History with Mandarin BA (Hons) module details

Year one

Block 1: Modern Britain since 1800

This module will introduce students to the social, cultural, economic, and political history of Britain from the mid-eighteenth century to the end of the twentieth century. Through close reading of primary source material and the assessment of historiographical debates and trends, students will develop key analytical skills and become confident in identifying change and continuity across the time period. Topics covered may include industrialisation and decline, poverty and the rise of the welfare state, political and electoral change, culture and leisure, social class and social change, and multi-ethnic Britain.

Assessment: Primary Source Analysis (30%) and Portfolio (70%).

Block 2: Journey and Places

This module, with its focus on journeys and places, offers an opportunity for you to explore some of the key concepts your History with Mandarin studies. You will take a post-disciplinary approach to your subject area, using techniques from diverse areas to address key questions related to journeys and places.

You will attend interactive lectures with students from across the School of Humanities and Performing Arts. You will have opportunities to apply the concepts addressed in these lectures to your programme within History with Mandarin workshops and assessments.

The themes covered during the module may include journeys, spaces and the concept of welcome; (im)mobilities and journeys through time and space; representation and imaginative geographies; gender and placemaking; belonging and place attachment; journeys, places and identities; as well as themes related to sustainability and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Assessment: Subject-specific Coursework: 1 (30%) and 2 (70%).

Block 3: Mandarin Beginner

This module introduces Mandarin language at A1 level by focusing on the development of the receptive skills of listening and reading and the productive skills of reading and writing. The learning is based on introductory and basic words, phrases and structures about oneself, family, immediate surroundings and daily activities and routine. Students will also be introduced to basic social, cultural, political, historical and artistic topics from the Chinese world taken from authentic material. A two-hour practice and conversation session will be held weekly throughout blocks 1 and 2, and intensive workshops will happen during block 3.

Assessment: Reading Test (30%), Listening Test (20%), Speaking (25%), Writing Test (25%)

Mandarin Post-Beginner

This module further develops the learning of Mandarin language at A2 level by focusing on the development of the receptive skills of listening and reading and the productive skills of reading and writing. The focus is on enhancing basic and personal communication skills and moving to more and more general topics. Students will also be introduced to basic social, cultural, political, historical and artistic topics from the Chinese world taken from authentic material. A one-hour practice and conversation session will be held weekly throughout blocks 1 and 2, and intensive workshops will happen during block 3.

Assessment: Reading Test (30%), Listening Test (20%), Reading Test (25%), Writing Test (25%).

Block 4: Ideology, War, and Society in the Twentieth Century

This module introduces students to the way the world has evolved throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. It does so by focusing upon specific events such as the First and Second World Wars, the collapse of European empires, and revolutions in Europe. The module will also explore key ideologies and themes related to rise of extremism and terrorism, socialism, capitalism, genocide, and the development of new world order through the spread and clash of civilisations and globalisation. Students will also be introduced to the key historiographical approaches which have shaped historical writing over the past two centuries, such as empiricism, Marxism, postmodernism, and history from below.

Assessment: e.g., Essay (40%) and Exam (60%).

Year two

Block 1: Global Cold War

This module introduces students to the history of the Cold War in a global context. It explores the roots of the Cold War and how it played out in specific theatres such as Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. The course deals with a variety of historical topics, which aside from global geopolitics might include sport and diplomacy, the nuclear arms race, the space race, and culture and society in the Cold War era. It also explores the ideological underpinnings of the Cold War, the role of propaganda as a weapon of the conflict and how these ideologies functioned in practice in different societies. The module will also address historiography and the competing interpretations of the Cold War by scholars and practitioners and assess the global legacy of the conflict. Students will study a broad range of themes, issues and controversies related to the Cold War and its legacies and gain an understanding of the parameters of it.

Assessment: e.g. Essay (50%) and Digital Presentation (40%).

Block 2: Exploring Work and Society

This module is designed to prepare and support you towards the pursuit of post-degree pathways. It will focus on the specific skills, capabilities and knowledge needed to adapt and flourish in professional environments and contexts. There will be an emphasis on enhancement of core attributes, competencies and transferable skills as well as developing familiarity with the world and politics of work. The module will prepare you for diverse and dynamic working environments beyond university by introducing reflective practices to support your long-term professional development.

You will be introduced to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and invited to engage critically around themes including race, gender, identity, and geopolitical issues, to conceptualize a more equitable society, and environmentally sustainable world, as relevant to your career aspirations.

You will engage with subject-specific workshops to gain greater understanding of worlds of work connected to your History with Mandarin course. You will take part in lectures, seminars, group discussion, independent learning, tutorial support and engagement with your peers.

Supported independent learning activities may include responding to real-world briefs, placements/shadowing, engagement with community projects or initiatives, creating proposals for projects or initiatives in a professional setting. These activities will be tailored to your History with Mandarin course.

Assessment: Written Portfolio or Recorded Presentation (100%)

Block 3: Mandarin Post-Beginner

Assessment: Reading Test (30%), Listening Test (20%), Reading Test (25%), Writing Test (25%)

Mandarin Intermediate

This module reinforces the learning of Mandarin language at B1/B2 levels, by focusing on the development of the receptive skills of listening and reading and the productive skills of reading and writing beyond basic level. The focus will be on the use of a wider range of vocabulary and more complex structures and various means of communication. Students will be able to understand, without difficulty, the most familiar topics and enhance their ability to discuss and comprehend general social, cultural, political, historical and artistic topics from the Chinese world, taken from authentic material. A one-hour practice and conversation session will be held weekly throughout blocks 1 and 2, and intensive workshops will happen during block 3.

Assessment: Reading Test 1.0, Listening Test 0.50, Reading Test 0.17, Writing Test 0.75.

Block 4: Investigating the Past: Theory and Method

The module will introduce students to a range of historical sources and research methods used in project work. The module will examine core themes in history and the sources/methods associated with them. The methodologies studied will then be adapted to a personal research project, which will lead to the Level 6 dissertation. Study of sources may include maps; economic data; census; national and local government records; diplomatic and military records; press and media; records of education, health, poverty/charity and criminality; church and religious history; oral history; visual sources. There will be visits to archives and relevant research depositories.

Assessment: Primary Source Analysis (40%) and Project Portfolio (60%).

Year three

Block 1: Special Subject

This module will introduce students to cutting-edge research drawn from the expertise available in the History team. Two subjects will be drawn from the following: Photography and Medicine in the Nineteenth Century; the Disintegration of Yugoslavia; the Olympic Games; the United States Empire; the United States and the First World War; the Zimbabwean Diaspora in the UK; the Partition of India/Pakistan; History and Memory in Post-colonial Africa; The Ottoman Empire in Europe: Disintegration and Legacies; Sport in Britain, 1850-1945. The module will be led by members of the teaching team on a rotating basis and will provide students with the opportunity to discuss specialised research topics with leading experts on those topics. Students will acquire in-depth knowledge of those topics, as well as first-hand experience on the research process, including the identification of suitable archives, the interpretation of the archival evidence and the current historiographical debates and controversies related to the subject. Students will study two topics and will specialise on one of them through to the final assignment.

Assessment: Portfolio (50%) and Essay (50%).

Block 2: Empire and its Aftermath

This module introduces students to the history of anti-imperialist independence movements and the creation of new nation-states through case studies drawn from South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central and South America. It will explore different case studies in the decolonization processes across time and space. The module also explores the relationships between ideologies and resistance against imperial rule, as well as post-colonial conflicts in nation-building and the social and economic legacies of imperial rule in the post-colonial world. Students will study these processes in a broad and theoretical way in lectures, seminars, and workshops, as they deepen their understanding of specific case studies. Students will develop an understanding of the key factors instrumental in developing post-independence relations of neo-colonialism in post-colonial nation-states as a historical unit of analysis in the context of global politics The module will further introduce students to relevant historiographical approaches such as post-colonialism and Subaltern Studies.

Assessment: Essay (40%) and Portfolio (60%).

Block 3: Mandarin Intermediate

Assessment: Assessment: Reading Test (30%), Listening Test (20%), Reading Test (25%), Writing Test (25%)

Mandarin Advanced

This module refines and perfects the learning of the Mandarin language to the highest advanced C1/C2 levels, by focusing on the development of the receptive skills of listening and reading and the productive skills of reading and writing. This level will require the use of a wider range of vocabulary and complex structures. The material covered will enable communication to a high level of competence and the understanding of general and semi-specialised social, cultural, political, historical and artistic topics from the Mandarin-speaking world, taken from authentic material. A one-hour practice and conversation session will be held weekly throughout blocks 1 and 2, and intensive workshops will happen during block 3.

Assessment: Assessment: Reading Test (30%), Listening Test (20%), Reading Test (25%), Writing Test (25%).

Block 4: Dissertation

The dissertation provides an opportunity for sustained work of an independent nature in an area of personal interest, allowing the exploration a particular issue, topic or problem in considerable depth. Students will define and analyse a question or problem, or test a hypothesis, arising from their historical interest. The dissertation provides an opportunity to look beyond the textbooks and other secondary sources and to get to grips with primary evidence including textual, material or visual sources. The dissertation will draw out research, critical and writing skills in several ways.

Assessment: Presentation (10%) and Dissertation (90%).