Department of History Second Year Special Topics – Semester 2021-22 [5 credits: two hours per week] Students select one of the following modules in the second semester HY219 Ireland in the modern world: the twentieth century Dr Jennifer Redmond HY241 American history special topic (B) Dr Lewis Defrates HY294 Europe post 1945 Dr Raul Carstocea Lectures will be delivered in accordance with the University’s guidelines for a safe campus Should the need arise, modules may have to move to online delivery Due notice will be given if this is the case NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, MAYNOOTH DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY SECOND ARTS, 2021-22 SECOND SEMESTER Lecturer DR JENNIFER REDMOND Module code Credits Lecture hours per week HY 219 Two Module title IRELAND IN THE MODERN WORLD: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Module Content This course examines Ireland as it transitioned from the tumultuous campaigns for land and political freedom in the nineteenth century to the realisation of these goals in the twentieth century The major social, political, economic, and cultural developments that impacted Irish life in the nineteenth century continued into the twentieth Ireland transitioned from a country that was part of the United Kingdom, ruled directly from Westminster to a Dominion, a Republic, and a member of international bodies such as the United Nations and the European Union within five decades These political changes are part of the story of modern Ireland and the major figures and organisations who created such changes will be critically analysed The module examines key issues such as the rise of the physical force nationalism, cultural nationalism, feminism, the labour movement and the increasing power of the Catholic Church We will examine legislation, parliamentary debates, personal accounts, newspapers, photographs, and statistical data as part of this course As well as analysing the major figures, this module also pays attention to the lives of ordinary people, from the experiences of the slums of tenement Dublin at the turn of the century to the events of the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland in the 1960s and 70s This course requires consistent reading of secondary source material and students should independently read a core textbook as well as the recommended supplementary reading to keep up with the course content The Moodle page for this course contains vital resources that should be consulted regularly, from podcasts to journal articles Module Aim and Objectives: The module aims to equip students with a broad knowledge of Ireland’s history in the twentieth century An objective of the course is that students will have the opportunity to increase their familiarity with a range of historical sources as a result of participating in this course The course aims to expose students to a deeper understanding of not just the chronology but the historiography of Ireland in this period Module Structure: The module is delivered in two-hour lectures each week Lectures will be delivered in accordance with the University’s guidelines for a safe campus Should the need arise, this module might have to move to online delivery Due notice will be given if this is the case Form of assessment Two-hour exam at end of semester (100% of total mark) NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, MAYNOOTH DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY SECOND ARTS, 2021-22 SECOND SEMESTER Lecturer DR LEWIS DEFRATES Module code Credits Lecture hours per week HY 241 Two Module title American History Special Topic (B) HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1865 Module Content: This is an introductory survey module that takes a broadly narrative approach to the modern history of the United States of America We will examine the aftermath of the Civil War, the promise and failure of Reconstruction, and the capitalist expansion of the United States at the close of nineteenth century We then move into the twentieth century, a period that journalist Henry Luce described as the ‘American Century’ as early as 1941, due to the nation’s domestic advances and apparently imminent international ascendancy The module will close with a consideration as to whether the age of American global hegemony has come to an end in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the United States’ subsequent conflicts in the Middle East Although narrative and chronological in structure, this module will address recurrent issues in American political, economic, social and cultural history These include immigration and national identity, federal and state authority, and unilateralism and interventionism on the international stage We will take a multiscale approach to American history, studying the United States’ domestic political and economic situation in relation to both its international affairs and the quotidian experiences of its people We will study the contradictions and exclusions of American life, most notably in in the racial, class and gender inequities that greased the wheels of the nation’s advance towards global dominance We will pay especial attention to the various grassroots attempts to resist and unmake these injustices Module Aim and Objectives: This module will provide students with an introductory understanding of the history of the United States from 1865 till 2003 Lectures and assessments are designed to introduce students to the key historical issues that underpin the study of American history Students will analyse primary and secondary source materials, consider historiographical approaches to American history, and use evidence to formulate and express their arguments Module Structure: This module will consist of 24 contact hours in the form of two-hour lectures Form of assessment: Two-hour examination at end of semester NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, MAYNOOTH DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY 2021-22 SECOND SEMESTER Lecturer DR RAUL CARSTOCEA Module code Credits Lecture hours per week HY 294 Two Module title EUROPE POST 1945 American and Soviet troops pose for a photograph over the collapsed bridge over the Elbe River near Torgau, Germany, 25 April 1945 Module Content The course will provide an overview of the most important political, social, cultural, and economic developments in Europe in the latter half of the twentieth century and in the twenty-first century We will analyse Europe’s role in the bipolar world of the Cold War and look at how the continent was divided into a Soviet-dominated ‘Eastern Bloc’ and an American-influenced West for much of the second half of the twentieth century We will also look at the successes and failures of the ‘European project’ by examining the agenda, politics, and institutions of European integration The module thus adopts a transnational approach that focuses simultaneously on division and integration, exploring also contacts across the Iron Curtain and parallel developments The module will consider the legacies of the Cold War in the dissolution of Yugoslavia and Europe’s relationship with Russia (including the conflict in Ukraine), the politics of EU expansion (and, with Brexit, contraction), and the more recent challenges to the liberal order across the continent Form of assessment Two-hour exam at end of semester (100% of total mark) ... IRELAND, MAYNOOTH DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY SECOND ARTS, 20 21 -22 SECOND SEMESTER Lecturer DR JENNIFER REDMOND Module code Credits Lecture hours per week HY 21 9 Two Module title IRELAND IN THE MODERN... assessment Two-hour exam at end of semester (100% of total mark) NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, MAYNOOTH DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY SECOND ARTS, 20 21 -22 SECOND SEMESTER Lecturer DR LEWIS DEFRATES... of 24 contact hours in the form of two-hour lectures Form of assessment: Two-hour examination at end of semester NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, MAYNOOTH DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY 20 21 -22 SECOND SEMESTER