History and Philosophy

Core Modules

• History and Meanings

  In this module you will develop an understanding of historical writing and the associated debated around the creation of meaning via study of the past. You will look at changing expectations about historical truth, style and content, considering classical, Christian, Reformation, Renaissance, and Enlightenment approaches. You will examine the global professionalisation of historical research and writing as a discipline from the nineteenth century onwards, with specific case-histories including the impact of Marxism, anthropology, gender studies, Foucault, and Postmodernism. You will also consider History's response to Postmodernist theory and the state of historical studies post-Postmodernism.

• Public History

  In this module you will develop an understanding of how historians, politicians and communities make use of the past in the present, and the problems, opportunities and responsibilities this entails. You will look at the use of history in the modern world through a series of case studies and consider your own role as a consumer and producer of history. You will evaluate both historians' interpretations and the history presented through the media and in public and political spaces. You will hear from a number of historians, drawn from Royal Holloway and beyond, who will speak expertly about the intersection of their research with the public sphere.

• Epistemology and Metaphysics

  In this module you will develop an understanding of how the ‘new philosophy’ of the seventeenth century set the modern philosophical agenda. You will look at the work of some of the most ground breaking philosophers of the period, such René Descartes and John Locke, and consider how later philosophers such as Gottfried Leibniz and David Hume took up and expanded their ideas. You will consider the fundamental questions which became central to the European Enlightenment, including those concerning knowledge and understanding and the relation between science and other human endeavours.

• Tutorial Special Study
• Introduction to Ancient Philosophy

  In this module you will develop an understanding of ancient philosophical ideas and the ways in which philosophical arguments are presented and analysed. You will look at the thought and significance of the principal ancient philosophers, from the Presocratics to Aristotle, and examine sample texts such as Plato's 'Laches' and the treatment of the virtue of courage in Aristotle, 'Nicomachean Ethics' 3.6-9.

• Introduction to European Philosophy 1: Kant to Hegel

  In this module you will develop an understanding of the major debates in European and some Anglo-American philosophy. You will look at the key texts by eighteenth and nineteenth-century philosophers Immanuel Kant and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, examining the continuing significance of their ideas. You will consider the major epistemological, ethical and aesthetical issues their idea raise, and the problems associated with the notion of modernity. You will also analyse the importance of the role of history in modern philosophy via Hegel's influence.

• Mind and World

  In this module you will develop an understanding of how the rationalist and empiricist traditions in philosophy influence contemporary thought in the philosophy of mind. You will look at the continuing relevance of the mind-body problem to the question of what it is to be a human being and consider the connections between the analytic and European traditions in philosophy with respect to language, subjectivity, and the phenomenology of experience. You will also examine the importance of consciousness to contemporary debates in philosophy, psychology and cognitive science.

• Independent Essay

  The subject of the essay must be outside the direct remit of the various Group 1 and Group 2 taught courses that the student is taking. The essay is intended to facilitate and develop the student's powers of independent thought and research, exercised in a field selected by the student for its particular attractions to him/her and where regular supervisory guidance is available.

• Dissertation

Optional Modules

There are a number of optional course modules available during your degree studies. The following is a selection of optional course modules that are likely to be available. Please note that although the College will keep changes to a minimum, new modules may be offered or existing modules may be withdrawn, for example, in response to a change in staff. Applicants will be informed if any significant changes need to be made.

• Gods, Men and Power: An Introduction to the Ancient World, from Homer to Mohammed

  This course looks at how power was exercised in the ancient Mediterranean world - in politics, in religion, and in culture. It covers a long and dramatically changing period, from early Greece (the time of the Homeric epics) to the rise of Christianity and then the rise of Islam. A variety of areas of life are investigated through both primary sources (in translation) and a selection of the latest secondary works.

• Republics, Kings and People: The Foundations of European Political Thought from Plato to Rousseau

  This course investigates the origins of our ideas about human rights and duties, revolution and democracy, consent and liberty, etc. A number of key writings are studied: ranging from Plato and Aristotle in the ancient world to Machiavelli, More, Hobbes, Locke and the Enlightenment in the transition from the early modern to the modern world. Analysis of the development of fundamental ideas about politics and society through these examples sharpens the mind and throws light upon the present in the perspective of the past.

• The Age of Discovery: Expansion, Invention and Globalisation in the Early Modern World

  The early modern period is an age of change. It has been seen by many as the beginning of modernity, for it witnesses the consolidation of both national monarchies and the central state, the split of Christianity with the emergence of the Reformation, the spread of Islam to the Balkans, European expansion into the ‘new world,’ the introduction of print, and significant changes in patterns of consumption. This course will assess the impact that these processes had on the lives of ordinary early modern Europeans and on their ways of making sense of the changes in the world around them. For example, we will examine how the process of state-building brought about a new culture of discipline and self-restraint in everyday life; how people’s attitudes to the sacred and standards of morality changed with the spread of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. We will ask whether the introduction of print revolutionized ordinary people’s access to information and knowledge, and whether the encounter with Native Americans stimulated the development of a separate European identity, perceived as superior. This course will also address continuities and changes in the domestic and private spheres of individuals’ lives -- gender relations, patterns of family life, ideas about childhood and intimacy, attitudes to health and hygiene, birth and death. Throughout the emphasis will be on the experience of ordinary people.

• Conflict and Identity in Modern Europe, c. 1770 to 2000

  This course highlights a range of major themes in (predominantly) European history from the French Revolution to the Fall of the Berlin Wall. In studying specific events and developments students will also be introduced to more general concepts like revolution, constitutionalism, liberalism, nationalism, industrialisation, socialism, communism, fascism, parliamentary democracy and welfare state. Exposure to different historical methods and conflicting interpretations will help students to hone their own analytical skills.

• Mao to Mandela: Twentieth-Century Leaders of the non-Western World

  The course establishes a framework for the discussion of the politics of extra-European societies as represented by their leaders in the twentieth century.  The leaders are studied both in terms of what their lives represent, and as individuals.  The leaders represent political ideas on leadership and varying notions of what constitutes authority, as well as examples of the phenomenon of charisma. One of our tasks is to understand how these societies are different.  The course then looks at a variety of case studies which might include (amongst others):  Nelson Mandela in South Africa; Gandhi and Indira Gandhi in India, Mao in China; Peron and Che Guevara in Latin America; the Zionist, Ben Gurion; Ayatollah Khomeini and militant Islamism in Iran.  It assesses their role in the development of nationalism, and of the wars and revolutions which arose from resistance to the West, especially imperialism. It discusses their ideological vision, interpreting its origins and aims. Finally, it looks at the seeming clash between Islam and the West, and relates it to resources, particularly oil. 

• Rome to Renaissance: An Introduction to the Middle Ages

  The terms 'Middle Ages' and 'Medieval' are often used to evoke a dark and bigoted world, wracked by war, pestilence and superstition and oppressed by tyrannical kings and prelates. The image is not entirely false as all those things can be found in medieval history but it is by no means the full picture. The period from c.400 to c.1500 saw Western Europe transform itself from the poorer part of the retreating Roman empire to a wealthy and dynamic society that was starting to explore the world far beyond its borders. This course explores some of the changes that took place along the way and answers some of the questions that you may always have wanted to ask: What was 'feudalism'? How were castles and Gothic cathedrals built? Why did the Pope become so powerful? What were the Crusades? And does any of this have any relevance whatsoever to the modern world?

• History of the British Empire, 1763 to 1900
• History of the British Empire, 1899 to 1963
• The Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic
• Rome and its Empire from Augustus to Commodus
• Globalising Capital: Britain and the World, 1846 to 1913
• The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1000-1250
• Religion, Culture and Society in Europe, 1000-1250
• Politics, Pestilence and War in Late Medieval Europe, 1300 to 1500
• The Sacred and Profane: Cultural Life in Renaissance Europe
• The European Crucible 1914-47: Politics, Culture and Society
• The Politics of Postwar Europe, 1945 to 2000
• Twentieth-Century World History: the Asian resurgence
• New Worlds, Lost Worlds: The Tudor Monarchy, 1485 to 1603
• Killing the King: England in an Age of Revolutions 1603-1714
• The Georgians: Society, Culture and Crime, 1714-1830
• Nineteenth-Century Europe: Society and Culture, 1789 to 1905
• The Birth of Europe, 400-800
• The Light of Burning Heretics: Popular Heresy in the Middle Ages
• Twentieth-Century World History: The Middle East, Africa and Latin America
• Medicine from Antiquity to the Medieval Near East
• The Western Powers and East Asia, 1839-1945
• The Ottoman Empire, 1453-1789
• ‘Peace that is No Peace’: The Global Cold War 1945-91
• Virtue and Power: Political Thought from Cicero to Machiavelli
• Spanish and Portuguese Empires in the Americas, 1450-1650
• The Making of the Modern Middle East, 1789-1930
• Everyday Life in the Italian Renaissance
• International Economic Relations 1917-1991
• The Victorians, 1837-1901
• Modern British History 1914-1973
• History of the USA, 1787 to 1877
• History of The USA Since 1877
• Spain 1898-1939
• Spain from Dictatorship to Democracy 1939-1989
• Awakening China: From the Opium Wars to the Present Day
• The Holy Man
• Science in Greek and Roman Antiquity
• Mutiny to Modi: The Indian Subcontinent from the 19th century to the Present.
• Byzantine Twilight, 1200-1460
• The Greek World from the Fall of Byzantium to the Rise of Nationalism, 1453-1910
• Italy from the Unification to the Present
• The History of Cyprus from the Ottoman Conquest to the Present Day
• From Venizelos to Varoufakis: The History of Greece from 1910 to the Present Day
• The Later Roman Empire
• Byzantium and its Neighbours, 641-1081
• London Urban Society, 1400-1600
• Tudor Queenship: Mary I and Elizabeth I, 1553-1603
• The Crusades and the Eastern Mediterranean, 1095-1291
• Medicine and Society in Medieval Europe
• Martin Luther King Jr and the Civil Rights Movement, 1955-1968
• Modern Girls: Women in Twentieth-Century Britain
• The Russian Empire in the Age of Reform and Revolution
• Spain in Conflict 1930-1953
• Nationalism, Democracy and Minorities in Central Europe, 1918 to 1939
• Modern Political Ideas
• The Devil's Decade: Britain, America and the Great Slump, 1929-41
• The Islamic Revival: from C18 Reform to C20 Political Action
• Genocide
• A History of Terrorism: From French Revolutionary Terror to Al-Qaeda
• Grand Designs: The Victorians and their Material Worlds
• Histories of Humanitarianism, From the 1880s to the Present
• Justice, Power and Religion in the Muslim World: The History of Shariʿa Law
• Entangled Histories: The Interconnected Atlantic World, 1500-1800
• 'Dragon Ladies'? Society, Politics and Gender in Modern China
• Despots and Mullahs: The (Modern) Muslim World and Development, 1930-1980
• The First World War in British Experience and Memory (short title-Waging Armageddon)
• The Vietnam War and the Cold War in Southeast Asia (short title- The Vietnam War)
• Children of the Revolution? France from 1789 to the Great War
• Women and the Politics of Gender in Modern Muslim Societies
• Art, Architecture & Power in the Roman World
• From Constantinople to Alexandria: Eastern Mediterranean Cities, 1798-1956
• The Age of Thatcher
• Sex, Society and Identity in Britain, c. 1660-1815
• Explorers and Inventors in Classical and Late Antiquity
• From Mussolini to Trump Nationalism, Far Right and Identity Politics
• Introduction to European Philosophy 1: Kant to Hegel

  In this module you will develop an understanding of the major debates in European and some Anglo-American philosophy. You will look at the key texts by eighteenth and nineteenth-century philosophers Immanuel Kant and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, examining the continuing significance of their ideas. You will consider the major epistemological, ethical and aesthetical issues their idea raise, and the problems associated with the notion of modernity. You will also analyse the importance of the role of history in modern philosophy via Hegel's influence.

• Mind and World

  In this module you will develop an understanding of how the rationalist and empiricist traditions in philosophy influence contemporary thought in the philosophy of mind. You will look at the continuing relevance of the mind-body problem to the question of what it is to be a human being and consider the connections between the analytic and European traditions in philosophy with respect to language, subjectivity, and the phenomenology of experience. You will also examine the importance of consciousness to contemporary debates in philosophy, psychology and cognitive science.

• Introduction to European Philosophy 2: The Critique of Idealism
• Philosophy and the Arts
• Varieties of Scepticism
• The Varieties of Scepticism
• The Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Religon
• Philosophy and Literature
• The Good Life in Ancient Philosophy
• Contemporary Political Theory

  In this module you will develop an understanding of some of the key concepts in political theory today. You will look at political obligation, civil disobedience, democracy, citizenship, equality, global justice, human rights, and freedom and toleration. You will consider important theorists including Berlin Rawls, Nozick, Sandel, Okin and Pettit, examining the recent major theoretical perspectives in the context of contemporary politics.

• Modern Political Thought

  In this module you will develop an understanding of the themes, arguments, and interpretations of major political thinkers from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. You will look at the works of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Mill, Marx and Nietzsche and consider how the ideas articulated by these thinkers continue to underpin contemporary debates about the nature of freedom, human rights, value pluralism, popular sovereignty, state legitimacy, and the modern condition. You will also examine how study of these thinkers illuminates contemporary debates even where these debates no longer make reference to them.

• The Later Roman Empire
• Byzantium and its Neighbours, 641-1081
• London Urban Society, 1400-1600
• Tudor Queenship: Mary I and Elizabeth I, 1553-1603
• The Crusades and the Eastern Mediterranean, 1095-1291
• Medicine and Society in Medieval Europe
• Martin Luther King Jr and the Civil Rights Movement, 1955-1968
• Modern Girls: Women in Twentieth-Century Britain
• The Russian Empire in the Age of Reform and Revolution
• Spain in Conflict 1930-1953
• Nationalism, Democracy and Minorities in Central Europe, 1918 to 1939
• Modern Political Ideas
• The Devil's Decade: Britain, America and the Great Slump, 1929-41
• The Islamic Revival: from C18 Reform to C20 Political Action
• Genocide
• A History of Terrorism: From French Revolutionary Terror to Al-Qaeda
• Grand Designs: The Victorians and their Material Worlds
• Histories of Humanitarianism, From the 1880s to the Present
• Justice, Power and Religion in the Muslim World: The History of Shariʿa Law
• Entangled Histories: The Interconnected Atlantic World, 1500-1800
• 'Dragon Ladies'? Society, Politics and Gender in Modern China
• Modernizing Despots and Angry Mullahs: Development and Popular Resistance in the Muslim World, 1930 to 1980
• The First World War in British Experience and Memory (short title-Waging Armageddon)
• The Vietnam War and the Cold War in Southeast Asia (short title- The Vietnam War)
• Children of the Revolution? France from 1789 to the Great War
• Women and the Politics of Gender in Modern Muslim Societies
• Art, Architecture & Power in the Roman World
• From Constantinople to Alexandria: Eastern Mediterranean Cities, 1798-1956
• The Age of Thatcher
• Sex, Society and Identity in Britain, c. 1660-1815
• Explorers and Inventors in Classical and Late Antiquity
• From Mussolini to Trump Nationalism, Far Right and Identity Politics
• The Kingdom of Darkness Destroyed: Reason and Religion, 1651 to 1718
• Faith and Fire: Religious Culture in England, c.1375 to 1525
• The Origins and Impact of the Second Crusade
• The Causes and Consequences of the Fall of Constantinople (1453)
• Heresy, Crusade and Inquisition in Southern France, c.1140 to c.1300
• The Empire in Victorian Britain, c.1830 to 1870
• Modernity and the Victorians: The Intellectual Response
• Berlin: A European Metropolis in the Twentieth Century
• The History and Historiography of the Holocaust
• The Clash of Powers and Cultures: Sino-American Relations during the Cold War
• Stalinism
• Christians and Pagans from Constantine to Augustine, AD 306 to 430
• Representing Authority from Henry VII to Charles II
• Victorian Babylon: Life, Work and People in London, c.1840 to 1890
• Comparing Religious Fundamentalisms in the 19th and 20th Centuries
• Migration, Identity and Citizenship in Modern Britain
• The Age of Terror: Terrorism from 1945 - Present
• Photography, Film and British Society, 1850-1965
• China and the World: Migration and Diaspora, 1800-1945
• Malcolm X and African American Islam
• The Bomb: Atomic Weaponry and Society in the 20th Century
• Drawing the Line: Independence, Partition, and the Making of India and Pakistan 1900-1960
• Progress and Its Discontents: European Culture in the Fin de Siècle
• Villa, Domus and Palace: Domestic Space and Social Identity in the Roman World
• Union and Emancipation: The American Civil War
• The Death of God: From the Enlightenment to Psychoanalysis
• Visions of Europe: Political and Intellectual Readings of European Integration from the Interwar years to the Present
• The Monastic Revolution ca.1080-1150
• The Making of the Modern Middle East, 1789-1930
• Holocaust Witnessing
• From Inverts to Perverts: British Queer History, 1885 to Present
• Modern European Philosophy 1: Husserl to Heidegger
• Modern European Philosophy 2: Critical Theory and Hermeneutics
• Philosophy and the Arts
• The Varieties of Scepticism
• The Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy and Literature
• The Good Life in Ancient Philosophy
• Radical Political Theory
• Issues in Democratic Theory
• Political Theories of Freedom