Following a simple and accessible chronological structure, this module introduces you to some of the key events and processes in international history since 1900. These include WWI, the Great Depression, WWII, Decolonisation, the Cold War and the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks and their consequences. Given the structure, emphasis is placed upon a narrative of cause-and-effect, with the various changes and continuities in international history traced to their present-day manifestation in the international system of the early 21st century. You will be encouraged to think critically about periodisation, about the difference between a system and an era, an event and a process, and about the importance of evidence in understanding the past.



The module has a number of critical roles to play within your larger course of study. First, it provides you with a basic historical knowledge from which you can take case studies for testing International Relations theories and methodologies; in this regard it might be described as an ‘evidence bucket’. Second, moving beyond this, it gives a more comprehensive and contextual historical awareness which discourages cherry-picking episodic analysis across the course. Third, it introduces students to a specific set of History-related academic standards and methodologies, defined in part by evidence-driven empirical analysis and an emphasis on causality and change, which contrasts with and refines their appreciation for the IR disciplinary expectations which define the bulk of their course.

Selected Posts

During three weeks of the module, you will post a 500 word answer to a set question onto a discussion board. The weeks will be determined by which group you are in. You will receive formative feedback on those posts and a grade. At the end of the module, for a specified deadline, you will submit your two best answers in a combined document through Turnitin.
LOs 1-3

Participation

You will have an opportunity to upload a 300-word response to the posts of other students during the eight weeks when you are not writing a 500 word post . Assuming these responses meet basic academic standards (coherent argumentation, evidence-based reasoning, a bibliography and in-text referencing) they will contribute to your participation grade.
LOs 1, 3, 4

Essay

You will be required to write a 3,000-word essay answering one of a number of set questions. Essays will be submitted and marked through Turnitin.
LOs 1-2, 4

The main focus will be on self-instruction, within a tightly structured framework and relying largely (but not exclusively) on materials supplied. Week by week you will work through self-instructional course material, (delivered on Blackboard) which provides the framework and focus for reading key texts and papers and undertaking specific set tasks. This work will be undertaken on an individual basis, but at various points you will be expected to interact and share material with other students in your learning group and your tutor via a discussion board.

Module Learning Outcome

1. Demonstrate systematic and coherent knowledge of international history from 1900 to the present day, with an emphasis on a linear narrative linking each week’s topic to the next

University Learning Outcome:
Knowledge and Understanding

2. Evaluate what typically can and cannot be learned from available historical sources from the modern era and therefore what typically can and cannot be said of international history, based on current research practice and advanced scholarship

University Learning Outcome:
Analysis

3. Bring your knowledge and understanding of international history into sustained dialogue with the other elements of your BA IIR course, showing a consolidated awareness of other academic disciplinary practices and how they can inform one another

University Learning Outcome:
Application

4. Communicate well-informed arguments about international history with precision and flare to academic and/or non-academic audiences

University Learning Outcome:
Communication

A computer for accessing Blackboard, websites and electronic journals.¿
Course texts and module pack of readings which will be delivered via electronic reading list for the course.

Best, A., International History of the Twentieth Century and Beyond, Latest ed., Routledge.

Calvocoressi, P., World Politics since 1945, Latest ed., Routledge.

Keylor, W.R., The Twentieth-Century World and Beyond: An International History since 1900,Latest ed., OUP.

Merriman, J., A History of Modern Europe: From the Renaissance to the Present Latest ed., W. W. Norton & Company.

N/A

This module introduces you to some of the key events and processes in modern international history which have helped to produce the contemporary global order and international system. Following a simple chronological structure, the module builds a narrative of change and continuity from World War One, through various tumultuous and fascinating years of history including the Wall Street Crash, the Partition of India, the Cuban Missile Crisis, up to the Covid-19 pandemic. You will learn more about the origins of today’s international relations with the aim of better understanding them, but perhaps more importantly you will learn how profoundly contingent the contemporary world is, how easily it could have been different, and how applying historical methodologies can teach us lessons with present-day implications.