the imagination and social life of the people of the 'old' world, as well as a traumatic effect on indigenous peoples of the 'new' world.
Five main themes are addressed: in 'Power' we discuss the nature of monarchical authority, developments in warfare, and resistance to government; 'Economy' includes consideration of population change and the growth of towns; 'Religion' focuses on the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, and responses to religious division; 'Life at the margins' explores the experiences of poor and marginal groups, including a study of witchcraft; and 'Europe and the Wider World' looks at the encounters between Europeans and indigenous peoples in the Caribbean and the Americas.
This module is taught by leading scholars of early modern Europe, and is delivered via weekly lectures and weekly, small-group seminars. There are rich online resources available to support this module, including those connected to the course set-books.
No previous knowledge of early modern Europe is assumed and the module will appeal to all students interested in how historical developments can cast light on current problems and dilemmas, as well as being a vital module for students taking principal history.
Students may find the following works helpful as introductions to the period and themes of the module, and throughout the study of this module:
Merry Wiesner Hanks, Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, 2005)
B. Kümin, The European World, 1500-1800 (London, 2008)
Richard Bonney, The European Dynastic States, 1494-1660, (Oxford, 1991)
Euan Cameron, ed, Early Modern Europe (Oxford, 2001).
|
|
|
HIS-10034 |
Histories of the Extraordinary and the Everyday |
C |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module specifically designed for Single Honours History and History Major students. It will introduce students to new topics of historical inquiry and the different approaches taken by historians when challenged by the vastness of extraordinary events and the minutiae and banality of the everyday. It is a seminar-based module in which students will undertake key readings each week in preparation for detailed analysis and discussion within the class. It is as much about how historians engage with the challenges of writing about the extraordinary and the everyday, as identifying what they have found out, the arguments they make and the conclusions they draw.
The module will consider in alternate weeks a specific example of an extraordinary event or an everyday experience. The idea is not to be bound by chronological periods but to draw examples from a range of different histories. Some of the 'everyday' topics might include: dirt; food; an 'ordinary' life; love; reading; shopping; walking. Some of the 'extraordinary' topics might include: massacre; famine; defeat, the 'hero'; mass deportations; pandemics. The aim is to pair topics, thus food and famine or the 'ordinary life' and the 'hero' or love and massacre or walking and mass deportations. |
|
|
HIS-10038 |
Local History before 1750 |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Local history is the core of all history, and in recent years it has enjoyed something of a renaissance among professional historians (forming, for example, part of the National Curriculum). This module is designed to help students master some of the practical skills of English local history in the medieval and early modern periods (before about 1750).
Unlike most level-one History modules, where the emphasis is on analyzing what other historians have said on a particular topic, this is a practical, hands-on History module introducing students to the skills and techniques of doing local history. Many of the examples and illustrations will be drawn from the history of Staffordshire, Cheshire, and the Midlands, although the module will not concentrate on any one place.
The topics covered in this module differ from those in the companion module HIS 10037, and will typically include sessions on social and economic relations both before and after the Black Death, changes in religious affiliation and their impact on society at large, and the character of early industrial activity.
The sessions are taught in the evening (7pm-9pm), as the module is also taken by adults working on the Certificate in Local History.
Two teaching sessions take place at the county record at Stafford.
|
History Single Honours - Level 2 Modules
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
AMS-20063 |
History of the United States in the Twentieth Century |
EA |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The module seeks to engage students in a critical and analytical look at the central themes of America's domestic development in the twentieth century as a backdrop for understanding society and politics in the United States today. It offers a diversity of social, economic, political and cultural perspectives and will equip students with the basic historical tools for more detailed investigation. On the one hand the module examines the general political, social, and cultural undercurrents since 1900. On the other hand it takes a closer look at some of the key events and developments during the past century that left a long-term imprint on American society. |
|
|
AMS-20074 |
Discovering America: From Empires to Revolutions |
EA |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is suitable for students who have already taken history modules and acquired a solid grounding in the methods of historical research, analysis, and writing. This module looks in detail at the development of the Atlantic world from exploration through imperial settlement, the growth of European empires in North and South America, revolutions and American independence. It covers a wide range of topics; exploration and the age of enlightenment, the growth of empires and colonisation in the early modern period, migration patterns, the development of international trade networks, changing notions of race, class and gender, the age of revolutions and the struggle for independence in the Americas. Learners will gain an in-depth familiarity of a variety of case-studies related to the role and place of Europe in the wider Atlantic world between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. It will explore the impact and influence of Europe on the development and growth of the New World and, equally, the impact and influence of the New World on the political, economic, and cultural development of the Old World. Furthermore, it will look at the Atlantic as part of the new global order including Africa. It will also look at the political and intellectual links between the social orders which evolved in the New and Old Worlds, in both slave and free societies. By the application of advanced historiographical methods of research students will be able to to piece together the narrative of the Atlantic world and debate issues surrounding discovery, peopling and de-peopling of the Americas, migration and labour, the slave trade and Africa, the growth of European ports and cities, and the development of colonial rule and the 'Revolutionary Atlantic' including the American and Haitian revolutions. Furthermore, they will gain a conceptual understanding that enables them to apply critically paradigms generated by historians and social scientists, some of which are at the forefront of debates over the development of world and comparative histories of empire. Students taking this module will obtain the ability to evaluate the differing value of conflicting approaches, a process that throws into relief the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge but also the possibility of achieving methodological objectivity. They will also learn or improve their time management skills and be able to manage their own learning by generating essay topics themselves, and make use of scholarly articles and primary sources relating to Atlantic histories in a way that goes beyond the insights available from secondary sources alone. |
|
|
HIS-20024 |
History - Study Abroad I |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
HIS-20025 |
History - Study Abroad II |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
HIS-20066 |
Imperialism and Empire |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module examines the dynamics of the `imperial age' of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. What were the motives for the expansion of the imperial power? What tools and methods did the imperial powers use to govern huge empires? How did imperial ideas contribute to the creation of new racial, ethnic, sexual and religious identities amongst the subject peoples of Empire? How did Empire reshape the identities of European societies? These questions are considered from the perspective of both the colonizer and the colonized within British and German Empires, drawing on case studies from Africa and India. Topics include: Sex and Empire; Hunting and Empire; Disease, Medicine and Empire; Colonialism and the Camera; Christianity and Empire; the German Occupation of Namibia, and Post-colonialism. |
|
|
HIS-20066 |
Imperialism and Empire |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module examines the dynamics of the `imperial age' of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. What were the motives for the expansion of the imperial power? What tools and methods did the imperial powers use to govern huge empires? How did imperial ideas contribute to the creation of new racial, ethnic, sexual and religious identities amongst the subject peoples of Empire? How did Empire reshape the identities of European societies? These questions are considered from the perspective of both the colonizer and the colonized within British and German Empires, drawing on case studies from Africa and India. Topics include: Sex and Empire; Hunting and Empire; Disease, Medicine and Empire; Colonialism and the Camera; Christianity and Empire; the German Occupation of Namibia, and Post-colonialism. |
|
|
HIS-20069 |
State and Empire in Britain c. 1530-c. 1720 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The module explores British history from the Reformation, through the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (or British civil wars) of the mid seventeenth century, to the Act of Union of 1707 and the beginnings of an overseas empire. Since much of what is called 'British' history is in fact the history of England, or even of London and the south-east, the module approaches 'Britain' and 'British history' as complex and contested concepts through a focus on two troubled centuries when a British state emerged through English dominance over Wales, Ireland and Scotland, Celtic nations struggled to maintain a sense of history and identity, and a 'British' empire began to develop overseas. Developments in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are still relevant to current political debates, especially in Ulster and the Irish republic, while devolution in Wales and Scotland has also made the meaning of 'Britain' controversial in our own times.
Key textbooks for the module are:
Patrick Collinson (ed.), The Sixteenth Century (Short Oxford History of the British Isles, 2002)
Derek Hirst, Dominion: England and its Island Neighbours 1500-1707 (2012)
David Lawrence Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles. The Double Crown 1603-1707 (1998).
|
|
|
HIS-20069 |
State and Empire in Britain c. 1530-c. 1720 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The module explores British history from the Reformation, through the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (or British civil wars) of the mid seventeenth century, to the Act of Union of 1707 and the beginnings of an overseas empire. Since much of what is called 'British' history is in fact the history of England, or even of London and the south-east, the module approaches 'Britain' and 'British history' as complex and contested concepts through a focus on two troubled centuries when a British state emerged through English dominance over Wales, Ireland and Scotland, Celtic nations struggled to maintain a sense of history and identity, and a 'British' empire began to develop overseas. Developments in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are still relevant to current political debates, especially in Ulster and the Irish republic, while devolution in Wales and Scotland has also made the meaning of 'Britain' controversial in our own times.
Key textbooks for the module are:
Patrick Collinson (ed.), The Sixteenth Century (Short Oxford History of the British Isles, 2002)
Derek Hirst, Dominion: England and its Island Neighbours 1500-1707 (2012)
David Lawrence Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles. The Double Crown 1603-1707 (1998).
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HIS-20069 |
State and Empire in Britain c. 1530-c. 1720 |
EP |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The module explores British history from the Reformation, through the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (or British civil wars) of the mid seventeenth century, to the Act of Union of 1707 and the beginnings of an overseas empire. Since much of what is called 'British' history is in fact the history of England, or even of London and the south-east, the module approaches 'Britain' and 'British history' as complex and contested concepts through a focus on two troubled centuries when a British state emerged through English dominance over Wales, Ireland and Scotland, Celtic nations struggled to maintain a sense of history and identity, and a 'British' empire began to develop overseas. Developments in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are still relevant to current political debates, especially in Ulster and the Irish republic, while devolution in Wales and Scotland has also made the meaning of 'Britain' controversial in our own times.
Key textbooks for the module are:
Patrick Collinson (ed.), The Sixteenth Century (Short Oxford History of the British Isles, 2002)
Derek Hirst, Dominion: England and its Island Neighbours 1500-1707 (2012)
David Lawrence Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles. The Double Crown 1603-1707 (1998).
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HIS-20075 |
Right-wing movements in Interwar-Europe 1918-1938 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
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|
In this module we will explore the history of Europe between the two World Wars as a period in its own right, and not just as the prehistory of World War II. We will analyse a wide range of topics: the end of World War I and its legacies in Western and Eastern Europe 1918-1921, the peace treaties 1919, the reconstruction of Europe until 1929, the hinge years 1929-1933, the variety of European reactions to the coming to power of Hitler in Germany 1933-1938. We will analyse the development of conservative and extreme right-wing movements on a Europe-wide scale, the foundation and rise of extreme right-wing movements in all European states, the different reactions of left-wing and right-wing conservative movements and parties to the $ùrevolution from the right&©. Methodologically we will evaluate approaches of transnational and comparative history and assess the interdependencies of political, social and cultural processes in the specific context of Interwar-Europe
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HIS-20075 |
Right-wing movements in Interwar-Europe 1918-1938 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In this module we will explore the history of Europe between the two World Wars as a period in its own right, and not just as the prehistory of World War II. We will analyse a wide range of topics: the end of World War I and its legacies in Western and Eastern Europe 1918-1921, the peace treaties 1919, the reconstruction of Europe until 1929, the hinge years 1929-1933, the variety of European reactions to the coming to power of Hitler in Germany 1933-1938. We will analyse the development of conservative and extreme right-wing movements on a Europe-wide scale, the foundation and rise of extreme right-wing movements in all European states, the different reactions of left-wing and right-wing conservative movements and parties to the $ùrevolution from the right&©. Methodologically we will evaluate approaches of transnational and comparative history and assess the interdependencies of political, social and cultural processes in the specific context of Interwar-Europe
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HIS-20083 |
Nature, Society and the Past: An Environmental History of the Western World, 1800-2000 |
EP |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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|
The scale and pace of human-generated environmental change, which has occurred in the wake of global industrialization, is historically unprecedented. This module will explore the roots of modern environmentalism through an examination of environmental change and cultural responses to it. We will explore the contentious meaning of such terms as 'the environment', 'nature' and 'wilderness', the tension between social and natural histories, and the role/s of science, technology, colonialism, imperialism and ideology in reshaping the concepts of the environment. The module will focus on an analysis of the political, religious and scientific beliefs that have shaped society's relationship with nature, and how such relationships have been challanged by competing visions of progress, modernity and a sustainable future in the light of on-going environmental change. Principally, this module will provide an intellectual and political history of modern environmentalism from the eighteenth century to the present. |
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HIS-20083 |
Nature, Society and the Past: An Environmental History of the Western World, 1800-2000 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The scale and pace of human-generated environmental change, which has occurred in the wake of global industrialization, is historically unprecedented. This module will explore the roots of modern environmentalism through an examination of environmental change and cultural responses to it. We will explore the contentious meaning of such terms as 'the environment', 'nature' and 'wilderness', the tension between social and natural histories, and the role/s of science, technology, colonialism, imperialism and ideology in reshaping the concepts of the environment. The module will focus on an analysis of the political, religious and scientific beliefs that have shaped society's relationship with nature, and how such relationships have been challanged by competing visions of progress, modernity and a sustainable future in the light of on-going environmental change. Principally, this module will provide an intellectual and political history of modern environmentalism from the eighteenth century to the present. |
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HIS-20084 |
The Kingdom of England 954-1154 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
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|
This module, while providing a socio-political and religious history of the Kingdom of England c.954-c.1154, looks to explore aspects of the 'Englishing of England' in a period which historians have begun to define as formative in the history of the country. In 954 Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of Northumbria, was killed on Stainmore and England was ever after the land of one king. In 1154 Henry II, count of Anjou, succeeded to the English throne as ruler of a cross-channel empire which stretched from the north of Britain to the south-west of France.
This then is when England itself, from a myriad of smaller kingdoms, came into geographical existence, even though (it has been argued) the idea of 'England' may have preceded the fact. It is when the 'English' elite effectively invented their past in order to understand themselves in the present, and when they began to imagine themselves as a community and fashion for themselves an identity. Through an examination of topics such as the consolidation of the country by Alfred's successors, the 'Englishing of the North', the impact of the Danish and Norman invasions, the innovations (and continuities) that resulted in the development of monasticism, the church, and society at large, as well as the chronicling of such changes, the course looks to explore the paradox as to why the English became more English during this period in spite of repeated foreign invasion. It will look to argue that the process of unification may be a far more important feature of English history than conquest. |
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HIS-20084 |
The Kingdom of England 954-1154 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module, while providing a socio-political and religious history of the Kingdom of England c.954-c.1154, looks to explore aspects of the 'Englishing of England' in a period which historians have begun to define as formative in the history of the country. In 954 Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of Northumbria, was killed on Stainmore and England was ever after the land of one king. In 1154 Henry II, count of Anjou, succeeded to the English throne as ruler of a cross-channel empire which stretched from the north of Britain to the south-west of France.
This then is when England itself, from a myriad of smaller kingdoms, came into geographical existence, even though (it has been argued) the idea of 'England' may have preceded the fact. It is when the 'English' elite effectively invented their past in order to understand themselves in the present, and when they began to imagine themselves as a community and fashion for themselves an identity. Through an examination of topics such as the consolidation of the country by Alfred's successors, the 'Englishing of the North', the impact of the Danish and Norman invasions, the innovations (and continuities) that resulted in the development of monasticism, the church, and society at large, as well as the chronicling of such changes, the course looks to explore the paradox as to why the English became more English during this period in spite of repeated foreign invasion. It will look to argue that the process of unification may be a far more important feature of English history than conquest. |
| Semester 1-2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
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HIS-20082 |
Work Experience for Historians |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module gives history students the opportunity to use their skills and knowledge in the world beyond the university - in museums, archives, libraries, and churches, or any workplace where the research, analyitical and communication skills of historians can be used. Students will be supported to arrange and develop an individual historically focused work-based project (helping with a museum exhibit or study day, cataloguing or publicising an archive, producing a leaflet or blog for a heritage organisation) that will be undertaken in semester two. Advice will be given on contacting placements and on composing a CV, and support will be provided throughout the placement. A focus on employability is central to the Distinctive Keele Curriculum and through this module you will obtain crucial first-hand experience of a relevant working environment and enhance your own employment opportunities. You should also enjoy the challenge of discussing and presenting historical events, issues and dilemmas to a greater variety of people, and the satisfaction of making a lasting, personal contribution to an outside body. |
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
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AMS-20073 |
The New World in Chains: Slavery and the Bonds of Race in America, 1619- 1877 |
EA |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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|
This module is suitable for students who have already taken history modules and acquired a solid grounding in the methods of historical research, analysis, and writing. This module looks in detail at the development of Slavery in North America from settlement to emancipation. It covers a wide range of topics, notions of race and racism, slavery in Africa, the transition from white to black labour, the development of the slave trade, slave life and culture, punishment and resistance, plantation management and overseers, female slaves and plantation mistresses, the economics of slavery, slavery during the American Revolution and Civil War, the lives and position of free people of colour living in a slave society, the international abolition movement, and the effect of slavery on the social, cultural and economic development of North America. Learners will gain an in-depth familiarity of a variety of case-studies related to slavery and the slave experience in 18th and 19th century North America informed by the latest stage in the scholarly debate concerning the nature of slavery and race in American history. This module explores key moments in the history of western philosophy, disclosing the extent to which this history participates in the production of the concepts of race and racisms.
By the application of advanced historiographical methods of research students will be able to to piece together the narrative of slavery and the debate surrounding how slavery and race have evolved over time. Furthermore, they will gain a conceptual understanding that enables them to apply critically paradigms generated by historians and social scientists, some of which are at the forefront of debates over slavery in North America and comparative slave studies. Students taking this module will obtain the ability to evaluate the differing value of conflicting approaches, a process that throws into relief the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge but also the possibility of achieving methodological objectivity. They will also improve their time management skills and be able to manage their own learning by generating essay topics themselves, and make use of scholarly articles and primary sources relating to slavery in a way that goes beyond the insights available from secondary sources alone.
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HIS-20033 |
History - Study Abroad III |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
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|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
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HIS-20034 |
History - Study Abroad IV |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
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HIS-20067 |
Sources and Debates |
C |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Most students who read history as undergraduates tend to read one book (at most) concerned with the question 'What is History?', and they usually do this before they have done any real historical research. Thereafter, their training tends to be conducted 'on the job'. If they reflect on the nature, theory or ideology which underpins what they practice, they tend to focus on issues which surface in assessments, learning that writing which is merely descriptive is not rewarded but that writing which is analytical gains good marks. Via the electives website you are asked to choose between medieval and modern history, or between political and social history, where the nature of the historian's work in each case is left as self-evident.
But ask yourself the following questions:
On what basis do historians claim to 'know' about the past?
Why do historians disagree?
What exactly is history which is 'out of date'?
What is historical evidence?
Aside from the area of their interest, can I tell the difference between any two of the historians who have taught me?
If you can't think how to respond to these questions, should you be able to call yourself a graduate in history? This module has been designed to help you to reflect on the nature of the subject in which you are being trained. We believe that history is a distinctive discipline and that you will acquire a deeper understanding of how it is (and has been) practised, partly by listening and reading, partly by practical experience.
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HIS-20071 |
Saints and Society in Medieval Europe |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In 2004 animal rights activists kidnapped the corpse of 82-year-old Gladys Hammond from a Staffordshire church-yard. In 2006 Argentine trades unionists fought a gun battle over the coffin of former dictator, Juan Perón, when it was reburied. And, in 2007 the home and grave of Elvis Presley attracted 600,000 visitors. An anthropologist might explain these phenomena as cultures in which the dead are seen as powerful. In this module we will look at an important group of powerful dead, saints, who are critical to the formation of European culture, embodying concepts of ritual, power and celebrity. The course will cover a wide range of issues including the development of the cult of saints in the early Church, its development and spread during the period c.900-c.1250, as well as the religious, social and political use functions of the saints in medieval culture.
Particular attention will be devoted to the changing nature of who was a saint, the extent to which popular acclamation made a saint, medieval society&©s belief in the saints, the difference between local and universal saints as well as the increasing procedures demanded by the Church for canonization. With case studies on martyr and confessor saints and other models of sanctity and the use of translations of primary sources, it will also look to address the problems faced by historians of medieval saints due to the nature of the historical record.
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HIS-20071 |
Saints and Society in Medieval Europe |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In 2004 animal rights activists kidnapped the corpse of 82-year-old Gladys Hammond from a Staffordshire church-yard. In 2006 Argentine trades unionists fought a gun battle over the coffin of former dictator, Juan Perón, when it was reburied. And, in 2007 the home and grave of Elvis Presley attracted 600,000 visitors. An anthropologist might explain these phenomena as cultures in which the dead are seen as powerful. In this module we will look at an important group of powerful dead, saints, who are critical to the formation of European culture, embodying concepts of ritual, power and celebrity. The course will cover a wide range of issues including the development of the cult of saints in the early Church, its development and spread during the period c.900-c.1250, as well as the religious, social and political use functions of the saints in medieval culture.
Particular attention will be devoted to the changing nature of who was a saint, the extent to which popular acclamation made a saint, medieval society&©s belief in the saints, the difference between local and universal saints as well as the increasing procedures demanded by the Church for canonization. With case studies on martyr and confessor saints and other models of sanctity and the use of translations of primary sources, it will also look to address the problems faced by historians of medieval saints due to the nature of the historical record.
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HIS-20074 |
The Holocaust |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In this module we are going to study the history and historiography of the Holocaust on a European-wide scale. We will explore the different stages of the process of discrimination, persecution, deportation and eventually the murder of European Jewry. We will contextualize and analyse sources and interpretations. Topics of historical processes and memory will be explored and we will learn how to deal with them confidently. A special focus will be laid on researching and understanding historical processes from several perspectives: the perpetrators, the bystanders, the collaborators, and the victims. Questions of historiography, memory and methodological issues will be discussed throughout the module.
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HIS-20074 |
The Holocaust |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In this module we are going to study the history and historiography of the Holocaust on a European-wide scale. We will explore the different stages of the process of discrimination, persecution, deportation and eventually the murder of European Jewry. We will contextualize and analyse sources and interpretations. Topics of historical processes and memory will be explored and we will learn how to deal with them confidently. A special focus will be laid on researching and understanding historical processes from several perspectives: the perpetrators, the bystanders, the collaborators, and the victims. Questions of historiography, memory and methodological issues will be discussed throughout the module.
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HIS-20078 |
Power in the Modern World |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
What is power? How is it attained, maintained, and relinquished? Who
has power, and for what reasons? Is it located in individuals, groups,
classes, or nations? How does it change? This course covers models, theories,
and themes that address the question of power since the French
Revolution. The module seeks to examine the impact of specific historical
forces, including nationalism, fascism, state building and imperialism.
It also endeavours to assess different explanations for power in the past
two hundred years, including gender, Marxism, and post-structuralist
approaches (Foucault, Bourdieu). The course will provide students with
the analytical tools to study the nature of power as it emerged in
the modern period. |
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HIS-20078 |
Power in the Modern World |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
What is power? How is it attained, maintained, and relinquished? Who
has power, and for what reasons? Is it located in individuals, groups,
classes, or nations? How does it change? This course covers models, theories,
and themes that address the question of power since the French
Revolution. The module seeks to examine the impact of specific historical
forces, including nationalism, fascism, state building and imperialism.
It also endeavours to assess different explanations for power in the past
two hundred years, including gender, Marxism, and post-structuralist
approaches (Foucault, Bourdieu). The course will provide students with
the analytical tools to study the nature of power as it emerged in
the modern period. |
|
|
HIS-20080 |
Race and the Body in Colonial Africa |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will introduce students to some of the most important themes in the history of Africa from the abolition of the slave trade to decolonization. We will analyse diverse forms of difference, especially those related to race and the body, amongst European colonisers and Africans, and to chart changing views of difference. Students will develop an awareness of the diversity of the African continent through a range of critical perspectives, such as: theorising race in different geographical spaces; understanding inequality among and between peoples and how this varies over time and space; and the relationship between colonialism, nation, 'race', class, ethnicity, gender, and capitalism. Lectures and seminars will engage with a range of primary source materials including: travel writing, contemporary accounts, official reports, newspapers, photographs and paintings, literature and film, in addition to the diverse historiography available. |
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HIS-20080 |
Race and the Body in Colonial Africa |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will introduce students to some of the most important themes in the history of Africa from the abolition of the slave trade to decolonization. We will analyse diverse forms of difference, especially those related to race and the body, amongst European colonisers and Africans, and to chart changing views of difference. Students will develop an awareness of the diversity of the African continent through a range of critical perspectives, such as: theorising race in different geographical spaces; understanding inequality among and between peoples and how this varies over time and space; and the relationship between colonialism, nation, 'race', class, ethnicity, gender, and capitalism. Lectures and seminars will engage with a range of primary source materials including: travel writing, contemporary accounts, official reports, newspapers, photographs and paintings, literature and film, in addition to the diverse historiography available. |
