Students should note that 100% attendance is expected and that various colleges will de-register students whose attendance falls below their required minimum.

Subject to the availability of places, students from other colleges may take Group 2 courses at Birkbeck College by arrangement with their own institutions.

The Sumerians

• Mark Geller
• Time to be announced
• Hebrew & Jewish Studies Dept
• UCL: 17/HEBR7605

Sumerian civilization is the earliest civilization to offer written records, and this course will aim to study those aspects of Sumerian culture which crystallized into the classical forms that were adopted by their successors in Mesopotamia and the Levant. Topics will include: Kingship and political structure, art and architecture (which will include sessions at the British Museum), the role and function of the Temple, trade and the economy; agriculture and irrigation; incantations and the healing arts; the origin of writing; development of the Edubba, the scribal schools; Sumerian literature and mythology from Early Dynastic to the Babylonian periods; Sumerian religion and gods, in relation to the Semitic pantheon; Sumerians and Semites in early Mesopotamia; and the survival of Sumerian culture in Assyrian and Babylonian society. There is no language requirement, although a knowledge of French or German would be useful.

Assessment will be by a three-hour examination paper (65%) and coursework (35%).

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Religion and Politics in Archaic and Classical Greece

• Hugh Bowden
• Not available in 2010-11
• KCL Classics: 5AACHI05

Two of the most significant legacies of the Greek world are its myths and the creation of democracy. This course is intended to reveal some of the close connections between religion (articulated by myths as well as ritual) and politics (exemplified by Athenian democracy) in ancient Greece. The first half of the course will trace the development of religious structures in the emergent city-states of Greece in the archaic period, and consider the rise of international sanctuaries such as Delphi and Olympia. The second half will concentrate on the relationship between religion and politics in one particular state, Athens, in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. This is a particularly well documented area. Topics covered will include religious festivals, including the Eleusinian mysteries; women and religion; the political and religious role of Attic drama; the attitude of philosophers, including Socrates and Plato, to religious matters. The course will be particularly relevant to students who wish to deepen their knowledge of Greek history and society, and students of religious history in general. Use will be made of archaeological evidence, as well as literature from the period (in translation).

Assessment will be by one three-hour end-of-year examination.

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Greek Pottery and Painting, 800-300BC

• Karim Arafat
• Not available in 2010-11
• KCL Classics: 10/AC/AR03

This course provides wide coverage of many aspects of study of decorated vases from the Greek world, as well as treating the far less well-documented broader canvas. Techniques, type of decoration and shapes are basic topics, as also the development and range of mythological scenes, and the output of individually identifiable painters and workshops. Historians will want to tackle themes such as the status of the painter, the pottery trade and its significance, and scenes of everyday life. There is no linguistic requirement.

Assessment is by one three-hour examination paper including a compulsory photo-test.

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Greek Sculpture, 750-300BC

• Karim Arafat
• Not available in 2010-11
• KCL Classics: 10/AC/AR02

The study of Greek sculpture covers a far broader field than may at first be imagined. Due attention is indeed paid to changes and nuances of style, and the œuvres of individual masters, but we also have to assess the extent and nature of the material that is preserved for us; the ability to describe a piece fully and accurately is important; among other topics to be tackled are the origins of large-scale sculpture in the Greek world, the choice of themes, the location selected, and the technology of the bronzesmith. Knowledge of Greek or Latin is helpful, but not necessary.

Assessment is by one three-hour end-of-year examination, including a compulsory visual question identifying and discussing illustrated sculptures.

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The Seleukid Empire, c.312-145 BC

• Amélie Kuhrt and Riet van Bremen
• Not available in 2010-11
• UCL: 17/HIST2106

The Seleukid dynasty inherited the largest share of the Achaemenid Persian empire, which had been conquered by Alexander the Great between 334 and 323 BC. This vast and diverse area presented major problems of control and organization. It also presents modern scholars with major problems of interpreting institutions and power structures, local and central economies, and a range of cultural and religious systems. The evidence is uneven, and hugely varied, and many specialist skills are required to interpret it. For many years, a western perspective prevailed, with interpretations based mainly on Graeco-Roman literary sources and Greek inscriptions. In the last two decades, that perspective has changed dramatically, because of the increasing accessibility of sources in Akkadian from Babylonia, an area of central importance to the dynasty. The work of Italian, French and Russian archaeologists in Central Asia has shown that the Seleukid impact (military, economic and cultural) on the eastern territories was much more significant than had been assumed. In general, we are now much better able to ask questions about the Macedonian rulers’ interaction with non-Greek peoples and institutions. On the other hand, considerable new finds in the part of the empire west of the Taurus mountains have illuminated aspects of political, economic and religious organisation that were previously unknown. Recent studies of Seleukid kingship have emphasized the role of the ‘king on the move’ and the importance of military campaigning. All this has allowed historians to assess the workings of Seleukid rule in both east and west in much greater detail and to ask more focussed questions about the nature of empire in the ancient world. The aim of this course is to introduce students to the exciting possibilities offered by a wide and ever increasing range of source material (now reasonably accessible in translation).

Assessment will be by a three-hour examination paper (50%) and three essays totalling 10,000 words (50%).

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Athenian Law II

• Chris Carey
• Not available in 2010-11
• UCL: 17/CLAS2202

The course seeks to offer a general introduction to the law and lawcourts in classical Athens and to explore the way in which speakers manoeuvre in court. We shall: examine the way the legal system operated and the political role it fulfilled under the democracy; study the content of the law in a range of areas, including homicide and other crimes of violence, slander, sexual activity, the family, political offences; explore a number of texts (principally oratory but also comedy and historiographical and philosophical works) both as sources of law and legal practice and as examples of ways in which the system is exploited in practice. The course will be taught on the basis of translated texts. No knowledge of Greek and Latin is required.

Assessment is by two essays (40%) and one three-hour examination (60%).

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Power and Self-Representation in the Greek and Hellenistic Worlds

• Caspar Meyer
• Th., 6 p.m. (2008-9)
• BkC: HICL207S6

The peoples of the ancient Mediterranean were inclined to define their identities through objects and visual representations. Such ‘political monuments’ survive in a range of contexts and media, offering a powerful but refracted mirror image of how different communities envisioned their foundational order. This course explores how the art and architecture of Classical Greece and the Hellenistic world articulated the changing relationship between person and social power. We try to recover the ritual or civic-ceremonial contexts that gave meaning to ancient buildings and artefacts, and explain how their figured decoration guided the repeated events of public and private life. To this purpose we examine what kinds of subjects were shown in particular types of setting and how the figural and narrative repertoire shifted according to dominant social norms and ideals of statehood. The period saw the emergence of a new visual system to portray individuals as members of a status group of the Greek city-state. It drew on a closely studied and theoretical understanding of the human body performing status-defining activities, such as warfare, athletics, feasting, and love-making. With the expansion of the Greek world in the fourth century BC the system was widely adopted in societies where its underlying code carried very different implications.

This course takes a special interest in what the transformation and local reception of the Greek body image reveals about cultural interaction and mutual perceptions between Greeks and non-Greeks. Among the themes considered are: Persian contacts and aristocratic self-styling in Archaic Greece; feasting and its significance for elite ideologies; force and restraint in athletic heroization; sexuality and emotional self-perception in Classical Athens; Greek notions of Oriental monarchy; the role of gift exchange in Greco-Scythian elite collaboration; allegories of Macedonian conquest and rule; replication and dissemination of ruler ideology through portraits; women and philosophers in Hellenistic society; religion and royal self-representation in Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleukid Asia; historical commemoration in Republican Rome; scenarios of power in the Augustan empire.

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Religious and Political Space in the Classical and Hellenistic Greek World: A Historical and Archaeological Perspective

• Christy Constantakopoulou
• Not available in 2008-9
• BkC: 08/HICL107U

The purpose of this course is to explore the interplay between the religious and political sphere through an examination of the development of the religious and political spaces in the Greek world in the classical and hellenistic period. Recent research in the topic has shown that a division between the religious and the political in the ancient Greek world is methodologically unsound. The allocation of space, public and private, but fundamentally public, for religious/political purposes provides us interesting hindsights for an examination of religious and political life. During the course, we shall examine the importance of public space allocation for the life of the Greek polis, the development of sanctuaries and their importance for the religious life of the city, as well as festivals, burials, city walls, hellenistic palaces and urban development. In order to best evaluate the importance of religion for political life and vice versa, it is necessary to include methodological disciplines of both history and archaeology. Texts, inscriptions, archaeological remains and material evidence are all integral for a valid overview of the subject.

Students interested in taking this course are strongly advised to take first the general introductory course ‘The Greek World’.

Assessment is by one three-hour examination paper.

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Roman Democracy: Myth or Reality?

• Valentina Arena & Angus Gowland
• Available in 2010-11
• UCL: HIST2105

This course examines this controversial question of whether the late Roman Republic was a democracy by investigating Roman politics through the lens of classical political theory, applying ideas about liberty, citizenship, equality, and form of government to the real political practices of the Romans of the first century BC. Beginning with the political thought of influential ancient authors such as Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero, the course progresses with an in-depth analysis of republican ideology, and then aims to contextualise these values within the everyday political environment of first-century Rome. The course continues by examining the ways in which the image of the roman republic has been constructed and applied across the centuries, tracing its metamorphosis in the hands of writers like Machiavelli, Gibbon, and the English and American revolutionaries.

There is no language requirement. Assessment will be by a 3-hour examination paper (50%) and three essays totalling 10,000 words (50%).

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The City in the Roman World from 100 BC-AD 500

• Benet Salway
• Not available in 2010-11
• UCL: HIST2104

The course is a study of the changing social nature and political function of communities identified as 'cities' (poleis, civitates) throughout the geographical diversity of the empire of Rome from the late republican to the late antique period. At the beginning of this period the city was still unquestionably considered the locus of 'civilisation' and civilised virtues; by the end of this period this assumption was no longer the unchallenged consensus. The course takes as its subject not just the model of the city propagated by imperial Rome in previously unurbanised areas but also the development of the post-classical Greek city-state in that part of the Hellenistic world that came under Roman sway. Amongst questions to be examined will be: What social ideals are embodied in civic structure? How do these vary between 'Greek' East and 'Latin' West? What are the differences between 'organic' and planned/planted cities? What was the relation of the cities to local and longer distance economies? Was the Roman city purely a 'consumer' city? What made Rome a super-city and how did it differ from 'normal' cities? To what extent was the city seen as a religious community? What problems were posed by groups such as Jews and, later, Christians? How did the Christianisation of society affect the topography, function, and social structure of the Roman city? To what extent does the eclipse of the ancient city mark the end of the ancient world?

Examination is by one three-hour paper (50%) and three assessed essays totalling 10,000 words (50%). This course is not available to KCL Classics/Ancient History students.

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Culture Contact and Culture Change: The Archaeology of Roman Imperialism, c.30 BC-AD 250

• Ian Haynes
• Not available in 2008-9
• BkC: 08/HICL040U

Just how much did the imposition of Roman power really affect the lives of those people who lived within the Roman Empire? Ancient authors often emphasise two extremes of indigenous response to Roman imperialism – enthusiastic acculturation or violent revolt (inevitably crushed). As archaeology demonstrates, however, there was in fact a multiplicity of reactions, all influenced by local factors. Why, for example, did the Imperial Cult achieve such popularity in Africa and Asia Minor and so little in Britain? Why did the imposition of Roman power drive the Batavians and the Iceni to revolt yet leave the kingdoms of Syria impassive? Did the period witness any significant changes in the landscape of the Middle East that compare with the intensive urbanisation of north-west Europe? This course will not only focus on the agents of change – officials, aristocrats, traders and soldiers to name a few – but it will also examine the patterns of continuity and change in indigenous religious practices, social relations, settlement, and economies in the Roman Empire. There is no foreign language requirement.

Examination is by one three-hour paper. Students are also expected to write at least two essays: for Birkbeck and Federal students, the marks for these will count towards a Departmental Assessment mark.

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The Roman Family

• Riet van Bremen
• Not available in 2010-11
• UCL: HIST2101

This course will analyse the different ways in which, during the first two centuries ad, Romans lived together as families; the strategies they developed to secure the continuation of the family and its property; how families and their constituent members fitted into public life, and how these issues affected individuals of different social backgrounds. It will study what concepts like childhood, adolescence or familial affection meant to Romans; what sentiments were invested in the various family-related roles and how these sentiments differed from our own.

The subject of the Roman Family has enjoyed a great deal of recent attention from ancient historians, whose inspiration has come, to a large extent, from work done by historians of the family in the medieval and early modern periods. It will be an aim of this course to make this dependence more explicit and to analyse the merits as well as the problems of a comparative approach.

The course will be taught in weekly discussion seminars. It is assessed by a three-hour written examination paper (50%) and three essays totalling 10,000 words (50%). There is no language requirement, but a reading knowledge of French would be useful.

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Religion, Magic and Society in Late Antiquity

• Helen Banner
• Not available in 2008-9
• BkC: 08/HICL172U

Late antiquity (the late third to early sixth centuries) was a period of rapid religious and social change, involving a re-negotiation of traditional beliefs and practices as well as the development of new ones. The aim of this course is to explore these histories of religious and social change, using interdisciplinary approaches that will lead us away from a historiography of the ‘triumph of Christianity’. Throughout the year, we will be drawing insights from anthropology, archaeology, and other social sciences in order to help us confront the issues involved.

Four key areas will be covered, in particular:

1) Defining sacred knowledge (for example, how ‘the divine’ was accessed in late antiquity through oracles, magic, ritual, individuals and texts).
2) Constructing ‘sacred communities’ (for example, the role of ‘holy communion’ in constructing and maintaining communities of ‘believers’; holy men and women as sacred mediators; the possession of sacred books and relics in specific Graeco-Roman religious traditions and late antique Christianity).
3) Disputing the sacred (for example, the creation and application of polemical terms such as ‘paganism’, the naming practices of anti-heresy rhetoric and the clash and/or syncretism of ‘religious traditions’ as seen through the visual arts).
4) Sacred topographies (for example, the emergence of the idea of ‘the Holy Land’ and the consecration and desecration of sacred sites).

We will read a diverse body of late antique source material in translation, including love spells, curse tablets, letters on papyri and pilgrimage accounts, as well as other literary, documentary and archaeological material. Students will gain a broad knowledge of late antique social structures, as well as an understanding of key debates in the ‘religious’ and cultural history of the period.

Assessment is by one three-hour examination paper.

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Pompeii - Beginning to Last Days

• Serafina Cuomo
• M., 6 p.m. (2008-9)
• BkC: HICL201S6

Pompeii is possibly the most famous ancient Roman city (after Rome), because of the extraordinary circumstances of its survival. People can walk its streets, enter its houses, laugh at its graffiti, and look at its inhabitants, frozen in the attitude in which they died in AD 79. Along with the neighbouring Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Oplonti, Pompeii has provide historians and archaeologists with a wealth of material: frescoes, mosaics, statuettes, daily implements, remains of foodstuffs, surveying instruments, medical tools, papyri, and wax tablets. The buildings of Pompeii have allowed reflection on Hellenization, Romanization, provincial politics, the artistic taste of freedmen and the integration of different groups within society. In other words, a course on Pompeii (with forays into the neighbourhood) would enable students to explore a number of aspects of the social, political, cultural and economic life of the ancient world, while maintaining a well-defined focus. The abundance of primary and secondary literature would also provide good material for discussions on historiography.

The course will be divided into two halves, which might be taken separately: the first half (corresponding to the first term) will cover the history of the city, from its origins through its Oscan and Greek, and finally Roman ‘phases’. We will look at the city’s destruction, and at how it was re-discovered, down to the present day and the debates as to how the site might best be preserved, who Pompeii belongs to, and what it represents for us today. This diachronic history will be complemented by reflection on the infrastructure of the town: houses, roads, water supply and sewage, relation to countryside, urban planning, temples.

The second half of the course will concentrate on people from Pompeii: each lecture will cover a named individual, or a house or establishment (from the town councillor to the freedman, from the brothel to the gymnasium), and try to reconstruct what we can about him or her, or it. The aim is not only to develop the students’ investigative skills, but also to reflect on the historical significance of micro-histories with relation to ‘bigger’ history. We will often raise the question: to what extent can the circumstances of Pompeii and its people be generalized to the rest of Italy, or the rest of the Roman world?

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The Empire of Letters: Correspondence in the Roman World

• Catharine Edwards
• W., 6 p.m. (2008-9)
• BkC: HICL203S6

Correspondence played a crucial role in the functioning of the geographically extended Roman empire, serving as a vital mechanism for the negotiation of power-relations as well as for the communication of information. Emperors kept tabs on distant provincial governors, like Pliny, by letter. Remote communities could, in theory at least, complain to the emperor about the extortions of tax-collectors or landlords by letter; cities could request privileges by letter (if successful the letter and the emperor’s response might be recorded on stone). We shall explore the implications of the postal service as a technology of power. Documents from Egypt (and Roman Britain) illustrate the part sometimes played by letter-writing in the lives of relatively humble individuals, such as soldiers serving far from home. Letters also played a vital role in the articulation of relationships between members of the Roman elite. Political exiles like Cicero, for instance, used letters to maintain contact with the metropolis.

The letter seems to possess an immediacy, an authenticity superior to that of many other kinds of text (hence in part the attraction of ancient letters for later historians). Yet many of the Roman letters which have been preserved are highly self-conscious artefacts, attentive to the conventions of a complex generic tradition. Letters played a key role in elite self-presentation - especially as they were routinely circulated to others beyond their addressees. This aspect of the use of letters will be a particular focus of this unit. While Seneca uses the letter form to articulate a lengthy course in Stoic self-transformation, Pliny’s letters (also written with a eye to publication, it seems) project their author as witty, genial, accomplished in his leisure pursuits, as well as dutiful in his public offices - the carefully crafted image of the perfect Roman senator.

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Rome AD 300-1000. Portraits of a City, Reflections of a Changing World

• Antonio Sennis
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., 2-4
• UCL: HIST2202

This course aims to explore the changes that occurred in Rome between AD 300 and 1000. Through a focus on the city of Rome, we will explore a number of themes of key importance in the general history of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. These include: the end of the imperial world; the relationship between pagan and Christian élites; the rise of Papal authority; the effects the structural changes in the Mediterranean trade had on the city’s market system; intellectual and artistic production; the relationship of the Popes with the city’s aristocracy and the main powers of the time (Byzantine emperors, Lombard kings, Frankish kings and emperors); the Carolingian renaissance; the Ottonian empire. During the year we will use a wide range of written sources (available in translation) and archaeological evidence from excavations carried out in Rome in the last fifteen to twenty years, with slides and other visual material. During the year we will see how the structures of the antique Mediterranean world survived for longer than commonly thought and then transformed, declined and eventually collapsed.

Assessment will be by a 3-hour examination paper (50%) and three essays totalling 10,000 words (50%).

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Roman Britain

• John Pearce
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., 10-12
• KCL, Classics: 5AACHI06

This course, which covers the first historical period of British history, is a case-study in Roman imperialism and an introduction to the material culture of the Roman empire. The main topics considered are the nature of the Roman conquest of Britain, the introduction to the conquered area of the Roman provincial system, the later changes in administrative and military arrangements, and the overall impact of incorporation into the Roman empire on the physical environment, economy, society, religion and general culture of Britain. Particular emphasis is put on the rich archaeological evidence, much of which students can see for themselves in and around London.

Assessment is by one three-hour written examination paper.

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Roman Britain

• Boris Rankov
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/CL2364

This course is a case-study in Roman imperialism and an introduction to the material culture of the Roman empire. It covers the conquest of Britain, its transformation into a Roman province, later changes in its administration and defence, and the impact of incorporation into the Roman empire on the physical environment, religion, economy and society of the island. Particular emphasis is placed on the rich archaeological evidence, some of which can be seen in and around London.

Assessment is by one three-hour written examination paper.

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Egypt in the Roman Empire

• Richard Alston
• Not availabe in 2010-11
• RH: 47/CL2361

Egypt was a unique province with an ancient and distinctive civilisation. Also environmental changes in antiquity led to the preservation of tens of thousands of documents. These papyri provide us with source material different from that of any other area of the ancient world. We have petitions and tax registers, letters and applications, receipts and accounts which offer us fragmentary insights into the lives of individuals living and working in small cities and villages along the Nile. Egypt is not just well-served by the documentary material, but a large number of literary texts deal with the province. Egypt appears in a variety of guises (poetry, novels, religious tracts, philosophical works), all of which add to our knowledge. The task of the historian is to make sense of this diversity and the opportunity presented is to understand the lives of ordinary individuals in an ancient society.

Assessment is by two take-away essays.

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History of the Byzantine Empire, AD 641-1055

• Dionysios Stathakopoulos
• Not available in 2010-11
• KCL Classics: 10/AB/Z301

This course investigates the Middle Byzantine period, concentrating on the development of Byzantine civilization in the broadest sense. It traces both the political evolution of the empire and the growth of its culture within a chronological framework. Particular attention is paid to Christian institutions, such as monasteries, and material resources, such as ‘Greek fire’ and libraries. Byzantine influence is traced beyond the imperial borders through analysis of diplomacy, military strategy, imperial ideology and the production of de luxe art objects. In this way the Byzantine empire is studied as a linchpin between East and West, and between the Mediterranean and Northern worlds, as well as a historic period linking Antiquity with the Middle Ages.

Assessment will be by one three-hour end-of-year examination.

This course may not be taken together with the Royal Holloway course 47/HS2127 'Byzantium and its Neighbours, 602-1071'.

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Byzantium and the Shaping of S.E. Europe (1055-1453)

• Dionysios Stathakopoulos
• Not available in 2010-11
• KCL Classics: 10/AB/Z302

This course extends from the death of Constantine IX to that of Constantine XI, covering the period of the Crusades and the Latin occupation of Byzantium; the role of Italian city states in the East Mediterranean; and the Late Byzantine fragmentation of power. Within a chronological framework an ever greater reduction of political control is contrasted with the flourishing art and culture associated with many different centres of imperial authority and patronage. By tracing Byzantine influence, particularly in Italy, this course evaluates the contribution of Greek scholars to the Italian Renaissance before as well as after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople.

Assessment will be by one three-hour examination.

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Byzantium and its Neighbours, 602-1071

• Jonathan Harris
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/HS2127

By the early years of the seventh century, the Eastern Roman Empire was at the point of collapse. It was no longer able to defend its frontiers against Slav and Persian invaders and even its capital city of Constantinople was under attack. Yet the empire not only weathered this period of crisis but in the process transformed itself into a completely different, more compact and stronger society, the Byzantine empire or Byzantium. This course will trace the reasons why the empire survived and will investigate the profound changes that took place in its military organisation, society, religious life, art and culture. It will also examine the way in which the empire interacted with the world around it, particularly western Europe, the Islamic caliphate and the Slavonic world, as well as the profound impact of Byzantine political thought, art and religion on Eastern Europe and Russia.

Assessment will be by one three-hour examination.

This course may not be taken together with KCL Classics: 10/AB/Z301 'History of the Byzantine Empire, AD641-1055'.

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The Crusades and the Eastern Mediterranean, 1095-1291

• Jonathan Phillips
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/HS2142

The triumph of the First Crusade (1099) resulted in the establishment of a Latin Christian community in the Levant for almost two hundred years. This course is primarily concerned to examine how the settlers maintained their hold on a region which was spiritually, economically and politically important to the Byzantine empire and the Muslim world as well. Their reaction to the advent of the crusades and the development of their relationship with the settlers is an integral part of the subject. The 'jihad' became the channel for Muslim opposition and the Latins discovered that their own resources were insufficient to meet this threat and they appealed for help to Western Europe. The response and the consequences of this reaction for settlers' tenure of the Holy Land will be analysed. The Frankish way of life will be studied; its institutions, economic position of the Christian settlements; the role of women, and whether the Latin states represent an early form of western colonialism will be discussed. The preaching and preparation of crusading expeditions, the evolution of the crusading movement and its impact on the reconquista in Spain, the conversion of the Baltic states and criticism of crusading will also be studied.

The course will utilize a variety of primary material from European, Byzantine, Muslim and Syriac sources in translation. A booklet containing copies of these documents will be provided. The course will be taught in two-hour seminars. Examination is by one three-hour paper.

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Medicine and Society in Medieval Europe

• Peregrine Horden
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., pm
• RH (Egham): HS2143

This course explores major themes in the social history of medicine in Europe from the collapse of the Roman empire to the eve of the Renaissance: the response to diseases such as leprosy and plague, medical education and the split between the medical profession and 'alternative' practitioners, the problems faced by female healers, the interplay of institutional and community health care and of secular and religious sources of healing. Besides opening up central topics in medieval studies, therefore, the course also deals with subjects of current political debate and students should have no difficulty in finding their feet. Prior knowledge is not expected.

The course will be taught in informal weekly seminars. Students must write four essays and give presentations. Examination is by one three-hour paper (70%) and two coursework essays (30%).

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The Medieval Universe

• Sophie Page
• Not available in 2010-11
• UCL: 17/HIST2201

This course will explore how medieval men and women perceived their Universe and situated themselves within it. Covering a chronological span of c.1100-1500, the first part will focus upon how invisible and sacred forces were imagined, represented, and engaged with; how medieval men and women acquired their knowledge of these, and guided their lives by them. We will look at tensions in the relationship between celestial influence, personal spiritual forces, the free will of man and the omnipotence of God, and techniques for asserting control over the sacred through popular ritual practices, magic and astrology. The course will also examine medieval conceptions of the body, death and afterlife, and the relationship of medieval men and women to their physical environment. Issues for discussion will include perceptions, subversions and manipulations of the natural order; physical, legal, religious and emotional concepts of landscape.

The course will be taught in weekly discussion seminars. Examination is by one three-hour paper (50%) and 3 essays totalling 10,000 words (50%).

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The English in Medieval Ireland, c.1169-1399

• Virginia Davis
• Not available in 2010-11
• QMUL: 13/HST258

The lordship of Ireland was an integral part of the domains of the kings of England from 1169. This course investigates the nature and extent of the English conquest and settlement of Ireland between Henry II's conquest of Ireland in 1169 and the end of the fourteenth century. The twelfth-century conquest and initial settlement, the thirteenth-century heyday of the lordship of Ireland and decline in the fourteenth century are all covered. Themes to be explored include the problems faced by the settlers, their changing relationships with the native Irish, the role of the church, the emergence of the Anglo-Irish as a 'middle-nation' and Anglo-Irish relationships during this period.

Teaching will be by lecture and seminar discussion. Intending students should normally have studied a British or English history paper covering at least part of this period. Examination is by one three-hour paper (75%) and assessed essays (25%).

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The Nobility and Gentry of Medieval England, 1150-1500

• David Carpenter and Nigel Saul
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., pm
• KCL: HS2131 (jointly with RH; taught at KCL)

This course considers the transition from the barons and knights of the twelfth century to the nobility and gentry of the later Middle Ages. Amongst its main concerns are the ‘rise’ of the gentry, the development of the parliamentary peerage, the changing relationships involved in the shift from ‘feudalism’ to ‘bastard feudalism’, the evolving pattern of magnate and gentry rule in the shires of England, and the maintenance of law and order. Other themes considered include the economic activities of the nobility and gentry, their domestic architecture, patterns of spending, literacy and education, religious belief, and the significance of social heraldry.

Teaching is by informal weekly seminars. There is no language requirement. Examination is by one three-hour paper. For places on this course, please contact RH.

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Friends. Political Bonds in Italy (1300-1550)

• Serena Ferente
• Not available in 2010-11
• KCL: 5AAH2001

Friendship was a crucial political bond in medieval Europe. It lay at the core of social and political groupings that have long interested historians as well as social scientists. This paper will analyse and compare forms of political friendship in late medieval and Renaissance Italy by looking at episodes and practices of political conflict. During the period 1300-1550 Italian women and men confronted unprecedented natural calamities, endemic warfare, and increasing taxation; they also developed doubts about the legitimacy of their rulers and new ideas about the order of the world. We will meet angry wool carders and persecuted monks, implacable mothers and irresolute patricians through stories of feuds, factional strife, and revolts in the cities and in the country. We will examine stable and inclusive party structures and compare them with more fludi, changing political configurations. The observations of contempories such as Dante, Marsilius of Padua, Bartolus of Saxoferrato, Bernardino of Siena, or Machiavelli will illuminate our cases and help us to test the explanatory value of categories such as patronage, class, or identity for the study of late medieval European society.

Assessment will be by one three-hour examination (50%), two 2,000 word essays (40%) and an oral presentation (10%).

No student may take both this course and the Group 1 course ‘Culture, Society and Politics in Italy, c.1200-c.1500’ (QMUL: 13/HST284).

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The Ottoman Empire

• Fred Anscombe
• Time to be announced
• BkC: 08/HICL142S6

This course will introduce students to the history of the Ottoman state and society from 1300 to 1922. The Ottoman Empire was the last great Islamic state, and the course of its development and decline shaped basic features of modern successor states in Europe and the Near East. Through analysis of the factors influencing the rise and sustenance of the empire, and of those modern forces which precipitated its dissolution, the course will improve students’ understanding of one of the most important states of the European-Mediterranean region. In addition to covering the essential outline of political development at the imperial centre, the course will stress the economic and social realities of provincial life. This will be done through focus upon such key themes as principles of governance, intercommunal relations, relations with Europe, and problems of modernisation. Students will not be expected to have much prior knowledge of Ottoman history. Every weekly meeting will include both lecture and seminar discussion.

The course will be assessed by a three-hour examination.

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Daily Life in Renaissance and Baroque Italian Cities

• Sandra Cavallo
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/HS2148

In recent years a wealth of exciting interdisciplinary studies has explored the minutiae of the public, religious and domestic experience of city-dwellers in Renaissance and Baroque Italy, making use of methods and analytical categories drawn from anthropology, art history, archaeology and historical geography. This course will be based on this new stream of research and will analyse in depth a number of key aspects of urban life in this period of Italian history. These include: the use of space and street life; buildings and their symbolic meaning; the rituals of civic pride and religious devotion; the interior of the home and its functions; the ornament of the body; marital choice and disputes; convent life; neighbourly ties; sexual deviance; life in the ‘ghetto’; the use of magic in everyday life. Reflecting the expertise of the tutors, a historical archaeologist specialising in Italy and a social historian of Baroque Italy the emphasis will be placed on socio-cultural issues and on the material and visual aspects of daily life.

The course will be taught in seminars with visits to a museum or gallery in London and to Italy. Students should normally have taken a relevant course in European History. Examination is by one three-hour paper (70%) and two coursework essays (30%).

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Marriage and Monarchy: the Middle Ages from a World Historical Perspective

• David d'Avray
• Available in 2010-11
• UCL: HIST6207.

Later Medieval Europe appears to be unique in the world history of literate civilisations in outlawing both polygamy and divorce at the same time. This is particularly remarkable in that the ban extended to rulers and great men, who have been able to change wives or accumulate secondary wives even in societies where there were more constraints at a lower social level. Furthermore the system was ultimately administered by a religious authority outside the domains of any of these monarchs, and so difficult to control. The very fact of a separation of 'Church and State' and the legal control of the validity of marriages by the former is another feature of medieval culture hard to parallel in other civilisations. The theme of 'marriage and monarchy' makes an excellent case study for comparative history of the Weberian kind, where the field of vision is not restricted to a pair of comparanda.

This course is far more wide ranging than a traditional Group 2, but is still held together by one strong central theme. It is a theme with the widest ramifications, and the course takes advantage of them to ensure that students get a broad outline of medieval history as a background to the investigation of marriage and monarchy.

The course has a strong sociological component, in that the distinctions between values and instrumental rationality, and between formal and substantive legal rationality, play a central role in the empirical analyses. These concepts are used to elucidate a problem addressed by the course as a whole which is the curious 'scissors' pattern in the history of the medieval Church's control of marriage law. On the one hand, there is a hardening of attitude towards royal divorces or annulments, so that by the end of the period an annulment could scarcely be obtained without a powerful legal case or a massive effort to orchestrate collective perjury before a court. On the other hand, it became increasingly easy to obtain a dispensation for marriage within the forbidden degrees of kinship. A broad theme will be the rise of legal formality as a framework which makes coherent sense of the apparent contradiction between these two major trends.

Assessment is by one three-hour examination (75%) and two essays totalling 5,000 words (25%).

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Gender in the Middle Ages

• John Arnold
• W., 6 p.m. (2008-9)
• BkC: HICL057S6

This module will provide an examination of a key theme in medieval history, through which students will be able to investigate broader aspects of social and cultural history in the period (particularly in the later middle ages). This will thus add to the range of medieval options available to the relevant BA courses, and the balance of courses on offer; it will also provide an opportunity for students interested in themes of gender and identity covered in other modules (eg H054) to add to their overall comparative knowledge. By using an interesting central theme, the module should provide a popular and stimulating path into further engagement with medieval history.

The module will provide students with a broad knowledge of medieval social structures, cultural practices and beliefs, and an understanding of key debates in social, economic and cultural history of the period. It will also stimulate an appreciation of the historical specificity of gender, and the ways in which both masculinity and femininity were constructed and negotiated in the medieval period.

The course will be assessed by a three-hour examination.

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Outsiders in the Middle Ages

• Peter Denley
• Available in 2010-11
• Time to be announced
• QMUL: 13/HST321

The medieval Christian west abounded in prejudices, proscriptions, violence and atrocities against those who did not ‘fit the mould’. Groups such as students, mercenaries, Jews, prostitutes, the poor and the sick, and individuals who transgressed ideological, penal or sexual codes were all objects of suspicion and hatred. The course will study the interaction of doctrinal and moralistic attitudes and popular prejudice, the myths that evolved about outsiders, the mechanisms of oppression, the alleged increase in intolerance during the late middle ages, and the relationships between different categories of outsiders.

Examination is by 2 essays of 2,500 words (50%) and one long essay of 5000 words (50%).

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Death, Ancestors and the Afterlife in Medieval Society

• Dr C. Humfress and Dr J. Baker
• Th., 6 p.m. (2008-9)
• BkC: HICL041S5

Beliefs and practices associated with death, burial, ancestors and the afterlife played a central role in early medieval religion and society. In this course, we will examine three areas in particular: the evolution of rituals of burial and commemoration, and their role in effecting the passage from this world to the next, and in reallocating rights and roles among the living; the development of ideas about the afterlife and apocalyptic time, and their relationship to ideas about social order in this world; and the active and passive roles of the dead within early medieval society, as ancestors, apparitions, ghosts and saints, and the implications of their constant presence. Among the principal themes running through the course will be the often ambivalent relationship between ‘popular’ and ‘official’ beliefs and practices, and between the individual and society. We will cover mainly the early medieval period; as well as written sources, we will also look at the potential of archaeological and, to a lesser extent, art historical, evidence.

The course will be assessed by a three-hour examination.

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London: Urban Society, 1400-1600

• Clive Burgess
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH (taught in central London.): 47/HS2132

In this period London grew from a town of 50,000 inhabitants to a capital city of some 200,000. The Reformation not only swept away ‘superstitious’ beliefs, but destroyed much of the fabric and topography of the medieval city. This course will consider how Londoners coped with these changes; their relations with the Crown and with the surrounding communities in the suburbs and countryside. How were Londoners fed and watered? How were crafts organised? How was the City governed? How were orphans, the old, the sick and the destitute cared for? How did Londoners amuse themselves and how did they care for their souls? What education was available and what were the opportunities open to women? The course will be taught for two terms in weekly classes which will include a walk around the medieval walls and other visits. It may be necessary to limit numbers.

Examination is by one three-hour paper.

This course may not be taken together with the Group 3 course ‘Later Medieval London, 1450-1560: Community, Politics and Religion' (BkC: HICL086U).

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The English Family, c.1350-1720

• Vanessa A. Harding
• Not available in 2008-9
• BkC: 08/HICL133U

Over the past 20 or 30 years historians have argued about the role of the family in shaping English culture, social relations, and national identity. This course examines past and present conceptions of what 'the family' is, and looks at the ways in which the constitution of the family appears to have changed, and relation of the family to society. Its approach is thematic, though a sense of historical change and development is crucial. The course uses writings on the history of the family as a way into the study of English social history over a broad period, one that spans the traditional division between 'medieval' and 'early modern' and perhaps encourages us to reconsider that division. It focuses on England, but will consider studies of other European societies, comparing both the historical experience of other societies and alternative historiographical approaches. Themes include the formation of nuclear families; other kinds of family, other ways of life (for example, widowhood, singlehood, migration/emigration); family and household; families and society.

Assessment is by one three-hour examination paper.

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Witchcraft and Society, 1450-1750

• Michael Hunter
• Not available in 2008-9
• BkC: 08/HICL159U

Since the 1960s, witchcraft in early Modern Europe and New England has been the subject of a great deal of scholarly attention. This course draws on the large secondary literature which now exists to examine a range of key questions about the early modern 'witch-craze'. What were witches accused of, and how did this relate to what they actually did? What triggered off the great witch-hunts that occurred in some parts of Europe - both East and West - at this time? Did witch-hunting represent a war of the sexes, or a campaign of social control? Who believed in witchcraft, who was sceptical about it and how did ideas about 'the damned art' change in the course of the period? Material will be drawn from all over Europe and from New England, though there will be a particular emphasis on England and Scotland.

Background knowledge of the period would be useful, so it would be an advantage to have done main courses in either or both European or British history of the early modern period. Examination by a three-hour unseen written paper.

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Religious Reformation and Popular Piety, 1450-1650

• Benjamin Kaplan
• Not available in 2010-11
• UCL: HIST2312

This course examined the revolutionary changes in religious life in Europe between the late Middle Ages and the seventeenth century. It concentrates on the upheavals associated with the Protestant Reformation, but examines also the Catholic (also known as the Counter-) Reformation nd a variety of related thematic topics. The course does not treat religious issues solely in theological or ecclesiastical terms, but also in terms of piety – the ‘varieties of religious experience’ Europeans had, and community – the social and spiritual bonds formed by religion. It seeks constantly to assess the place of religion in the social, cultural and political world of early modern Europe. It pays attention to the ‘common folk’ as much as to famous leaders, and looks for long-term shifts behind the era’s revolutionary events.

Examination is by one three-hour paper (50%) and three assessed essays totalling 10,000 words (50%).

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Crown, Church and Estates in Central Europe, 1500-1700

• Martyn Rady
• Not available in 2010-11
• SSEES, UCL: 17/SEHI2002

By the end of the fifteenth century, the estate of nobility had accumulated substantial political power in Central Europe. Through the institutions of the local diets and counties, the nobilities had encroached upon the reserved rights of the crown and reinforced their legal jurisdiction over the peasantry. This course will examine how the newly-installed Habsburg rulers began the slow process of recovering the authority of the crown, which by the seventeenth century had not only obtained a high degree of confessional uniformity within its territories but had also completed the expulsion of the Turks from Central Europe.

Although this paper concentrates on kingship, confession and noble estates in Central Europe (defined as the Austrian hereditary provinces and the lands of the Bohemian and Hungarian crowns, including Transylvania and Croatia), there will be some comparative study of relevant developments in surrounding territories, and attention will also be paid to the 'economic estates' of peasants and townsmen, to the alchemical and mystical concepts of government dominant in Central Europe at this time, to the Turkish wars, and to forms of government within the area of Turkish occupation.

Examination is by assessed coursework (25%), and one three-hour paper (75%).

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The Dutch Golden Age

• Benjamin Kaplan
• Not available in 2010-11
• UCL: 17/HIST2315

In the seventeenth century, the United Provinces of the Netherlands was among the most important countries in Europe. An economic superpower, it built a far-flung colonial empire and achieved unmatched prosperity. Socially, it saw the rise of what is often called the first 'bourgeois' society. Politically it was an anomaly, a republic, while religiously its inhabitants enjoyed an unprecedented freedom. The home of Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals, and scores of other celebrated painters, it produced artistic riches still treasured, while in philosophy it provided a congenial environment for the rise of rationalism. This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Dutch culture and society in the period c.1550-1715. Heavy use will be made of art as a source for historical understanding. The course will not treat Dutch art as an art history course would; rather, it will focus on Dutch history - social, political, cultural, religious - and will seek to illuminate that history through art and other cultural artefacts. No prior training in the visual arts is required, but students will find it helpful if they have done previous coursework on early modern Europe.

Examination is by one three-hour paper (50%) and 3 assessed essays totalling 10,000 words (50%).

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Popular Politics in Early Modern Britain

• Jason Peacey
• Not available in 2010-11
• UCL: HIST6318

This course explores the nature of, and development in, 'popular' political culture in early modern Britain. It will examine what this term means, whether it is possible to explore history 'from below', and how to distil the distinctive qualities and attributes of popular politics. A central goal of this course is to locate popular politics within a culture that allowed 'the people' to exercise political agency in negotiation with those elites who exercised power and authority. Rather than merely examine crowds and riots, therefore, the course explores conventional methods by which the 'lower orders' - female as well as male - wielded influence in national as well as local political affairs. As such, it will be important to assess the impact of changing ideas regarding participation in spiritual affairs and church administration upon secular politics. A second key aim is to trace the impace of social and economic change, as well as religious and political upheaval, not least through the emergence of popular pamphlets and newspapers, the politicisation of armies, and the rise of radical ideas, organisation and agitation.

The course will be assessed by one 3-hour written paper (75%) and two essays totalling 5,000 words (25%).

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Themes in Early Modern Cultural History

• Anne Goldgar
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., 2-4
• KCL: 5AAH2004

This paper will explore, through specific themes and examples, the way people in early modern Europe (including England) conceived of their world, and how these conceptions manifested themselves in practice. It will use both primary and secondary sources, as well as theoretical works, particularly anthropology, to consider the question of what culture was, what forms allowed for the expression of cultural values, what values were being expressed, and how the transmission and control of those values was accomplished. Defining these themes will entail close attention to both social and political structures, as well as to change in these structures over the course of the period. The main themes to be considered in this paper will be: the definition of community, the articulation of conflict, the uses of culture, the transmission of culture, the control of culture, and relations between elite and popular. Some of the specific topics under these headings will be: the culture of work, carnival and popular protest, oral culture, popular self-fashioning, the civilising process, civic culture and the body social, culture and power, material culture and consumption, defining the other, and museums and the transmission of culture.

Students will generally have completed one main paper in early modern European history.

Assessment will be by one three-hour examination (50%), two 2,000 word essays (40%) and an oral presentation (10%).

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The Fall and Rise of the Polish Nation, 1648-1921

• Richard Butterwick
• Not available in 2010-11
• SSEES, UCL: 17/SEHI2008

This course charts the changing meanings of ‘Poland’ and ‘Polish’, the decline and fall of one ‘Polish’ state and the struggle to resurrect another, as well as the transformations affecting the people at various times considered to constitute the ‘Polish nation’. It does so in the context of changing ‘Lithuanian’ and ‘Ruthenian/Ukrainian’ identities, whose threads intertwined with, and were later painfully disentangled from, those of ‘Poland’.

The course begins with the ‘Commonwealth of the Two Nations, Polish and Lithuanian’, at its zenith. It then analyses the impact of war, especially on confessional and national identities, before moving to the calls for reform that gathered strength from about 1730, including the reconfiguration of the nation, to include, ultimately, all inhabitants of the Commonwealth. Before this vision could be effected, the Commonwealth had been partitioned by its neighbours by 1795.

The implications for ‘Poland’ of the efforts to resurrect the state by force of arms, the debate on the peasantry, as well as the efforts to encourage the spread of Polish culture, and to shape a national memory, will be the focus of the next part of the course. The ideals of a civic, multi-ethnic Commonwealth reached their apogee during the 1863-64 uprising against Russia. Its failure led to further reconfigurations of the nation in an age of rapid population growth and industrialisation, and unfavourable German and Russian nationality policies. The course will look at how and why Polish, Lithuanian and Ukrainian nationalists increasingly went their separate ways, and how all became more hostile towards Jews. The course concludes with the sudden collapse of all of the partitioning empires, and the partition of the former territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and of Ruthenia between the new states of Poland, Lithuania and the Soviet Union in 1921.

A reading knowledge of Polish is not essential, although it is of course an advantage. The course is taught in weekly classes. Assessment is by written examination (75%) and two essays (25%).

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European Jewry and the Transition to Modernity, 1650-1850

• Adam Sutcliffe
• Not available in 2010-11
• KCL:

The upheavals that marked the emergence of the modern era were experienced with particular intensity by the Jews of Europe. In 1650 almost all European Jews lived within insular and religiously traditional communities. By the late nineteenth century Jews were a highly variegated but disproportionably urban, bourgeois, and culturally prominent minority, and the primary polemical scapegoat of discontents of modernity. This module will explore the changes in Jewish identity and experience, and in policies and attitudes toward Jews, over this period of transformation, investigating the different dynamics of change in western, southern and eastern Europe. Key topics and themes will include: Jewish/Christian relations, Jews in the European economy, early modern ‘Court Jews’ and ‘Port Jews’, Enlightenment and Haskalah (‘Jewish Enlightenment’), assimilation and Jewish bourgeois culture, Jewish religious reform and neo-traditionalism. Throughout we will seek to ask how the Jewish case illiminates broader questions of cultural change and intercultural relations in modern European history.

Assessment will be by one three-hour examination (50%), two 2,000 word essays (40%) and an oral presentation (10%).

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The War of Ideas in Post-Revolutionary England, 1660-1740

• Michael Hunter
• Time to be announced
• BkC: 08/HICL150U

In the years from the Stuart Restoration to the mid-eighteenth century, England was a battleground of ideas. This was professedly an age of reason, yet it turned out to be much more difficult than many anticipated to decide just what was reasonable. Much discussion focused on the danger that some contemporaries, in paring away what they saw as the legacy of centuries of priestly obfuscation, were on the highroad to atheism. This course examines some of the passionate debates that took place in this period on religious, political, historical and scientific issues, seeing how far iconoclasm could safely go, and how far traditional arguments survived. Texts considered include treaties by free-thinkers like Charles Blount and John Toland; defences of orthodoxy by such apologists as Robert Boyle and Richard Bentley; and the satirical writings of Jonathan Swift.

Examination by a three-hour unseen written paper.

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Experience, Culture and Identity: Women's Lives in England, 1688-c.1837

• Amanda Vickery
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/HS2135

This course examines the mental and material world of English women in a period of rapid social, economic and cultural transformation. It exploits the wealth of secondary literature which has appeared on the subject in recent years, and evaluates the dominant interpretations of continuity and change in women's history. Attention focuses on the diversity of roles women played, the changing scope of female experience, and the different languages available to articulate that experience. Topics covered include: Love and Marriage, Sexuality, Masculinity, Divorce, Motherhood, Work, Consumerism, Material Culture, Print, Polite Culture, Feminism, Politics and Race. Students will be encouraged to engage critically with the categories, modes of explanation and chronology of recent women's history.

Students will be required to write four essays and present short papers for class discussion. Examination will be by one three-hour paper.

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Russia and Europe: 1700 to the Present

• Orlando Figes
• T., 6 p.m. (2008-9)
• BkC: HICL198S6

In this course we will explore the ambiguous relationship between Russia and Europe, from the eighteenth to the twentieth-first century. Complex feelings of insecurity, of envy and resentment towards Europe define the Russian national consciousness, and the West itself has wavered between Russophilia and Russophobia. Focusing on the key moments of Russian history that have hinged on this relationship - from 1812 to the Crimean War, the Russian Revolution and World War II - we will look at the ideas that shaped Russia's national identity. How was Russia to become a European state whilst retaining its own national character? What did Russia's multinational empire mean for its own nationhood? What was the impact of the Revolution on its relations with the West? And what now defines Russia's role in Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union?

Examination by a three-hour unseen written paper.

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Crime and Popular Disorder in Georgian England

• Simon Renton
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., 2-4
• UCL: HIST6320

The aim of the course is to provide students with an understanding of ‘low politics’ in the period 1714-1830, the ideologies and mind sets of the labouring poor and other lower class groups, and how the ruling elite sought to use the criminal law as an engine for the transmission of their power, in an effort to maintain control over their social inferiors. The course will consider the creation of the "bloody code" of capital laws in the English criminal law, in the course of the 18th century, and the dismantling of this terror based system of law enforcement during the 19th century. We will examine and evaluate differing and competing explanations of these legislative and administrative trends. We shall also investigate the relevance of some radical criminology to the understanding of crime and punishment historically and the theoretical and methodological problems presented, to social historians of crime, by the nature of the sources and records available to them. Rather than view the poor as passive victims of the actions of their controllers and the growth of national markets, we will examine the actions and intentions of the poor and how these were manifested in ‘collective bargaining by riot’, the destruction of machinery, anti-enclosure riots, poaching, wrecking, anonymous letter writing, lower class radicalism and political disturbances. Students taking the course will acquire a grasp of how surviving evidence may be used to determine the motivations of the poor, who left few records of their own, and the functions of the crowd as a means of expression for those who lacked an effective voice in the formal political structures of the time. We will also examine the important role of the ‘middling sort’ as employers, dealers, poor law guardians, prosecutors and jurors.

The course will be assessed by one 3-hour written paper (75%) and two essays totalling 5,000 words (25%).

Please note that this course cannot be taken in combination with 'Marriage and Monarchy' or 'American History in Hollywood Film' or any intercollegiate Group 2 course taught in the Thursday 2-4 slot.

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From Crowd to Court: Cultures of Politics in Later Hanoverian Britain

• Arthur Burns
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., 2-4 (beg. 7 Oct.)
• KCL: 5AAH2014

This Level 5 module (Group 2) offers students wide-ranging perspectives on one of the liveliest fields in modern British historiography: the culture of politics from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century. The course explores how politics was actually conducted in various cultural and physical settings: in short, it could be seen as addressing the issue of how men (and sometimes with considerable effect and to a surprising extent women) sought to `get things done’ in a rapidly changing environment. It ranges from the politics of the street to the politics of the court: via local institutions and parliament, the coffee house and the country house, elections and patrons, petition and protest. It looks at regional patterns: city and county, metropolis and province, England, Scotland and Ireland. Among the themes discussed will be the role of print culture, personal relations, constitutional and unconstitutional forms, language and symbolism. By ranging so widely, it will bring into conversation several of the most important strands in historical writing on the conduct of politics, from Namier’s landmark discussion of elite politics to recent writing on political symbolism and rhetoric. Students will be exposed to the rich evidential resources (both textual and non-textual) now available to students of this subject, and will benefit from studying the subject in a world city which literally provided the stage on which many of the dramas discussed were enacted.

Assessment will be by one three-hour examination (50%), two 2,000 word essays (40%) and an oral presentation (10%).

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Church, State and Nation in Britain, 1750-1939

• Arthur Burns
• Not available in 2010-11
• KCL: 5AAH2006

This Level 5 Group 2 module aims to provide students with an introduction to one of the liveliest areas of current historical research concerning the history of modern Britain: the place of religion. The course focuses on the role of the churches in modern Britain as some of the key institutional presences in a national culture, helping shape understandings of wider society and either contributing to or challenging other conceptions of national identity and purpose. Both the established and non-established churches had a privileged position in a wide range of national conversations and debates concerning the best models to adopt in the provision of welfare, the preferred model of economy, constitution and political life; how the nation should be brought to share a common identity and sense of purpose both in peace and war; how personal life and national life should be understood to be related, the compatibility of different religious (and non-religious expressions) with national identity and cohesion, and the best means for men, women and children to contribute to national life. The module provides an introduction to a range of contrasting historiographical debates and approaches, in many cases still the site of ongoing controversy; students will also have the opportunity to study a wide range of topics, ranging from high political social thought and constitutional argument via millenarian cults and anti-catholic prejudice, to missions to both the unchurched masses and non-Christian minorities, and to compare and contrasts eras as different as those of the French Revolutionary Wars and the First World War. The very specific national religious cultures of Ireland, Scotland and Wales will also receive particular attention.

Assessment will be by one three-hour examination (50%), two 2,000 word essays (40%) and an oral presentation (10%).

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The Industrial Revolution

• Julian Hoppit
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., 2-4 or 4-6
• UCL: HIST2302

The ‘industrial revolution’ is one of the major transformations in human history, and Britain was one of the first societies to experience it. But if that transformation was fundamentally economic, a dramatic increase in both outputs and productivity, it had important social, cultural, intellectual and political dimensions: major changes were experienced in class and gender relations; the balance and roles of ‘the ages of man’ were profoundly altered; new attitudes towards risk and consumption were forged; radical ideas about the economy and society flourished; and both state and empire played important roles in this ‘great transformation’. Britain in 1830 was a very different place from a century before. This course provides a general, not merely economic, view of the industrial revolution, closing with a consideration of how contemporary observers puzzled about this world made anew.

The course will be assessed by one 3-hour written paper (75%) and two essays totalling 5,000 words (25%).

Please note that it will not be possible to take this course in combination with an intercollegiate Group 2 course taught in the Thursday 2-4 slot.

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Europe in the Age of Revolution and Napoleon, 1780-1815

• Michael Rowe
• Not available in 2010-11
• KCL: 10/AHH203

This course examines one of the most dynamic periods of change and upheaval that Europe has ever experienced. The revolutionary principles of liberty, equality and fraternity that emerged in France in 1789 posed an ideological challenge to the rest of the European Continent. Following the outbreak of the revolutionary wars in 1792, the French exported these new principles by force to Central and Southern Europe. The initial idealism of the Revolution was quickly superseded by French imperialism; by 1810 Napoleon’s Grand Empire stretched from Spain to Poland. The states of this vast European empire adopted French-style reforms, whilst Napoleon’s remaining enemies embarked upon ‘defensive modernisation’ programmes of their own in preparation for the final show-down. This course will examine the unprecedented modernisation that occurred in Europe in this era with reference to continuity and change, resistance and collaboration, religion and identity.

Assessment will be by one three-hour examination (50%), two 2,000 word essays (40%) and an oral presentation (10%).

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Responses to Rome from the Eighteenth Century to the Present

• Catharine Edwards
• Not available in 2008-9
• BkC: 08/HICL108U

This course will examine the ways the Rome of antiquity, its monuments and ruins, its fabric and vistas, has been physically, ideologically and artistically appropriated since the eighteenth century, both by visitors and by those governing the city. In laying claim to the city, different groups and individuals – including British aristocrats, the popes, Napoleon, Mussolini – have privileged different and contradictory aspects of the city’s earlier history. Rome has been made to stand for republicanism, for empire, for decadence and for religious faith. This course will also seek to raise questions about how far study of an ancient city so freighted with symbolic meanings is necessarily implicated in these earlier struggles for cultural – and actual – ownership of Rome.

Assessment is by one three-hour examination.

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From Rakes to Respectability? Conflict and Consensus in Britain 1815-1851

• Jane Hamlett
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/HS2246

Were the early Victorians really dull and stuffy? Of course not. Societies are far more variegated than that – and so was the Britain in the years 1815-51, with the distinctive talents and lifestyles of – to name but a few – Lord Byron, Beau Brummel, the Chartist demonstrators, Robert Stephenson the inventor, William Hudson the 'railway king', the Brontë sisters, Charles Lyell the geologist who so influenced the young Darwin, Charles Dickens, Jabez Bunting the hell-fire Methodist preacher and organiser, Elizabeth Sharples the secularist lecturer, William Wilberforce, Harriette Wilson the celebrated courtesan, Angela Burdett-Coutts the wealthy philanthropist, Daniel O'Connell the Irish 'Liberator', Sir Walter Scott, John Stuart Mill, the young Queen Victoria, Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole the nursing pioneers, Augustus Pugin the inspirer of the 'Gothicising' Houses of Parliament, Turner the artist, the real-life Artful Dodgers who lived by picking-pockets, and Joanna Southcott the prophetess who claimed to be pregnant with the new Messiah and who founded a clandestine religious sect that lasted at least until the 1990s. To interpret their lives, historians cultivate a double vision, one focusing upon how historical eras gain subsequent reputations that develop over time, and the other focusing upon the lived experiences of people in the relevant era, when things seemed highly complex and when the outcome of contemporary disputes was still uncertain. Comparing and contrasting these two visions constitutes the core theme of this course. Come and help to reexamine cultural conflicts and consensus in our seminar discussions.

Assessment is by one three-hour examination paper.

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Faith, Nation, and Empire in Modern East-Central Europe (1800-present)

• James Bjork
• Not available in 2010-11
• KCL:

This course will be examining three broad ways in which East-Central Europe has been organized and re-organized over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The first and most familiar of these organizing principles is the nation-state. We will be exploring why this model has had such powerful appeal, as well as the problems that have arisen out of attempts to create neatly delineated nation-states out of region’s linguistic ‘crazy quilt’. A second model that we will consider is that of supranational or imperial systems. Included here are not only pre-national dynastic states like the Habsburg Monarchy, but also a wide range of more self-consciously forward-looking attempts to transcend national divisions: the hierarchical racial order of the Nazi era; the one-party states of the Soviet bloc; and, most recently, the market integration of the European Union. Finally, we will be looking at the role that religious communities have played in the life of East-Central Europe, at the level of both subnational regional bonds and transnational 'civilizational' systems.

Assessment will be by one three-hour examination (50%), two 2,000 word essays (40%) and an oral presentation (10%).

This course may not be taken together with the Group 2 course ‘Successors to the Habsburgs: East-Central Europe 1914-1945’ (SSEES,UCL: SEHI2006).

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The History of Australia since 1788

• Frank Bongiorno
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., 2-4
• KCL: 5AAH2013

Who came to Australia in 1788 and why? What impact has more than two centuries of immigration had on Indigenous Australians? How have these movements of people been interpreted and influenced the various meanings attached to being Australian? What role has constitutional change played in these shifting and contested meanings? How has Australia been positioned in international affairs, particularly within the Asia-Pacific region? And to what extent have allegiances to Britain been protected, re-negotiated and critiqued?

This course introduces students to political, social and cultural themes in Australian history. The course investigates topics which include Aboriginal culture and resistance to European invasion; the environment, exploration, gold and land settlement; self government, Federation and the Republican Movement; indentured Chinese and Melanesian labour; colonial women; and the participation in the 1914-18 and 1939-45 wars; the 1930s Depression; immigration and multi-culturalism; the struggle for Aboriginal land rights; the ‘Vietnam generation’; suburbia; foreign policy; and gender, ethnicity and class in contemporary Australian society.

Examination is by one three-hour paper (50%, two in-class presentations (10%), and two essays of 3,000 words each (40%).

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The Islamic Revival: from 18th-century Reform to 20th-century Political Action

• Francis Robinson
• Available in 2010-11
• T., pm
• RH: HS2289

Over the past two centuries Muslim societies have been experiencing a major process of religious revival and reform, of which a dominant feature has been an increased emphasis on action in this life to achieve salvation. This course will examine how Islamic reform was expressed differently in different contexts in the nineteenth century, how it came in many cases in the twentieth century to evolve into Islamism and competition for power in the modern state, and how this came in the last decades of the twentieth century, in the context of globalisation and the breakdown of Cold War international order, to be expressed by some in violent action against Western targets. In following this course students will engage with the main figures in the movement from Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab to Usama bin Laden, and some of the main organisations from the Deoband School to al-Qaeda. They should be able to assess for themselves whether or not there really is a ‘clash of civilisations’.

Assessment is by one three-hour examination.

This course may not be taken together with the Group 2 course 'The Modern Middle East since c.1880' (RH: HS2290).

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Gender and Society in the Non-western World since 1800

• Sarah Ansari
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/HS2263

This course examines concepts of continuity and change in the non-western world by focussing on issues connected with gender, and women in particular. It looks at the evolution of the state and its consequences for the relative position of women and men living in societies in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Students taking this course will develop a critical awareness of what the arrival of so-called modernity has meant in a non-western context, and why debate and discussion of its consequences has very often revolved around women's lives. One important question concerns the impact of interaction with the West and western ideas, both in those regions directly incorporated into European empires and those that were more indirectly and to different degrees touched by western imperialism. This course explores how this interaction took place, and also the kinds of indigenous forces that influenced change. A key issue involves the complex relationship between female emancipation - the Woman Question - and nationalism.

Teaching will be by weekly seminar classes. Assessment is by one three-hour examination.

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The European Revolutions of 1848

• Axel Körner
• Not available in 2010-11
• UCL: HIST2311

With special focus on France, Italy, Germany and the Habsburg Empire, this course looks at the European revolutions of 1848, exemplifying approaches of social, political and cultural history. The course aims to introduce students to the analysis of a historical situation from the perspective of both its broad socio-economic structures and specific political events, allowing the identification of similarities and differences between the national, regional and local revolutions. Students will work with selected primary sources on the French and Italian revolutions of 1848 (political documents and literary sources in translation) and review recent historiographical developments. To understand the events of 1848 a number of theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches will be explored, including the relationship between history and theory, discourse-analysis, gender and the public sphere, the understanding of cultural practices in specific social milieux.

Students for this course should already have completed a survey course in nineteenth-century European history.

Examination is by one three-hour paper (50%) and three essays totalling 10,000 words (50%).

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Ideology, Culture and Society in Latin America from Independence to the Present Day

• Nicola Miller
• Not available in 2010-11
• UCL: HIST2303

This course offers an intellectual and cultural history of Latin America. In a region which has regarded itself as 'outside history' (the illegitimate product of the European conquest of America) and in which thinkers and writers have traditionally enjoyed a high degree of political influence, such issues are more than usually important for understanding the overall development of these societies. The course explores the relationships between art and politics; myth and history; high and low culture; and nationalism and national identity in Latin America. Many of the items on the reading list are novels and essays. The course will be particularly concerned to challenge the kind of cultural stereotyping which still underlies much of our thinking about Latin America.

Students taking the course should have some background in Latin American history. Students without any prior knowledge of the region should consult Dr Miller before enrolling. A reading knowledge of Spanish is desirable, but not essential.

Examination is by one three-hour paper (50%) and three essays totalling 10,000 words (50%).

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Ireland and the Irish between the Famine and Partition

• Joanna Bourke
• Not available in 2008-9
• BkC: 08/H071

This course examines the social and cultural history of Ireland between 1845 and 1921. In particular, we will be looking at the debates apportioning 'blame' for the poverty of Ireland and the rise of political protest. A great deal of emphasis will be placed on the history of the Irish family, the Irish language, policing practices and prostitution, leisure pursuits, religion, education, and emigration. The nature of interactions between social groups and individuals are analysed. Issues of identity, class, and gender are central to this course.

Examination is by one three-hour paper. Students are also expected to write at least two essays.

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Lahore and Istanbul: Modernity in the Muslim Imperial City, 1850-1960

• Markus Daechsel
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., pm
• RH: HS2232

This course compares how city dwellers in two very different regions of the Muslim world – Turkey and South Asia – engaged with the political, cultural, social and economic changes of ‘modernity’. We will focus on two distinct cities with great historical personalities: Lahore, one of the most vibrant and colourful cities of British India; and Istanbul with its cosmopolitan and multi-religious populations and its role as contact point between East and West. We will explore the histories of these places from a whole range of questions and approaches: the changing face of city geography and architecture, the impact of political and economic change; material culture and its impact on social identities: urban housing and domestic life, mass entertainment in print and cinema; literature and art and their impact on political culture; finally, religious practice in urban space, processes of ‘secularisation’ and the question of religious pluralism.

Assessment is by a written examination (70%) and the best of two c.5000 word essays (30%).

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The Crisis of the American Republic, 1857-1877

• Adam Smith
• Not available in 2010-11
• UCL: HIST2313

The Civil War is the central event in American history. Four million slaves were freed and over 600,000 combatants died in a war that convulsed the nation for four years. For those who lived through it, the Civil War would always remain the defining moment in their lives. Union victory eradicated slavery, bringing the entire nation, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, a 'new birth of freedom'. Yet the war left unresolved the crucial question of exactly what that freedom meant in theory and practice. This was the essential problem of Reconstruction. How would the South be reintegrated into the Union, who would rule the nation, and, especially, what would be the place of emancipated slaves in American life? This course will examine the events leading up to the Civil War, the war itself, and the era of Reconstruction to gain insight into this central turning point in the American experience. The focus of the course is on understanding the impact of the war and the legacy of emancipation on the nation's politics, culture and race relations.

Examination is by one three-hour paper (50%) and 3 assessed essays totalling 10,000 words (50%).

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Politics of Sport: Power, Identity and Race in Britain, 1880s-1990s

• Humayun Ansari
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/HS2250A

This course examines the role of sport as a major political accompaniment of the modern age. It explores how politics and sports have become increasingly intertwined in Britain, and investigates the role which sport has played in the construction of British national identity. Sporting activity has provided a common reference point for diverse groups in British society, yet sport has persisted in reproducing divisions in class, gender and race relations. 'Politics and Sport', therefore, looks at the changing meaning of sport in people's lives in modern Britain.

Teaching will be in a combination of lectures and seminars. Assessment is by one three-hour examination.

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The Modern Middle East since c. 1880

• Vanessa Martin
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/HS2290

What lies behind the current crisis in the Middle East? The course looks at the background to the on-going war in Iraq, the struggle between Israel and the Palestinians, and the rise of al-Qa’ida. It considers the crucial changes in the Middle East during World War I, and the resultant dominance of the British until 1948, including their role in the shaping of the modern Middle East. Why is the Middle East so significant in international politics? The course examines its strategic importance and the vital nature of its principal resource, oil, and then we trace how the Middle East was structured to serve the commercial and strategic interests of the Great Powers. In the post-World War II period, geopolitical factors made the Middle East particularly vulnerable to suprpower struggles and rivalries. These interacted with internal and regional factors to produce political complexity and instability. The impact of the West was countered by western ideas particularly, nationalismn both secular and religious, demonstrated in the quest for strong state systems that could ensure defence of the country in the Arab lands, Turkey and Iran. All of this was originated in the reform movements in Iran and the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century.

Examination is by one three-hour paper.

This course may not be taken together with the Group 2 course 'The Islamic Revival: from 18th-century Reform to 20th-century Political Action' (RH: HS2289).

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Memory and Modern Europe

• Zoë Waxman
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., p.m.
• RH: HS2297

This course examines the role of memory in modern European history and culture. There is a difference between how history happens and how the events of history are reconstructed and remembered at different times, in different places, and by different groups of people. Students will explore the relationship between individual and social memory, the ways in which different narratives of the past are constructed, the role of personal testimony in history, how different memorials and museums relate to different understandings of the past, the role of the media in shaping historical consciousness, the limits of representation, the politics and culture of forgetting, and the future of memory (what happens when memories fade).

Examination is by one three-hour written paper.

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Modern Political Ideas

• Gregory Claeys
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: HS2271

The course examines the main currents of political thought in Modern European and World History from Rousseau to the present, e.g. (a) The Eighteenth Century and the French Revolution: Commercial society and its enemies (Hume, Smith, Rousseau); the French Revolution (Paine, Wollstonecraft); reactions to the Revolution (Hegel); (b) The Nineteenth Century: Early socialism (Owen, Fourier, Saint Simon); Tocqueville and the American model; Marx and Communism; Mill and Liberalism; Nietzsche and Modernity; Bakunin and Anarchism; (c) The Twentieth Century: Anti-imperialist theorists (Fanon, Gandhi); Orwell and Dystopia; Green Political Theory.

Teaching is by weekly lectures and tutorial classes. Examination is by one three-hour paper.

This course is not available to final-year students.

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The Age of Science: The Transformation of European Life, 1850-1939

• Chandak Sengoopta
• Time to be announced
• BkC: 08/HICL123S6

The module is intended to provide an overview of the intellectual and social history of science, technology and medicine at the undergraduate level through focused examinations of major events, personalities and processes from the nineteenth century to the outbreak of the Second World War. The module will be organised around six major themes: ‘Deciphering the Universe and the Human Organism’; ‘Communication Revolutions’; ‘Improving the Quality of Life’; ‘Ordering the World’; ‘Imaging, Recording and Representing’; and ‘The Science of War’. Although it will not be restricted to particular regions, most of the material will be drawn from Central Europe (Germany or Austria) and Britain, the scientific traditions of which are rich in instructive contrasts.

The course will be assessed by one three-hour examination.

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Electoral Politics in Britain, 1868-1945

• Paul Readman
• Not available in 2010-11
• KCL: 10/08/AH2432

This paper deals with electoral politics in Britain between the Second Reform Act and the Second World War. It provides a general overview of individual elections in this period, but the bulk of the course takes a thematic approach. Topics covered include: electoral violence and corruption; the role of public opinion and the media; social class and voting behaviour; gender and electoral politics; party organisation; local elections; by-elections; the language and rhetoric of platform appeals. Attention is also paid to electoral politics in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The paper provides opportunities for case study work focusing on individual general elections, particular localities, and types of constituencies.

The course will be taught in weekly two-hour-long seminars. Assessment will be by one three-hour examination (50%), two 2,000 word essays (40%) and an oral presentation (10%).

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The Birth of Modern Germany, 1870-1933

• Jan Rüger and Nik Wachsmann
• T., 6 p.m. (2008-9)
• BkC: HICL208S6

The years from 1870 to 1933 – from unification under Bismarck to Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor – saw the birth of modern Germany. This was a period of rapid change and sharp contradictions, of utopian dreams and authoritarian initiatives, of humanitarian visions and radical nationalism, of great wealth and deep despair, of radical reform and reactionary opposition. The course introduces students to this crucial era. It explores the emergence of modern Germany from political, economic, social and cultural perspectives. The first term focuses on Imperial Germany, the second term on the Weimar Republic. Teaching will be in seminar groups, and will make use of the extensive secondary-literature, as well as primary documents, photographs, film and literary sources.

Examination by a three-hour unseen written paper.

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Social History of Latin America since c.1890

• Christopher Abel
• Not available in 2010-11
• UCL: HIST2316

This course will introduce students to the social history of Latin America in the period since c.1890, and place this within its political economy and intellectual settings. The course will have a marked policy stress. Students will be introduced to continent-wide debates, and to issues pertaining to five specific countries: Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, Cuba and Argentina. Seminars and class discussions will be based on informal lectures, student presentations and pre-circulated documents (including extracts from NGO and household surveys; policy documents from international agencies and think-tanks; personal testimonies; writings by intellectuals; early nutrition, geographical and anthropological studies).

Examination is by one three-hour paper (50%) and three assessed essays totalling 10,000 words (50%).

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The Western Powers and East Asia, 1838-1945

• Chi-kwan Mark
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/HS2278

This course deals with the involvement of the two principal Western powers – Britain and the United States – in East Asian affairs during the period 1839-1945. It examines the way Britain and America established their power and influence in the region, and how their predominance was challenged by the local forces of nationalism, communism and militarism. While providing a comparative study of British and American policies, the course will also consider the perspectivesand responses of Asian countries, especially China and Japan, as well as the wider regional and international trends such as opium trade and racism. Topics to be covered include the establishment of formal and informal empires in the Asia Pacific, the Anglo-Japanese alliance and its demise, Asian immigration to North America, the rise of Chinese nationalism, British nationals on treaty-port China, the challenge of Soviet communism, and the rise and fall of the Japanese empire in East and Southeast Asia.

Students are expected to submit four essays, and to make two short formal seminar presentations. Assessment is by one three-hour examination.

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Imperialism in Modern East Asia

• Naoko Shimazu
• W., 6 p.m. (2008-9)
• BkC: HICL084S6

This course is primarily aimed at studying the history of Japanese imperialism from the late nineteenth century till the collapse of the Japanese empire in 1945. As Japanese imperialism did not develop in isolation but in conjunction with the growth of western imperialism generally in East Asia, the course will take the comparative approach whenever possible by exploring similarities and differences. To this end, we shall look at British, American, French and German imperial influences in the region. Thematically, the course covers concepts such as nationalism, pan-Asianism, formal and informal empires, cultural imperialism, race, anti-colonial movements, and ‘puppet’ states. Geographically the course covers the areas held by the Japanese empire, which includes parts of China, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, and the Micronesian islands in the Pacific. Southeast Asia will be covered within the context of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. An emphasis will be given throughout the course to understanding ideas and concepts behind the historical events.

Examination by a three-hour unseen written paper.

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'Dragon Ladies'? Society, Politics and Gender in Modern China

• Weipin Tsai
• Available in 2010-11
• Th. pm (week beg. 27 Sep.)
• RH: HS2313

This course will look at Modern Chinese political and social history from the second half of the 19th century to the contemporary period, through the stories of three powerful and well-known public figures: the Empress Dowager Cixi; Soong Mei-ling (the wife of Chiang Kai-shek); and Jiang Qing (Madam Mao). The core object of this course is to explore the connections between events and historical figures through, but it will also introduce a thematic approach to learning modern Chinese history. The first part of the course will focus on these three women in chronological and historical biographical dimensions; the second will look at various important political, social and cultural themes related to these prominent female figures. The course will use English-language sources, including documents, films, newspapers, documentaries, secondary literature, and biographies.

Assessment is by examination (70%), and the best of 2 of 4 essays of 2500-3000 words (30%).

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China from 1900 to the Present Day: Rebellions, Revolutions, Reforms

• Julia Lovell
• T., 6 p.m. (2008-9)
• BkC: HICL204S6

This course will range chronologically across 20th-century China’s diverse political, cultural and economic revolutions: the tumult and failed reform of the late Qing; the forces that converged to bring down China’s last dynasty in 1911; the roots of the new republic’s endemic weakness; the cultural iconoclasm of the 1910s; the rise of the Nationalist and Communist Parties and their struggles for power; the interplay with the Soviet model; Mao’s attempts at permanent revolution; the post-Mao economic and cultural revolutions. The course will build very logically on knowledge acquired in a Group 1 survey course, both reinforcing familiarity with the broad sweep of modern Chinese history through its thematically unified structure, and giving students an opportunity to explore in detail the full complexity of key events such as the overthrow of the Qing dynasty, the May Fourth New Culture Movement, the Nationalist and Communist revolutions, the Cultural Revolution, the post-Mao economic reforms, the turmoil of the late 1980s and the present prospects for reform and/or revolution in the People’s Republic. It will also oblige students to engage critically with the significance and validity of the term revolution in the modern Chinese context, thereby offering a stimulating entry-point into the central historiographical debates of 20th-century China. The course will encourage students to consider not only the diversity and complexity of 20th-century China’s revolutions, but also to consider more generally different forms and motors of historical change, and a broad range of social and political responses to them. There will be rich scope for considering alternative, dissenting responses to the dominant models of revolutionary modernity developed by China’s main political parties: in particular, the conflict between intellectuals and revolutionary politics, and the often fraught relationship between modern Chinese nationalism and the concept of the “new woman”. The aim will be to set political and ideological developments in a larger context of social and economic transformation and cultural modernization, in order to explain why reform failed, why one particular (the Communist) version of revolution succeeded; and how the People’s Republic of China has managed to survive longer than any of the revolutionary regimes that preceded it.

Examination by a three-hour unseen written paper.

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Nationalism, Democracy and Minorities in Central Europe, 1918-1939

• Rudolf Muhs
• Available in 2010-11
• T., pm (week beg. 27 Sep.)
• RH: HS2264

During the two decades after the First World War the newly established or reconstituted countries of Central Europe (Germany, Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary) were troubled by a multitude of problems. The aim of this course is to highlight the causes and consequences of the failure of parliamentary government and liberal institutions to take a firm hold: the legacy of war with its cult of violence and the militarisation of politics; the dilemma of counterrevolutionary regimes in pre-revolutionary societies; the difficulties of nation-building in multi-ethnic states; the pathology of modern culture and the handicap of backwardness; the flaws of authoritarian rule and the attraction of Italian fascism as a model for the New Right; the perils of mass politics without democracy; the appeal of communism and the reasons for its defeat. Setting the case of Germany in a wider context will help you realise what this country had in common with its smaller neighbours and what made it different, culminating in the triumph of Nazism and the unleashing of the Second World War.

Assessment is by one 3-hour examination.

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American History in Hollywood Film

• Melvyn Stokes
• Available in 2010-11
• UCL: HIST2314

During the last few years, historians of the United States have come to pay increasing attention to film as a means of commenting on and interpreting the American past. This course will analyse the representation of American historical themes and periods in a selection of Hollywood feature films. It will involve the close analysis of a number of film texts and the study of critical commentary on the films themselves. Emphasis will be placed on answering the following questions: what is the interpretation of history presented in the film? Does that presentation grow out of or differ from prior historical scholarship? How does critical commentary on the film, both at the time of its release and later, illuminate contemporary historical debates? Does the film itself have any historical consequences? What particular factors, both internal and external to Hollywood itself, contributed to the view of history offered in the film? Does the representation of history in the film accord with current historical scholarship? Themes and issues to be dealt with in the course include the American Revolution, slavery, Civil War and Reconstruction, Native Americans, immigration and urbanization, problems of the 1920s and 1930s, HUAC and McCarthyism, the civil rights movement, the war in Vietnam, and Watergate.

The class will last for c.four hours. It will begin with the viewing of a film and be followed by a seminar discussion class of 1½-2 hours.

Examination is by one three-hour paper (50%) and 3 assessed essays totalling 10,000 words (50%).

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Anglo-American Relations in the Twentieth Century

• Kathleen Burk
• Available in 2010-11
• UCL: HIST2306

This course will examine the political, economic and strategic relationships between the US and the UK. While the course will cover the contrasting methods of making and executing foreign policy, the two world wars, atomic diplomacy, the decline of the British Empire, and the two countries' relationships with the Soviet Union and Europe, close attention will also be paid to the use of the pound and the dollar as weapons in foreign policy, the roles of the City of London and Wall Street, and the role of certain strategic commodities such as oil.

It is strongly recommended that students should have already completed either a Group 1 course in either modern British history or the history of the USA.

Examination is by one three-hour paper (50%) and three essays totalling 10,000 words (50%).

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Spain in Conflict, 1930-1953

• Helen Graham
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/HS2257

The course covers the democratic Second Republic (1931-6), the Spanish Civil War (1936-9), and the first and most brutal phase (1939-53) of the Franco dictatorship. In Spain, as in Europe, the 1930s and 1940s saw the explosion of modern mass political mobilisation and anatagonistic visions of national development vied for dominance. The course explores the significance of Francoism in relation to these broader European themes focusing especially on the Franco regime’s murderous attempt to create a Spanish version of the Nazi Volksgemeinschaft even after the collapse of Hitler’s New Order in Europe.

Students must prepare one short seminar paper during the course as well as completing four pieces of written work. Assessment is by one three-hour examination.

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The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia

• Bojan Aleksov
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., 2-5
• SSEES, UCL: 17/SEHI2007

This course offers a survey of Yugoslavia's political history, together with relevant diplomatic, economic and social issues. The following main themes will be explored: the development of South Slav national ideologies; the First World War and formation of Yugoslavia in December 1918; democracy and dictatorship in the interwar penod; partition, resistance and collaboration during the Second World War, as well as the Communist revolution and civil wars that accompanied it; Tito's Yugoslavia and its 'road to Socialism' following the split with Moscow in 1948; the revival of the national question, the end of communism and of Yugoslavia in the wars of dissolution. Particular attention will be paid to the national and constitutional questions perennial in Yugoslavia, but also to the persistence of the Yugoslav idea, which enabled the South Slavs to coexist throughout the 'short' twentieth century.

Assessment is by essays (25%) and a three-hour written examination (75%).

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Successors to the Habsburgs: East-Central Europe, 1914-1945

• Rebecca Haynes
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., 2-4
• SSEES, UCL: 17/SEHI2006

This course will investigate the problems caused by the collapse of Austria-Hungary and the creation of new states in East-Central Europe (Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia). These Habsburg 'successor' states were burdened with nationality problems as complex as those of the former Empire and were constantly under threat of territorial revision. In addition, these states lacked strong traditions of representative government and faced serious social and economic problems which were further aggravated by the onset of the Depression. They thus fell easy prey to authoritarian solutions and looked for support to the Great Powers who in turn sought to influence events within these countries. The history of these states thus tends to follow a similar pattern: a brief experiment with democracy after the First World War followed by the imposition of authoritarian rule; competition between authoritarian rulers and fascist movements in the 1930s; competition with one another in foreign policy; German occupation; war and communist takeover.

Assessment is by one three-hour examination (65%) coursework (25%), and an oral presentation (10%).

This course may not be taken together with the Group 2 course 'Faith, Nation, and Empire in Modern East-Central Europe (1800-present)' (KCL).

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Genocide

• Dan Stone
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/HS2296

This course examines the occurrence of genocide from the colonial period to the present day. It deals with the development of the concept of genocide, and the debates over definition. Then it examines the following case studies: the colonisation of Australia and North America, the Herero genocide, the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, Stalin’s Great Terror, post-1945 genocides of indigenous peoples, Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia. Finally, it examines the merits of different explanations for genocide, including issues of nation-building, race-theory, gender, and mass violence, and examines the problems of genocide prevention and humanitarian intervention.

The course will be assessed by one three-hour examination.

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The French Civil War, 1934-1970

• Richard C. Vinen
• Not available in 2010-11
• KCL: 5AAH2011

This course deals with the series of violent political conflicts that shook France between the right-wing riots of 1934 and the death of de Gaulle in 1970. Special attention will be given to the strikes of 1936 and 1938; the internal roots of the defeat in 1940; the Vichy government; the conflict within France brought by the Algerian war and the protest movements of 1968.

A good reading knowledge of French is required. Assessment will be by one three-hour examination (50%), two 2,000 word essays (40%) and an oral presentation (10%).

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The Making of the Modern Racial Order

• Hilary Sapire
• Not available in 2008-9
• BkC: 08/HICL140U

The dominating themes in the historiography of modern South Africa are the origins and character of apartheid. Many theories about its genesis have been advanced, ranging from those which privilege the legacy of slavery and servitude at the Cape from the 17th century to others which locate its origins in the more recent processes of industrialisation, urbanisation and popular struggles. Different aspects of the apartheid system, likewise, are emphasised in different accounts; whereas some writers focus on segregation/apartheid as ‘racial capitalism’, others emphasise its cultural and social effects. These debates and concerns run through this course, which seeks to explore the making of South Africa’s racial order from the late 18th century to the present day. It will be emphasised throughout the course that the creation of this order entailed negotiation and struggle, not only between rulers and the ruled, but within the ruling elites over the precise form racial domination was to take.

Assessment is by one three-hour examination paper.

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Modern Girls: Women in Britain, c.1914-1984

• Amanda Vickery
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH:

The slender flapper, cigarette holder in hand, off to cocktails or a night at the flicks epitomizes the surface glamour of modernity. But how real were her gains? This course explores the words and experiences of British women in a century of rapid social, economic and cultural transformation. We will determine the constraints on women in war and peace, politics, law and citizenship, education and paid work, marriage, motherhood and family. But we will also explore women’s dreams and disappointments in courtship and romance, sexual relationships and desire, domesticity and home-making, consumerism and fashion. The elaboration of femininity and gender roles in the glossy media of advertising, women’s magazines, paperback books, broadcasting and film is a continuous theme of the course. Together we will look at expectations and outcomes, promise and its containment. Perhaps the Hoover and the hostess trolley were not the answer to a woman’s prayers?

Assessment is by one three-hour examination paper.

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Modern France: from 1918 to the Present

• Pamela Pilbeam
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/HS2294

The course will investigate aspects of modern France in order to understand what makes France tick today. Topics will include: the impact of the First World War; how successfully democracy survived in the inter-war years; the Socialist and Communist Left; the right-wing Leagues; Vichy; de Gaulle and the Liberation; the failure of the fourth Republic; the emergence of a Presidential regime under de Gaulle after 1958; the National Front; the Greens; and the position of France in the EU. We will examine social change in France, including demography, the status of women, immigrants and citizenship, changes in education and religion.

Assessment is by one three-hour paper (70%) and two coursework essays (30%). Finalists may also take the course and if desired may do an attached 4,000-word essay and are credited with 1.5 units.

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The Left in Western Europe since 1945

• Donald Sassoon
• Not available in 2010-11
• QMUL: 13/HST254

This course deals principally with the strategic and ideological dimensions of the socialist, social-democratic and communist parties of Western Europe. Where, according to the parties of the Left, is political power located and how can the Left obtain it? What should it do when it has achieved power? What should be the central features of a socialist society? The course also examines the electoral dimension of the West European Left as well as the successes and failures of Left governments and highlights the similarities and differences of left-wing political parties operating in different countries. The parties of the four 'core' countries (Great Britain, West Germany, France and Italy) will be studied in some detail but attention will also be paid to Sweden and Spain and some reference made to Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Finland, Norway and Denmark.

There is no language requirement, although priority will be given to students who have some knowledge of one or more West European languages other than English. Numbers will be limited to a maximum of fifteen. Examination is by one three-hour paper (75%) and two assessed essays (25%).

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Media, Culture and Society in the Soviet Union from Stalin to 1991

• Kristin Roth-Ey
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., 2-4
• SEES: SEHI2009

This course explores the history of the Societ Union's experiment in creating a socialist 'culture for the masses' from Stalinism through to 1991. In lectures and discussions, we will analyze the relationship of cultural developments to key issues in the history of the late USSR, such as the nature of power in the Soviet system, Stalinist and post-Stalinist, the question of national and supra-national, or Soviet, identity formations, issues of generational conflict, 'lifestyle' politics, and the cold war, and the impact of technological and sociological modernization. Readings will draw from secondary sources, first-person narratives, and documents in translation (many recently published). The course focuses in-depth on cinema as a key sphere for cultural production and consumption in the USSR.

Assessment is by one three-hour paper (75%) and two courseweork essays (25%).

This course may not be taken together with the Group 2 course 'The Soviet Union and Russia, 1945-2000' (KCL).

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The Soviet Union and Russia, 1945-2000

• Stephen Lovell
• Not available in 2010-11
• KCL:

This course covers Soviet/Russian history from the end of World War II to the start of the Putin era. Although the 1920s and 1030s have until now dominated the study of Soviet history, there is much to be gained from taking the war (rather than the Revolution) as a point of departure and investigating the further growth, maturity and eventual obsolescence of Soviet socialism. Starting with the late Stalin era and the recovery from war, the course moves on to the tempestuous years of de-Stalinization and to the unjustly neglected period of ‘stagnation’ under Leonid Brezhnev. It concludes by considering the significance of the transformation that Russia underwent from the late 1980s onwards: was this a revolution or something less than that? Topics will range widely over political, social, economic and cultural history: from Cold War and kremlinology to mass culture and migration.

Assessment will be by one three-hour examination (50%), two 2,000 word essays (40%) and an oral presentation (10%).

This course may not be taken together with the Group 2 course 'Media, Culture and Society in the Soviet Union from Stalin to 1991' (SSEES, UCL).

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Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, 1955-1968

• John A Kirk
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: HS2219

'Martin didn't make the movement, the movement made Martin' noted veteran civil rights activist Ella Baker. Baker's perceptive comments strike at the very heart of contemporary historiographical debates. On the one hand, scholars have increasingly viewed the mass black movement for civil rights in the United States as a grassroots phenomenon that was rooted in local communities and based upon local leadership and local needs. On the other hand, scholars still emphasise the vital national leadership role played by Martin Luther King, Jr. in the civil rights struggle, particularly from the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott to King's 1968 assassination in Memphis, Tennessee. This course looks at both strands of this scholarship and seeks to assess the dynamics of the movement at both local and national levels, and to examine the tensions that often existed between them, as well as addressing the central controversies and debates surrounding King’s movement leadership.

Assessment is by one three-hour paper.

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The Northern Ireland Troubles

• Ian McBride
• Available in 2010-11
• Th., 2-4
• KCL: 5AAH2003

In proportion to its size, Northern Ireland may be the most heavily researched area on earth, but the bloody and protracted conflict fought there since the 1960s remains incomprehensible to most outsiders. This paper examines the political, social and cultural dimensions of the Troubles in an attempt to understand why successive governments failed to find a peaceful solution to the Northern Ireland problem. Topics will include partition, the Stormont regime, the Civil Rights Movement, the IRA and 'armed struggle', the fragmentation of Unionism, and the peace process.

Assessment will be by one three-hour examination (50%), two 2,000 word essays (40%) and an oral presentation (10%).

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History and Memory in the United States

• Bruce Baker
• Not available in 2010-11
• RH: 47/HS2268

This course examines how Americans have thought about their past and how that is significant to our understanding of American history. Beginning soon after independence, Americans worked to shape the historical memory of the nation’s origins in order to help define a distinctively American identity. As divisive issues arose, so to did conflicting ideas about the national past. The course begins with a thorough consideration of the origins of the study of historical memory and the wealth of recent literature that provides a methodological and theoretical framework for these studies. Overviews of historical memory in the United States sets out the major topics and issues and their interrelations. The course then gives special attention to how memory and identity have been mutually constituted by looking at case studies associated with particular regions, social groups, and events.

Assessment is by one three-hour examination paper (70%) and two coursework essays (30%).

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