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HIH289
The Rise and Fall of the Russian Empire
With modern Russia on the forefront of contemporary world affairs, a critical understanding of its imperial past is becoming not only important but also increasingly relevant. How much do you know about Russia before the rise of Putin, the Russian meddling in the US elections, or the war in Ukraine? Can you name anything from before the Soviet Union or the Russian Revolution? Starting in the 18th century, Russia became a major global power, destined to participate in shaping the modern world and the lives of millions of people within its ever-expanding frontiers. How did the Russian Empire establish itself on the European stage? By what means the Russian autocrats managed to keep their multi-ethnic and multi-religious empire together for so long? Did the enserfed populations really have no means to resist their nobles masters and the state? Was there really no civil society and no public sphere in Imperial Russia? How did the elites justify their power and what were the obstacles to political reform? And to what extent Russia became a European state during its imperial period? With academic literature and first-hand accounts as our guides, this survey module engages these larger questions and issues of ethnicity and gender whose echoes still reverberate in Russia today. Our major themes will include the persistence and evolution of autocracy, the relationship between Russia and the West, which continues to plague Russian identity in the 21st century, alienation of the elites from the government, and the government from its people. On our journey we will meet the giant Russian first Emperor, Peter the Great, bending horseshoes and rolling down in a barrel from hills around London, we will read the luminaries of world literature such as Leo Tolstoy and Vissarion Belinsky, and encounter the mad-monk Rasputin.
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HIH3300
History Dissertation
The History dissertation is a free-standing, 40-credit module that runs across both semesters of Level Three. Candidates conduct research upon a subject of their choice, devised in consultation with a member of staff teaching for the degrees in History, and concerning a topic that falls within staff research and teaching interests.
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HIH3305
The Russian Civil War
The module looks at the origins, the course and the political and cultural legacy of the Russian Civil War, 1917-1922. The lectures and seminars will focus on debates about the origins of the civil war, examine different groups involved in the conflict, as well political, economic and cultural policies during the conflict. Finally, the module will analyse why the Bolsheviks won, how the civil war created the Soviet Union from the ashes of imperial Russia, and what role the civil war plays in Russian national consciousness. With modern Russia on the forefront of contemporary world affairs, the civil war that toppled the Tsarist regime and created the Soviet Union is not only historiographically relevant, but is critical for our understanding of events in Eastern Europe today.
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HIY102
Global Challenges and the Historian
What are the historical roots of the climate crisis? Why has poverty proven so difficult to eliminate? Why do epidemic diseases continue to resurface? Will AI eventually replace historians? These are just some of the pressing questions explored in this module. Here at Swansea we believe that history provides essential tools for understanding the present. This module invites you to examine how insights from the past can help contextualize and address the complex global challenges we face today. You will be encouraged to reflect on your role as an emerging historian and to develop skills that will enable you contribute to contemporary debates.
Through a series of workshops across the semester, you will also develop practical skills in communicating historical knowledge and arguments to diverse audiences. Activities may include writing for the public, drawing up policy briefings, drafting podcast episodes, or create content for, and design, educational resources. Drawing on the rich research expertise of staff across the History and Heritage department, and inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, this module explores themes such as poverty, famine, disease, gender inequality, climate change, and education, and more. It spans a vast range of historical periods and regions, asking you to think creatively about why history matters. By thinking collaboratively with fellow students and with expert researchers in the department, you will deepen your understanding of history¿s relevance in the modern world and enhance your ability to engage broad audiences. At its core, this module challenges you to consider how your study of history can shape your identity as a global citizen.
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HIY102C
Heriau Byd-eang a'r Hanesydd
Beth yw gwreiddiau hanesyddol yr argyfwng hinsawdd? Pam mae wedi bod mor anodd dileu tlodi? Pam mae clefydau epidemig yn dychwelyd byth a hefyd? A fydd deallusrwydd artiffisial yn disodli haneswyr yn y pen draw? Dyma rai o'r cwestiynau mawr sy'n cael eu harchwilio yn y modiwl hwn. Yma yn Abertawe credwn fod hanes yn darparu arfau hanfodol sy¿n ein helpu i ddeall y presennol. Mae'r modiwl hwn yn gyfle i archwilio sut y gall gwybodaeth am y gorffennol helpu i ddarparu cyd-destun a mynd i'r afael â'r heriau byd-eang cymhleth sy'n ein hwynebu ni yn yr oes sydd ohoni. Byddwch yn cael eich annog i fyfyrio ar eich rôl fel darpar hanesydd ac i ddatblygu sgiliau a fydd yn eich galluogi i gyfrannu at ddadleuon cyfoes.
Mewn cyfres o weithdai ar draws y semester, byddwch hefyd yn datblygu sgiliau ymarferol ar gyfer cyflwyno gwybodaeth a dadleuon hanesyddol i gynulleidfaoedd amrywiol. Gall gweithgareddau gynnwys ysgrifennu ar gyfer y cyhoedd, llunio briffiau polisi, braslunio penodau ar gyfer podlediadau, neu greu cynnwys ar gyfer adnoddau addysgol. Mae'r modiwl hwn yn manteisio ar arbenigedd ymchwil cyfoethog staff yn yr adran Hanes a Threftadaeth, ac mae wedi'i ysbrydoli gan Nodau Datblygu Cynaliadwy y Cenhedloedd Unedig. Mae'n archwilio themâu fel tlodi, newyn, clefydau, anghydraddoldeb rhywedd newid yn yr hinsawdd, addysg, a mwy. Mae'n rhychwantu ystod eang o gyfnodau a rhanbarthau hanesyddol, gan ofyn i chi ystyried yn greadigol pam mae hanes yn bwysig. Trwy feddwl mewn ffordd gydweithredol ar y cyd â chyd-fyfyrwyr ac ymchwilwyr arbenigol yn yr adran, byddwch yn dyfnhau eich dealltwriaeth o berthnasedd hanes yn y byd modern ac yn gwella eich gallu i ymgysylltu â chynulleidfaoedd eang. Yn ei hanfod, mae'r modiwl hwn yn eich herio i ystyried sut y gall astudio hanes lywio eich hunaniaeth fel dinesydd byd-eang.
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HIY103
Making Modern Europe, 1789 to the Present
How did modern Europe come into being? From the flames of the French Revolution in 1789 to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, you will meet the people behind these monumental events and study the worlds they lived in through a diverse range of voices. In this module, we trace the historical background of such extreme developments in European political, social and economic history from the French Revolution to the present day. We will cover a range of `extreme¿ events that shaped modern and contemporary European history from revolutions (the French, 1848 and Russian Revolutions) to wars (the Napoleonic Wars, the First and Second World Wars and the Cold War) to social movements (feminism, anti-racism). In addition, we will study longer-lasting processes that led to radical social, political and economic changes, including Enlightenment, the rise of the nation state, industrialisation, scientific and technological innovation, empire and colonisation, political violence and political extremism, and decolonisation and race. This module will not only equip you with crucial knowledge about key events and developments in modern and contemporary European history, but it will help you develop the pivotal skill to identify, examine and evaluate historical change over a period of some two hundred years from the French Revolution to the end of the Cold War. This includes the formation of crucial democratic institutions and values, none of the which were inevitable and many of which are under threat today. Ultimately, this module will help you understand current events in Europe such as the rise of extreme political parties and place them within longer-standing developments and historical contexts, including the rise and demise of the welfare state and globalisation.
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HIY103C
Creu Ewrop Fodern, 1789 hyd y Presennol
Sut daeth Ewrop fodern i fodolaeth? O fflamau¿r Chwyldro Ffrengig ym 1789 i gwymp Mur Berlin ym 1989, byddwch yn cwrdd â¿r bobl y tu ôl i¿r digwyddiadau aruthrol hyn ac yn astudio¿r bydoedd yr oeddent yn byw ynddynt trwy ystod amrywiol o leisiau. Yn y modiwl hwn, rydym yn olrhain cefndir hanesyddol datblygiadau mor eithafol yn hanes gwleidyddol, cymdeithasol ac economaidd Ewrop o'r Chwyldro Ffrengig hyd heddiw. Byddwn yn ymdrin ag amrywiaeth o ddigwyddiadau `eithafol¿ a luniodd hanes Ewropeaidd modern a chyfoes o chwyldroadau (Chwyldroadau Ffrainc, 1848 a Rwsia) i ryfeloedd (Rhyfeloedd Napoleon, y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf a¿r Ail Ryfel Byd a¿r Rhyfel Oer) i fudiadau cymdeithasol (ffeministiaeth, gwrth-hiliaeth). Yn ogystal, byddwn yn astudio prosesau mwy hirhoedlog a arweiniodd at newidiadau cymdeithasol, gwleidyddol ac economaidd radical, gan gynnwys yr Oes Oleuedig, cynnydd y genedl-wladwriaeth, diwydiannu, arloesi gwyddonol a thechnolegol, ymerodraeth a gwladychu, trais gwleidyddol ac eithafiaeth wleidyddol, a dadwladychu a hil. Yn ogystal â rhoi i chi¿r wybodaeth hanfodol am ddigwyddiadau a datblygiadau allweddol mewn hanes Ewropeaidd modern a chyfoes, bydd y modiwl hwn yn eich helpu i ddatblygu'r sgìil allweddol i nodi, archwilio a gwerthuso newid hanesyddol dros gyfnod o ddau gan mlynedd, o'r Chwyldro Ffrengig hyd at ddiwedd y Rhyfel Oer. Mae hyn yn cynnwys ffurfio sefydliadau a gwerthoedd democrataidd hanfodol, nad oedd yr un ohonynt yn anochel ac mae llawer ohonynt dan fygythiad heddiw. Yn y pen draw, bydd y modiwl hwn yn eich helpu i ddeall digwyddiadau cyfredol yn Ewrop fel cynnydd pleidiau gwleidyddol eithafol a'u gosod yng nghyd-destun datblygiadau a chyd-destunau hanesyddol mwy hirdymor, gan gynnwys cynnydd a dirywiad y wladwriaeth les a globaleiddio.
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WS-M94
From Swords to AI: War, Technology and Culture
This module examines military conflict through the dual lenses of culture and technology. Because the field is vast, our approach is organized around key questions that allow us to move across historical periods, analytical levels, and disciplinary boundaries.
We will explore how cultural values and technological innovations have shaped not only the conduct of war but also how societies understand violence, power, and leadership. Readings will range from historically grounded analyses to contemporary accounts of soldiering, allowing us to interrogate how narratives of conflict are created and sustained.
We will begin with foundational debates on war, violence, and human nature: why do humans wage war, and why societies fight the way they do? Is war primarily a cultural or political activity? Can the pursuit of peace itself give rise to war? How do societies become militarized¿and to what ends? Another central concern will be the role of technology: how has it influenced strategy, policy, and the experience of warfare? To what extent does technology determine victory in modern conflicts, and how transformative are new military technologies in practice?
Our case studies will move from the Napoleonic wars of the early nineteenth century to insurgency and drone warfare in the twenty-first, tracing continuities and ruptures along the way. By the end of the module, you will be equipped to engage critically with historical and contemporary debates on the interplay of culture, technology, and war¿and to reflect on what these debates reveal about humanity, violence, and the future of conflict.
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WS-M96
Researching War and Conflict
This module is designed specifically for MA students in War and Society to help them develop methodological, theoretical, and research skills to write a successful MA thesis in the field of war and conflict studies. The module is built around a series of workshops that pay attention to both epistemological questions in the discipline and to the issue of empirical research and method. The module is designed to provide post-graduate students with a set of practical skills, including how to collect and evaluate relevant sources, how to write a research proposal, and how to present your research to a variety of audience. We will examine the history and evolution of writing about war and conflict, we will contemplate the differences between popular military history and academic studies of war, and invite guest speakers when possible to share their experience of the research process. In the process, you will do a short TED talk style presentation, you will learn how to write robustly and sustain analysis and narrative in longer piece of writing, like an MA thesis, and we will focus on the art and science of writing research statements. We will start each seminar with you sharing your ¿Aha!¿ moments, the most important thing you have learned from the readings, and your ¿head-scratching¿ moments, points that perplexed you the most.
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WSMD00
Dissertation (War and Society)
The module is the culmination of your War and Society Masters¿ degree. It provides you with the opportunity to convert your previous academic experience into a 20000-word dissertation on a contemporary or historical research project related to war and conflict. Unlike all the other modules, there will be no lectures, workshops or seminars. In this module you will be a assigned a supervisor who will help you develop final dissertation. Through a combination of one-to-one supervision meetings you will develop a coherent, detailed, and sustained argument on a subject which may follow on from work completed in other elements of the programme. Over the duration of the module, you will conduct independent research using a variety of primary sources, consult archives where appropriate, and while working independently to produce the final submission.
