History

This course discusses subjects on iconic figures and events throughout Chinese history that students may have learned about previously, and uses a more in depth approach on these events to learn about connecting past history with modern world problems, and how we can solve them. Assessment: Participation 40%, Final Exam 60%.

The course covers the history of Britain from the late 18th century through to c.1870. The focus is on political history broadly defined. Consideration is given to the impact of ideological, sexual, demographic, social, cultural, and economic change on the political process and policy-making, as well as more conventional issues such as constitutional reform and party politics. The course seeks to provide students with an appreciation of the wider contexts in which politics took place (social contexts especially), as well as a secure understanding of political developments themselves. 

The Frankish super-state pieced together by bloody conquest in the reign of Charlemagne (768-814) comprised much of modern-day France, Germany, Italy, Catalonia, and the Low Countries. It remains popularly seen today as at once a restoration of the western Roman Empire, and as a precursor to modern European unity.

By consulting first-hand the remarkable variety of contemporary literature produced at the courts and monasteries of this age, together with the boom in modern scholarship on the subject published in recent decades, we will seek to deconstruct both these notions, and uncover instead a ‘Carolingian Renaissance’ on its own, eighth- and ninth-century terms: one of ritual, theocracy, and prophetic visions; of brutal violence, learned polemic, and carefully balanced consensus. Above all, the course asks: how were such extraordinary political and territorial ambitions achieved and legitimized in a world of such rudimentary resources? And why, once accomplished, could it not last?

The course focuses on the methods of gender studies and applies them to the context of medieval historiography. For this purpose, the course highlights narrative sources, legislation, treatises, literature, and iconography. Students are required to write a short paper demonstrating the use of the tools of historical research and communication, and the ability to customize one's own learning path. This course covers the multiple aspects of female monasticism in the Early Middle Ages through the analysis of narrative sources, charters, and iconography. The course illustrates the problem of the representation of female monasticism during the Early and Central Middle Age period. The use of conceptual tools in gender history allows students to identify the shapes assumed in the specific historical contexts through the construction of the social identity of individuals, both male and female.

Through visits to ten of London’s most important institutions, this course examines the development of how institutions curate culture from Renaissance "cabinets of curiosities" to the modern "white cube" gallery space. The course equips students with the historical, theoretical, and practical knowledge necessary for studying culture through institutional collections. Students analyze the techniques and practices museums use to collect, organize, and display their objects; consider the messages these institutions send through their architecture, patronage, and methods of display; and delve into some of the most important issues affecting cultural institutions today like decolonization, repatriation, and social impact.

This course is a study of the history of Israel as seen through films. The course examines various angles of the socio-political reality displayed in both fiction and documentary films. From the early twentieth century in Palestine and onwards in Israel, mainly through Israeli cinema, a flourishing industry nowadays, as well as through foreign cinema, the course covers the main events that shaped and continue to shape the reality of this young state: the historical events that led to its foundation, the wars which drew its borders, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and its multi-cultural identity.

The course focuses on the long-term economic development of Western societies, exploring the factors leading to the pre-eminence that they acquired over other world areas. Concepts and theories from the social sciences are used as a starting point for understanding the development of real economies in their complex social, political, and cultural contexts. Although the course focuses on the West (Europe and northern America), the developments which took place elsewhere are also considered. The introductory part of the course focuses on the preindustrial period, and introduces the theoretical framework of the "Great Divergence" (leading to the pre-eminence of the West over the East) and "Little Divergence" (leading to the pre-eminence of northern over southern Europe) to understand the emergence of key economic and political hierarchies between different world areas. The Industrial Revolution which took place in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries constitutes the core of the course. The paths to industrialization and modernization followed by other world areas are also explored. The final part of the course covers the period going from the so-called "first Globalization" (1870-1914) until today. The course discusses fundamental knowledge about the long-term economic and social developments that gave origin to the contemporary globalized and highly-interconnected (but also highly unequal) world.