History and Scottish Historical Studies

What is distinctive about History?

How good is the teaching and how good is the research? At Dundee we believe in research-led teaching. That is to say, historians create modules around their areas of interest or the historical problems on which they are working. History is  top- rated for both  research and teaching achieving a 5 in the 2001 RAE. The chief advantage to the student of studying  in an environment with an international reputation for research comes from being taught by historians who are actively thinking anew about the past. Research carried out in archives, ideas or arguments published in books or presented at conferences inform the modules we design and the teaching we undertake.

Extracurricular Activities

• The History Society is run by students for students, organising various events throughout the year.
• Events such as debates, quizzes, pub get-together to a grand ball.
• Participate in an American Civil War Encampment.
• Visits to the Battlefield of Culloden and Abbotsford House, home of Sir Walter Scott.
• An annual visit to a historic European city.

Module Content

Level 1

The Making of the British Atlantic Empire, c.1603-1763 (Core Module) - HY11003	Semester 1	Credits 20
This module explores the rise and growth of Britain's first empire, which was focused on the Atlantic and which, by 1763, boasted an unrivalled influence on international power. The course examines the social, political, military and economic dynamics behind the empire's growth, and studies the impact of colonisation on native people, both in the British Isles and North America.
Britain in the Twentieth Century: Culture, Politics, Economy - HY12004	Semester 2	Credits 20
This module explores the development of Britain since 1900, including the separation of Ireland in 1922 leading to the creation of the United Kingdom. For post-1945 Britain it also provides an American comparison in the key areas of the cold war and civil rights. Topics include: the pressures on British 'liberal' society before 1914; the Great War and Interwar Britain; the impact of the Second World War; comparing post-war Britain and the USA; culture, gender, religion and the 'Sixties' cultural revolution; the 'Irish Question' and political change.

Level 2

Level 2 modules offer introductions to European history by themes selected because of their intrinsic importance. They also further your introduction to varying types of history: political, social, economic, intellectual, gender and art.

Regime and Resistance in Europe, 1789-1945 (Core Module) - HY22002	Semester 2	Credits 20
The aim of the module is to provide a general introduction to European History from the French Revolution to the Second World War. It is organised around the central theme of regime and resistance. Emphasis is placed on examining the regimes that dominated the modern European continent, and the opposition to them.
Early Modern Europe 1400-1700 - HY21001	Semester 1	Credits 20
This module provides a general introduction to European History from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. It broadly surveys the major cultural, political, religious and social movements that shaped Europe between 1400 and 1700. It is arranged in three blocks, taught consecutively: (1) The Renaissance and Voyages of Discovery, c.1400-1550; (2) Religious Reform and Wars of Religion, c.1520-1600; (3) Political, Socioeconomic and Cultural Change, c.1550-1700. Within each block, the approach will be to analyze the broad developments in Western Europe, using primary sources in both lectures and tutorials.

Level 3

Study Abroad students may take level 3 modules, however, evidence of prior knowledge may be required in the form of transcripts. To find out more about this contact us.

Level 3: Skills Modules:

Reading Seventeenth-Century Scotland - HY31016	Semester 1	Credits 30
This Level 3 Skills Module introduces you to seventeenth-century Scotland through an examination of the sources. The main themes are government, politics, political ideas, religion and culture. A distinctive aspect of this module is archive-based training in the reading and interpretation of original manuscript sources.
Holland in the Age of Rembrandt - HY31020	Semester 1	Credits 30
This Skills Module serves as an introduction to seventeenth-century Dutch history. Although political history is our main focus, the Module also explores a wide range of other topics as well, including social stratification, women's history, religious strife and toleration, intellectual life, and, of course, Dutch art and culture. Another purpose of the course is to make you familiar with some of the methodological and interpretative issues raised by different kinds of sources and approaches.
Making History: Issues in the Study of the Past - HY31029	Semester 1
Level 3 History core module. This module provides an introduction to major issues in the study of the past, and as such it aims to enhance your study of History at Levels 3 & 4. It enables you to do three things in particular: to recognize and critically assess different kinds of History, o engage with fundamental issues about how historians 'make' History (including how they interpret and write about the past), and to consider the role of History in the public sphere today, including the media and the heritage industry.
Scotland and the Americas, 1620-1865 - HY31005	Semester 1	Credits 30
This course explores the impact of Scotland on the New World, and the reciprocal effects in Scotland. Political, social, economic and cultural influences are considered, with an emphasis on emigration and trade as well as intellectual and religious significance.

Level 3: Options Modules (not all Options will be available in any one year):

Questions of Ulster, 1590 to the Present - HY32010	Semester 2	Credits 30
This module examines the province of Ulster in Ireland over four centuries. It is a study of a region which has many contexts, British, Irish, Scottish, European and North Atlantic. The module explores how past and present interact and the way history is employed in a divided society in everyday life.
Society and Politics in France and Germany, 1814-1914 - HY31015	Semester 1	Credits 30
This course will be organised around central themes which will be studied through cross-country comparison and include: France and Germany between War and Revolution, 1814-1848; Politics from below and the domestication of the dangerous classes, 1848-1890; Politics from above: Bonapartist Dictatorship, 1851-1890 and Towards mass-society, 1890-1914.
Scots on the Move: A Century of Scottish Emigration, c. 1830-1930 - HY32008	Semester 2	Credits 30
This course looks at demographic change in Scotland over the period between 1830 and 1930. This module will examine theories and explanations of population growth as well as population movement; why the Scots were so migratory within the borders of Scotland, and why so many Scots left their homeland.

Level 4

Study Abroad students may take level 4 modules, however, evidence of prior knowledge may be required in the form of transcripts. To find out more about this contact us.

The Level 4 programme of Focused Studies and Special Subjects offers you in-depth study of historical topics and sources based on the reading and interpretation of primary materials.

 

Slavery and Society in the American ante-bellum South 1800-1865 - HY42029	Semester 2	Credits 30
This course uses slave and ex-slave narratives, travel accounts, plantation records, political statements and personal diaries to offer an appraisal of slavery and society in the ante-bellum South, exploring issues of race, class and gender. It includes consideration of the back-country, urban areas and coastal regions, as well as plantation society.
The Crisis of Union: Scotland 1689-1715 - HY42010	Semester 2	Credits 30
This module focuses on a critical period in Scottish history, studying in depth the origins, negotiation and impact of incorporating union. The module deals with a broad range of economic, social and political history. This involves detailed examination of subjects like the Darien adventure, the condition of Scotland at the turn of the eighteenth century, the ratification of the Treaty of Union, political and popular opposition to its implementation, its effect on trade and society, the role of the church, English and Scots attitudes to the debate, and the origins and continued existence of Jacobitism.
Scotland and Europe, c.1530-c.1570
This Focused Study examines a key period in the history of Scotland, with a particular emphasis on the wider European situation. Topics include Scotland's role in European diplomacy, the nature and level of support for Protestantism before the Reformation, European cultural influences on Scotland, the effects of war and military occupation, and the development of ideas of nationhood, popular sovereignty and rebellion.
Revolution in Ireland 1912-23 - HY41024	Semester 1	Credits 30
This Focused Study will expand your historical skills. The development of historiography and public history on the period will also be addressed through explorations of primary and secondary sources. How for example have historians' and public attitudes changed toward the text of the 1916 Republican Proclamation and the iconography of the Rising/Rebellion's leadership since 1969? How has Ulster Unionist perceptions of the foundation of Northern Ireland modified since 1972? Has the concept of revolution been affected by the conflict in Northern Ireland?
The Russian Revolution and the Civil War, 1917-1921 (Part 1) - HY41017	Semester 1	Credits 30
The general aim of the module is to enable you to acquire a detailed knowledge and understanding of the complex events in Russia from the dismantling of the tsarist regime to the spring of 1918 when the Bolsheviks signed the Brest-Litovsk treaty with Germany. Attention will be paid to a variety of political, social, economic, cultural and ideological developments, and you will be expected to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of these.
The Russian Revolution and the Civil War, 1917-1921 (Part 2) - HY42018	Semester 2	Credits 30
The general aim of the module is to enable you to acquire a detailed knowledge and understanding of the complex events in Russia from the Brest-Litovsk treaty to the final victory of the Bolsheviks in the struggle for power. Attention will be paid to a variety of political, social, economic, cultural and ideological developments, and you will be expected to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of these.
Counter-revolution in Ireland 1920-1940 - HY42023	Semester 2	Credits 30
When do revolutionaries stop being revolutionary? One answer is when they turn from the politics which brought them to power and adopt constitutional methods. This module examines the transition of Irish society north and south from revolution to settlement in the 1920s and 1930s. The transition from revolutionary to constitutional politics is a central theme in modern Irish history. The ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland gives us a useful point of reference from which to open a discussion.
Red Scotland/Radical Scotland, c. 1880-1932 - HY40044 and HY40045 (two-paper special subject)	Part one in semester 1, Part 2 in semester 2. Both parts must be taken.
In Semester 1 we explore the 'roots' of Radical Scotland and examine the transformation of industrial and class relations and the events that were to influence and shape developments in working-class politics in Scotland from around c.1880 to the advent of the First World War in August 1914. In Semester 2 we continue the story through to the era of 'Red Scotland' and examine the impact of the First World War and the influence of the Russian Revolution, political change and economic depression in post-war Scotland, and the decline of Scottish Radicalism by the 1930s.
The Georgian Town - HY40042 and HY40043 (two-paper special subject)	Part one in semester 1, Part 2 in semester 2. Both parts must be taken.
This highly-visual module in social, economic, political, cultural, urban and architectural history, takes a comparative approach to examining why and how towns and cities underwent dramatic transformation in the latter decades of the 18th century. Although attention will be upon Dundee, Perth and Edinburgh, for which the principal primary sources are most conveniently available, you are encouraged to consider how comparable towns faced similar issues: in Scotland e.g. Glasgow, Forfar, Aberdeen, Montrose; in England - Bath and London; in Europe - Paris, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Berlin. Prague etc, or further afield - like St Petersburg, Charleston, or Philadelphia.
Dissertation
The dissertation of 8-10,000 words is the most ambitious single piece of work attempted by the undergraduate historian. It offers an opportunity to apply all the accumulated skills and knowledge in one piece of work and it is usually linked to areas studied in Focused Studies or Special Subjects.