HISTORY
HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
2nd Year
Semester: 1
Colloquium
HI166.I
Ireland in the 1950s
Dr Tomás Finn
This colloquium examines perceptions of the 1950s in Ireland as a lost decade. It considers the economic stagnation from
which the country suffered but also looks at the emergence of a culture of inquiry and many of the policies that shaped
contemporary Ireland.
By the end of this module, students will:
Be familiar with key political and social controversies of this period
Understand the main social and economic problems facing Ireland
Be familiar with historiographical debates on this period
Idenify relevant material, both primary and secondary sources, relating to Ireland in the 1950s
Carry out an independent research project about this period
Construct coherent and well-informed arguments about Ireland in the 1950s
Communicate information orally and in writing, in a well-organised and well-presented manner.
Colloquium
Studies in Medieval History I: The Decline and Fall of the Late Western Roman Empire,
AD270-476
Dr Chris Doyle
HI2119
This module explores internal disunity as a central cause of the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire. From the late
third-century political reforms and geographical division of the empire between east and west, to the removal of the last
western emperor in 476, there were more than forty civil insurrections, the majority of which occurred in the west. Rome
became locked into a cycle of disorder, from which it proved unable to extricate itself. Internal disunity seriously undermined
Rome’s ability to deal effectively with the later fourth and fifth century barbarian invasions that engulfed the west,
eventually establishing the early medieval European kingdoms. Lectures and tutorials will examine and discuss a range of
primary sources (texts, laws, coinage, art, epigraphy and archaeology) and secondary readings. Knowledge of Latin and
Greek is not necessary, as translations of original sources will be given.
On successful completion of this module, the student will be able to:
•
Identify, extract and interpret relevant information from an array of primary literary and material evidence
•
Situate and contextualise this information within a broader historical narrative
•
Analyse and explain some of the causes behind the Western Roman Empire’s decline and fall
•
Develop their existing skills in order to carry out historical research
•
Learn the skills of evidence and argument through examination of contrasting opinions in the secondary reading material
•
Communicate and present information through in-class oral presentations
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
2nd Year
Colloquium
HI295
The American Civil War: Causes and Developments
Dr Enrico Dal Lago
This course will introduce students to the American Civil War, which between 1861 and 1865 caused more than 600,000
dead, destroyed the lives of an entire generation, and led to the emancipation of 4,000,000 African American slaves. Through
the analysis of key documents –ranging from South Carolina’s Declaration of the Causes of Secession to Abraham Lincoln’s
Emancipation Proclamation – and through the reading of writings by key historians, students will familiarize with the main
issues of contention in the American Civil War and with the different scholarly interpretations of them.
By the end of this module, students should be able to:
- Find relevant material, both printed and online, relating to the American Civil War
- Carry out a short independent research project about the American Civil War
- Avoid plagiarism through careful note-taking and citation
- Construct coherent and well-informed arguments about the American Civil War
- Communicate historical information orally and in writing, in a well-organised and well-presented manner
Textbook:
Michael Perman, eds., Major problems in the Civil War and Reconstruction (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2nd edition
1998).
Additional Readings:
James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York, 1988)
James McPherson & William Cooper, eds., Writing the Civil War: The Quest to Understand (2000)
Orville Vernon Burton, The Age of Lincoln (2007)
Ira Berlin et al., Slaves No More: Three Essays on Emancipation and the Civil War (1992)
Colloquium
HI429.I
The Mid-Tudor Crisis, 1547-60
Prof. Steven Ellis
The module focuses on the English state in the period from the death of Henry VIII (1509-47) through the reigns of Edward
VI (1547-53) and Mary I (1553-8) to the start of the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). At a time when kings were expected
to rule as well as reign, King Henry was succeeded by his young son, Edward, and on the latter’s death, aged only 15, by the
two half-sisters, Mary (who defeated an attempt by Lady Jane Grey to pervert the Tudor succession) and then Elizabeth. The
absence of a male ruler was thus a major part of the ‘crisis’, but in addition Edward’s reign saw a lurch towards
Protestantism, with a Catholic reaction under Mary, and then more Protestantism under Elizabeth. These religious changes
sparked popular unrest and rebellion and this was also fuelled by social unrest arising out of inflation and demographic
growth. The module will thus assess the nature of the ‘crisis’, with particular reference to politics, religious developments,
socio-economic change, and popular unrest.
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
2nd Year
Colloquium
HI465
European Encounters with the Mongols
Dr Kimberly LoPrete
This Colloquium examines Europeans’ encounters with the Mongols from the initial shock and outrageous rumours after the
Mongols’ destructive attacks on central European cities in the 1240s to the studied attempts--through ‘fact-finding’ and other
diplomatic embassies--both to acquire accurate knowledge of the Mongols’ way of life and to forge alliances with some of
them against the Muslim powers of the middle east. Emphasis will be on the considered discussion of contemporary reports,
most notably those by the papal envoy John of 'Planus Carpinus' and by William of Rubruck, sent by the French king Louis
IX, in attempts to see how knowledge of the Mongols and central Asia affected Europeans’ views of themselves and their
wider world.
Core readings include:
‘History of the Mongols’ by John of 'Planus Carpinus' in C. Dawson, ed., The Mongol Mission: Narratives and Letters of the
Franciscan Missionaries in Mongolia and China in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries (1955) - Mission of Friar
William of Rubruck: His Journey to the Court of the Great Khan Möngke, 1253-1255 , ed. & trs. P. Jackson (1990) - P.
Jackson, The Mongols and the West, 1221-1410 (2005)
Lecture
CC211
Early Greece
Dr Edward Herring
This module is run by the Classics department and is available only to Single Honours BA (2BA11) History students.
Details for this module are on the Classics website.
Lecture
CC228
The History of the Roman Empire
Dr Mark Stansbury
This module is run by the Classics department and is available only to Single Honours BA (2BA11) History students.
Details for this module are on the Classics website
Lecture
HI211
Medieval Ireland 5th-9th century
Prof. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín
This module comprises a survey of the history, politics, culture, literature and society of Ireland in the Early Middle Ages
(from c. AD 400 to c. AD 800). It traces the transition from a so-called 'tribal' society to one in which 'dynastic' politics are
the norm, and explains how that change is reflected in society. It ends with an assessment of the Viking impact in Ireland.
The lectures cover such themes as Early Irish (Brehon) law and institutions; politics and society; the origins of Irish artistic
and literary culture; the beginnings of Christianity and the later evolution of the Irish Church; the Irish abroad, and the
Vikings. Students are introduced to some of the original documentary material used by historians.
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
2nd Year
Lecture
HI2111
Ireland Under the Union: 1801-1922
Dr Laurence Marley
This module provides a survey of Anglo-Irish relations in the long nineteenth century, addressing the main themes of faith,
land and political identity and control. Against the backdrop of the British policy of assimilating Ireland under the Union, it
examines the great popular campaigns for Catholic emanicipation, repeal of the Union/defence of the Union, and agrarian
rights. It examines the 'modern' emergence of the ideologies of nationalism and unionism and the ultimate undoing of the
Union .
Lecture
HI2116
Religion and Irish Life in 20th-century Ireland
Dr Mary Harris
This module explores the significance of religious issues in twentieth-century Irish politics, culture and society. It considers
the relationship between religion and identity in both Northern Ireland and the independent Irish state before and after
partition. It explores the relationship between religious and political leaders and considers the ways in which churches have
influenced public opinion and legislation. It considers the contribution of churches to Irish intellectual life. The role
Lecture
HI267
Reformation Europe
Dr Alison Forrestal
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, western Europeans shared a common religious identity as members of the catholic
church. By 1563, European society had altered irrevocably, with the unity wrought by religious affiliation replaced by an
array of conflicting churches and sects. This period, commonly known as the Reformation, was an era of unprecedented
change in European history, with enormous and enduring significance for the political and cultural development of Europe.
‘Reformation Europe’ will trace the inauspicious beginnings of the Reformation in 1517, when the scholarly monk Martin
Luther defied pope and emperor by refusing to retract his criticisms of catholic doctrines and devotions, such as
indulgences. It will examine the origins of the protest, asking what longer term political, cultural and social trends
contributed to its outbreak, and transformed an isolated intellectual debate into a revolution. It will also trace the rapid
growth of support for dissent and reform, followed by the radicalisation and fragmentation of the new movement as it spread
across the German lands, and into England and Scotland, Switzerland and France. The political and social implications of
the Reformation were thrashed out in revolts and wars, such as the Peasants’ Revolt (1524), and the French civil wars
(1562), which will form case studies in the module.
Lecture
HI292
Central Europe, 1867-1918
Dr Róisín Healy
Definitions of Central Europe vary, but for the purposes of this course, the term refers to the German and Austro-Hungarian
Empires. Together these two empires covered vast territories from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Adriatic in the south,
from which many of the recent EU-accession states emerged. These empires experienced similar tensions to states in western
Europe, for instance, over the relationship between church and state, the social consequences of industrialization, and the
acquisition of overseas colonies. Their ethnic heterogeneity, however, gave rise to other, more serious divisions. German
nationalism clashed with the nationalisms of Poles, Slovaks, Magyars and others. This course examines both the ‘normal’
problems of Central Europeans at this time and those that derived from the clash of nationalisms in these two empires.
Figures familiar to western Europeans, such as Bismarck, William II and Francis Joseph I, all make appearances, as do
others who are better known to central Europeans, such as Józef Piłsudski, Tomas Masaryk, and Rosa Luxemburg.
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
2nd Year
Lecture
HI459
The Tudors: Religion, State and Society
Prof. Steven Ellis
The Tudors were the first Welsh dynasty on the English throne, and after recovering from a shaky start, shortage of male
heirs led to the accession of a Scottish king, James VI, on the death of the last Tudor, Elizabeth I, in 1603. By then,
however, the nature of the Tudor state had been substantially transformed from the medieval patrimony acquired by Henry
Tudor in 1485. Central control of outlying territories, Ireland, Wales, and the English north, had been extended and
consolidated; the monarch had replaced the pope as ‘supreme governor’ of what was now a state church organized on
broadly Protestant lines; and a more law-abiding, gentry-dominated, ‘civil’ society had gradually developed even in outlying
parts to challenge the territorial magnates, armed retainers, and their numerous tenantry. Aspects of these changes –
particularly life at court – are familiar to the general public through popular works by David Starkey and TV series like ‘The
Tudors’; but what was life really like under the Tudors in not-so-merry England? This module attempts to address that
question.
Lecture
LIB2100
Using Archives and Special Collections for Research I
Marie Boran / Ciaran Hoare
This module is available to BA History (denominated) only.
This module will allow students to develop critical and independent research skills, interpretive skills, contextual analysis
and digital research strategies through usage of archives and special collections research material. Students will experience
an innovative and stimulating introduction to the theory and practice of archives and special collections material, from
historic records to the digital age, the importance of records and archives and their impact in society, interrogating and
trusting archives, linking archives and Special Collections for research and develop new learning techniques and experiences
through handling, examining and discovering archival and primary source materials as well as rare printed collections.
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
2nd Year
Semester: 2
Colloquium
HI2103
Monarchy and Society in Early Seventeenth-Century France
Dr Alison Forrestal
The beginning of the seventeenth century heralded a new era for the kingdom of France: after four decades of civil war a
new dynasty of Bourbon kings took power, and wielded it until the French Revolution. This module examines the reigns of
Louis XVI’s predecessors, Louis XIII and his son Louis XIV (the ‘Sun King of Versailles’) from 1610 to 1661. It focuses
on the political and social challenges involved in asserting the ‘absolute’ authority of the new regime, and examines the claim
that the political and social roots of the French Revolution lay in these periods of rule. Knowledge of the French language is
not required, since readings (documents and secondary sources) on the workings of the royal court, popular revolts, noble
faction and rebellion, etc. will be provided in translation.
Colloquium
HI2113
Making and Breaking of Britain in the Twentieth Century
Dr Tomás Finn
This module asks what it means to be British. The twentieth century ended with the opening of the National Assembly of
Wales and a parliament in Scotland. These were in many ways unexpected and unlikely events. It was Scotland’s first
parliament for 300 years and the first in Wales for almost 600 years. This module considers the factors that led to their
establishment and may in turn lead to the break-up of Britain, along with the ties that continue to unite the country. It
examines not just the question of national identity especially for the Scots and Welsh, but also the phenomenon of English
nationalism. Topics include the impact of two world wars, the decline of the British Empire, economic challenges, the
European Union and the political awakening of both women and the working classes. By considering the long and short term
factors that led to devolution, this module helps us to understand what it is to be English, Welsh and Scottish within a British
context.
Colloquium
HI2115
Post-prinary Education in Ireland, c. 1878-1973
Dr John Cunningham
This module traces the development of Irish primary education from the 1870s, when it was an elitist redoubt in the
educational system, to the 1970s, when the great mass of young people availed of it. Beginning with the important
Intermediate Education Act (1878), a compromise between state and Catholic church, the module will trace the early
expansion of the system of so-called Intermediate education, and consider whether the charge that it became a ‘murder
machine’ was justified.
Colloquium
HI572
Irish Ideologies and Activists, 1905-1916
Dr Mary Harris
This colloquium focuses on prominent Irish nationalist, republican, unionist, feminist and socialist figures of the period. It
examines their writings, relating them to their Irish and international contexts. It considers their use of the mosquito press,
demonstrations, agitprop and other means of conveying their message and assesses their impact.
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
2nd Year
Lecture
HI170
Europe, 1919-89
Dr Gearóid Barry
This is a survey course of politics and society across Europe since the First World War. It will pay special attention to key
states such as Germany, France and the Soviet Union and key themes such as the role of political ideology, ethnic conflict,
decolonization and the process of European integration. Students will be exposed to a broad range of historiographical
interpretations, seeking to a give a holistic overview that does not excessively privilege Western Europe or the totalitarian
states.
Lecture
HI2100
Ireland in a Global Conext, 1922-2002
Dr Kevin O'Sullivan
What does Irish history look like when told as part of a much broader European and global narrative? This module examines
the major themes in Irish history - state-building and economic crisis in the 1920s and the 1930s, neutrality in the Second
World War, economic liberalisation, globalisation, social, cultural and political evolution - all as part of a global narrative of
change. It concludes with a question: where should we locate Irish history in the twentieth century?
Lecture
HI2102
The Modern United States, 1865-2008
Dr Enrico Dal Lago
This course will introduce students to the history and historiography of the United States between the end of the Civil War
and the last presidential elections. Specific themes will include racial politics in the U.S. South, expansion into the West,
industrialization, imperialism, the two world wars and the making of the U.S. global power, the Cold War, the 1960s with the
Civil Rights Movement, the student protest, and Vietnam, and finally the long conservative backlash from Nixon to Bush, Jr.
Lecture
HI2110
Making Ireland English: 1580-1665
Dr Pádraig Lenihan
This is a survey course designed to introduce students to debates and interpretations surrounding the formative political,
economic, military and social events and themes of early modern Ireland. The survey takes as its organizing grand narrative
the multifaceted conflicts between a centralizing Tudor and Stuart state and local or native elites be they Gaelic, Old English,
Irish, or ‘English of Ireland’.
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
2nd Year
Lecture
HI262
Medieval Europe c. 1050-1250
Dr Kimberly LoPrete
This survey introduces students to key actors, events and ideas that shaped culture, politics and religious affairs in the central
middle ages—a period that saw great experimentation and expansion followed by the development of legal and
administrative structures to centralise monarchs’ powers in both ‘church’ and ‘states’. Topics treated in lectures include how
lordship shaped knightly, clerical, peasant and burgess communities; papal reform and Christian kingship; the Norman
impact in England and south Italy; ‘reconquista’ and the first crusade; new religious movements, both orthodox and
heterodox; the rise of universities. Lectures are complemented by the discussion in tutorials of primary sources devoted to
such themes as medieval warfare; the relations of kings and prelates; the charismatic religious figures Peter Waldo and
Francis of Assisi; the purpose and reach of inquisitors; and legal compiliations like the canons of the Fourth Lateran Council
(1215), Magna Carta (1215) and the Constitutions of Melfi (1231).
Lecture
HI493
Economy and Society in early Modern Europe
Dr Niall Ó Ciosáin
This is a course in the economic and social history of western Europe in the period immediately preceding the industrial
revolution. It is organised around four elements: the material conditions and economic activities of pre-industrial Europe; the
relationship between economic activity and politics, in particular the development of states as revenue-raising mechanisms;
the relationship between material developments and culture, including topics such as changes in communication, the
development of literacy and printing; and the growing European dominance of the world which was fully established by the
late eighteenth century.
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HISTORY
HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
3rd Year
Semester: 1
Seminar
HI165
Life in Urban Galway from the Act of Union
Dr John Cunningham
By several criteria, the period 1801-1921 was a stagnant one in Galway's history. Population statistics show a slight decline,
and trade figures have a similar trajectory. It was a period of great change nonetheless, during which the state established
major institutions - including a workhouse and a university; during which the railway and steamships revolutionised
transport; during which there was institutional reform, several extensions to the electoral franchise, and a political revolution.
Using documentary sources and the interpretative approach of 'history from below', students will examine the response of
ordinary Galway people to changes in the world around them, in the spheres of education, work and welfare, entertainment,
religion, and politics
Introductory Reading:
John Cunningham, 'A town tormented by the sea': Galway, 1790-1914, Dublin 2004.
William Nolan & Anngret Simms, eds, Irish towns, a guide to sources, Dublin 1984.
Seminar
HI167
Power & Conflict in Northern Ireland, 1963-1972
Dr Mary Harris
This module explores power struggles in Northern Ireland from Terence O’Neill’s accession to power in 1963 to the
emergence of civil rights movement and the subsequent outbreak of conflict in 1968. It then traces the escalation of conflict
up to the collapse of Stormont in 1972.
The seminar examines the perspectives of various individuals and groups, focusing on their stated aims and strategies
employed to bring about or block change; these included parliamentary politics, mass demonstrations, propaganda campaigns
and armed struggles. It also considers government strategies to contain unrest by banning marches and introducing
internment without trial.
Students are introduced to academic debates on these issues and examine primary sources including political memoirs,
radical publications, parliamentary debates, minutes of government meetings, official enquiries and film footage.
Introductory Reading:
Devlin, Bernadette, The Price of My Soul (London: Deutsch, 1969).
Hennessey, Thomas, Northern Ireland: The Origins of the Troubles (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 2005).
Ó Dochartaigh, N., From Civil Rights to Armalites: Derry and the Birth of the Irish Troubles, (Basingstoke and New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).
For more lists and uploaded material, see the CAIN website, cain.ulst.ac.uk.
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
3rd Year
Seminar
HI3101
Of Rice and Men: Aid and Humanitarianism since 1945
Dr Kevin O'Sullivan
The rise of the foreign aid regime was one of the most important trends in international relations in the twentieth century.
This seminar examines the actors (governments, NGOs, international organisations) and issues (empire, religion,
diplomacy,altruism, advocacy, economics, and human rights) that shaped its fortunes. Integrated case studies - from the
refugee crisis after the Second World War to the Rwandan genocide - will allow students to explore the practical application
of these themes.
Introductory Reading:
Michael Barnett, Empire of humanity: a history of humanitarianism (Ithaca, NJ: Cornell University Press, 2011).
Gilbert Rist, The history of development: from Western origins to global faith (3rd ed., London: Zed Books, 2011).
Ian Smillie, The alms bazaar: altruism under fire – non-profit organisations and international development (London:
Intermediate Technology Publications, 1995).
Seminar
HI3102
The Irish and Colonial Australasia
Dr Laurence Marley
‘What would people say if I became a policeman?’ - Ned Kelly, 1879
This module examines the various patterns of Irish settlement, identity formation and assimilation in Australasia, from the
early penal colonies of the late eighteenth century to the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The principal areas under
examination include: Irish convict transportation; emigration, both voluntary and government-assisted; race, the Irish and the
colour bar in the antipodes; Irish involvement in policing and law and order at the frontier of the British empire; and the
extent to which Old World sectarian divisions survived in the colonies. Taking a transnational approach, the course also
considers the extent to which the Australasian colonies informed developments and debates in Ireland during the nineteenth
century.
Introductory Reading:
Patrick O’Farrell, ‘The Irish in Australia and New Zealand’, in F.X. Martin and W.E. Vaughan (eds), A New History of
Ireland: Ireland Under the Union, I (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989).
Patrick O’Farrell, The Irish and Australia: 1788 to the Present (Cork: Cork University Press, 2001) [available on-line, James
Hardiman Library].
Richard P. Davis, Irish Issues in New Zealand Politics, 1868-1922 (Otago: University of Otago Press, 1974).
Seminar
HI3113
Poland in the Modern European Imagination
Dr Róisín Healy
The prevailing perception of Poland in modern Europe has been that of a victim. This module explores the emergence of this
view in the context of the collapse of the early modern Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and its persistence through the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as a result of the repeated crushing of Polish nationalist aspirations by neighbouring
powers. Poles have, however, also been accused of intolerance towards Jews and other religious minorities. Students will
consider the perspectives of the Poles, their neighbours and those further afield in western Europe and America, on the
experiences of Poles and other ethnic groups in Poland in the modern period.
Introductory Reading:
Norman Davies. God’s Playground: A History of Poland, 2 vols (New York: Columbia U.P., 1983).
Czeslaw Milosz, Native Realm (London: Penguin, 1988, orig. 1959).
Larry Wolff, The Idea of Galicia: History and Fantasy in Habsburg Political Culture (Stanford: Stanford U.P., 2012).
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
3rd Year
Seminar
HI3115
Poverty Crime and Institutions, Europe 1780-1914
Dr Caitríona Clear
This course takes a transnational approach to poor relief provision, the new policing of the marginal, and the rise of
institutions in the Italian peninsula, France, the Low Countries, Britain, Ireland, and some other European countries in the
‘long nineteenth century’ – from the revolutionary period to the First World War. It explores the relationships between
poverty, crime and police - as verb and noun - and the growth of carceral, custodial and caring institutions in Europe. Course
themes include the care and control of the poor 1780-1840; the growth of the new prison and the new penal system in the
same period; the rise of the asylum and the apparent increase in insanity from the late eighteenth century and through the
nineteenth century; the foundling crisis of the early nineteenth century and how it was dealt with; the rise of police forces
and the problem of crime statistics; poverty in the cities, theories of ‘degeneracy’and ‘criminality’, and ultimately the
marginalization/reclamation of certain people – men ‘on the move’, women ‘on the streets’ and children ‘on their own’ , in
the years leading up to the First World War.
Introductory Reading:
Olwen Hufton, The Poor of Eighteenth-century France 1750-1789.
C.Lis, Social Change and the Labouring Poor: Antwerp 1770-1830.
Ruth Richardson, Death, Dissection and the Destitute.
Daniel Pick, Faces of Degeneration: a European disorder 1848-1918.
Seminar
HI439
Vichy France
Dr Gearóid Barry
The core work of this course consists of the reading and analysis of selected secondary literature (book excerpts and articles)
and important translated primary source documents on the period of the Second World War in France; between 1940 and
1944, a defeated France disappeared from the front row of the war and underwent four hard years of occupation by the
German army and the Nazi war machine. The course sets the dramatic fall of France in 1940 in the context of France’s
interwar political divisions. From this shock came the creation of a collaborationist and authoritarian Vichy state under
Marshal Philippe Pétain whom many French people hailed – at first- as a war-hero-turned-saviour of the country. Faced with
German occupiers and a French government that increasingly collaborated with the economic and racial demands of the
Nazis, Frenchmen and Frenchwomen faced daily choices about co-operating, resisting or just surviving. Anti-Semitic
persecution – that initiated by the French themselves and the co-operation of the French government in the Holocaust- is a
shocking and dramatic part of this story that we will cover in detail. We shall also linger, however, in the fascinating ‘grey
zone’ of survival that most people lived in, most of the time, acting neither as heroes nor as villains. The role of the De
Gaulle’s Free French and of the internal Resistance, ranging in beliefs from Communists to Catholics, must also feature, as
does, at the course’s end, the question of what sort of justice was done in France’s post-war purge and why the rights and
wrongs of Vichy France remain apparent obsessions for France down to the present day.
Introductory reading:
Richard Vinen, The Unfree French: Life under the Occupation (London: Penguin, 2007).
Carmen Calil, Bad Faith: A forgotten history of family and fatherland (London: Jonathan Cape, 2006).
Julian Jackson, France: the Dark Years, 1940-44 (Oxford, OUP, 2003)
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
3rd Year
Seminar
HI484
Slavery & Emancipation in the American South
Dr Enrico Dal Lago
Slavery shaped the economy, society and politics of the American South from the time the first Africans landed in Virginia
in 1619 to the release of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. This seminar course aims to provide
student with the indispensable background for the selection, interpretation and use of the vast range of primary sources
available on the history American slavery and for their interpretation within the context of current historiographical debates.
Topics treated in the course include: colonial slavery; slavery and the American Revolution; the “Cotton Kingdom” and the
ideology of the master class; the master-slave relationship; slave life and culture; slave resistance and slave rebellion;
Abolitionism and the politics of slavery; and the American Civil War and slave Emancipation.
Introductory Reading:
Rick Halpern & Enrico Dal Lago, eds., Slavery & Emancipation (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002).
Peter Kolchin, American Slavery, 1619-1877 (New York: Hill & Wang, 2003).
Ira Berlin, Generations of Captivity: A History of African American Slaves (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Harvard, 2003).
Seminar
HI569
Aristocratic Women in Medieval Europe, c. 500-1250
Dr Kimberly LoPrete
Largely on the basis of works written by women, this seminar examines the diverse lived experiences and multiple
contributions made by aristocratic women to society, politics & religious life in the early and central middle ages. The
prevailing anti-feminism of the period is acknowledged though emphasis is placed on the ‘cracks’ in the hegemonic
discourse that created spaces for learned and authoritative women.
Special attention is devoted to medieval ‘scientific’ views of sex and gender; to exploring women’s property rights and the
domestic base of political activity, which allowed aristocratic women to play powerful ‘public’ roles; to women’s education
and access to Latin literacy; and to determining whether the ‘Schmid-Duby thesis’, which posits a deterioration of women’s
status after 1000, is tenable. Women & texts to be examined include Dhuoda (author of a handbook for success at the
Carolingian court); the playwright, historian & nun Hrotsvita of Gandersheim; the Ottonian empresses Mathilda I and
Adelheid; Heloise (lover of Abelard and a learned abbess); Adela, countess of Blois; and the polymathic visionary,
Hildegard of Bingen.
Introductory Reading:
S. Gilsdorf, tr., Queenship & Sanctity: The Lives of Mathilda & Epitaph of Adelheid (Washington, D.C.: Catholic U. Press,
2004) [primary sources].
T. Evergates, ed., Aristocratic Women in Medieval France (Philadelphia: U. Pennsylvania Press, 1999) [essays].
B. Newman, ed., Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen & her World (Berkeley: U. California Press 1998) [essays].
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
3rd Year
Seminar
HI571
Law and Society in Early Medieval Ireland, c. AD 500 - AD 800
Prof. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín
This seminar examines how the law functioned in the day-to-day workings of Early Irish society, and offers a survey of the
wide variety of law-texts that have come down from the period. The distinctive features of Early Irish law are studied (with
reference to specific texts and text-types).
Students will learn :
1. How to recognise the distinctive features of Early Irish (Brehon) law texts
2. How to determine the relative age of Early Irish law texts
3. How to relate the rules & regulations embodied in law texts to everyday aspects of Early Irish society.
4. How to use Early Irish law texts as historical sources.
Fergus Kelly, A guide to Early Irish law (Dublin 1988).
Fergus Kelly, Early Irish farming (Dublin 1998)
Seminar
HI578
Children & the State in Ireland, 1838-2011
Dr Sarah Anne Buckley
Attention has only recently been devoted to the experiences of the child in the historiography of nineteenth and twentieth
century Ireland. This seminar will examine the care of children by the British and Irish State from the 1838 Poor Law Relief
Act (Ireland) to the present, concentrating on issues of class, gender and religion. It will assess not only the State’s treatment
of vulnerable children, but also its agencies and other charitable and voluntary organizations involved in child welfare
provision. It will utilize a wide range of primary materials, including state papers, official debates and publications,
newspaper articles, court records, case files, records of voluntary and charitable organizations, photographs, films and
memoirs. It will address the actual treatment of children, as well as changing notions of childhood in Ireland during the
period.
Introductory Reading:
Aries, Philippe, Centuries of Childhood (London, 1962) 305.23 ARI.
Buckley, Sarah-Anne, The Cruelty Man: Child Welfare, the NSPCC and the State in Ireland, 1838-1956 (MUP, 2013).
Hendrick, Harry, Child Welfare: Historical Dimensions, Contemporary Debates (The Policy Press, 2003)
Lecture
HI376
Popular Culture in Pre-industrial Europe
Dr Niall Ó Ciosáin
This course deals with traditional cultural forms as they existed in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly in Western
Europe; the emerging differences between elite and popular culture; changes within popular culture caused by economic,
religious and political developments; and the discovery of popular culture as an object of study in the late-18th century.
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
3rd Year
Lecture
HI407
Catholic Identity in Early Modern Europe
Dr Alison Forrestal
What effect did the Protestant Reformation have on the traditional social order of Europe? Using a rich variety of sources,
this module allows students to study the response of Catholic populations to the unprecedented challenges of the Protestant
Reformation, and to assess the construction of social identity in a period of deep crisis and adjustment.
The module first examines the traditional tools of institutional authority that Catholics used to redefine the role of the
Catholic church in early modern society: councils, popes and the Spanish Inquisition. A further section analyses the
innovations in education and missionary expansion in Protestant regions and the 'New World' pursued by leading Catholic
'Reformers' such as the Jesuits. The module also analyses the impact of collective acts of popular religion, such as the cult of
saints and penitential processions, on identity, and assesses the power of gender stereotypes and group associations to
develop, enforce and reinforce distinct values and codes of behaviour. This module enables students to understand the bond
between religious beliefs and actions and the role of religion in influencing behaviour and in defining the social identity of
individuals and groups.
Lecture
HI579
From Beveridge to Thatcher: Politics, society, economy and welfare in Britain, 1948-1992
Dr Sarah Anne Buckley
This course will look at the political, social, economic and welfare changes that occurred in Britain from 1948-1992,
beginning with an examination with the Beveridge Report in 1948. It will address a diverse range of topics, including the rise
of social movements, economic stagnation, Northern Ireland, British colonialism, race and immigration policies, and the
increasing secularisation of society.
Undoubtedly, Britain and the British have changed greatlysince 1945. A principal driver of change has been a major growth
in population, matched by rapidly rising expectations about lifestyle. Demands for mobility (cars) and space (houses) have
ensured the transfer of land from agriculture and natural landscape to roads and housing, with multiple consequences for the
environment and for the human experience.Furthermore, large-scale immigration, particularly from the West Indies and
South Asia, but also from other areas such as Eastern Europe, has made the population ethnically far more diverse, with
important cultural consequences.
With regard to social legislation, this period witnessed a number of substantial changes. Abortion and homosexuality were
legalised, capital punishment was abolished, and measures were taken to improve the position of women.These changes were
linked to shifts in religious practice. By the 1990s, only one in seven Britons was an active member of a Christian church,
although more claimed to be believers. Social and cultural change was also reflected in the extent to which the population
had become more individualistic and less deferential.
Politically, the course will trace the period from 1948 to 1992 through the policies of different governments. At a national
level, government was controlled by the Labour Party in the periods 1945-1951, 1964-1970, 1974-197, and the
Conservatives from 1951-1964, 1970-1974, 1979-1997, with no coalition ministries.These two parties shared major overlaps
in policy throughout the post-war period, for example in maintaining free health care at the point of delivery - the basis of the
National Health Service.But there were also major contrasts, particularly between 1979 and 1990 when Margaret Thatcher
held power as the country's first female prime minister. Each of these will be explored in this course.
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
3rd Year
Semester: 2
Seminar
HI168
Coming to terms with the Nazi Past
Dr Róisín Healy
The devastating impact of the twelve years of Nazi rule on Germany and Europe continued to be felt in the decades after
1945. This module examines how post-war Germany and western society more generally dealt with this legacy, in particular
the murder of six million Jews. It investigates the varying degrees of engagement with Nazi crimes across both sides of the
Iron Curtain. Themes include the treatment of perpetrators, the experience of returning survivors, the phenomenon of
Holocaust denial and the memory of Nazism’s victims. Students will address this question by means of sources such as
survivor testimonies, newspapers, films and memorials as well as a substantial range of secondary literature.
Introductory reading:
Tim Cole. Images of the Holocaust: the myth of the ‘shoah business’ (London: Duckworth, 1999).
Bill Niven. Facing the Nazi Past: United Germany and the Legacy of the Third Reich (London, Routledge, 2003).
Peter Novick. The Holocaust and Collective Memory: The American Experience (London: Bloomsbury, 2001).
Seminar
HI3103
Before the Book of Kells: Manuscripts & Scribes
Prof. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín
Traces the origins of Early Irish Script and its evolution from Late Antiquity to the earliest dateable Irish material and down
to the Book of Kells. It identifies the distinctive features of Irish manuscripts and examines the parallel developments of Irish
and Anglo-Saxon manuscript production. It is "hands-on": students are required to make transcripts from facsimiles, and
familiarise themselves with the historical background to the manuscripts.
Seminar
HI3110
European Warfare 1618-1714
Dr Pádraig Lenihan
This is primarily a study of the tactics and technology of European warfare on land and sea during an epoch of religious
wars, unprecedented diplomatic realignments, rising and failing states, a ‘general crisis’ and external Ottoman pressure.
Through discussion, presentation and self-directed learning, with an emphasis on contemporary texts, the module will
progress thematically through such themes as state policy and grand strategy, tactical changes as a response to gunpowder
weaponry, the (in)decisiveness of battle, ‘heroism’ versus ‘technique’ in the Vaubanian siege, manoeuvre, logistics and
‘contributions’, the impact of war on civilians, Moral contexts: the ‘laws of war’ and the ‘law of nations’, women in the
world of camp and train, recruitment and promotion: officers and men, the intellectual inheritance of classical Greek and
Rome.
Introductory Reading
Lynn, J.A. The Wars of Louis XIV 1667-1714 (Longman, 1999).
Childs, J. Warfare in the Seventeenth-Century (London, 2001).
Black, J. A Military Revolution? Military Change and European Society 1550-1800 (London, 1991).
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
3rd Year
Seminar
HI3112
The First World War: Transnational Perspectives
Dr Gearóid Barry
The First World War – which mobilized entire societies for war on an unprecedented scale - raises enduring questions about
coercion, consent and violence in modern society. Taking the approach of transnational history – which seeks to identify
links and common themes across national borders- this course combines national histories of large and small belligerents
(ranging, for example, from Germany, France and the UK to Serbia) with a thematic approach examining the place of the
First World War in social and cultural change and continuity in Europe and the wider world in the twentieth century. Thus,
our readings may consider diverse themes such as women’s war work, nationalism, religion and the use of poison gas and
submarine warfare. Against the background of the war’s centenary, students will also engage with topical issues of popular
memory and the ever lively historical debates and controversies relating to the First World War and its consequences.
Introductory Reading
David Stevenson, 1914-1918: The history of the First World War (London: Penguin, 2005).
Michael S. Neiberg, Dance of the Furies: Europe and the Outbreak of World War I (Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press, 2011).
John Horne (ed.), A Companion to World War I (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).
Seminar
HI3114
Decolonisation and its Consequences: Africa, 1957-80
Dr Kevin O'Sullivan
The end of empire in Africa was one of the defining moments of the twentieth century. It reshaped life on the continent,
altered the dynamics of international relations, and brought social change to the former imperial powers. This module
explores the political, social and economic factors behind that process, from the handover of power in Ghana to the creation
of independent Zimbabwe. It also examines its wider impact: from immigration in the West to African involvement in the
Cold War.
Introductory Reading:
John D. Hargreaves, Decolonisation in Africa (London: Longman, 1996).
Paul Nugent, Africa since independence: a comparative history (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004).
Martin Thomas, Bob Moore and L. J. Butler, Crises of empire: decolonisation and Europe's imperial nation states, 19181975 (London: Hodder, 2008).
Seminar
HI3119
Reign of Henry VIII, Semester 2
Prof. Steven Ellis
Henry VIII (1509-47) is the first English monarch for whom we have sufficient evidence to assess his quite complex
personality. This seminar will focus on his ambitions and achievements in the territories he ruled or claimed (England,
Ireland, Wales, France and Scotland), analysing his foreign policy, relations with the church including the Henrician
Reformation, his reorganization of crown government in the 1530s, the succession problem, faction at court, and socioeconomic changes during this period. King Henry was seen by contemporaries as a great king; his marrying in turn six wives,
his judicial murders of many nobles and ministers, and his appointment of himself as pope and arbiter of the faith in his own
kingdom certainly attracted a good deal of attention; but they also prompt the question of how he avoided being deposed like
previous English kings for failing to govern acceptably.
Introductory Reading:
John Guy, Tudor England (Oxford, 1988).
J.J. Scarisbrick, Henry VIII (2nd ed, Yale, 1997).
Diarmaid Mac Culloch (ed), The reign of Henry VIII (Basingstoke, 1995).
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
3rd Year
Seminar
HI3121
The Famine in Ireland 1845-50
Dr Niall Ó Ciosáin
This course begins by examining famine in general, with a particular emphasis on theories of causation; then it looks at the
role of famine within the pre-industrial demographic regime in Europe. These subjects are then brought to bear on a detailed
study of the Irish famine of 1845-50 and its background. Topics include famine relief policy and practice, the social effects
of famine and the memory of catastrophe.
Seminar
HI443
State & People in Ireland, 1820-1845
Dr Niall Ó Ciosáin
The quarter century after 1820 saw the establishment of some of the most fundamental state interventions in the lives of
ordinary people in Ireland. They included a primary education system, a national police force, a network of local courts and a
system of poor relief. These projects were underpinned by a simultaneous development, the centralisation of knowledge and
information about Irish society. The first full population census was taken in 1821, the country was mapped by the Ordnance
Survey in the 1820s and 1830s, and a series of state reports examined a comprehensive range of issues concerning economic,
social and religious life. This course examines this question by taking the more important state reports of this period as a
starting point. For seminar discussion and for the written project, students will read the reports and analyse them both as
official discourse about Ireland and as blueprints for policy initiatives.
Introductory Reading:
Theodore M Porter, “Genres and objects of social inquiry, from the enlightenment to 1890’ in
Theodore Porter and Dorothy Ross (eds), The Cambridge History of Science Vol. 7. The Modern
Social Sciences (2002), p.13-32.
Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, Ireland Before the Famine (1972), Ch.3, ‘The state and the people’.
T.P. O'Neill, British Parliamentary papers : a monograph on blue books (1968).
Seminar
HI444
Civil War & Society in France, 1572-1598
Dr Alison Forrestal
This module analyses the ferocious violence of the civil wars (the Wars of Religion) which convulsed France during the final
four decades of the sixteenth century. It explores the new ideologies of sectarian hatred and opposition which shattered local
communities and destabilized society, while also assessing the politics of the royal court and the factions of the nobility. It
then examines the new political theories of resistance and toleration promoted by the warring Catholic and Protestant parties,
with special emphasis on the views of major political writers who influenced events in France and the development of
western political thought. The module finally systematically tracks the ways in which, following a decree of toleration (the
Edict of Nantes) in 1598, the monarchy, society, and local communities sought to recover from the crisis of the Wars.
Knowledge of the French language is not required, since readings (documents and secondary sources) will be provided in
translation.
Introductory Reading:
J. Garrisson, A History of Sixteenth-Century France, 1483-1598: Renaissance, Reformation and Rebellion (Basingstoke
1995).
M. Greengrass, The French Reformation (Chichester 1987).
M. Holt, The French Wars of Religion, 1562-1629 (Cambridge 2005).
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
3rd Year
dissertation
HI457
Dissertation-Thesis (minor) Denominated
Variable
For Final Year BA (denominated History) only.
Seminar
HI479
Irish Political Thought in the 1930s
Dr Mary Harris
Within a decade of independence the Irish population was deeply divided on the nature of the emerging Irish state, its
identity, and its relationship with Britain and the wider world. This seminar introduces students to debates on these issues, as
evident in speeches and writings in the 1930s. It examines the ideologies of the main Irish Political parties and considers
critiques of the emerging Irish Free State by radical Republicans, Vocationalists and Blueshirts, situating them in the context
of European ideologies in this period. It examines attitudes towards Anglo-Irish relations and Irish responses to European
conflicts. It also considers the development of Unionist identity in Northern Ireland and southern Irish perceptions of the
Northern state.
Introductory Readings
J. Augusteijn, Ireland in the 1930s: new perspectives (Dublin, 1999).
D. McMahon, Republicans and imperialists: Anglo-Irish relations in the 1930s (New Haven,
1984).
Lecture
HI362
Party & Power in 19th and 20th century British History
Dr Laurence Marley
This course explores the relationship between the exercise of political power and the development of political parties in
Britain in the period c. 1800 – c.1918. The lectures consider the interplay between ideological and socio-economic forces,
organisational structures, leadership and mass political mobilisation. Areas under examination will include the Great Reform
Act of 1832 and the changing nature of electoral/political culture during the course of the nineteenth century; the rise of
Chartism, the greatest movement of popular protest in British history; the role of the empire factor in party politics in this age
of imperialist expansion; suffragist and suffragette campaigns for female franchise in the late Victorian and Edwardian
periods; and the rise of independent labour politics in Westminster, and the ultimately political eclipse of the great Liberal
Party, particularly after the impact of WWI. Given the legislative union between Great Britain and Ireland from 1801, this
survey of British political history in the ‘long nineteenth century’ will prove indispensible to those also interested in parallel
developments in Ireland during that period.
Introductory Reading:
Stephen J. Lee, Aspects of Modern British History, 1815-1914 (London, 1994)
K.T. Hoppen, The Mid-Victorian Generation, 1846-1886 (Oxford, 1998)
Martin Pugh, The Making of British Politics, 1867-1945 (Oxford, 2002)
Lecture
HI488
Labour in Irish Society & Politics in Ireland, c. 1760-1960
Dr John Cunningham
This module surveys Irish labour history. It examines the character of rural and urban social protest movements representing
the working poor, the development of trade unionism throughout the island and Ireland, the impact of radical ideologies. The
competition from nationalist and unionist politics, and the reasons for the stunted political development of Irish labour.
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HISTORY MODULE DESCRIPTIONS
3rd Year
Lecture
HI585
Debates and Controversies in European Women’s History 1780-1939
Dr Caitríona Clear
This lecture course introduces students to the idea of women’s history and gender history, to the use of gender as an
analytical tool in understanding the past, and the understanding of it as one of many determining factors in people’s lives.
The focus is historiographical as well as historical, and students are introduced to the many controversies which have been
generated in European women’s history since the beginning of the second wave of women’s history scholarship in the 1970s.
(The first wave was in the 1920s and 30s). The focus is also transnational; attention will be paid to Irish, British, French,
German, Belgian and Italian women – the course is emphatically not a British/Irish history, and it will not fall into the all-toofamiliar social history trap of seeing the experiences of British women as the norm and all other experiences as deviations
from that norm. Students will also learn to look for hidden work, (paid and unpaid) and to question popular historical terms
and concepts like ‘domestic ideology’, ‘public/private sphere’, ‘patriarchy’ and other staples of women’s studies which do
not always hold up to historical scrutiny. However, the ideological thrust of the course will be feminist, in the sense that
women will be unapologetically foregrounded and looked at in their own terms. To do this, however, the wider meaning of
gender will have to be understood; masculinity and men’s work cannot be ignored either.
SUGGESTED READING LIST: GENERAL TEXTS only: D.Simonton, A History of European Women's Work, 1700 to
the present ; B.Anderson & J.Zinsser, A History of Their Own Vol. 2; B.Smith, Changing Lives; D.Simonton (ed.) The
Routledge History of Women in Europe since 1700, Linda Clark, Women and Achievement in Nineteenth-century Europe;
Joan Kelly, Women, history and theory.
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