Skip to main content

Unit information: War and Society in 2018/19

Please note: you are viewing unit and programme information for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.

Unit name War and Society
Unit code HIST10045
Credit points 20
Level of study C/4
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director Dr. Grace Huxford
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

School/department Department of History (Historical Studies)
Faculty Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit explores the relationship between war and society across time, introducing students to a range of different wars and conflicts - including inter-state, civil and asymmetric warfare. Through a series of lectures and source-focused seminars, this unit investigates the ways in which societies shape war and conflict, and helps students to understand the dynamics of this relationship over time as well as draw comparisons across different time periods. It will explore themes such as the intellectual, social, religious and/or political frameworks which shape warfare; the practice and technologies of warfare; methods of communication and information-sharing in wartime; the militarization of gender; identity construction (of self, other, victim, nation, the enemy) in wartime; and the legacy of warfare and memory practices and cultures.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Successful students will be able to:

  1. Identify and analyse key themes in the history of warfare and its interactions with society
  2. Discuss and evaluate the historiographical debates that surround the topic
  3. Understand and interpret primary sources and select pertinent evidence in order to illustrate specific and more general historical points
  4. Present their research and judgements in written forms and styles appropriate to the discipline and to level C.

Teaching Information

Weekly:

2 x one-hour lecture
1 x one-hour workshop
1 x one-hour seminar

Assessment Information

One summative essay (50%) (3000 words) [1-4]
One two-hour exam (50%) [1-4]

Reading and References

Miguel A. Centeno and Elaine Enriquez, War and Society (Cambridge, Polity Press, 2016)
Matthew Hughes and William J. Philpott (eds.) Palgrave Advances in Modern Military History (Basingstoke, 2006)
Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (London, 1988, reprinted by Collins 2017)
Geoffrey Parker, The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800, 2nd. ed. (CUP: Cambridge, 1996; f.p. 1988)
Timothy Ashplant, Graham Dawson, Michael Roper. Commemorating War: The Politics of Memory (London: Transaction, 2009)

Feedback