Module: HIS6117-20 From Decolonisation to Globalisation: the Making and Meaning of the Modern and Contemporary World
Level: 6
Credit Value: 20
Module Tutor:
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1. Brief description and aims of module:
This module investigates the global ideological, historical and institutional shifts that have taken place since 1945. It focuses on key events in geo-politics and on the intellectual, ideological and political movements which helped shape and were shaped by them. It considers domestic responses to global change, and to the dislocations caused by civil wars, famine, migration and population change.
2. Outline syllabus:
The module will examine a selection of the following topics in varying levels of detail:
The ‘Post War World’: the evolution of the UN and the origins of the Cold War
Red Stars over Asia: Decolonisation in Asia and the Chinese Revolution
Alliances: NATO, the Warsaw Pact, the non aligned movement, EEC, WTO and the IMF
The Wretched of the Earth: Decolonisation and liberation in the Middle East and Africa
Red Scares and Red Purges: McCarthyism, last years of Stalin, Cultural Revolution. and Spy Scandals
Between Marx and Coca-Cola: the Culture of the Cold War
Dominos: the Indochinese Wars, The Cuban Missile Crisis, Horn of Africa
The Arab-Israeli Conflict and Oil Crises
The Age of Protests: Rights consciousness, Women, Indigenous peoples, and the Sexual Revolutions
The Iranian Revolution, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and ‘New Asian Century’
The End of History?: the Fall of Berlin Wall, the end of Apartheid, the Balkans, and Neoconservatism
Neoliberalism, Globalism and their discontents
The Clash of Civilisations, 9/11, 2008 financial crisis, Tech giants and social networks
Climate change, the environment and environmental protest: local action, world movement
Whither / wither democracy?
Where are we now?
3. Teaching and learning activities:
Group lectures and workshops, group seminars, one-to-one tutorials, drafting, feedback and response to feedback.
Assessment Type: CW
Description: Essay (2,000 words)
% Weighting: 40%
Assessment Type: CW
Description: Comparative Research Project (3,000 words)
% Weighting: 60%