This mutually enriching joint programme equips students in identifying historical and contemporary patterns of social organisation, ethnic and cultural divisions, varieties of inequality, and patterns of change over time across diverse societies.
Anthropology is the study of human diversity around the world. In studying anthropology, you will learn how different societies live together and think about such topics as family, sex, religion, art, politics and economics and gain skills increasingly in demand in a globalized and automated world.
Issues addressed in anthropology modules include:
Does globalisation mean the end of cultural difference?
Can a post-conflict society heal?
How do ritual traditions, musical performances, and art shape cultural identities?
How do some people become willing to die for a group?
Through classroom modules, optional placements, and your own anthropological fieldwork, you will also gain valuable skills in critical thinking, cross-cultural understanding, researching, interviewing, writing, and presenting.
History is vital to understanding the world around us. What is gender, race, class, religion, the state, empire, capitalism? What is the USA, China, the United Kingdom, Ireland? What is NATO and the EU? Our historians explain the modern world by reaching back to the Roman empire, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Reformation and the great modern revolutions across all of Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia. From their first year, we trust our students to make choices and range widely across all these histories to understand where we have come from. And from the beginning of your degree, you will be taught in small groups by expert historians. Our range in time and space, our trust in you to explore and make good choices, and our small group teaching from the first year of the degree, mark us out among our peer universities.
In the Guardian University Guide 2021, Anthropology was ranked 2nd in the UK overall. History at Queen’s is ranked in the top 200 as per the QS World University Rankings 2024.
Anthropology and History highlights
Student Experience
Studying Anthropology and History together brings together the study of human diversity with the study of change over time. Studying these at Queen’s means you benefit from the Anthropologists' commitment to fieldwork, and the Historians' commitment to small group teaching. Our historians teach in small groups, even at Level 1.
Global Opportunities
Undergraduate anthropology students, as part of their training, have carried out ethnographic field research around the world. Projects have focused on memory in the Irish diaspora in the US; orphanages in Kenya; AIDS in southern Africa, education in Ghana; dance in India, NGOs in Guatemala, music in China, marriage in Japan, backpacking in Europe, and whale-watching in Hawaii.
This joint programme also offers students opportunities to travel and study at universities in Europe and North America. Short-term (two weeks) and longer-term (up to one academic year) exchanges are on offer.
Possible examples include:
• George Washington University (Washington DC, USA)
• Aarhus Universitet (Denmark)
• College of Charleston (South Carolina, USA)
• Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Bordeaux (France)
• University of Oslo (Norway)
• Universiteit Utrecht (Netherlands)
• Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee, USA)
History field trips may also be offered in particular years or as part of certain modules.
Career Development
In Anthropology, through the different stages of the dissertation module (preparation and research design, fieldwork itself, and post-fieldwork writing-up), students develop a range of skills (organizational skills, interpersonal skills, information-handling skills, and project management skills) that prepare them for later employment. Many of our students work with NGOs and other organisations (e.g. Operation Wallacea; Belfast Migration Centre, Heavy Sound) as part of their fieldwork.
World Class Facilities
The Performance Room includes a variety of musical instruments from around the world, a collection that has grown since the 1970s when Ethnomusicology was first established as an International Centre at Queen’s by the late Prof John Blacking. These instruments, together with the sprung performance room floor, facilitate music and dance ensembles, enabling our unit to remain one of the leading departments in Ethnomusicology.
The McClay Library brings together library, computing, and media services in one excellent, modern building. It can accommodate more than 2000 readers at a time and boasts a collection of more than 1,200,000 volumes: books, manuscripts and periodicals collected over 160 years. It is a superb study-space for anthropologists and historians.
Internationally Renowned Experts
Anthropology at Queen’s has international renown in the following areas: Ethnomusicology and performance; Conflict and borders; Religion; Cognition and culture; Migration and diasporas; Irish studies; Material culture and art; Human-animal relations; The cross-cultural study of emotions.
History at Queen's enjoys a concentration of excellent expertise in Ancient History, the medieval, early modern, and modern history of Britain, Ireland and continental Europe, the history of the American South from the seventeenth century, the history of twentieth-century Africa and China.
Student Experience
The School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics received an overall student satisfaction score of 90% in the 2019 National Student Survey. Anthropology received a 100% teaching score in the 2021 survey.
Queen's currently has over 3,000 international students from 85 different countries. 16% of the Queen’s student population are international students (Queen’s Planning Office, 2023).
Further Study Opportunities
Further study is also an option (eg MA Anthropology, MA Conflict Transformation and Social Justice); see the School website for details.
Career Development
In the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023, Anthropology was ranked 10th in the UK for graduate prospects.
Student Experience
Students play an active role in making their own curriculum.
A number of prizes and Awards are available during the programme of study.
The School of HAPP provide financial support up to a maximum of £400 for the Anthropology dissertation fieldwork research.
Anne Maguire Memorial Prize
The prize is awarded to an Anthropology student who, in the judgement of the Board of Examiners for Social Anthropology, produces the best dissertation for this module in any year.
Improved Performance Undergraduate Prize
The Improved Performance Undergraduate prize is awarded by the Board of Examiners of the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics to the student, registered on any HAPP UG programme with the most improved performance between Level 2 and Level 3.
The Joint Honours Undergraduate Prize
The Joint Honours Undergraduate Prize is awarded to the student with the highest final degree mark in a School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics - owning Joint Degree programme, excluding any combination with History or Politics.
Student Testimonials
"The fieldwork and dissertation have been central to my experience as a Anthropology student. While I am sure it will stand me in good stead in my future search for employment, its central value was as a practice which revealed what Anthropology is really about; through fieldwork, the abstract and theoretical concepts which we had absorbed in two years previous study became immediate and concrete; the subject came alive. Observing and analysing patterns of human action and thought, and later attempting to relay any inferred information (in the form of a dissertation) was a stimulating and challenging process, which seemed to me to be of value in and of itself."
Samuel Ward
‘’Doing an anthropology dissertation is great for allowing you to use your own creativity and actually apply your knowledge rather than simply learning from others. It is a fantastic way of building confidence for any future career as it gives you the opportunity to expand on something independently and looks great on the CV!’'
Genevieve Bigger
‘’Recently the dissertation experience has been really useful in my job search. Because it involves different research methods and demonstrates good written and verbal communication skills, it's great for the CV and even better for coming up with examples for competency questions in interviews. It's also brilliant for networking because it provides easy conversation and an awareness of social issues etc.”
Lucy Proudlock
ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology at Queen’s is constructed around four innovative, engaged themes:
What Makes Us Human?
Key modules explore core elements of anthropology. They examine social groups, from families to nations, and social dynamics, from village politics to globalisation. In understanding social groups we examine individual life trajectories against the background of diverse social expectations.
Conflict, Peacebuilding and Identity
Modules on this theme deal directly with large-scale Global Challenges such as conflict, security, and peacebuilding. Issues such as migration, ethnic conflict, and globalisation will be covered across all three years of the degree, with specialist modules looking at Ireland and at the role of anthropology in policy.
Arts, Creativity and Music
Globally renowned for long-standing research expertise in the area of ethnomusicology and the arts, our modules examine issues of sound and music making; art, aesthetics and emotion; and performance and identity around the world. We explore the production, appropriation and use of material artefacts and images in a world of interconnectedness through migration, trade, and digital communication technology.
Morality, Religion and Cognition
These modules examine a number of important themes in religion and morality, including the origins of religion, apocalyptic movements, sacred values, and the relationship of emotion and religion. We will explore our moral worlds and beliefs through the socio-cultural, psychological, and evolutionary sciences.
HISTORY
The History part of the programme develops sequentially over the three-year degree. At level 1, we teach the basics of interpreting primary and secondary sources, writing and presenting in a convincing manner, and all the most basic tools of the historian. These skills are taught in small groups by professional historians who have published on the subject about which they teach. At level 2, we invite our students to range much more widely in time and space: modules at this level cover developments over much longer periods of time. At level 3, students narrow their focus once more, specialising in modules taught by scholars expert in their subject areas. Students can also choose to write a history dissertation at this level: a substantial original piece of research based on the close study of primary sources.
Modules at Level 1 offer a systematic introduction to the discipline of History, partly by sampling some of the many different approaches that historians take in studying the past, and partly by an exploration of some of the major questions of theory and method with which they are concerned.
Modules at Level 2 are generally survey modules seeking to convey a sense of the principal events, trends and developments in a particular country or region over a fairly long-time span.
Taught modules at Level 3 are more specialised, offering the opportunity to study a short period or a particular theme or problem in detail, working from documents as well as secondary sources.
HAPP Email: i.campbell@qub.ac.uk
School Office: +44(0)28 9097 5028
Contact Teaching Hours
Large Group Teaching
6 (hours maximum) In a typical week you may have up to 6 hours of lectures, depending on the level of study.
Medium Group Teaching
9 (hours maximum) In a typical week, you may have up to 9 hours of practical classes, workshops or seminars, depending on the level of study.
Personal Study
10 (hours maximum) Typically 10 hours per module (30 hours per week), revising in your own time
Small Group Teaching/Personal Tutorial
6 (hours maximum) In a typical week, you will have 3-6 hours of tutorials (or later, project supervision).
Teaching Times
Face-to-face, live teaching generally takes place between the hours of 10am and 4pm on weekdays, but this is subject to change and special teaching events may take place outside these hours.
Learning and Teaching
Examples of the opportunities provided for learning on this course are:
E-Learning technologies
Information associated with lectures and assignments is often communicated via a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). A range of e-learning experiences are also embedded in the degree programme through the use of, for example, interactive support materials, podcasts and web-based learning activities.
Fieldwork
Single-honours anthropology students have the opportunity to study research methods and carry out anthropological fieldwork for an 8-week period. This crucial period of skill-formation and research forms the basis of a dissertation they write up in the first semester of their third year.
Lectures
Lectures introduce foundation information about new topics as a starting point for further self-directed private study/reading. Lectures, which are normally delivered in large groups to all year-group peers, also provide opportunities to ask questions and seek clarification on key issues as well as gain feedback and advice on assessments.
Self-directed study
This is an essential part of life as a Queen’s student. It is during self-directed study when a student completes important private reading, engages with e-learning resources, reflects on feedback, and completes assignment research and preparation.
Seminars/tutorials
A significant amount of teaching is carried out in small groups (typically 10-12 students). These sessions are designed to explore in more depth the information that has been presented in the lectures. They provide students with the opportunity to engage closely with academic staff, to ask questions of them and to assess their own progress and understanding with the support of their peers. During these classes, students will be expected to present their work to academic staff and their peers.
Assessment
A variety of assessment methods are used throughout the programme. These include:
Coursework essays (submitted during or at the end of the semester)
Video logs
Artwork and performance workshops
Weekly online commentaries on set readings
Written examinations
Dissertations
Oral presentations by individual students
Feedback
As students progress through their course at Queen’s, they will receive general and specific feedback about their work from a variety of sources including lecturers, module co-ordinators, placement supervisors, personal tutors, advisers of study and peers. University students are expected to engage with reflective practice and to use this approach to improve the quality of their work.
Face to face comment. This may include occasions when you make use of the lecturers’ advertised "office hours” to help you to address a specific query.
Placement employer comments or references.
Online or emailed comment.
General comments or question and answer opportunities at the end of a lecture, seminar or tutorial.
Pre-submission advice regarding the standards you should aim for and common pitfalls to avoid. In some instances, this may be provided in the form of model answers or exemplars which you can review in your own time.
Comment and guidance provided by staff from specialist support services such as Careers, Employability and Skills or the Learning Development Service.
Once you have reviewed your feedback, you will be encouraged to identify and implement further improvements to the quality of your work.
The information below is intended as an example only, featuring module details for the current year of study (2024/25). Modules are reviewed on an annual basis and may be subject to future changes – revised details will be published through Programme Specifications ahead of each academic year.
This course is designed to introduce students to social anthropology through a discussion of the key concepts in the discipline, and a consideration of the principles which underlie family life, kinship, sexuality and gender relations, and gaining a livelihood in different parts of the world.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students will have been introduced to social anthropology, and should be aware of how social and cultural differences constitute variations on a number of basic themes. Students should also be aware of the ways in which anthropology is useful for the understanding of their own society as well as for the understanding of others.
Skills
Skills in literacy, oral communication, the organisation of arguments, effective presentation of written work, critical reflection on one's own cultural assumptions and biases.
This module allows students the chance to enrich their understanding of historical methods, theories and themes via a closely defined case study. Students will choose from a range of course offered by History staff and will study one topic in detail. Each course is designed as a significant area of study in its own right, and as a means of developing in depth some of the issues of historiography and method that students will encounter over their course of studies in History at Queen's.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be aware of the range of approaches that have been used to study the past. They should be able to demonstrate knowledge of a particular historical case study and how it has been debated amongst historians. They should also be aware of the links between historical research and methodological/theoretical frameworks.
Skills
Ability to think critically, reason logically, and evaluate evidence; develop communication skills, both written and oral; an ability to work independently; the ability to use and interpret a range of sources.
This module allows students to study a closely-defined area of history. They will choose from a range of courses offered by History staff and will study one topic in detail. Each course is designed as a significant area of study in its own right, and as a means of developing in depth some of the issues of historiography and method that students will encounter over their course of studies in History at Queen's. Particular emphasis is placed on essay writing at university level.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be aware of the range of approaches that have been used to study the past. They should be able to demonstrate knowledge of a particular historical case study and how it has been debated amongst historians. They should also be aware of the links between historical research and methodological/theoretical frameworks.
Skills
Ability to think critically, reason logically, and evaluate evidence; develop communication skills, both written and oral; an ability to work independently; the ability to use and interpret a range of sources.
The aim of the module is to introduce level 1 students to the concept and the scholarly debates that surround the term revolution. It does so by examining four examples of revolutions, which may include the Consumer Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Revolution of the 1960s. By doing so, it will raise broader questions about what causes historical change, the interplay between long-term trends and short-term turning points, and the role of individuals. The module will also introduce students to the importance of small group teaching at university and the importance of individual contribution to tutorials. This will be done through an individual presentation, a structured response to presentations from other students, and a short student reflection on the theory and practice of small-group teaching.
Learning Outcomes
An understanding of the concept and the scholarly debates that surround the term revolution; An ability to engage with the most important historiographical debates relating to the subject-matter of the module; Effective presentation and oral communication skills; The ability to contribute effectively and courteously to class debates and discussions; An ability to write an informed analysis of historical problems discussed in the module; Enhanced ability to think critically, reason logically, and evaluate evidence; An ability to reflect on learning experience.
The module engages in a close examination of three case studies: these may include The Fall of Rome, the Crusades, European colonialism and decolonisation, the Partition of India, and Genocide in Rwanda. Each has proven controversial not just because of the historical incidents themselves, but also the variety of historical interpretations that have been placed on them and the way these events are remembered.
Each case study provides an opportunity to discuss questions about the nature of historical truth, the method of writing history, and the contemporary importance of history. It challenges preconceptions about what “facts” are, and stimulates awareness of the diverse ways in which the past can be analysed. While each part of the module relates to a distinctive geographical region, the three case studies share common features in that their historical significance reverberates in the contemporary world and fashions the identities of nations and communities even today. The different sections thus complement each other to demonstrate the ways in which the past continues to shape the present and the role that history can play in either perpetuating conflict or conversely in promoting intercultural understanding.
Students are thus encouraged to compare the different historical case studies rather than study each discretely as they raise similar fundamental questions about how history is understood and practiced, and how events unfold, are written about, and eventually remembered.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be aware of a range of theoretical and methodological approaches that have been used to study the past. They should be able to demonstrate knowledge of case studies in a number of historical areas and, in doing so, be aware of the important links between empirical historical research and methodological/theoretical frameworks. They will be aware that different theoretical, methodological or ideological approaches can and do produce competing conclusions. They will become familiar with historical writing in a range of forms that take them beyond the textbook (articles, monographs, edited collection and - where appropriate - approved websites). They will also be introduced to the ways history is represented in other media, including cinema and literature. They will be introduced to different methods of disseminating history to scholars and the wider public, both written and audio-visual, and will produce their own public history output, as part of the assessment.
By the end of the module, they will have gained an awareness of the debates pertaining to the ways that these difficult histories should be taught, or represented in museums. In this respect, students will gain an awareness of how these events are represented or re/presented to the public. They will further gain understanding as to how narratives pertaining to these episodes continue in the contemporary world to shape how nations, “tribes”, religious communities define themselves in relation to “others”.
Skills
Students should develop skills in literacy; oral communication; the organisation of logical arguments; basic bibliographic research; effective presentation of written work.
A systematic introduction to ways in which history is used outside the university campus, including in museums and exhibitions, film, memorials and political discussion. The course will involve visits to local museums and students will get a chance to work together to pitch a new public history project. Previous projects have included public exhibitions, new museums or digital apps. The module focuses on the history of race, ethnicity, slavery, colonialism and anti-colonialism and their representations in pubic history.
Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the module should • Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the role of academic history within society; • Be able to present historical information systematically and in accordance with normal
academic practice; • Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the requirements of effective group work • Have identified a dissertation topic and be able to demonstrate an ability to place it in its broad historiographical context.
Skills
Working in groups; oral communication skills, public history theory.
'Understanding Northern Ireland: History, Politics and Anthropology'
Overview
This level 1 module will use a variety of historical, political, sociological and anthropological perspectives to look at key issues relating to Northern Ireland. The course will provide an overview of the history and politics of the state of Northern Ireland. It will use anthropological understandings of ethnicity and nationalism to examine how Unionism and Irish Nationalism developed. It will look in detail at the various political solutions which have been applied to ‘the Province’, with a particular focus on the Peace Process. It will examine the realities and legacies of the conflict since the signing of the 1998 Agreement. It will explore the development of cultural and political 'traditions' examining, in particular, change and continuity in Irish society.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should
•be aware of how to utilise a range of disciplinary approaches (historical, political, sociological and anthropological) in helping to develope an understanding of division and conflict within Northern Ireland.
•be aware of how to examine how contemporary political communities use the past to construct traditions, ideologies and identities.
•understand how to explore the role of history in understandings of Northern Ireland.
•To develop a broad understanding of the politics of the state.
•understand and look at key contemporary issues in Northern Irish society.
•be able to assess and highlight various research approaches to Northern Ireland, and to explore how academic work can be applied.
Skills
Students will acquire skills in understanding written material, skills in weighing evidence and skills in debating controversial topics. The ability to read material, weigh judgements and engage with the topics being discussed. They should also develop oral presentation skills, essay writing skills and skills in accessing and analysing information, research evaluation. They will also gain experience of coping with controversial topics.
Us And them: Why do we have ingroups and outgroups?
Overview
Drawing theoretically on both cognitive and social anthropology and utilizing a wide range of case studies, from personal passions for particular sub-cultures of music and sport to national politics in Northern Ireland to global divides of religion and class, this module will introduce students to social groups.
We will explore what makes human social groups different from those of other animals, psychological explanations of group commitment, and anthropological literature on symbols, rituals, and politics to examine how particular social groups are created and sustained and how some individuals become willing to fight and die for their fellow group members.
Learning Outcomes
Be able to describe and consider the implications of:
1) The importance of social groups for individuals.
2) How group identities and traditions are created.
3) How groups continue from generation to generation.
4) The similarities and differences between national, religious, sporting, class, and interest groups.
5) How groups can convince individuals to die for them
6) Why intergroup prejudice and conflict is so common.
Skills
The module will help foster the students’:
Ability to consider the findings of multiple disciplines in addressing questions of human society.
Ability to present ideas clearly in both oral and written formats
Ability to research and analyse material from multiple disciplines
Ability to debate and defend arguments
Ability to engage in civil discourse about strongly held convictions
Ability to prepare concise and focused presentations
Anthropologists have analysed how people with different cultures' express themselves in a variety of ways through sound, text and image. Who is involved in specific expressive practices, who controls these practices, and which media are emphasised by different groups? Can textual, verbal, musical and material forms of expression be communicated across cultural boundaries? How do processes of cultural translation affect their meaning and impact on different lifeworlds? In this module, we will explore performative genres including musical activities and rituals; language-based forms of expression and processes of visual and material expression around artworks, objects and film documentation.
Learning Outcomes
Students should have acquired a basic understanding of key issues relating to the performative dimensions of cultural expression through a comparative analysis of ethnographic studies pertaining to sound, text and image. Students should be able to discuss how anthropology has approached expressive cultures and understand a range of cultural differences between themselves and others in this arena. The module should prepare them for further study in the fields of performative, textual and visual analysis.
Skills
Students should develop skills in literacy; oral communication; the organisation of logical arguments; effective presentation of written work; critical reflection on their own cultural assumptions and biases; and teamwork.
A World on the Move:Historical and Anthropological Approaches to Globalization
Overview
This modules provides an anthropological introduction to the study of globalisation, using comparative case studies from the contemporary and the historical record, and outlining links with perspectives in the field of history. Among the issues discussed are: global and local linkages in a world of economic, cultural and political connectivity; cultural convergence and the expression of cultural difference; migration, refugees, trafficked people, tourism; diasporas, the idea of home and national borders; transnational family networks in the contemporary world; global and local regimes of power and resistance.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, student should be aware of the complex ways in which globalising forces have influenced people's everyday experiences in different socio-cultural settings and changing historical contexts.
Skills
Students should develop skills in literacy; oral communication; the organisation of logical arguments; effective presentation of written work; and teamwork.
This module will examine the theme of culture from an anthropological perspective. Focusing on an assortment of critical thinkers and formative texts, it addresses the relation of culture to race, society, history, practice, embodiment, emotions, power, the politics of identity, the state, and globalization. The course examines some of the foremost anthropologists who have contributed to these topics, drawing on functionalist, structuralist, Marxist, reflexive and other traditions of thought.
Learning Outcomes
One objective of the module is that the students acquire a firm grasp of the key principles and theoretical perspectives of social and cultural anthropology. A second objective is that the students develop an ability to apply these principles and perspectives to a broad range of ethnographic and other materials. In its emphasis on the development of critical thinking, the module will therefore make a larger contribution by equipping students in relation to other anthropology - and non-anthropology - modules to take.
Skills
To develop critical reading skills with respect to anthropological texts, and to develop debating skills in class. To develop the critical faculties of the students with respect to cultural discourses.
This module will bring together staff from a range of disciplinary fields including anthropology, film studies, and museum studies, in an examination of media, visual, and digital anthropology. The aim of the module is to offer students analytical skills to engage with the notion of the ‘visual’ and ‘media’ in research practice. A key focus will be placed on visual ethnographic methods, from ethnographic film, to photography, museum display and performance, as well as an examination of digital/social media and their anthropological significance. Some additional key themes will be those of the crisis of representation in anthropology, globalization and the dominion of the ‘visual’, sensorial and digital methods in the field, media and the social, the ethics of visual/digital anthropology and virtual/collaborative practices in ethnographic fieldwork.
Learning Outcomes
On completion, students will:
· be familiar with key issues in the study of the ‘visual’ and media in anthropology
· be able to recognize and critically assess the role of visual and other media in different cultures
· understand how visual methods can be utilized in ethnographic fieldwork
· understands the ethics and responsibilities involved in the use of visual and virtual/digital methods in ethnographic fieldwork
· be able to historicise the development of visual and media anthropology
· be able to employ different visual media (photography, ethnographic film, visual blogs, visual material) in interactive critical discussions with peers and employ visual methods in the practice of ethnographic fieldwork.
Skills
Academic reading and writing
Oral communication of theoretical and ethnographic data
Media literacy and criticism
Effective presentation of written work
Critical reflection on ethnographic films, museum displays and photography in anthropology
Creative work with electronic audio/visual media.
Hanging out on Street Corners: Creative, Public and applied Anthropology
Overview
The module is designed to introduce students to qualitative, ethnographic, methodologies, explore creative methods, and examine the applied use of ethnographic methods in the social sciences and policy analysis. It will discuss the differences between qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and the strengths and weaknesses of each. This will enable students to argue for the utility of ethnographic methodologies in further modules (dissertation).
Introducing the students to a range of ways of engaging with and understanding the social world, the module will look at the utility of ethnography and anthropology in applied situations. In doing so it will present an understanding of environments in which ethnography can be used in ‘problem solving’ and as a critical tool for ‘policy’ understanding.
Students will be exposed to specific case studies and examples and asked to develop their own skills through presentations, analysis of case studies, and workshops. The course will encourage internships and act as a preparation for dissertation modules in semester 2 (year 2) and semester 1 (year 3).
Students should develop an awareness of how qualitative/anthropological methods – ethnography and participant observation - might provide skills that have practical applications away from the academy.
Learning Outcomes
• To develop and understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
• To engage with creative methods
• To develop skills necessary in the utilisation of anthropology such as report & proposal writing, team work, presentation and communication skills.
• To develop confidence and ability to work within a team and under pressure of time.
• To develop a critical understanding of ethnographic research when applied to areas of policy.
• To critically analyse ethical issues related to ethnographic fieldwork.
• To analyse the relationship between anthropology and other disciplines and professional areas.
• To develop early engagement with dissertation topics, possibly through internships.
Skills
• Ability to consider the findings of multiple disciplines in addressing questions of human society.
• Ability to utilise interpersonal skills
• Ability to work in teams
• Ability to present ideas clearly in both oral and written formats
• Ability to research and analyse material from multiple disciplines
• Ability to debate and defend arguments
• Ability to engage in civil discourse about strongly held convictions
• Ability to prepare concise and focused presentations
Home Rule or Union?; Social and economic change; Gaelic revival and parliamentary politics; separatism; the Home Rule/Ulster crisis, 1912-14; war, rebellion and revolution; partition, independence and devolution.
Learning Outcomes
To understand the course of Irish development during the remaining years of the Union; partition, independence and devolution in Northern Ireland.
Skills
The acquisition and analysis of information; prioritisation and interpretation; effective presentation of written and oral reports.
The history of the interwar period in Europe is a familiar story to many, with the rise of Stalin and Hitler forming the central pillars of the narrative. This module offers a new perspective on this period, exploring issues that enable comparisons, as well as highlight contrasts, between the histories of various European states and peoples. It is:
- thematic, not chronological, in structure, though it clearly has a first part focused on the 1920s, and a second on the 1930s
- geographically de-centred – we are as likely to discuss Italy and Spain, as Germany and Russia
- organised in a way that suggests the Spanish Civil War was both the central epic of our period but also the culmination of interwar social, political and cultural struggles
- focused on social and cultural aspects of the period, as much as political and economic – we are as likely to discuss gender and art, as fascism and communism
- based on wide-ranging and in-depth reading, including fictional works and films read as texts
- aimed at those who want to go beyond men with moustaches, who enjoy the unusual and the quirky and like to go off the beaten track in their history studies
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you should be able to demonstrate:
- a good knowledge of the political regimes and their ideologies which were established in Europe during this period
- an understanding of the economic forces at work between 1919 and 1939 and their implications for various European societies
- an understanding of the outlook and experiences of various sectors of European society, including ethnic minorities and women
- familiarity with primary sources from this period and with relevant secondary materials and historiographical debates
- the ability to identify and select information relevant to the topic area from a variety of sources
- the ability to analyse and evaluate evidence and argument
- the ability to present your own arguments in essays, using appropriate evidence to support your views
- the ability to work effectively within a group, making appropriate contributions to discussions, debates and tasks, as well as contributing and presenting a group presentation
Skills
- to provide students with an understanding of European history between 1918 and 1939, in the context of previous and later historical developments
- to acquaint students with a variety of historical sources from this period including official documents and the press, films and images, as well as with secondary materials and historiographical debates
- to promote the development of key skills required to study history effectively
Northern Ireland’s peace process, the legacy of conflict and enduring divisions present a range of ongoing challenges for politics and society. Drawing on expertise from across the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics – combined with that of relevant practitioners, where possible – this interdisciplinary, team-taught module will examine a range of thematic challenges with respect to conflict, conflict transformation, peacebuilding, community relations, public representations of the past, and democratic governance. Rooted in the case of Northern Ireland, the module will also routinely consider broader comparisons with other cases and possible generalisation to other cases. It will be structured into three main parts. First, it will critically engage with Northern Ireland’s past. What were the underlying sources of division, and what can we learn about the complexities and nuances of identity over time? Second, it will explore how the past continues to interact with contemporary Northern Ireland. How is this past represented and understood in today’s public history landscape? Is it possible for Northern Ireland’s contested past to be publicly represented in ways that promote mutual understanding? Can Northern Ireland now be characterised as a ‘post-conflict’ region? Finally, the module will look ahead. Does the current political settlement represent a sustainable form of governance for the region? What do internal developments, such as demographic change, and external challenges, such as climate change, mean for Northern Ireland’s future? By critically engaging with these interrelated themes through relevant disciplinary perspectives, this module ultimately seeks to better understand contemporary Northern Ireland, the history that has shaped it, and the future directions that are possible.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module the successful student should be able to demonstrate in assessed essays, coursework and tutorial contributions:
- A familiarity with a range of topical issues and debates in Northern Ireland, including their historical roots, their contemporary political significance, and their relevance for the region’s future;
- An understanding of the Northern Ireland conflict and the peace process, including the factors that contributed to both;
- A critical appreciation of the challenges associated with conflict transformation, peacebuilding, community relations, public representations of the past, and democratic governance in a divided society from a variety of disciplinary perspectives in the humanities and social sciences;
- Awareness of the role that arts, culture, heritage and public engagement with the past can play in reducing political and social divisions;
- A heightened sense of the complexity of identity, politics and place in Northern Ireland.
Skills
Intellectual skills
• Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge; manage such information in an independent manner;
• Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments;
• Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field.
Professional and career development skills
• Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing;
• Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning;
• Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment;
• Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon ones own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development;
• Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance .
Technical and practical skills
• Information Technology: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT.
Organizational skills
• Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines;
• Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information;
• Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear argument; show aptitude for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way;
• Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments in innovative ways.
Students should develop knowledge of twentieth-century social history through a case-study of Belfast. By conducting their own interview, and analysing those conducted by the other members of the group, students should develop a working knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of oral history as a research method and thus enhance their understanding of the broader methodological issues posed by research in modern social history. They should develop team-working skills (through collaborative research on their chosen topic), as well as their capacity for independent learning (through the conduct of one-to-one interviews and the transcription and analysis of those interviews). Oral presentational skills will be developed through reporting on work-in-progress in seminars. The module will, therefore, significantly enhance many of the skills related to the types of employment to which history graduates aspire, i.e. team-working, interpersonal skills, the ability to synthesize large bodies of information, and the compilation of written reports.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should have acquired the following skills:
Team-working (through collaborative research on your chosen topic)
A capacity for independent learning (through the conduct of one-to-one interviews and the transcription and analysis of those interviews).
Oral presentational and interpersonal skills will be developed through reporting on work-in-progress in seminars and by carrying interviewing.
The ability to synthesize large bodies of information
The ability to compile professionally prepared written reports.
Skills
Taking Recording History should enable students to:
develop skills in the collection and analysis of primary sources
gain experience of project management
develop research skills
gain experience of pitching project ideas in a non-academic context
develop experience of the professional compilation and presentation of research results, including footnoting, referencing
Alexander The Great and the Creation of the Hellenistic World
Overview
An analytical survey of ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern history from the conquest of the whole of Balkan Greece by Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, to the emergence of successor kingdoms within Alexander’s conquered territories after his death in 323 BC. After an introduction on sources and methodology, the course proceeds chronologically. Topics receiving special emphasis include: the rise, and the ultimate triumph, of Macedon over the Greek city-states; Alexander’s war against Persia and subsequent conquests; the fragmentation of Alexander’s empire after his death; and events in Sicily and the West (including the expansion of Rome in Italy).
Learning Outcomes
To apply objective historical methodology to a period of alleged decline in Greek history.
Skills
Skills of analysis and evaluation, in particular the organization and interpretation of widely scattered and fragmentary source material.
Apocalypse: Cultures, communities, and the end of the world
Overview
The aim of the course is to introduce students to historical and anthropological reflection on millennial / millenarian beliefs and movements across space and time. Taking a long view of historical events and using case studies of present-day groups that attend to ideas about the end of the world, taking advantage of the interdisciplinary character of the School, and using a wide range of primary sources, including novels, film, websites, and ethnographic case studies and film, this course will invite students to consider the ancient roots of millennial theory; its foundational texts, exponents / prophets and movements; examples of well-known failed and successful millennial claims and movements, including the Crusades, radical puritans, Mormons, Jewish Zionists, American evangelicals, new religious movements, including UFO and suicide cults, and radical Islamists; the use of millennial theory as presentist critique; the development of millennial majorities, and the social, cultural and political implications of their dominance; millennialism’s place in utopian theory; and a final consideration of theoretical rejoinders, in which the course leaders encourage students to consider whether millennial claims might be right – for example, in terms of global warming – and whether that might change the way in which historians and anthropologists should approach the subject.
Learning Outcomes
An understanding of the broad history and anthropology of millennial movements across space and time; An ability to discuss millennial ideas and movements using heuristic tools from history and anthropology; An ability to use electronic resources and to develop key research skills; Effective communication skills; An ability to write an informed analysis of historical problems discussed in the module; An ability to work independently.
Skills
Enhanced ability to think critically, reason logically, and evaluate evidence; Further develop communication skills, both written and oral; Critical appraisal of, engagement with, and effective use of a variety of historical and anthropological sources.
Nationalism has been a key factor in African history since the late 19th Century. How has it emerged, under what forms, how has it evolved, when and how did it become a mass ideology, and what happened to it after the independence of African states in the second half of the 20th Century? This module offers a critical look at these themes, focusing on ideas, cultures and the politics of nationalism and liberation. The module considers different theories and articulate their discussion to a consideration of diverse case studies, e.g. Ghana, Congo, Angola, Mozambique, and South Africa.
Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the module should
• Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the history of Africa in the late 19th and 20th centuries;
• Be able to develop critical arguments about nationalism, liberation and the non-Western world;
• Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the requirements of essay writing, archival work, and oral presentation.
Skills
Critical writing; archival research; oral presentation.
Archival research will be kept to a minimum, in an archive in Belfast or online. The oral presentation will be a presentation of archival material to be used for the second essay.
The outcome of the Civil War sealed the destruction of slavery and raised hopes among African Americans and others of a new,more egalitarian social order in the American South. After a promising start in the immediate aftermath of the War,those hopes were crushed beneath the weight of racial reaction and the demands of the region's new industrial order,leaving ordinary southerners of both races languishing amidst intense poverty and racial violence. In this module we will attempt to understand both the remarkable resilience of racial divisions in the American South and the periodic attempts on the part of black and white southerners to challenge regional "tradition".
Learning Outcomes
To explore and understand the consequences of the ending of slavery in the American South.
Skills
An ability to analyse orally and on paper, the complex issues of race in the context of the American South.
The Roman Origins of the East and West; From Augustus to Charlemagne
Overview
This course focuses on one of the most exciting periods in the formation of the East and West, namely, the transition between the ancient and medieval worlds. Invasions of ‘barbarian’ hordes across the Rhine and Danube frontiers in the fifth and sixth centuries ended a stable system; in the seventh and eighth centuries, the invasions came from the south, as the forces of Islam exploded from Arabia and changed the Mediterranean Sea from a Roman lake to a contested frontier. In response to these political changes, individuals such as Augustine, Jerome, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory Nazianzos, Basil of Nyssa and John Chrysostom sought to incorporate the Classical heritage into the Christian life. Beginning with the Emperor Augustus, this course charts the development of the Roman empire and surveys its major institutions and culture, from the mechanics of autocracy to the character of polytheism. The success of Christianity within this empire is examined, particularly in relation to persecution and the ways in which the triumphant Christian church shaped ‘late antiquity’ are explored. This world, however, became subject to forces of change that transformed it dramatically. The course proceeds to highlight the significance of Theoderic, King of the Ostrogoths, who strove to unify Roman and barbarian cultures. It also examines Justinian the Great, the Byzantine emperor, whose attempt to reunite the Roman world ultimately failed. This course looks at Rome’s successor states in the East and West, namely medieval Byzantium, Frankish Gaul, Ostrogothic Italy and Visigothic Spain. The emphasis is on the theme of continuity and change. We look at how the Franks, having conquered Gaul, drew on Roman imperial and Christian ideology to legitimise their authority; how the Visigoths, having established their authority in Spain, produced a remarkably rich Roman-based culture; how the Romans of Byzantium, under hammer blows of Gothic, Hunnic and Muslim invasions, forged an enduring Byzantine culture combining Roman polity, Greek civilisation and Christian religion.
Learning Outcomes
• Help students think critically, reason logically and evaluate evidence.
• Develop students’ written and communication skills.
• Encourage critical appraisal of historical sources.
• Enable students make effective use of electronic sources
Skills
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Late Roman and early medieval history.
• Make conceptual links between different historical periods and places.
• Trace concepts and ideas over time.
• Critically evaluate historical issues and problems in this field.
• Write essays and develop arguments, making extensive use of both primary and secondary literature in the field
A dramatic expansion of medieval Europe occurred between about 1000-1300. This module will explore the growth of kingship and state formation, but will cover not only political history, but also economic and social, religious and cultural change. The main historical themes that dominated and shaped the history of Europe in the central Middle Ages will be explored with a focus on those institutions that laid the foundations for the formation of modern Europe.
Learning Outcomes
Students should acquire knowledge of the history of medieval Europe and be able to recognize and evaluate historical debates relating to the content of the module; be able to engage with historical interpretations and to judge between them; be able to evaluate the strengths and limitations of the principal primary sources relating to the module; be able to write informed and critical analysis of the historical issues and problems explored in the module.
Skills
Development of skills in critically analysing, contextualising and evaluating different types of written evidence; development of a critical understanding and appraisal of different types of historical writing and of approaches and concepts used by historians;; development of writing skills through formative and assessed coursework and a timed examination; development of oral communicative skills through tutorial presentation.
The union and post-union government of Ireland; the development of nationalism and unionism in their different forms; the relationship between religion, politics and society; economic and social development, the famine and emigration; gender relations and the family; the land question and attempts to resolve it; Home Rule and resistance to it; Ireland’s relations with the British empire.
Learning Outcomes
Students should understand the key developments in Ireland’s political and social history over the course of the nineteenth century, in terms of continuities and changes.
Skills
The acquisition, weighing and assessment of historical information and interpretation. Analytical skills in interpreting and critiquing primary sources. Development of presentation skills involving the analysis and interpretation of material and articulation of evidence-based argument.
The making of contemporary Britain: 1914 to the present
Overview
The course examines key debates in British history between 1914 and the present and complements "The making of modern Britain". It charts political, economic and social change in twentieth century Britain, including decolonisation and the loss of empire.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the module, students should have developed an increased ability to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of contemporary British history as well as an enhanced ability to critically evaluate historical issues and problems in this field. Increased ability to discuss key historiographical debates relating to contemporary Britain. Students should also have enhanced ability to prepare written analyses of a primary source that draws upon key secondary literature. Increased ability to gather and synthesise material.
Skills
Students should develop an enhanced ability to think critically, reason logically and evaluate evidence, as well as to have further developed written and communication skills. They should also have an increased critical appraisal of and engagement with historical sources. Enhanced ability to make effective use of a range of sources.
Being the most complex social species, human beings possess many competencies to deal with social interaction, including the capacity to make moral judgments that evaluate and regulate human behaviour (i.e., judgments on whether an action is right or wrong, and on whether someone deserves reward or punishment). Drawing from the anthropological and psychological literature on the matter, the module introduces the student to the various aspects of human morality, discussing the following types of issues:
- Are moral judgments totally relative to one’s culture or are there universal components of human morality?
- Is human morality based solely on religion?
- Are moral judgments framed by distinct concerns such as care/harm, justice/injustice, loyalty/betrayal, hierarchy/subversion, and purity/impurity or are they always related to a specific concern with basic human rights?
- Can the configuration of different moral concerns shed light on different political attitudes and ideologies, such as conservatism and liberalism, and their disagreement on a variety of topics, such as abortion, homosexuality, and economic equality?
- Although the intentional causation of harm is normally prohibited, why in many situations (e.g., in the punishment of heinous crimes, in the interrogation of suspected terrorists, or in the context of wars and revolutions) people have conflicting intuitions about the boundaries of such prohibition?
Learning Outcomes
Be able to describe and consider the implications of:
- current anthropological and psychological approaches to the various aspects of human morality;
- the interplay between cultural learning and basic psychological dispositions in the domain of morality
- moral judgments to politics and the law.
Skills
The module will help foster students’:
- Ability to consider the findings of multiple disciplines in addressing the topic of morality.
- Ability to present ideas clearly in both oral and written formats.
- Ability to research and critically analyse material from multiple disciplines.
- Ability to debate and defend arguments.
The module will examine the revolutionary developments in Europe from the age of the high Renaissance around 1500 to the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 and its aftermath. Although the course content will be structured and delivered chronologically, the main focus of the module will be on those specific events and developments that historians have labelled ‘revolutionary’. Included in the analysis will be the cultural innovations brought on by the Renaissance, the upheavals in the religious world effected by the Reformation, the social and political changes associated with the rise of the state, and the revolution in forms of thought (from the scientific to the political) that emerged during the Age of Enlightenment. The module will end with a close study of the French Revolution, which was in many ways the culmination of the events and developments that make up the content of the module.
Learning Outcomes
Students should acquire knowledge of the main historical developments of early modern European history and the extent to which the various revolutionary aspects of the age (from the religious and the cultural to the social and political) led to a fundamental reshaping of society and provided the foundations for the making of the modern age. The student should acquire knowledge and understanding of these historical developments in historical context, by which is meant they should acquire an understanding of the cause, consequences, and basic histories of developments such as the Renaissance, Reformation, state formation, and the rise of political revolution. They should also be able to place the specific developments within the broader dynamic of early modern history, thus acquiring a knowledge of how the various revolutions during this period influenced each other.
Skills
The module should enable the student to develop the following skills:
Analytical Thinking: the ability to identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; to construct independent arguments;
Critical & Independent Thinking: the ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field;
Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing;
Efficient and Effective Work Practice: demonstrate the ability to work efficiently to deadlines for both written work and tutorial presentations;
Clear Organisation of Information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information.
Preparing and guiding students for a period of personal research in the long vacation. Includes the selection of a research topic, documentary and bibliographical search, training in quantitative and qualitative research techniques. In addition, students will consider the ethical implications of their research, as well as show awareness of the risk factors involved.
Learning Outcomes
Students should develop the ability to devise an anthropological research topic and plan field research using existing social skills and standard research techniques. Students should also be able to assess the potential risks involved in their chosen research, and assess the ethical implications of their planned work.
Skills
Skills in devising a research proposal and in collecting and sorting information. Students should develop skills in the following areas:
- bibliographical research;
- design a manageable research project;
- assess usefulness of different research techniques
- assess ethical implications of research
- oral and written presentations
- time management
This module will focus on museums from the Renaissance to the modern day, charting the transition from private collecting to public display. It will consider the shifting roles of museums across time and will provide students with an understanding of how and why museums’ aims, purposes and functions continue to change. Students will engage with debates about object collection, preservation, repatriation and display, and will explore some of the current issues facing museums. They will also consider diverse museum audiences, including the elite and wealthy audiences of the eighteenth century and international audiences served by twenty-first-century online museums. Through their reading, research and museum visits, students will also begin to appreciate the different roles of museum staff and through their object engagement project, will gain vital skills that could be useful for their own future employment.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, the successful student should be able to
- Discuss the history of museums
- Understand debates about the purpose, aims and roles of museums in society
- Explain how and why the function of museums and their target audiences have changed over time
- Identify current issues facing museums, particularly in Northern Ireland
- produce object labels or object biographies for a wide audience
Skills
- Analytical skills
- Research skills
- Object appreciation skills
- Written, oral and visual communication skills
- Debating skills
- Computer/multimedia skills
- Group work skills
In a nation which would later commit itself to upholding the ideals of freedom and democracy, the early American South developed a distinct social order based on the enslavement and subordination of Africans and their descendants. This course will explore the development of southern distinctiveness over two centuries, from the evolution of racial ideology in the early Chesapeake to the armed defence of the South's "peculiar institution" in the Civil War.
Learning Outcomes
To explore and understand the unique development and problems of the American South.
Skills
The ability to analyse and explain orally and on paper, the complex issues relating to the topic.
There is a complicated and academically understudied history between African-descended peoples and Irish immigrants in the Americas. Both populations experienced the effects of colonization and displacement in their native lands and discrimination and exploitation in the “New World.” The web of relations between Africans and Irish people, however, was multifaceted. There are numerous examples of Irish-descended individuals who fell along the spectrum from enslavers to overseers to anti-slavery advocates to allies and countless other roles.
This module will employ a comparative lens and will be particularly focused on two Deep South cities in North America, New Orleans and Natchez, and a Caribbean island (TBD), all with vibrant Black and Irish populations. New Orleans contained the largest slave market in the 19th century US and a robust free Black population. Natchez, Mississippi held the second-largest slave market during the same period and the biggest population of free Black people in that state, although much smaller than New Orlean’s. All three places also had Irish immigrant communities. We will explore the linkages between Irish-descended immigrants and free and enslaved Africans and African Americans in these places to flesh out some of the intertwined dimensions of their relationships. The module will be informed by the growing historiography of this pointed topic while being grounded in the rich literature of studies of slavery and freedom in the regions. Students will heavily engage in rich and relevant primary source materials.
Learning Outcomes
After completion of this module, students will have:
A broad understanding of major trends in the historiography of the patterns of forced and voluntary migration to the Deep South and Caribbean and the development of these regions into slave societies.
An understanding of the intricacies of relationships between Africans and Irish-descended people within these societies.
An understanding of the socially-constructed and shifting nature of racial and ethnic ideology in these locales in the Americas.
Skills
Students will speak and write with fluency about the key developments within this historiographical field.
Students will analytically review a relevant book in this field.
Students will critically evaluate primary documents and understand their importance for reconstructing the past.
Students will assess the quality of a range of online resources and make use of them in an historical essay.
Students will recognize and evaluate interpretive differences in historical writing on the subject.
Students will plan and implement an extended research project on a centrally related theme.
United Irishmen and Unionists: the religion and politics of Ulster protestants
Overview
This course considers the religion and politics of protestants in Ulster from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. It examines the interplay of religious, social, and political developments by considering a number of themes. These include, the formation of the United Irishmen and the 1798 rebellion, the rise and significance of evangelicalism, the response of churches to urban growth and industrialisation, religious revivalism and missionary activity, the development of unionist politics, and church-state relations in Northern Ireland. Students will be encouraged to place Irish developments in a broader context. They will encounter a range of primary source material including pamphlets, newspapers, sermons, and official reports.
Learning Outcomes
An understanding of the relationships between the religion and politics of protestants in the north of Ireland.
An ability to engage with the most important historiographical debates relating to the subject-matter of the module.
An ability to evaluate critically, and place in their particular historical context, primary documentary sources relating to the subject-matter of the module.
An ability to write an informed analysis of the historical problems discussed in the module.
Skills
Enhanced ability to think critically, reason logically, and work independently.
Further develop communication skills, both written and oral.
Critical appraisal of, engagement with, and effective use of a variety of historical sources.
An examination of the Thatcher era (1979-1990) from political, cultural, social, intellectual and international perspectives. The module will also consider the longer-term, post-1945, development of Thatcherism and its legacy in the 1990s. Topics to be considered include: race and national identity; Britain and the wider world; devolution and local government; economics; party and identity politics; urban unrest; and debates over the nuclear deterrent.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to demonstrate: 1) knowledge of the main developments of the Thatcher era, both in outline and fine detail; 2) an understanding of the deeper, and longer-term, changes occurring in British politics, society and culture after 1945; 3) an ability to engage with the relevant historiographical debates; 4) an ability to analyse a range of relevant primary sources; 5) an appreciation of the distinctive challenges of contemporary history.
Skills
On completion of this module, students should have acquired the following skills: 1) an increased ability critically to engage with historiography; 2) an increased ability to analyse primary sources; 3) an increased ability to develop an argument in written and oral forms.
This module will focus on various crimes and different forms of punishment in nineteenth-century Ireland. It will consider offences against property and the person, including political offences, arson, murder, infanticide, domestic and child abuse, prostitution and sex offences. The punishment of criminals changed significantly during the nineteenth century and included execution, transportation, and imprisonment. Other suspects were deemed to be insane and were transferred to the so-called lunatic asylum. Much attention was devoted to the ways in which criminals could be punished and reformed before being safely released back into society. In this module, students will explore how female and male suspects, criminals and convicts were treated during this period. Emphasis will also be placed on the interpretation of primary source material relating to crime and punishment in nineteenth-century Ireland.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, the successful student should be able to: Outline motives for and consequences of various criminal offences; Identify, describe and assess ways that criminals and convicts were punished in nineteenth-century Ireland; Locate, question and interpret nineteenth-century sources relating to crime and punishment; Identify how the Irish experience of crime and punishment compared to other countries; Present work in written form for different audiences and develop additional transferable skills such as team-working and quantitative research skills.
Skills
Analytical skills; Research skills; Written and oral communication skills; Debating skills; Quantitative methods skills; Computer skills; Group work skills; Peer assessment skills.
This module investigates the making of the Irish diaspora; explores factors that led unprecedented numbers of Irish migrants to permanently leave the country of their birth in the course of the 19th century and comparatively assesses the often challenging experiences of Irish migrants in the leading host societies of Britain, the United States and Australia. It also assesses the Irish migrant outflow against the backdrop of European migration to ascertain the distinctive features of Irish 19th-century migration. Course contents: Week 1 Introduction to migration history Week 2 The Scattering: the Irish case study Week 3 The key features of a diaspora Week 4 Pre-famine migratory patterns Week 5 Famine migration Week 6 Post-famine migration Week 7 Women and Irish migration Week 8 Host society analysis I: Britain Week 9 Host society analysis II: The United States Week 10 Host society analysis III: Australia - convict migration Week 11 Host society analysis IV: Australia - free settler migration
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will:
In Understand the social and economic conditions in Ireland, and in recipient countries over the course of a century; Comprehend why people leave their country of birth; the difficulties and prejudices they often face in their new homelands; and the impact of migration on the place of birth and to the place of destination; Develop a wider and deeper understanding of the experience of Irish migration and the historical debates that surround the Irish diaspora; Understand the occupational and residential distribution of Irish migrants, paying particular attention to regional diversity and gender difference; An Be aware of the comparative aspect of migration studies; AN Be able to investigate migration in a rigorous academic manner Co Communicate historical arguments effectively both orally and in writing Have knowledge of Irish immigrants’ political, cultural and religious affiliation and the complex and problematic questions of ethnic identity, ethnic fade and attitudes to migrant populations which are issues of considerable contemporary resonance.
Skills
Managing and Prioritising Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments Critical and Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field professional and career development skills Communication Skills: ability to communicate clearly with others, both orally and in writing Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon one’s own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance Practical and technical skills: demonstrate the knowledge and ability to use contemporary and relevant ICT/historical databases/online archival resources. Organisational skills: Efficient and effective work practice: demonstrate ability to work efficiently to deadlines Clear organisation of information: show efficiency in the organisation of large amounts of complex information and the ability to identify, describe and analyse the key features of the information Organisation and communication: demonstrate ability to use evidence to develop logical and clear arguments; show ability for the effective use of information in a direct and appropriate way Enterprising thinking: Demonstrate ability to think and argue in novel and enterprising ways, to display originality of thought and argument and the ability to clearly support arguments by the use of historical evidence
The American Civil War and Reconstruction, 1860-1877
Overview
Against the backdrop of increasing tensions over slavery, Abraham Lincoln posed the question in 1855 of whether the United States could “as a nation, continue together permanently—forever—half slave and half free.” The answer came in 1861, when war broke out between the federal government at Washington and the newly seceded Confederacy. The American Civil War and the period of Reconstruction that followed are sometimes referred to by historians as a “Second American Revolution”: together they constitute one of the most dramatic social upheavals of the nineteenth century world, and their outcome established the foundations upon which—for better or worse—the modern United States would be built.
Making use of a range of primary sources and some of the best recent scholarship in the vibrant field of Civil War & Reconstruction historiography, we will approach the events through close examination of key historical problems: sectionalism and the causes of war; Lincoln, war and emancipation; slavery and grand strategy, North and South; and Reconstruction & the limits of black freedom.
Learning Outcomes
To explore and understand this critical period in the history of the United States.
Skills
The ability to analyse and explain both orally and on paper, the complex issues relating to this topic.
Religion and Empire: Christian Missions To Africa, Asia and Middle East
Overview
Christian missions are often seen as old fashioned, but for long they were at the forefront of modernity. They carried modernity overseas and brought back fresh ideas which helped shape new societies. This course investigates when and how Christian overseas expansion happened; how missionaries related to empire and indigenous peoples; why and how Africans or Asians chose to convert; what they did with the Christianitywith which they were confronted; and how missionary activities contributed to the elaboration of new ideas of race, class and scientific knowledge at home.
Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the module should
• Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the history of Christian expansion in the 19th and 20th centuries;
• Be able to develop critical arguments about religion and modernity in the West and in the rest of the world;
• Be able to engage successfully with archival material;
• Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the requirements of essay writing, bibliographic work, and oral presentation.
Skills
Critical writing; archival research; oral presentation.
Archival research will be kept to a minimum, in an archive in Belfast or online. The oral presentation will be a presentation of archival material to be used for the second (major) essay.
This module examines the last century for the most populous country in the world. During that period China experienced far-reaching changes and after a long submission period to the Western powers reaffirmed its central role on the global stage. In terms of political structures, there was a move from empire to republic, and then from a right wing to a left wing mono party rule. In that regard, the century can be split into before and after World War Two, when the leadership of the country was first in the hands of the Chinese Nationalist Party led by Sun Yatsen and then Chiang Kaishek, and since 1949 by the Chinese Communist Party led by Mao Zedong, then Deng Xiaoping and his successors. The twentieth century for China also witnessed epochal changes regarding society and culture, including the New Cultural Movement, the May Four Movement, the emancipation of women, and opposition to Confucian values. The course also presents the intricate foreign policy, which passed from a tributary system, to Japanese occupation, to a central player of the Cold War in Asia, and to a central player in the globalized world of today.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
• Demonstrate detailed knowledge and understanding of the political and social changes of twentieth-century Chinese history.
• Confidently evaluate a range of relevant historiographical debates and approaches.
• Analyse and evaluate in translation a variety of primary sources drawn from across the period.
• Evaluate evidence for continuity and change across the period, and compare regional variations.
Skills
• Students will improve their ability to engage with and critique a variety of historical interpretations.
• Students will develop their ability to identify and locate primary and secondary sources and to exploit them in constructing sustained and coherent arguments.
• Students will enhance their self-confidence, team-working and oral and written communication skills by engaging in group discussions, making presentations, and submitting written work.
This module considers the ancient Greco-Roman city as a dynamic form of settlement, from its origins in archaic Greece to its demise (or transformation) in the late antique West. Our readings will include ancient discussions of the political and economic roles of cities and of urban architecture and design, as well as depictions in prose and poetry of everyday life in imperial Rome and classical Athens. We will also examine the material remains of these two ancient “mega-cities” and of the smaller but well-preserved cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. We will attempt to formulate our own definition(s) of the ancient city, and we will trace changes in the organization and uses of urban space, and in ancient writers’ conceptions of the political, social, economic, and religious roles of cities, over the course of classical antiquity.
Learning Outcomes
- An understanding of the historical and geographical diversity of ancient Mediterranean urbanism.
- An ability to recognize and evaluate historical debates (both ancient and modern) relating to the development of the Greco-Roman city.
- An ability to evaluate the wide range of textual and material-cultural evidence pertaining to the Greco-Roman city.
Skills
- The ability to engage with historical interpretations and to judge between them, both orally and in written form.
- The ability to evaluate the strengths and limitations of diverse primary and secondary sources.
- The ability to locate relevant sources and to construct a consistent written argument from them.
- The confidence to discuss, present and articulate arguments to peers.
War, Politics, and Identity in Late Medieval Ireland, c.1166-c.1521
Overview
This module explores the politics and culture of Ireland during the later medieval period. The module begins by assessing the state of Irish politics on the eve of the Anglo-Norman (or English) invasion of 1169. The course then charts the expansion and consolidation of English power during the later twelfth and thirteenth centuries before investigating the political and military recovery of the Gaelic Irish aristocracy during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The module pays close attention to the themes of ethnicity and identity formation. It examines how growing interaction between the Irish and English (as well as interactions with the Scots and Welsh) shaped attitudes towards being ‘Irish’ and being ‘English’ in late medieval Ireland. Students will also consider key events such as King John’s expedition of 1210, the Bruce invasions, the Black Death, Richard II’s expedition, the Wars of the Roses, and the impact of the Renaissance. The module concludes by examining the advent of the Tudors and the beginning of early modernity in Ireland. During the course, students will engage with a range of debates on the history and culture of late medieval Ireland. They will also be introduced to a rich meld of primary source material including Irish annals, bardic poetry, genealogical material, as well as English sources such as governmental records and chronicles.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
• Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of how Irish politics evolved c.1166-1521
• Discuss how scholarship has evolved on medieval Irish history
• Think critically about some of the main political, economic, social, and environmental factors shaping Irish history in this period
• Communicate ideas to others in a clear and concise manner, in both oral and written form
Skills
Upon successful completion of this module students will have:
• Enhanced their critical and analytical skills through close readings of primary sources.
• Completed a detailed literature review of the main debates in the secondary literature.
• Employed library skills to prepare assignments and research.
• Developed a greater degree of self-directed learning.
• Enhanced their oral and written presentation skills.
The aim of this course is to offer students a comprehensive introduction to key themes and issues emerging from the anthropological study of Roma, Gypsies and Traveller communities.
We will start by critically examining some of the main ideas through which Roma communities have been imagined and represented in popular discourse and academia.
We will do this by engaging with key anthropological studies of Roma, highlighting the connection between the study of Roma and central anthropological themes: such as kinship, exchange, personhood and cosmology.
We will then look at what happens when broader processes of globalisation and Europeanisation take place, with a focus placed on migration and political mobilisation.
Finally, we will engage with new approaches to the anthropological study of Roma, with a focus placed on the analysis of representation, misrepresentation and collaboration between anthropologists and Roma communities.
Some of the key themes the course will explore are: cosmology and personhood, marginality and identity, migration and borders, politicisation of Roma issues and religious mobilisation, hybridity and collaboration.
Learning Outcomes
The main objectives of this course are to:
- Enable students to familiarise themselves with ethnographic studies of Roma communities
- Enable students to engage with some of the main anthropological themes in the study of Roma and other minority groups
- Help students draw on different ethnographically informed studies in order to critically challenge homogenising representations
- Use ethnographic studies on Roma in order to engage with anthropological theory and debates in the discipline
- Consolidate students’ knowledge of anthropological methodology with a focus on minority groups
- Familiarise students with the socio-political changes brought about by the process of Europeanisation in relation to minority groups in Europe
- Enable students’ comparative analysis of anthropological themes in relation to marginalised communities
- Develop basic conceptual tools for approaching the subject and analysis of the assigned texts
Skills
Transferable skills:
- Ability to critically engage with ethnographic texts
- Develop basic conceptual tools for approaching the subject and analysis of the assigned texts
- Develop presentation skills
- Ability to research critically and analyse material from multiple disciplines
- Ability to debate and construct arguments
- Ability to present ideas clearly in both oral and written formats
This course will examine the causes and repercussions of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. This was a significant uprising by the peasantry (and others) within medieval England, though its roots and consequences are the subject of much debate. The fourteenth century as a whole was a period of much social and economic upheaval, dominated by famine, plague, war and heresy. Students will explore the Peasants’ Revolt by situating it within the wider contexts of medieval society, such as lord-peasant relations, the Black Death, the decline of serfdom, the Hundred Years War, the growing repression of the Wycliffite or Lollard heresy, the kingship of Richard II, and revolts across Europe in the late-fourteenth century. A variety of primary sources will be examined in depth, such as court rolls, laws, chronicles, literature and tax records, in order to gain a detailed insight into the nature of revolt.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module students will have:(a) acquired detailed knowledge of the events of the Peasants' Revolt; (b)understood key aspects of social, economic, political and religious changes in fourteenth-century England; (c) evaluated the different factors which contributed to the outbreak of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381; (d) analysed a variety of medieval primary sources in a knowledgeable and critical manner.
Skills
On completion of this module students will have: (a) critically analysed a variety of primary source material; (b) integrated social, economic, religious and political history; (c) evaluated and synthesised relevant secondary material; (d) followed an independent investigation of an historical subject, including identifying and locating suitable primary and secondary sources; (e) developed their communication skills in both written and oral forms.
From national anthems to Hip-Hop, and from K-Pop to the Proms, music is a means of performing and contesting power. Drawing on perspectives from ethnomusicology, sound studies, and the anthropology of music, this module provides students with the opportunity to work intensively on a series of topics related to music, power, and conflict in both historical and contemporary contexts. We will explore a range of key themes, including sounds of protest and resistance; music, conflict, and reconciliation; and the performance of race and gender. This will be carried out through interactive class sessions and innovative assignments, as well as listening to and reflecting upon music itself. As anthropologists, we are less concerned about the ‘notes on the page’. Instead, we will focus on music as a social and cultural practice, as a site of contestation, and a source for ways of (re)imagining, (re)conceptualising and (re)organising society.
In this module, we will use music as a window into the lives of others (and ourselves), which will help us understand different social, cultural, and political agendas and the issues that matter most to people in society. In so doing, we will grapple with a range of questions, including: how does music reflect the cultures that produce it? How is music used to represent a nation or group of people? Can music play a role in conflict transformation? How does musical performance intersect with identity? Can music be used as a tool for social justice? Should some music be banned? Does music need to be decolonised? Our classes will engage with diverse case studies such as: western classical music and the legacy of white supremacy; musical populism in Latin America; nationalism and identity politics in the Eurovision song contest; soundscapes of torture and detainment; and rap, drill, and moral panic.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students will:
• understand anthropological and ethnomusicological theory associated with the study of music and humanly organised sound(s)
• be able to identify and critically assess a variety of music and sound cultures
• understand how performance and aesthetics impacts the construction of sociocultural identities and political circumstances
• have written critical texts engaging with academic and popular debates about diverse music and sound scenes
present work in a variety of formats, including a synthesis of class readings and discussions, oral presentations, and a well-crafted research paper that demonstrates a firm understanding of the connections between music, power, and conflict.
Skills
By the end of the module, students should have developed the following key skills:
Generic
• Effective presentation of written work at a level appropriate to the year of studies.
• Competency in presenting orally findings from readings and primary research.
• The ability to research both independently and as part of groups.
Module-Specific
• have created and curated a digital playlist on a topic related to music, power, and conflict
• have written an ethnographic vignette on the use of sound as a creative practice
• have written critical texts engaging with academic and popular debates about diverse music and sound scenes
Sin Cities? Everyday Life in the Modern Metropolis
Overview
What, when and - perhaps most importantly - where was modernity? Were cities merely the inactive sites or containers of emerging economic, social and cultural processes, or was urbanity a fundamental part of what it meant to be living in a ‘modern age’? ‘Sin Cities’ explores these questions through the study of metropolitan centres in the Western world between c.1880-1939. You will be taken through urban life in places such as London, New York, Paris and Berlin – and the pleasures, anxieties and identities that they came to represent.
The course begins with the late-nineteenth century growth of both academic and popular belief in the idea that cities were now somehow different to what had come before – new, shocking, and possibly the end (or maybe the beginning?) of Western society. Following lectures and tutorials range widely across a diverse field of analytical approaches and topics, including: sexuality sub-cultures; shopping and entertainment; miscegenation and ‘slumming’; prostitution and ‘sexual danger’; and the rise of urban sociology. We will end the module by debating the importance of the ‘urban variable’, and its value as a distinct category of historical analysis.
Learning Outcomes
i) Students will acquire knowledge and understanding of urban history as a specific discipline.
ii) Students will be able to critique the concept of ‘modernity’ in a Western framework.
ii) Students will hone their capability to understand different theoretical approaches (gender, class, sexuality) relevant to social history more broadly.
iv) Students will be able to understand the history of different countries in a comparative framework.
Skills
i) Students will enhance their ability to critically analyse different primary sources in connection with secondary literature.
ii) Students will increase their confidence and ability to orally present analysis and argument, working in groups.
iii) Students will increase their ability to organise and synthesise secondary literature in a coherent argument.
The political, social, economic and international conditions leading to Bolshevik success after 1917; the nature of the Soviet state as evolving under Lenin ; the evolution of Stalin's personal rule and the Stalinist system; the nature and limits of de-stalinization under Kruschchev.
Learning Outcomes
To understand the Bolshevik takeover of Russia, the adaption of Marxism to Russian conditions and the adjustment of the peoples of Russia to such circumstances.
Skills
To discover, assess and select evidence mainly from secondary sources, to interpret and evaluate this material, to envisage the ways of thinking in a very different environment.
The module will explore revolutionary politics in Ireland between 1916 and 1921. Key themes will include the rise of Sinn Fein following the Easter Rising, the establishment of Dail Eireann, the Irish Volunteers' military campaign and the British government's response to these political and military challenges. The course will make use of a wide range of local and thematic studies to investigate controversial questions relating to the Irish revolution: what factors motivated republicans, how important was sectarianism in revolutionary violence, why did some areas of the country see little fighting and how important a factor was the north?
Learning Outcomes
An ability to identify the key issues and themes of this period. An understanding of the importance of the economic, social and cultural forces which contributed to the political events of this period. An ability to assess and evaluate a range of approaches to the key controversies relating to the Irish revolution. An understanding of the historiography of the Irish Revolution.
Skills
The ability to demonstrate an argument based on study of documents and secondary readings in a written essay and examination paper. Oral participation in tutorials through debate and presentations. Assessing and evaluating conflicting arguments in the secondary literature.
To understand the most terrible historical moment in modern Irish history. This single-semester module is concerned with one of the great climacteric episodes in Irish history. The demographic, economic, social and political events of the period 1845-49 will be studied in detail. Considerable attention will also be paid to the decades preceding the Great Famine, in an attempt to answer the question: "was the Great Famine inevitable?" Similarly, consideration will be given to the longer-term economic, social and political consequences of the Great Famine. This is a tutorial-led module and will employ a purpose-designed tutorial handbook.
Learning Outcomes
To understand the most terrible historical moment in modern Irish history.
Skills
The analysis of historical problems; critical evaluation of facts and arguments; the interpretation of primary historical evidence; practice in constructing and writing informed and literate essays; verbal presentation and group work.
Extermination: History and Memory of the Murdered Jews of Europe
Overview
This is a final-year UG taught module devoted to the destruction of European Jewry during the Second World War. The module will treat separately the following components of the history and memory of an event often referred to as the Holocaust or Shoah, but here called “the Extermination”: 1. The origins of the Jewish peoples some 5,000 years ago and their eventual settlement in North Africa and Europe near the end of the Ancient period. 2. The flowering of Jewish culture in the Middle Ages and Early Modern periods. 3. The growth of antisemitism and anti-Jewish pogroms across Europe from the late 19th C., spawning successive waves of emigration. 4. The peculiar qualities of Nazified antisemitism in Germany from 1933, included the piecemeal and soon wholesale denial of civil rights for German Jews. 5. Wartime escalation of the persecution of Jews, both in Germany and across occupied Europe. 6. The transition to ghettoization, and then extermination, resulting in the murder of six million Jewish persons by spring 1945. 7. The implication in the Extermination of a wide array of collaborators beyond Nazi Germans, including bystanders, neighbors, neutral governments and the Allies. 8. Post-1945 memory wars, stalled attempts at reparations and restitutions, and the creation of public history research centers and memorials. 9. The struggles to represent the Extermination, on the stage, in the cinema, on the page and in other media. 10. The more recent biological imperative for historians to reinvent Holocaust Studies as the last wartime survivors and eyewitnesses die out.
Learning Outcomes
* an understanding of the destruction of the Jews of Europe between 1939 and 1945, in the context of previous and later historical developments * knowledge of a variety of historical sources from this period, including official documents and the press, memoirs, novels, films and images, as well as with secondary materials and historiographical debates appearing books and articles * knowledge of the wartime European political regimes and their ideologies that gave rise to exterminationist antisemitism * an understanding of the outlook and experiences of various sectors of Jewish society over the course of WWII, including women and children * an understanding of the post-war emergence of Holocaust studies and the various ways that the Extermination was remembered, memorialised, but also trivialised and falsified * an appreciation of the depths of the problems of representation, on the screen and on the page, as well as in other forms of representation * an understanding of the key role of survivor testimonies in creating narratives of the Extermination, and the current crises of transition to a post-survivor re-invention of Holocaust studies.
Skills
* to promote the development of key skills required to study history effectively * the ability to identify and select information relevant to the topic area from a variety of sources * the ability to analyse and evaluate evidence and argument * the ability to present your own arguments in essays, using appropriate evidence to support your views * the ability to work effectively within a group, making appropriate contributions to discussions, debates and tasks, as well as contributing and presenting a small group presentation * to hone public speaking skills and confidence, through discussions, debates and presentations
The writing and presentation of a dissertation normally based on first-hand field research.
Learning Outcomes
To organise and analyse research data and to be self-reflexive.
Skills
Students should develop skills in the following areas:
- bibliographical research and documentary analysis;
- organising and retrieving information;
- writing a long piece of work;
- time management
In Gods We Trust: The New Anthropology of Religion
Overview
Drawing on new scientific advances, this religion course examines foundational questions about the nature of religious belief and practice.
The course is based on the idea that religion is a naturalistic phenomenon — meaning it can be studied and better understood using the tools of science. Religious belief and practice emerge naturally from the structure of human psychology, and have an important impact on the structure of societies, the way groups relate to each other, and the ability of human beings to cooperate effectively.
Topics to be covered will include traditional and contemporary theories of religion, with a special emphasis on cultural evolutionary models, as well as how scientific and humanistic scholarship can benefit from mutual engagement.
The module will have an emphasis on contemporary issues in the study and practice of religion (e.g. new scientific theories of religion, the current debates between atheists and theists, and the role of religion in violent conflicts).
Learning Outcomes
Be able to describe and consider the implications of:
1) Evolutionary and cognitive scientific approaches to the study of religion
2) The origins of religion, and its role in human life
3) How religion relates to morality, spirituality and atheism
4) The role of religion in current events and conflict hotspots around the world
5) The role religion may have played in the origin of civilization
Skills
The module will help foster the students’:
(1) Ability to consider the findings of multiple disciplines in addressing questions of human thought and behaviour.
(2) Ability to present ideas clearly in both oral and written formats
(3) Ability to research and critically analyse material from multiple disciplines
(4) Ability to debate and defend arguments
(5) Ability to engage in civil discourse about strongly held convictions
(6) Ability to prepare concise and focused presentations
The Politics of Performance: From Negotiation to Display
Overview
This module brings together the ecological, sensorial and political relations of performance in comparative analyses of intercultural practices from around the globe. We will explore how human and other-than-human aspects of sound, image and movement generate various modalities of ‘attunement’ between oneself and one’s environment to inform a politics of performance. By attending to the particularities of sound, voice, affect, reaction and resonance, we will analyse differentiated ‘atmospherics’ (Eisenlohr 2011) of negotiation, display and contestation. We will then examine how the politics of sound, image and movement give rise to expressions of resistance, resilience and reconciliation. Central to critically engaged performativity is a diversity of environments, environmental change and the ecological relations that they entail. Taking space, place and the effects of climate change seriously, we will further examine how the politics of being and belonging stem from different ways of knowing, sensing and performing self, other and the ‘other-than-human’ in these environments. Using a series of key settings, the module will reveal the political effects of sound, language, voice, positionality and performativity.
Some case studies that will exemplify this environmental and performative politics include i). an analysis of indigenous protest and resistance in song, theatre and public display, focusing on processes of fragmentation, recombination and reclamation; ii). art as a process of reconciliation, negotiation and spectacle, foregrounding identities, rights and policy agendas; iii). political imagery e.g. street art and graffiti; and iv). improvisatory music-making in refugee camps and conflict zones, addressing tension, liminality and resilience. Finally, the module will take into account the ongoing effects of Covid19 as artists and performers reposition their voices in a digitally interconnected world. We will examine how expanding technologies are transforming the power of performance and reshaping how processes of creativity are politically motivated and communicated.
Learning Outcomes
We will be using informal self and group assessment methods during the module to monitor learning outcomes and to reflect on the development of conceptual skills of the following:
• Knowledge of key approaches to the anthropology of the senses, the anthropology of music, arts and performance and music in peacebuilding.
• Ability to discuss critically the importance of multi-sensoriality and performativity in case studies from different cultural contexts.
• Knowledge of the role of performance, poetics in protest, politics, nationalism and expressions of Indigenous rights.
• Ability to work critically with central concepts in the politics of performance.
• Ability to analyse the relationship between different arts/performance genres across distinct performative arenas, e.g. parliamentary, theatrical, ritual and staged events.
• Competence in dealing with issues of cultural diversity in academia.
Skills
• Ability to analyse performative issues and their political implications through relevant anthropological and ethnomusicological frameworks.
• Ability to research and critically analyse a range of information sources effectively.
• Demonstrate skills development in conducting music and arts research online.
• Ability to express anthropological ideas clearly and logically.
• Ability to debate and defend arguments.
• Ability to work with other students in groups.
• Experience in musical participation and reflection.
Wolf Children and Baby Boomers: The Family in European History 1945-1970s
Overview
The Second World War caused enormous upheaval to families across Europe, separating parents and children as well as couples and resulting in an estimated 11 million children having lost one or more parents by 1945. The project of the reconstruction of post-war Western European society placed a huge emphasis on reuniting families, where possible, and reconstructing the so-called traditional family. As the Cold War took hold, the idea of the ‘traditional’ – nuclear, Christian – family also came to be seen as a bulwark against the threat of Communism. However the return to traditional family life after 1945 was in large part an illusion, since the impact of war was so deep that there could be no return to normal. The long separation of war put enormous strain on the couples and families who were reunited, while aerial bombardment meant that millions had lost their homes: separation, divorce and single mothers were common features of the late 1940s. The war also changed how psychologists thought about parents and children: witnessing the trauma of children in war sparked a new focus on children and childhood in psychoanalysis.
By the 1950s, Western European society was also being transformed in new ways: migration was transforming European cities into modern, multicultural spaces, while villages and farmlands across Europe were being emptied of people. The scale of social change meant that political and religious authorities also felt the so-called traditional family to be under threat, prompting moral panics about women and youth. By the late 1960s, it was clear that the ‘traditional family’ of conservative, Christian rhetoric was deeply out of touch with reality. The ‘sexual revolution’ of the 1960s gave way to wide-scale youth revolt by the end of the decade. The 1968 protests which erupted across schools and universities in France, Italy, West Germany and beyond, were above all a generational rebellion. The second-wave feminist and gay liberation movements of the 1970s continued their radical critique of the family, suggesting new communal forms of living were the answer.
This module will examine the political importance of the family in the post-war reconstruction and the Cold War, setting the rhetoric of political and religious leaders against the reality of changing family life, while exploring how new ideas of family life emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. We will draw on the history of the emotions to discuss changing family relationships. We will also examine how ideas about children, childhood and adolescence changed over the late twentieth century from the fears about feral ‘wolf children’ playing in the rubble of bombed cities to the emergence of the teenager in the 1960s. While the focus will be on Western Europe, with case studies drawn from France, Britain, Italy and West Germany, we will also examine the alternative ways of thinking about the family that emerged from communism. Tutorials will focus on source analysis and discussion: primary sources will be drawn from newspapers, political posters, novels, memoirs and films as well as manifestos and oral history interviews.
Weekly topics may include:
Displaced children after 1945
Returning veterans and post-war families
The family as Cold War propaganda
Moral panics about 1950s youth
Race, migration and multiculturalism in Britain and France
Migration and the family in southern Europe
Radical ideas about family in 1960s Italy and West Germany
Learning Outcomes
Aims
• Explore a variety of approaches to the history of the family, as they apply to late twentieth-century Europe.
• Examine the history of family life in late twentieth-century Europe as it intersects with cultural, social and political developments in history from the impact of World War II, the rise of consumer society, developments in medicine and technology to the rise of youth cultures, counter cultures and protest movements.
• Prompt reflection and debate about how and why the private, intimate sphere of family life can become the subject of political and religious concern.
Objectives
Having successfully completed the module, you should be able to:
• Understand the different methodological approaches to the modern history of the family.
• Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of different types of primary sources including personal testimonies, manifestos, fiction and mass media sources such as film, magazines and documentaries.
• Discuss how commercial, religious and political forces have shaped people’s attitudes to family life, emotions and relationships over the course of the late twentieth century.
• Be able to draw connections and comparisons across time and space, using the case studies covered in the module.
Skills
In completing this module you will develop the following skills:
• Analysing and discussing a range of primary sources in textual, visual and audio-visual forms
• Working individually and as part of a group to analyse sources and readings, and to present historical arguments
• Examining and evaluating the arguments of other historians
• Presenting your arguments and analyses in written form
Remembering the Future: Violent Pasts, Loss and the Politics of Hope
Overview
The module will draw on social theory and ethnographic case studies to examine the role of memory in conflict and post-conflict contexts. Most inter-group conflicts involve contestation over competing pasts and losses. Such contestation plays an important role in how and whether societies can move forward, recover from violence, and deal with reparations. Memory therefore is instrumental not only in how the past is mobilized but also how the future is imagined and constructed -as equal or unequal, shared or divided. By looking at relevant concepts such as loss, nostalgia, remembering, forgetting, expectation, and hope, the module will investigate on one hand how memory politics operate in our post-truth era and in phenomena of nationalism, populism, racism, and exclusion. On the other hand, we will look at how social movements, groups, and communities use memory across the world to build sustainable and inclusive futures.
Topics covered in the module will include: The politics of memory and forgetting: ‘Official’ Histories and ‘Voices from the Edge’; Transnational Narratives of Violence and Justice; Nostalgia, Competing Losses, and the Rise of Populism on both sides of the Atlantic; Displacement as Space and Time; On ‘Speaking Out’: Truth Recovery, Transitional Justice and Human Rights; Social Movements, Alternative Futures, and the Politics of Hope.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students will:
• be familiar with social theory on memory, violence, loss, and futuricity.
• be able to describe and critically engage with ethnographic examples from across the world in relation to these themes.
• understand the role of memory in the construction and mobilization of contested pasts and futures.
• be able to explain some current debates on the role of nostalgia, longing, loss and hope in the construction of collective identities, contestation, and social justice agendas.
Skills
By the end of the module, students should have developed the following key skills:
Generic
• Effective presentation of written work at a level appropriate to the year of studies.
• Competency in presenting orally findings from readings and primary research.
• The ability to research both independently and as part of groups.
Module-Specific
• produce written work engaging critically with academic and popular debates on the issues of violence and memory.
• have demonstrated presentational skills both in online and offline learning environments, and learnt how to address different audiences .
• be able to employ fieldwork skills in working in memory sites locally
• have written public engagement pieces for the module’s blog.
The Rise of Christianity 2: The Conversion of the Roman Empire
Overview
A study of the growth of the Christian community within the Roman world from the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (AD 70) to the death of Constantine the Great (AD 337). Students will assess the variety and character of early Christian teaching; the appearance and definition of heresies; the literary interaction between the upholders of Roman religio and Christians; the nature and extent of persecution within the Roman empire; the conversion of Constantine the Great (c. AD 312) and its significance for the Roman empire.
Learning Outcomes
To understand the methods used for the resconstruction of an historical topic and acquire advanced perspectives of early Christianity in its Roman context.
Skills
Advanced development of skills of analysis and evaluation, in particular the organization and interpretation of widely scattered and frequently fragmentary source material.
The module will examine the rise of Protestantism in the early modern period (1517-1740), from the onset of the Reformation in Germany and Switzerland to the spread of the movement throughout Europe and America to the eve of the mainstream Enlightenment.
Learning Outcomes
To introduce students to history of confessional development in Europe; to encourage critical thought.
Skills
Analysis of textual evidence (primary and secondary) and the ability to formulate arguments in written and oral form.
Students will research and write a dissertation of 10,000-12,000 words on an appropriate subject negotiated with a member of staff.
Learning Outcomes
Students will have gained a detailed knowledge of the secondary literature and primary sources relating to a specific historical problem, and will have acquired first hand experience of the processes involved in producing a piece of historical writing based on primary sources.
Skills
Students will acquire skills in identifying, locating, and gathering information from a variety of sources, in analysing evidence and formulating reasoned conclusions, and in presenting the results of research and analysis in an appropriate format.
A maximum of one BTEC/OCR Single Award or AQA Extended Certificate will be accepted as part of an applicant's portfolio of qualifications with a Distinction* being equated to grade A at A-Level and a Distinction being equated to a grade B at A-level.
Irish leaving certificate requirements
H3H3H3H3H3H3/H2H3H3H3H3
Access Course
Successful completion of Access Course with an average of 70%.
International Baccalaureate Diploma
33 points overall, including 6,5,5 at Higher Level
BTEC Level 3 Extended/National Extended Diploma
QCF BTEC Extended Diploma (180 credits at Level 3) with overall grades D*DD
RQF BTEC National Extended Diploma (1080 GLH at Level 3) with overall grades D*DD
Graduate
A minimum of a 2:2 Honours Degree
Note
All applicants must have GCSE English Language grade C/4 or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University.
There are no specific Level 3 subject requirements to study Anthropology and History.
How we choose our students
Applications are dealt with centrally by the Admissions and Access Service rather than by individual University Schools. Once your on-line form has been processed by UCAS and forwarded to Queen's, an acknowledgement is normally sent within two weeks of its receipt at the University.
Selection is on the basis of the information provided on your UCAS form. Decisions are made on an ongoing basis and will be notified to you via UCAS.
For entry last year, applicants for this degree offering A-Level/ BTEC Level 3 qualifications or equivalent must have had, or been able to achieve, a minimum of 5 GCSE passes at grade C/4 or better (to include English Language). The Selector will check that any specific entry requirements in terms of GCSE and/or A-level subjects can be fulfilled.
Offers are normally made on the basis of 3 A-levels. Two subjects at A-level plus two at AS would also be considered. The offer for repeat applicants is set in terms of 3 A-levels and may be one grade higher than that asked from first time applicants. Grades may be held from the previous year.
Applicants offering two A-levels and one BTEC Subsidiary Diploma/National Extended Certificate (or equivalent qualification), or one A-level and a BTEC Diploma/National Diploma (or equivalent qualification) will also be considered. Offers will be made in terms of the overall BTEC grade(s) awarded. Please note that a maximum of one BTEC Subsidiary Diploma/National Extended Certificate (or equivalent) will be counted as part of an applicant’s portfolio of qualifications. The normal GCSE profile will be expected.
For applicants offering Irish Leaving Certificate, please note that performance at Irish Junior Certificate is taken into account. Applicants must have a minimum of 5 IJC grades C/ Merit. The Selector also checks that any specific entry requirements in terms of Leaving Certificate subjects can be satisfied.
For applicants offering a HNC, the current requirements are successful completion of the HNC with 2 Distinctions and remainder Merits. For those offering a Higher National Diploma, some flexibility may be allowed in terms of GCSE profile but, to be eligible for an offer, the grades obtained in the first year of the HND must allow the overall offer to be achievable. The current entrance requirements are successful completion of the HND with 2 Distinctions, 10 Merits and 4 Passes overall. Any consideration would be for Stage 1 entry only.
The information provided in the personal statement section and the academic reference together with predicted grades are noted but, in the case of BA degrees, these are not the final deciding factors in whether or not a conditional offer can be made. However, they may be reconsidered in a tie break situation in August.
A-level General Studies and A-level Critical Thinking would not normally be considered as part of a three A-level offer and, although they may be excluded where an applicant is taking 4 A-level subjects, the grade achieved could be taken into account if necessary in August/September.
Applicants are not normally asked to attend for interview, though there are some exceptions and specific information is provided with the relevant subject areas.
If you are made an offer then you may be invited to a Faculty/School Open Day, which is usually held in the second semester. This will allow you the opportunity to visit the University and to find out more about the degree programme of your choice and the facilities on offer. It also gives you a flavour of the academic and social life at Queen's.
If you cannot find the information you need here, please contact the University Admissions Service (admissions@qub.ac.uk), giving full details of your qualifications and educational background.
International Students
Our country/region pages include information on entry requirements, tuition fees, scholarships, student profiles, upcoming events and contacts for your country/region. Use the dropdown list below for specific information for your country/region.
English Language Requirements
An IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each test component or an equivalent acceptable qualification, details of which are available at: go.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs
If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this degree programme, INTO Queen's University Belfast offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for admission to this degree.
Academic English: an intensive English language and study skills course for successful university study at degree level
Pre-sessional English: a short intensive academic English course for students starting a degree programme at Queen's University Belfast and who need to improve their English.
International Students - Foundation and International Year One Programmes
INTO Queen's offers a range of academic and English language programmes to help prepare international students for undergraduate study at Queen's University. You will learn from experienced teachers in a dedicated international study centre on campus, and will have full access to the University's world-class facilities.
These programmes are designed for international students who do not meet the required academic and English language requirements for direct entry.
Skills to enhance employability
Studying for an Anthropology degree at Queen‘s will assist you in developing the core skills and employment-related experiences that are increasingly valued by employers, professional organisations and academic institutions. Through classroom modules, optional placements and your own anthropological fieldwork, you will gain valuable skills in critical thinking, cross-cultural understanding, researching, interviewing, writing, and presenting.
Employment after the Course
Career pathways typically lead to employment in:
• User Experience
• Consultancy
• Civil Service
• Development, NGO work, International Policy, Public Sector
• Journalism, Human Rights, Conflict Resolution, Community Work
• Arts Administration, Creative Industries, Media, Performance, Heritage, Museums, Tourism
• Market Research
• Public and Private Sector related to: Religious Negotiation, Multiculturalism/Diversity
• Teaching in schools
• Academic Teaching and Research
• Human Rights, Conflict Resolution, Community Work, Journalism
Employment Links
A growing number of internship opportunities will match dissertation students with organisations and institutions relevant to their career paths by building on local and international staff networks and professional connections.
Current placement partners include
• Operation Wallacea, which works with teams of ecologists, scientists and academics on a variety of bio-geographical projects around the globe.
• Belfast Migration Centre offers students of the module ‘Migration, Displacement and Diasporas’ internship opportunities in their ‘Belonging Project’.
Professional Opportunities
International Travel
As part of undergraduate training, students have the opportunity to use practice-based research skills during eight weeks of ethnographic fieldwork in areas of their specialisation, which can entail working with organisations around the globe.
Degree Plus/Future Ready Award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Degree Plus/Future Ready Award. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.
1EU citizens in the EU Settlement Scheme, with settled status, will be charged the NI or GB tuition fee based on where they are ordinarily resident. Students who are ROI nationals resident in GB will be charged the GB fee.
2 EU students who are ROI nationals resident in ROI are eligible for NI tuition fees.
3 EU Other students (excludes Republic of Ireland nationals living in GB, NI or ROI) are charged tuition fees in line with international fees.
The tuition fees quoted above for NI and ROI are the 2024/25 fees and will be updated when the new fees are known. In addition, all tuition fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase in each year of the course. Fees quoted relate to a single year of study unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Tuition fee rates are calculated based on a student’s tuition fee status and generally increase annually by inflation. How tuition fees are determined is set out in the Student Finance Framework.
Additional course costs
Students have the option to take the Social Anthropology dissertation module. This will involve undertaking fieldwork in the summer vacation period between years 2 and 3. The cost will vary depending on the location of the fieldwork, ranging from £100-£500. The School will provide financial support up to a maximum of £300.
All Students
Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs which are not covered by tuition fees, which students will need to consider when planning their studies.
Students can borrow books and access online learning resources from any Queen's library. If students wish to purchase recommended texts, rather than borrow them from the University Library, prices per text can range from £30 to £100. Students should also budget between £30 to £75 per year for photocopying, memory sticks and printing charges.
Students undertaking a period of work placement or study abroad, as either a compulsory or optional part of their programme, should be aware that they will have to fund additional travel and living costs.
If a programme includes a major project or dissertation, there may be costs associated with transport, accommodation and/or materials. The amount will depend on the project chosen. There may also be additional costs for printing and binding.
Students may wish to consider purchasing an electronic device; costs will vary depending on the specification of the model chosen.
There are also additional charges for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.
How do I fund my study?
There are different tuition fee and student financial support arrangements for students from Northern Ireland, those from England, Scotland and Wales (Great Britain), and those from the rest of the European Union.
Application for admission to full-time undergraduate and sandwich courses at the University should normally be made through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). Full information can be obtained from the UCAS website at: www.ucas.com/students.
When to Apply
UCAS will start processing applications for entry in autumn 2025 from early September 2024.
The advisory closing date for the receipt of applications for entry in 2025 is still to be confirmed by UCAS but is normally in late January (18:00). This is the 'equal consideration' deadline for this course.
Applications from UK and EU (Republic of Ireland) students after this date are, in practice, considered by Queen’s for entry to this course throughout the remainder of the application cycle (30 June 2025) subject to the availability of places. If you apply for 2025 entry after this deadline, you will automatically be entered into Clearing.
Applications from International and EU (Other) students are normally considered by Queen's for entry to this course until 30 June 2025. If you apply for 2025 entry after this deadline, you will automatically be entered into Clearing.
Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as is consistent with having made a careful and considered choice of institutions and courses.
The Institution code name for Queen's is QBELF and the institution code is Q75.
Additional Information for International (non-EU) Students
Applying through UCAS
Most students make their applications through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) for full-time undergraduate degree programmes at Queen's. The UCAS application deadline for international students is 30 June 2025.
Applying direct
The Direct Entry Application form is to be used by international applicants who wish to apply directly, and only, to Queen's or who have been asked to provide information in advance of submitting a formal UCAS application. Find out more.
Applying through agents and partners
The University’s in-country representatives can assist you to submit a UCAS application or a direct application. Please consult the Agent List to find an agent in your country who will help you with your application to Queen’s University.
