HIS-40060 - Module Specification
School of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2020/21

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

HIS-30122

Description for 2020/21

Who and what makes up a nation? This module will explore how nations are formed, including how their borders are established, who is included and excluded, and how the nation is imagined. Using examples from the medieval to the present day and across the globe, students will critically engage with themes of nationalism, identity, migration, gender and suffrage in a variety of settings, such as Britain, Germany, India and South Africa. Students will get to analyse how historians actually divide up time and space, how historians analyse identity formation, and different ways of understanding the nation and the state. In addition to developing students' understanding of nations, they will develop their comparative history skills across time and space, both through classroom discussion and the assessments.

> To introduce students to key methods and theories relating to comparative and global histories.
> To help students understand and critique how historians frame their discipline chronologically and spatially.
> To enhance students' understanding of key themes relating to the construction of nations and nationhood, from the medieval to the present day.
> To enable students to critically analyse the historiographical debates around nationhood, identity, migration, language, ethnicity, gender and suffrage in a variety of time periods and locations, such as Britain, Germany, India and South Africa.

Intended Learning Outcomes

critically analyse the changing ways in which academics across disciplines and in different parts of the world have perceived nations and nationhood: 1
compare case studies and examples of historical change and to broader thematic issues relating to the construction of nations: 1
demonstrate sustained analysis of primary sources, interpreted with reference to secondary scholarship, both within and outside History: 1
communicate critical analysis of a wide range of primary and secondary sources clearly and effectively through class discussion and through written assessment: 1
reflect critically on their own mode of study and learning and the development of a research topic: 1,2
engage critically with theories of nationhood, identity, migration, language, ethnicity, gender and suffrage in a variety of settings, such as Britain, Germany, India and South Africa: 1,2
understand and use key methods and theories relating to comparative and global history.: 1

Study hours

22 hours: 11 x two-hour seminars
110 hours: seminar preparation
168 hours: research and writing for assessments

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment