First Year Module
Module Leader: Dr Laura Ishiguro
Rationale and Content:
The period of European history between the French Revolution and the start of the 1914 war was one of dramatic social, political and cultural change. Historians have described it as the 'long nineteenth century'. This module will survey the key processes and events during this distinct historical period. In particular, students will be asked to consider the processes by which nineteenth-century societies imbued with a belief in 'progress', and ushering in the period commonly viewed as modernity, could prepare the way for the barbarism of the First World War. Students will be encouraged to identify common historical trends and processes but also the divergences between and within European societies. They will be introduced to some of the most important debates within the literature and encouraged to interpret the period by working with a range of primary sources. The module will introduce students to themes and concepts that will be explored in greater depth in subsequent modules.
Learning and Teaching Strategies:
This module will be delivered through weekly lectures and seminars plus tutorial support. Where appropriate supporting resources will also be made available online. Seminar sessions will be designed to encourage student participation and will support students in strengthening their skills of presentation, discussion,argument and debate,and in evaluating,interpreting and using secondary and primary sources.
Assessment:
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Module
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Mode
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Weighting %
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Length
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Submission date
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Modern Europe 1789-1914
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Document commentary
Essay
Assessed Seminar Contribution
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40
50
10
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1,500 words
2,000 words
NA
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Week 8
Week 12
Ongoing
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Recommended introductory reading:
T.C.W.Blanning, (ed.), The Nineteenth Century: Europe, 1789-1914, (London, 2000)
R.Gildea, Barricades and Borders: Europe 1800-1914, 2nd ed. (London, 1996)
E.Hobsbawm, The Age of Empire, 1875-1914, (London, 1987)
E.Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality, (1990)
J.Merriman, A History of Modern Europe, (Vol. 2), From the French Revolution to the Present, (New York, 1996).
M.Rappaport, Nineteenth-Century Europe, (Basingstoke, 2005)
J. Sperber, Revolutionary Europe 1780-1850, (Harlow, 2000)
A. Briggs and P. Clavin, Modern Europe: 1789 to Present, (Basingstoke, 2003)
C.A. Bayly, The Birth of the Modern World 1780-1914, (Oxford, 2004)