Course overview
This course will look at some of the great 'turning points' of history that have shaped the world in which we live. This might include the Renaissance and Reformation of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the 'Scientific Revolution' of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century, the 'Sexual Revolution' of the twentieth century, as well as great political revolutions such as the American, French, Russian and Chinese. Students will actively engage with the central question of why human history in the last 500 years has witnessed periods of profound transformation. Were they driven primarily by technological and economic developments, or were new ideas and philosophies the most important agents of rapid historical change? What role was played in these transformations by individuals and by governments? What exactly do we mean by the term 'revolution', and how legitimately can the word be applied to the events that we cover in this course? This course has three main objectives. Firstly, it will ask students to engage with some of most important debates about the factors that led to rapid historical change. Secondly, the course furnishes students with an overview of the 'big picture' of world history across the last 500 years. Students will acquire essential contextual knowledge which will enrich their understanding of almost any subsequent course they take in history or the humanities. Thirdly, the course will facilitate students' understanding of the world in which they live by exploring some of the key developments that have shaped our common history. The course allows for insights into our own rapidly changing era by exploring other revolutionary episodes in our past. Note: this course is very different from the 'revolutions' component of SACE.
Course learning outcomes
- Broad factual knowledge of the political, social, cultural and visual history of important periods of transition and transformation in world history.
- An ability to address questions about the causes and impact of these transformations.
- An ability to locate relevant secondary sources and use them appropriately in order to answer questions about the causes and impact of these periods of profound transformation
- An understanding of the contested nature of historical interpretations with particular regard to the transitions we discuss in the course
- Students will be able to identify the key questions at stake in these debates and understand the key positions taken by historians
- A capacity to engage critically with these debates both individually and in small groups, and to formulate coherent positions of their own based on an appropriate use of evidence
- An understanding of, and the ability correctly to use, the conventions and idiom of the discipline of history
- An ability to work in small groups in order to address and solve historical problems pertaining to the causes and impact of the 'revolutions' that we study
- An ability to use relevant technologies to find and evaluate sources, communicate ideas with other students and with staff, and present findings