New MLitt / Masters Programme in Transnational, Global and Spatial History

This MLitt programme in Transnational, Global and Spatial History embraces an exciting and growing area of study that promotes new transnational perspectives and ways of seeing the past through a more explicit appreciation of scale in space and time. Explore a range of approaches to the study of global trade, the development of networks (large and small), comparative history and cross-cultural encounters. This program provides a unique introduction to the emerging field of spatial history, including the study of representations of space, of landscapes, mental maps, spatial practices and topographies of memory. Explore approaches to the history of cities as hubs, of transfers and travel, of the circulation of ideas and the migration of peoples. Gain proficiency in powerful tools for mapping, geographic analysis, and the study of social networks as well as skills in the use of non-textual sources and overcoming the challenges of translation and multi-lingual archives.

Global Times, Plural Spaces: Key Issues in Transnational and Spatial History

This core module for the MLitt in Transnational and Spatial History offers a strong foundation in the major approaches to comparative and transnational history as well as the emerging field of spatial history. This first semester introduces the origins of these new ways of looking at the past, as well as some of the major methodological challenges faced. The course then shifts to consider transnational agents, networks, and new approaches to doing history between the micro and macro scales.

Some themes include:

Transnational History and/as Spatial Turn?
Comparative History
Questions of Scale: the Transnational and the Global
Crossing Borders
Thinking Space and Deconstructing Maps
Landscapes and Mental Maps
Global Lives, Experts and Networks
Topographies of Memory
Skills in Transnational, Global and Spatial History

This module will equip M.Litt. students with skills necessary for historical research in the twenty-first century. Tailored specifically for students studying transnational, global and spatial history, the course will lead to the acquisition and development of skills in the digital humanities, and/or skills required for using specific historical sources. Students select two mini-modules that best fit their own interests and the methodologies appropriate for their area of research.

Mini-modules:

Basic GIS and Mapping for Historians
History Beyond the Text – Working with Visual Sources and Material Culture
Basic Prosopography and Social Network Analysis
Languages: Strategies and Instruments
Optional Modules and Directed Reading

Optional modules taken in place of the Skills or Directed Reading modules may be selected from other postgraduate history programmes with the approval of the programme coordinator. Possible optional modules include:

The Creation of an Atlantic World
War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe and New Worlds
Disease and Environment, c. 1500-c. 2000
Environmental History: Nature and the Western World, 1800-2000
Themes in Middle Eastern History and Politics
Themes and Debates on War and Modern History
Perceptions of Central and Eastern Europe
Political Thought and Intellectual History
Building Britain
Themes in American History

Language Study

Strong language skills are a very important part in much, if not most, historical research in transnational history. Supplementary language courses, not for credit, are also available in some languages for students in the MLitt program. There is also some limited funding available for additional language study. Students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of additional opportunities for language study during the year of the course.