Teaching Plan Information

Presentation

Global History III examines major issues and themes in global history from 1914 to 1991.

It draws together the main regions of the world into the history of the “short” twentieth century, exploring the zenith and the decline of European empires across the first half of the twentieth century; the emergence and the consolidation of new forms of imperial power; and the making of the modern world until the early 1990s.

The course also explores themes that cut across the entire 1914–91 period. It analyses processes that have linked distant regions of the world more closely than ever before. These developments include intellectual, social, and cultural changes, as well as the flow of people, ideas, and resources across borders. The course brings to the fore the connectedness of the twentieth century, but also the far-ranging tensions of globalisation — tensions whose repercussions are felt to this day.

Associated skills

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes for this module can be found in the degree’s Memòria (see R.A. 1.1; 1.2; 1.3; 1.6; 1.7; 2.1; 2.2; 2.3; 2.5; 6.3; 8.1; 8.2; and 8.3).

Sustainable Development Goals

Though lectures, seminaris, and readings, the course provides a historical perspective on the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:

• 1: No poverty
• 4: Quality education
• 5: Gender equality
• 8: Decent work and economic growth
• 10: Reduced inequalities
• 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

Contents

1. A global crisis, c. 1900‒1930: Europe and the Middle East
2. A global crisis, c. 1900‒1930: Africa and Asia
3. Authoritarianism and dictatorship, c. 1900‒1950
4. Peripheral conflicts and the end of old regimes, c. 1945‒1955
5. US hegemony and the end of colonialism, c. 1955‒1980
6. World politics and the shock of the “long 1980s”
7. The self and society
8. Arts, literature and entertainment
9. A century of killing
10. Gender and race under colonialism
11. Race as an imperial legacy
12. Diasporas
13. Religion: Contestation and revival
14. Postcolonial politics: India from Nehru to Modi

Teaching Methods

The course consists of lectures and seminars. In the lectures, we will explore each session’s themes — concentrating on their theoretical and interpretative dimensions — and discuss the required readings.

In the seminars, we will explore a single theme in depth: the Cold War. We will do so through discussions of the required readings for each seminar, as well as through the development of an individual research project on an aspect of the history of the Cold War.

All slides used in lectures and seminars will be made available after each session on Aula Global, in PDF format.

Evaluation

1. Important notes

• It is essential that you come to class prepared to discuss the required readings for each session - this applies to both lectures and seminars.
• The course is entirely in English: contributions in languages other than English will not be assessed.
• There is no extra credit available.

2. Grading formula

2.1. Participation (30%)

Participation in lectures and seminars will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Have you read and understood the required readings?
• Do you participate in discussions of the readings?
• If so, are your remarks well informed? Do you contextualise the readings with reference to other readings and sessions? What is your level of analytical sophistication?

Please note that attendance does not count towards your grade - only participation does.

2.2. Research project (30%)

You will undertake a small research project on an aspect of the social, cultural, political, or economic history of the Cold War. Your will deliver your project as an academic poster (you will find more details on what an academic poster is and how to produce it on Aula Global).

The research project must be submitted exclusively through Turnitin (no other form of submission will be accepted).

2.3. Final exam (40%)

You will write one final exam at the time and place established by the Faculty of Humanities (should the situation require it, the exam will take place online, through a Turnitin submission).

Your exam you will synthesise and critically examine the material presented over the term. Your answer must demonstrate that you have attended the lectures and seminars, that you have understood the readings, and that you comprehend how all these components fit together.

You will be able to choose between two different questions. In your answer, you may make use of any material you deem relevant (information from lectures and seminars, including the research project presentations in the final session, required readings, etc.).

Exams will be graded according to the following criteria:

• Thesis: your answer must combine information from different sources, arrange it in an unfamiliar pattern, and draw conclusions that may be new to you. In short, you will be constructing an argument. State your thesis clearly in your introduction and make sure it answers the question. In addition, your thesis should not be a simplistic argument (“Refugees faced many difficulties in the twentieth century”), but a specific one that requires you to think about the material in complex ways.
• Structure: how well is the essay organized? Support your argument with evidence, arranged in a logical order. Is the organization appropriate to the question? Is a chronological or thematic approach best suited to the question? Is it clear to the reader why the essay moves from one paragraph to the other?
• Examples: to demonstrate mastery of the course material, you must think both broadly and narrowly — broadly about the course themes, and narrowly about the specific information that illustrates course themes. Have you selected relevant material to illustrate your points? Have you made specific references to examples in the readings? Have you referred to arguments and examples in lectures and seminars? All general claims must be backed by specific evidence.
• Writing: Are paragraphs well-constructed, with sentences that reflect the “mini-thesis” of each paragraph? Are sentences well-constructed, with grammar, syntax, and spelling that does not impede comprehension?

3. Grade recovery

Should you fail the final exam, you may sit the recovery exam at the date and time established by the Faculty of Humanities. You may not sit the recovery essay if you did not sit final exam or if you wish to improve a passing grade. The recovery exam will have the same characteristics as the final exam.

If you have failed the course and the research project in the ordinary examination period, you may also submit an improved version of the research project. By 8 am on the day set by the Faculty of Humanities for the recovery exam, you may hand in the revised research project through Turnitin. You may not resubmit the assignment to improve a passing grade.

If you sit the recovery essay and/or resubmit the research project you can only receive a maximum final grade of 5.0.

4. Plagiarism policy

Plagiarism entails deliberately or unintentionally taking credit for someone else’s work, as well as self-plagiarism (submitting work done for another course or degree). Following the Faculty of Humanities’ plagiarism policy, any student found plagiarising in any part of the course will receive a 0 and will be reported to the academic dean (cap d’estudis) at the Faculty of Humanities, as well as to the coordinator of the BA in Global Studies.

Bibliography and information resources

The specific readings for lectures and seminars will be outlined on the first day of class. Students are also encouraged to consult the following sources.

1. Burbank, Jane, and Frederick Cooper, Empires in world history: Power and the politics of difference (2011)
2. Crossley, Pamela, Lynn Hollen Lees and John W. Servos, Global society: The world since 1900 (2012)
3. Hobsbawm, Eric J., The age of extremes: The short twentieth century, 1914–1991 (1994)
4. Kalinovsky, Artemy M., and Craig Daigle (eds), The Routledge Handbook of the Cold War (2014)
5. Lake, Marilyn, and Henry Reynolds, Drawing the global colour line: White men’s countries and the question of racial equality (2008)
6. MacMillan, Margaret, Paris 1919: Six months that changed the world (2007)
7. Reynolds, David, One world divisible: A global history of the world since 1945 (2000)
8. Shipway, Martin, Decolonization and its impact: A comparative approach to the end of the colonial empires (2008)
9. Sluga, Glenda, Internationalism in the age of nationalism (2013)
10. Smith, Bonnie G., Women in World History (2020)

Teaching Plan Information

Presentation

Global History III examines major issues and themes in global history from 1914 to 1991.

It draws together the main regions of the world into the history of the “short” twentieth century, exploring the zenith and the decline of European empires across the first half of the twentieth century; the emergence and the consolidation of new forms of imperial power; and the making of the modern world until the early 1990s.

The course also explores themes that cut across the entire 1914–91 period. It analyses processes that have linked distant regions of the world more closely than ever before. These developments include intellectual, social, and cultural changes, as well as the flow of people, ideas, and resources across borders. The course brings to the fore the connectedness of the twentieth century, but also the far-ranging tensions of globalisation — tensions whose repercussions are felt to this day.

Associated skills

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes for this module can be found in the degree’s Memòria (see R.A. 1.1; 1.2; 1.3; 1.6; 1.7; 2.1; 2.2; 2.3; 2.5; 6.3; 8.1; 8.2; and 8.3).

Sustainable Development Goals

Though lectures, seminaris, and readings, the course provides a historical perspective on the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:

• 1: No poverty
• 4: Quality education
• 5: Gender equality
• 8: Decent work and economic growth
• 10: Reduced inequalities
• 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

Contents

1. A global crisis, c. 1900‒1930: Europe and the Middle East
2. A global crisis, c. 1900‒1930: Africa and Asia
3. Authoritarianism and dictatorship, c. 1900‒1950
4. Peripheral conflicts and the end of old regimes, c. 1945‒1955
5. US hegemony and the end of colonialism, c. 1955‒1980
6. World politics and the shock of the “long 1980s”
7. The self and society
8. Arts, literature and entertainment
9. A century of killing
10. Gender and race under colonialism
11. Race as an imperial legacy
12. Diasporas
13. Religion: Contestation and revival
14. Postcolonial politics: India from Nehru to Modi

Teaching Methods

The course consists of lectures and seminars. In the lectures, we will explore each session’s themes — concentrating on their theoretical and interpretative dimensions — and discuss the required readings.

In the seminars, we will explore a single theme in depth: the Cold War. We will do so through discussions of the required readings for each seminar, as well as through the development of an individual research project on an aspect of the history of the Cold War.

All slides used in lectures and seminars will be made available after each session on Aula Global, in PDF format.

Evaluation

1. Important notes

• It is essential that you come to class prepared to discuss the required readings for each session - this applies to both lectures and seminars.
• The course is entirely in English: contributions in languages other than English will not be assessed.
• There is no extra credit available.

2. Grading formula

2.1. Participation (30%)

Participation in lectures and seminars will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Have you read and understood the required readings?
• Do you participate in discussions of the readings?
• If so, are your remarks well informed? Do you contextualise the readings with reference to other readings and sessions? What is your level of analytical sophistication?

Please note that attendance does not count towards your grade - only participation does.

2.2. Research project (30%)

You will undertake a small research project on an aspect of the social, cultural, political, or economic history of the Cold War. Your will deliver your project as an academic poster (you will find more details on what an academic poster is and how to produce it on Aula Global).

The research project must be submitted exclusively through Turnitin (no other form of submission will be accepted).

2.3. Final exam (40%)

You will write one final exam at the time and place established by the Faculty of Humanities (should the situation require it, the exam will take place online, through a Turnitin submission).

Your exam you will synthesise and critically examine the material presented over the term. Your answer must demonstrate that you have attended the lectures and seminars, that you have understood the readings, and that you comprehend how all these components fit together.

You will be able to choose between two different questions. In your answer, you may make use of any material you deem relevant (information from lectures and seminars, including the research project presentations in the final session, required readings, etc.).

Exams will be graded according to the following criteria:

• Thesis: your answer must combine information from different sources, arrange it in an unfamiliar pattern, and draw conclusions that may be new to you. In short, you will be constructing an argument. State your thesis clearly in your introduction and make sure it answers the question. In addition, your thesis should not be a simplistic argument (“Refugees faced many difficulties in the twentieth century”), but a specific one that requires you to think about the material in complex ways.
• Structure: how well is the essay organized? Support your argument with evidence, arranged in a logical order. Is the organization appropriate to the question? Is a chronological or thematic approach best suited to the question? Is it clear to the reader why the essay moves from one paragraph to the other?
• Examples: to demonstrate mastery of the course material, you must think both broadly and narrowly — broadly about the course themes, and narrowly about the specific information that illustrates course themes. Have you selected relevant material to illustrate your points? Have you made specific references to examples in the readings? Have you referred to arguments and examples in lectures and seminars? All general claims must be backed by specific evidence.
• Writing: Are paragraphs well-constructed, with sentences that reflect the “mini-thesis” of each paragraph? Are sentences well-constructed, with grammar, syntax, and spelling that does not impede comprehension?

3. Grade recovery

Should you fail the final exam, you may sit the recovery exam at the date and time established by the Faculty of Humanities. You may not sit the recovery essay if you did not sit final exam or if you wish to improve a passing grade. The recovery exam will have the same characteristics as the final exam.

If you have failed the course and the research project in the ordinary examination period, you may also submit an improved version of the research project. By 8 am on the day set by the Faculty of Humanities for the recovery exam, you may hand in the revised research project through Turnitin. You may not resubmit the assignment to improve a passing grade.

If you sit the recovery essay and/or resubmit the research project you can only receive a maximum final grade of 5.0.

4. Plagiarism policy

Plagiarism entails deliberately or unintentionally taking credit for someone else’s work, as well as self-plagiarism (submitting work done for another course or degree). Following the Faculty of Humanities’ plagiarism policy, any student found plagiarising in any part of the course will receive a 0 and will be reported to the academic dean (cap d’estudis) at the Faculty of Humanities, as well as to the coordinator of the BA in Global Studies.

Bibliography and information resources

The specific readings for lectures and seminars will be outlined on the first day of class. Students are also encouraged to consult the following sources.

1. Burbank, Jane, and Frederick Cooper, Empires in world history: Power and the politics of difference (2011)
2. Crossley, Pamela, Lynn Hollen Lees and John W. Servos, Global society: The world since 1900 (2012)
3. Hobsbawm, Eric J., The age of extremes: The short twentieth century, 1914–1991 (1994)
4. Kalinovsky, Artemy M., and Craig Daigle (eds), The Routledge Handbook of the Cold War (2014)
5. Lake, Marilyn, and Henry Reynolds, Drawing the global colour line: White men’s countries and the question of racial equality (2008)
6. MacMillan, Margaret, Paris 1919: Six months that changed the world (2007)
7. Reynolds, David, One world divisible: A global history of the world since 1945 (2000)
8. Shipway, Martin, Decolonization and its impact: A comparative approach to the end of the colonial empires (2008)
9. Sluga, Glenda, Internationalism in the age of nationalism (2013)
10. Smith, Bonnie G., Women in World History (2020)