2024/25 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

HIST2040 History Wars: The Politics of the Past in Contemporary Europe

20 creditsClass Size: 30

Module manager: Dr Matthew Frank
Email: M.Frank@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

While ‘History Wars’ have always been a factor in international relations, they are being waged with increasing frequency in contemporary Europe. This module introduces you to the ways in which historical controversies play out not only at a national level but also between states and how they can become a tool of international politics as well as a source of international discord. Many of the controversies we cover are rooted in the experience of Europe’s mid-twentieth-century crisis (i.e. of regional and international conflict, state collapse, military conquest, population displacement, massacre, etc.) which continues to cast a shadow over the Continent, long after the events of 1989-91 and the end of the Cold War. But they are also anchored in the experience of foreign domination, whether by long-defunct imperial entities (e.g. Habsburg, Ottoman), as a consequence of neo-colonial projects which attempted to revive these (Nazi New Order, Soviet bloc), or at the hands of aggrandizing and nationalizing states in the wake of the main ruptures of the century (1918/19, 1945, 1989/91).

Objectives

The aim of this module is to introduce students to a number of historical controversies which continue to define and complicate relationships between European states. They will learn about histories and historiographies of parts of Europe and themes in recent European political history that will most likely be new or unfamiliar to them. They will also learn about the different ways in which ‘history’ is represented at a national and an international level through official commemorations, monuments, museums, joint historical commissions, etc.

Learning outcomes
On completing this module students will:
1. have developed a deeper understanding of the political significance of contested histories in contemporary Europe
2. have gained a fuller appreciation of what constitutes ‘European history’ and its diversity
3. be able to draw comparisons between different historical and national contexts
4. be able to provide the historical ‘long view’ on a current issue
5. be able to analyse and evaluate conflicting historical interpretations
6. be able to identify and utilize a range of primary sources for their research
7. have applied fundamental standards and practices of historical study for research, discussion, and assessed work.

Syllabus

Indicative topics may include: Centre Against the Expulsions (Germany); Commemorating 1945 and 1968 (Czech Republic); Katyn (Poland); Holomodor (Ukraine); To Be or Not to Be (North Macedonia); The Field of Blackbirds (Kosovo); Recognizing the Armenian Genocide (Turkey); King Leopold’s Ghost (Belgium).

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	2	1.00	2.00
Seminar	9	2.00	18.00
Private study hours			180.00
Total Contact hours			20.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Researching, preparing and writing assessments (75 hours); undertaking set reading for seminars (55 hours); self-directed reading around the topic (20 hours), reviewing and consolidating notes (22 hours); reflecting on feedback (8 hours).

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Weekly seminar discussions; non-assessed and informal mini presentations on weekly topics and key sources; practice source commentaries; written assignments (40% component); office hours.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	3000 words due by Monday of Exam	60.00
Assignment	3 x 500 word source commentaries	40.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 18/10/2024

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