HST6606 The World in Connection Themes in Global History 2023-24
30 credits, Semester one
Module leader 2023-24: Siobhan Lambert-Hurley
Listed on MA Global History, MA Historical Research
Module summary
This core module introduces students to some of the most important and innovative themes, debates and controversies relating to global history and its linked fields of imperial, international, transnational, transregional and world history. Through discursive seminars students will acquire an informed understanding of global forces, structures and processes that have shaped and reshaped our world, including empires, trade, technology, religion, decolonisation, migration, war, diplomacy, humanitarianism, disease and the environment. Students will thus be enabled to explore connections, comparisons and exchanges across broad geographical and chronological terrain, while also considering relationships between the global, regional and local.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, you will be able to:
Understand crucial themes and trends relating to global history, particularly in terms of interrelationships between different regions and localities and the role of global structures and processes in shaping our world
Distinguish between and critically evaluate important recent historiographical debates in global, world, international, transnational and imperial history, arriving at independent judgements of them through analysis of both primary and secondary sources
Formulate and articulate historical arguments both orally, before the members of the seminar, and in written form in assessed work
Engage in cooperative group learning in seminar discussions of interpretive issues
Explore the historiographical context for practice-based research, and identify and locate suitable sources for independent historical research on a chosen subject
Use bibliographic skills in various media (including electronic sources)
Learning and teaching methods
The module will be taught in ten, two-hour classes. You will also have individual tutorial contact with the module tutor in order to discuss your assessment for this module.
Assessment methods
Assessment type - % of final mark
Essay (4000 words) - 80%
Engagement and participation - 20%
You will complete a 4000 word essay on a topic related to one of the module's key themes. You will define your own essay topic in discussion with your tutor. You will also complete a formative assessment to provide you with feedback ahead of completing your final essay.
You will also complete an engagement and participation exercise based on the learning activities and environment for the module. This task will be set by the module leader but may include activities such as presentations, reflective seminar diaries, contributions to discussion forums or collaborative documents.
Additional learning and teaching information
Selected reading:
P. K. O'Brien, 'Historiographical traditions and modern imperatives for the restoration of global history', Journal of Global History, 1 (2006), 3–40.
Pamela Kyle Crossley, What is Global History? (Polity, 2008)
Diego Olstein, Thinking History Globally (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015)
Andre Gunder Frank, ReOrient: Global Economy in the Asian Age (University of California Press, 1998).
Seema Alavi, Muslim Cosmopolitanism in the Age of Empire (Harvard University Press, 2015)
Antoinette M. Burton, 'Getting Outside the Global: Re-Positioning British Imperialism in World History' in Race, Nation and Empire: Making Histories, 1750 to the Present, ed. Catherine Hall and K. McLelland (Manchester University Press, 2010), pp. 199-216.
Odd Arne Westad, The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times (Cambridge University Press, 2007).
Meredith Terretta, 'Cameroonian Nationalists Go Global: From Forest Maquis to a Pan-African Accra', Journal of African History 51:2 (2010): 189–212.
Daniel Immerwahr, Thinking Small: The United States and the Lure of Community Development (Harvard University Press, 2015).
Sunil S. Amrith, Crossing the Bay of Bengal: The Furies of Nature and the Fortunes of Migrants (Harvard University Press, 2013).