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Description
This core course introduces students to history from the perspective of its 鈥榝rontiers鈥�. Students will firstly consider the frontiers of history as a discipline, exploring some of the ways it has overlapped with other disciplines (such as anthropology, sociology, politics, and literature). The goal is not to impose disciplinary borders but to challenge them, encouraging students to think critically and creatively about how historians have defined their topics, methods, and sources. The course will also use the concept of 鈥榝rontier鈥� to explore how literal and figurative boundaries, such as region and nation-state, have shaped the writing of history and to develop alternative perspectives. Rather than viewing European history from a Western (Franco-British) perspective, moreover, the course begins from its frontiers to the East, (specifically eastern and south-eastern Europe, including Russia and Germany), and it emphasizes the importance of comparative, transnational, and global perspectives.
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The course is organized around three five-week thematic units. In addition, there will be both introductory and revision lectures as well as several lectures on key study skills. This structure allows students to encounter a range of methodological and conceptual approaches through specific pieces of historical writing by practicing historians and to explore different time periods, places, and themes. Some of the core structuring themes (frontiers, state and society, violence, modernity, revolution) also cut across the disciplines to chime with topics discussed in the Politics and Economics courses.
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 19th August 2024.
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