History and Human Geography BA (Hons)

Compulsory

• SC1603 - Contemporary Challenges

  This module will introduce students to applications of social and political sciences, providing students with the opportunity to practice the skills needed to communicate the results of their work accurately and reliably, and with structured and coherent arguments.

• SC1601 - Fundamentals of the Social Sciences

  This module will introduce students to key concepts, theories, thinkers and approaches in the social and political sciences and history. Students will also learn the techniques used by a range of disciplines within the social and political sciences and history for gaining and validating knowledge of the social and political world.

• SC1604 - Special Subjects A

  This module will introduce students to the underlying concepts and principles associated with their area(s) of study in relation to other areas of the social and political sciences; to provide students with the opportunity to evaluate and interpret these within the context of that area of study. It will also develop students’ ability to present, evaluate and interpret qualitative and/or quantitative data, in order to develop lines of argument and make sound judgements in accordance with basic theories and concepts of their subject(s) of study.

• SC1605 - Special Subjects B

  This module will introduce students to the underlying concepts and principles associated with their area(s) of study in relation to other areas of the social and political sciences; to provide students with the opportunity to evaluate and interpret these within the context of that area of study. It will also develop students' ability to present, evaluate and interpret qualitative and/or quantitative data, in order to develop lines of argument and make sound judgements in accordance with basic theories and concepts of their subject(s) of study.

Compulsory

• GY2602 - Geography: A Controversial Discipline

  This module will introduce students to the history and philosophy of geography through a critical, decolonial lens. Students will explore the social, cultural, economic and political context of past and present knowledge production, and the people and forms of knowledge excluded from this. 

• PX2613 - Historians and their Craft

  This module prepares students for the Dissertation by introducing them to some methodological and theoretical issues that historians encounter in the practice of history. Students are introduced to ways in which historians have engaged with other disciplines. They reflect upon public history and why history matters in today’s society by tracing developments in historical method and examining different approaches to history.

• GY2604 - Urban Regeneration and Inequalities (field-based)

  You are introduced to issues of urban regeneration and their impacts in relation to urban inequalities, and apply this understanding in relation initially to London and subsequently to a European city in which they undertake a field visit. 

Optional

• PP2636 - Climate Politics

  This module aims to enable students to attain a comprehensive understanding of key concepts and theories in the politics and political economy of climate change. It will provide students with resources to assist them in making informed judgments on a range of questions and debates.  

• PX2615 - Colonialism and Decolonization in Africa

  Africa is one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented regions of the modern world. More often than not, its history is presented as a long series of human disasters, conflict, and disorder. However, Africa’s modern history is also one of resistance, and dynamic and creative responses to changing circumstances. This module examines Africa’s multifaceted history since about 1800.

• SO2610 - Colonialism, Migration and Global Racism

  This module explores the concept, meaning and practices of ‘race’, ethnicity, racialization, and global racisms. It identifies how ‘race’ and racism have evolved over time, and in different contexts - both nationally in the contemporary UK as well as in other parts of the world. 

• PX2621 - Fascist Italy, 1919-1945: Revolution, Conflict and Collapse

  This module explores the rise and fall of Fascist Italy through political, socio-cultural, economic and military perspectives, among others.

• PX2620 - Insurgency and Counter-insurgency

  This module examines the concept and development of insurgency and counter-insurgency from the classical period to the present, with an emphasis on the post-1789 period, especially the post-1945 wars of decolonisation. The module will conclude with the post-9/11 ‘war on terror’ and current examples of insurgency and counter-insurgency. 

• SA2624 - Middle East: Societies, Religion and Politics

  This module examines a particular ethnographic region, assessing in the first instance whether these regions can usefully be considered cultural areas, and going on to examine the key issues for the different parts of each region. The module covers topics such as religion, gender, economics, and local politics in the area of study. 

• PP5627 - Military History and Strategic Thought from the Ancients to the Present

  This module examines how war has affected the world and how warfare has been affected by broader societal, political, ethical and economic changes in the period from the classical period to the present. It analyses key aspects of warfare, placing them in the broader context of history across a broad span of time and studies change in warfare associated with ‘revolutions in military affairs’ (RMAs). It contrasts ‘total war’ what is termed ‘limited war’ in the period before the French Revolution and after 1945, gives a sophisticated understanding of the evolution of military thought, including in the non-European world with a view to providing a global survey of the subject and not just from a Euro-centric perspective and provides the historical and strategic thought to contextualise wargaming.

• GY2606 - Sustainable Development and Political Ecology

  Learn to understand environmental questions through a lens of political ecology. The module will provide opportunities to reflect on and develop own attitudes and values in relation to the environment. 

• PX2614 - The First World War: Causes, Course, Consequences

  This module aims to introduce the main areas of debate surrounding the origins, course and consequences of the First World War and to introduce the range of different interpretative and historiographical tools used by historians in categorizing and understanding the First World War.

Compulsory

• SC3602 - Advanced Research Skills for History
  • To introduce and guide students on the research and writing process for dissertations or Major Final Projects
  • To support students to develop their reading, writing, and analytical skills for their dissertation.
  • To introduce students to the techniques used in designing and executing a research project in their discipline.
  • To encourage students’ critical engagement with their chosen dissertation topic
• SC3601 - Dissertation

  This module develops your ability to plan, design and deliver a research project in your subject area, communicate your ideas clearly and critically evaluate how well your project works.

• GY3603 - Leadership for Change

  To further develop the leadership and influence skills that will help students to promote sustainability or other forms of positive change within society and the environment (either individually or collectively). To encourage innovation, entrepreneurialism, the acquisition of additional awards and professional qualifications and to engage in personal and professional development activities that will enhance students’ employability.

Optional

• SO3625 - Cities, Culture and Social Change

  This module introduces you to urban sociology and builds your understanding of how cities develop, how they’re lived in and how they’re represented. You’ll explore the relationship between space, culture and social life in contemporary cities, using theoretical tools and practical examples to bring those ideas to life.

• GY3611 - Climate Justice in a Changing World

  The module introduces students to current political and academic debates on climate justice in a changing world. The students will explore the different dimensions of climate justice, including the ways in which climate impacts and responsibilities are geographically (in space) and intergenerationally (over time) unequally distributed, and how they are stratified along class, race, and gender-based lines. The students will learn to analyse climate policies from a justice perspective, including questions related to historical and geographical responsibilities and the distribution of the costs and burdens of the green transition. Moving beyond a narrow focus on distributional justice, the students will also explore procedural and epistemic dimensions of climate justice. They will gain an understanding of the emergence and development of climate justice movements, their political challenges, and the role these movements have played in bringing justice questions to the forefront of the climate agenda.  

• SA3631 - Environment and Sustainability

  The aim of this module is to look at environment and sustainability from a multipronged perspective. The module will help students develop a nuanced understanding about managing our natural resources. Both top down and bottom up approaches to manage nature will be explored. 

• SO3615 - Global Migration

  Equips students with an understanding of the key concepts in global migration including the causes and consequences of migration, national and international responses to migration and the diversity of migrant flows within a global context, using cases from both Global North and Global South contexts.

• GY3610 - Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking

  This module provides a ‘meta-critique’ of both the dominant and critical claims related to modern slavery and human trafficking. The module aims to introduce students to the historical debates on labour and migration that led to the current international laws on ‘human trafficking’ (and national laws on ‘modern slavery’ in the UK and Australia). Students will be able to critically analyse the geopolitics of several competing terminologies, such as ‘human trafficking’, ‘modern slavery’, ‘forced labour’, and ‘unfree labour’. They will be able to critically evaluate whether and how these terms help address labour exploitation and/or are selectively deployed to serve certain political ideologies. Not only will students develop critical lenses to analyse the dominant paradigm of ‘modern slavery’ and ‘human trafficking’, but they will also be able to critically interrogate the strengths, weaknesses, and biases of the critical literature. Overall, the module is designed to encourage students first to engage with critical perspectives and then to go beyond them to decolonise one of the most politically charged debates of the 21st century, enabling them to develop original ideas on how to address the exploitation, oppression, and rightlessness of all workers. 

• PP3640 - Political Economy of the Changing World Order

  The module introduces students to political economy, in particular international political economy (IPE), and to geopolitics. It explores the evolution of world orders, with a focus on the current period. It examines relationships between economic forces and state strategies (economic and geopolitical) on the international stage. It will familiarise students with key concepts and topics in IPE.

• PX3626 - Primary Source Workshop
• PX3615 - Slavery and Abolition

  This module examines the evolution and expansion of the transatlantic slave trade, exploring the motives and wider forces that shaped the development of Atlantic slavery in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It analyses the main features of slave society in the British West Indies and investigates the origins of abolitionism in Britain, before exploring the factors that led to the abolition of both the slave trade and slavery in Britain and elsewhere in the nineteenth century. It also familiarises students with key historiography on slavery, the slave trade and abolition in the Atlantic World, and introduces students to a wide range of sources on the slave trade and slavery.

• PX3616 - The Second World War

  This module explores the military, political and socio-economic events and developments of the Second World War. Students will focus on the historiography and cultural significance of the war up to the present day and will adopt an “international history” approach by building its analysis around the interaction of states and peoples in this global conflict.

• PX3619 - Violence and Conflict in Eastern Africa

  In this module students will explore the role of violence and conflict in the course of eastern Africa’s modern history. Students will gain an in depth understanding of the ways in which violence and conflict have influenced economy, society and polity in the modern era, through a consideration of broad themes, such as age, ethnicity, and resources, as well as specific case studies taken from across the region.