History with Global History, BA (Hons)

Course summary

This programme is an exciting opportunity to focus on global issues within the framework of a History degree, crossing continents and chronologies.History at Goldsmiths is global. It explores the multidirectional travel of people, practices, resources and ideas across boundaries (local, regional, national, continental, oceanic) and the changes occurring along the way. It explores questions of power, domination, and asymmetry, as well as responses to global processes from the people worst affected by them. Choose from a vast range of History subjectsThis programme will allow you to explore the following themes:

• world history

• migration

• empire, decolonisation and race

• subaltern history

• the global south

• postcolonialism

• history in transnational perspective.

Studying Global History at Goldsmiths involves applying knowledge and understanding of these themes to contemporary issues such as the UK’s changing place in the world, colonial/postcolonial relationships, and complex histories of race and racism around the world. You will develop your skills in multidisciplinary approaches and engage with a range of historical methods/ideas.You will learn about histories of culture, ideas, politics, and power – beyond boundaries and borders. You will be taught by a multi-national community of scholars whose expertise means that history can be understood globally, and you will develop your understanding of how countries operate within global frameworks, both in the past and today, and how empires of the past continue to affect present-day societies and politics.Explore History in its (much) wider contextCore to our approach is a recognition that there are very significant global influences on issues which might at first appear to be national or even local. For example, our approach to Black British History rests on the belief that Britain and its history cannot be understood without also understanding the Caribbean. These global dimensions can be seen in the way modules apply broad themes to the study of issues which are sometimes treated as purely national questions, for example, the way we look at revolutions in France, Russia, and China, and compare them to more modern events such as the ‘Arab Spring’.You will develop your understanding of these issues from the first year, considering subjects ranging from ‘Germany’s African Road to the Holocaust’ to ‘Global Sports and the African Diaspora’ and ‘Mosquitos, Microbes and Empire’. In your two final years, you will have the opportunity to study modules covering Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, many of which take a thematic approach comparing similar issues across nations and continents. In your final year, you will focus on a Special Subject, with our own modules taking transnational approaches, while there are extensive opportunities to follow your interests from a choice of subjects across other colleges of the University of London.Learn from expert staff in a global environmentThe academic staff in the Department of History are at the forefront of research excellence and research-led teaching, delivering modules and conducting research about Asia, Africa, the Americas, the British Isles, Eastern and Western Europe, and the Middle East. Study with your career in mindAlongside intellectual and personal development, we equip you with the skills and experience you need to progress into a rewarding career. This might be through our History in Practice work-placement module or through other career-orientated opportunities and forms of assessment.

Modules

Year 1 compulsory modules:Global Connections: the violence and exchanges that shaped the modern world Historical Controversies Reading and Writing History Historical Perspectives Plus two 15 credit option modules offered by the Department of History.Year 2In your second year, you will either choose one of these 30 credit modules:A History of Resistance in the Middle East Modern Revolutions in Comparative Perspective The Central Powers in the First World War, 1914-18 Empires in Comparative Perspective: Imperium Romanum to Pax Americana Minorities in East-Central Europe: Coexistence, Integration and Annihilation, c.1870-1950 Modern South Asia: Body, Society, Empire and Nation c.1600-1947 Black and British: A Long and Varied History The Past on the Move: Migrations and Diasporas of South-East Europe from Late Antiquity until the Modern Era (4th-20th c.) Mediterranean Encounters: Venice and the Ottoman Empire, 1453-1797 Utopian Visions: The Soviet Experience through the Arts The USA in the Era of the Vietnam War, 1954-75 Bodies and Drugs: A Global History of Medicine OR two of these 15 credit modules:Global History of Medicine History of Asian Medicine: From Manuscripts to YouTube Early Modern European Philosophy Imagining Africa: Ideology, Identity and Text in Africa and the Diaspora Latin American Revolutions 1945-1990 Global History of Buddhism Black Power, Black British Activism & Citizenship in Transnational Perspective The Vietnam War and US Presidential Politics, 1954-75 You will also select 90 credits of year 2 modules approved annually by the Department of History, up to 30 credits of which this may be a related studies module offered by another Goldsmiths Department. Up to 30 credits can be a University of London intercollegiate Group II module.Year 3In your third year, you will take one of the following 30 credit Special Subjects, or a University of London Intercollegiate Group III module. Sex and the African City Mughals, Munshi and Mistresses: Society and Rule in Early Colonial India Healing, Magic and Mindfulness on the Silk Roads You will complete a 30 credit dissertation alongside your chosen Special Subject.You will also choose 60 credits of option modules from a list approved annually by the Department of History.Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.

Assessment method

A wide and innovative variety of different methods are used to assess learning, these include essays, reviews, source analyses, blogs, videos, walks, presentations, exams, and dissertations. Some modules are assessed by portfolios of coursework, or by a combination of coursework and an examination. Others are assessed by long essays or dissertations on topics approved with the tutor. Assessments vary in length according to the type of assessment and/or level of module.Assessment supports student progression across the programme, as assessments in the first year aim to measure a set of baseline skills and competencies which are enhanced, deepened and broadened in subsequent years. Lecturers return assessments and provide useful and constructive feedback in a timely manner so as to ensure that students learn from the feedback and have the opportunity to improve subsequent work.

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Year 1 compulsory modules: Global Connections: the violence and exchanges that shaped the modern world Historical Controversies Reading and Writing History Historical Perspectives Plus two 15 credit option modules offered by the Department of History. Year 2 In your second year, you will either choose one of these 30 credit modules: A History of Resistance in the Middle East Modern Revolutions in Comparative Perspective The Central Powers in the First World War, 1914-18 Empires in Comparative Perspective: Imperium Romanum to Pax Americana Minorities in East-Central Europe: Coexistence, Integration and Annihilation, c.1870-1950 Modern South Asia: Body, Society, Empire and Nation c.1600-1947 Black and British: A Long and Varied History The Past on the Move: Migrations and Diasporas of South-East Europe from Late Antiquity until the Modern Era (4th-20th c.) Mediterranean Encounters: Venice and the Ottoman Empire, 1453-1797 Utopian Visions: The Soviet Experience through the Arts The USA in the Era of the Vietnam War, 1954-75 Bodies and Drugs: A Global History of Medicine OR two of these 15 credit modules: Global History of Medicine History of Asian Medicine: From Manuscripts to YouTube Early Modern European Philosophy Imagining Africa: Ideology, Identity and Text in Africa and the Diaspora Latin American Revolutions 1945-1990 Global History of Buddhism Black Power, Black British Activism & Citizenship in Transnational Perspective The Vietnam War and US Presidential Politics, 1954-75 You will also select 90 credits of year 2 modules approved annually by the Department of History, up to 30 credits of which this may be a related studies module offered by another Goldsmiths Department. Up to 30 credits can be a University of London intercollegiate Group II module. Year 3 In your third year, you will take one of the following 30 credit Special Subjects, or a University of London Intercollegiate Group III module. Sex and the African City Mughals, Munshi and Mistresses: Society and Rule in Early Colonial India Healing, Magic and Mindfulness on the Silk Roads You will complete a 30 credit dissertation alongside your chosen Special Subject. You will also choose 60 credits of option modules from a list approved annually by the Department of History. Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.