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2021/2022

Universal Contemporary History (from 1945)

Code: 106183 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2504216 Contemporary History, Politics and Economics FB 1 1
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Martí Marin Corbera
Email:
Marti.Marin@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
english (eng)
Some groups entirely in English:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Teachers

Cristian Ferrer Gonzalez

Prerequisites

Have not been established, but:

  • Most of the subjects are taught in English. A B2 level of English of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is required, although no specific test of English proficiency level is held to access the degree. 

Objectives and Contextualisation

The course covers world history from 1945 to the present. Students will learn to analyze and understand the events of the so-called Cold War, from its historical roots in the early 20th century to its aftermath at the turn of the century. The course aims to get students used to argue professionally, as historians, and to break the separation between their everyday perception and the historiographical one. Students should have sufficient knowledge of the causes that led to the Cold War and the specificity of this phenomenon, as well as its phases, periods and actors on a global scale. The processes of decolonization will also be addressed.

Competences

  • Describe the origin and development of the main current social, political and economic conflicts.
  • Distinguish between and analyse the type of relations that have been established over the last century among the different social, political and economic agents on national, regional and international frameworks.
  • Distinguish between governmental decision-making systems in different social and political contexts from the mid-twentieth century to the present day in state-, substate and suprastate frameworks.
  • Explain and summarise knowledge acquired in English language at an advanced level.
  • Recognise and contextualise texts referring to recent contemporary history.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Express an opinion based on the nature, perspective and rigour of texts referring to the course content.
  2. Identify and summarise the basic bibliography on the main conflicts.
  3. Identify and synthesise the basic biography on the historical evaluation of the main governmental systems from the most interventionist to the most liberal.
  4. Make a brief comparison of national and/or regional cases within the same international framework.
  5. Recognise and explain different national and regional cases of relations between different social agents in contemporary history.
  6. Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  7. Write a review of a publication, documentary video or event (conference or seminar) in English adapted to the content of one or more subjects on this course.

Content

  1. The born of a new world: mass politics, revolution, imperialism and total warfare
  2. From the ashes of the war that was to end all wars: the postwar order
  3. Consolidating a bipolar world: the USSR, the US and its spheres of influence
  4. A world in motion, after all: decolonization and social change
  5. The neoliberal turn and the end of history
  6. The return of history: the post-Cold War world

Methodology

-        Theoretical lectures

-        Attendance to guided seminars and mentoring sessions

-        Learning of information search strategies

-        Debates and discussions

-        Writing reviews, papers and analytical comments

-        Oral presentations

-        Self-study

- The teaching methodology could undergo adaptations depending on the evolution of the pandemic by COVID-19

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Attendance to guided seminars and mentoring sessions 6 0.24 4, 1, 6, 5
Theoretical lectures 45 1.8 4, 2, 3, 5
Type: Supervised      
Debates and discussions 5 0.2 4, 1, 2, 3, 6, 5
Learning of information search strategies 8 0.32 4, 2, 3, 6, 5
Oral presentation 5 0.2 1, 6
Writing reviews, papers and analytical comments 24 0.96 7, 6
Type: Autonomous      
Self-study 25 1 4, 2, 3, 6

Assessment

The evaluation is continuous. Students must demonstrate their progress by completing activities and exams. The deadlines for these evaluation activities will be indicated in the calendar on the first day of class. All activities will have a deadline that must be strictly adhered to, according to the subject calendar.The weighting of the different evaluation elements will be as follows:

-        Mid-term writing exam (25%)

-        Final writing exam (25%)

-        Writing papers (30%)

-        Oral presentations and discussion seminars (20%)

 

Related matters

The information about the evaluation, the type of evaluation activity and its weight on the subject is for information purposes only. The faculty responsible for the course will specify it at the beginning of the course.

 

Assessment activities review

When publishing final marks, the professor will provide written notification of a date and time for reviewing assessment activities. Students must arrange reviews in agreement with the professor.

 

Recovery

Those students who have submitted activities whose weight is equivalent to 66.6% (two thirds) or more of the final grade and who have obtained a weighted grade of 3.5 or more will have access to the recovery.

 

The student will only take the activities or tests not submitted or failed. In no case may a grade be made up by means of a final test equivalent to 100% of the grade.

 

At the time of giving the final grade prior to the final grade of the course, the teacher will communicate in writing the recovery procedure. The teacher may propose a recovery activity for each failed or not presented activity or may group several activities.

 

Consideration of “not evaluable”

A “not evaluable” will be assigned when the evaluation evidence provided by the student is equivalent to a maximum of one quarter of the total grade of the subject.

 

Irregularities in the evaluation activities

In case of irregularity (plagiarism, copying, impersonation, etc.) in an evaluation activity, the grade of this evaluation activity will be 0. In case of irregularities in several evaluation activities, the final grade of the course will be 0.

 

Evaluation activities in which irregularities have occurred (such as plagiarism, copying, impersonation) are excluded from the recovery. It is considered as "copy" a work that reproduces all or most of the work of another student, and as "plagiarism" the fact of presenting part or all of an author's text as one's own, that is, without citing the sources, whether published on paper or in digital form. In the case of copying between two students, if it is not possible to know who has copied whom, the sanction will be applied to both.

 

More information: http://www.uab.cat/web/study-abroad/undergraduate/academic-information/evaluation/what-is-it-about-1345670077352.html

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Final writing exam 25% 2 0.08 4, 1, 2, 3, 6, 5
Mid-term writing exam 25% 2 0.08 4, 1, 2, 3, 6, 5
Oral presentations and discussion seminars 20% 8 0.32 4, 1, 6, 5
Writing papers 30% 20 0.8 4, 7, 1, 2, 3, 6, 5

Bibliography

Bibliografía

ANDERSON, Perry (2014), American Foreign Policy and Its Thinkers, London: Verso.

BOUKARI-YABARA, Amzat (2014), Africa Unite! Une Histoire du Panafricanisme, Paris: Découverte.

ELEY, Geoff (2001), Forging Democracy. The History of the Left in Europe, 1850-2000, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

FONTANA, Josep (2011), Por el bien del Imperio. Una historia del mundo desde 1945, Barcelona: Pasado&Presente.

FULBROOK, Mary (ed.) (1999), Europe Since 1945, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

GADDIS, John Lewis (2007), The Cold War. A New History, London: Penguin.

HARVEY, David (2006), A Brief History of Neoliberalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

HOBSBAWM, Eric (1994), The Age of Extremes. The Short Twentieth Century, 1914-1991, London: Abacus.

HORN, Gerd-Rainer (2007), The Spirit of ’68. Rebellion in Western Europe and North America, 1956-1976, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

JAMES, Leslie & LEAKE, Elisabeth (eds.) (2015), Decolonization & Cold War. Negotiating Independence, London: Bloomsbury.

JIAN, Chen (2001), Mao’s China & the Cold War, Raleigh: University of North Carolina Press.

JUDT, Tony (2006), Postwar. A History of Europe Since 1945, London: Penguin.

LEFFLER, Melvyn P. (2008), La guerra después de la guerra. Estados Unidos, la Unión Soviética y la Guerra Fría, Barcelona: Crítica.

LEFFLER, Melvyn P. & WESTAD, Odd A. (eds.) (2010), The Cambrigde History of the Cold War, 3 vols., Cambridge:Cambrigde University Press.

MAZOWER, Mark (1999), Dark Continent. Europe’s Twentieth Century, London: Penguin.

PLOKHY, Serhii (2015), El último imperio. Los días finales de la Unión Soviética, Madrid: Turner.

PRASHAD, Vijay (2007), The Darker Nations. A People’s History of the Third World, New York: New Press.

SERVICE, Robert (2015), The End of the Cold War, 1985-1991, London: MacMillan.

SHEPARD, Ben (2010), The Long Road Home. The Aftermath of the Second World War, London: Bodley Head.

SKIDMORE, Thomas E. & SMITH, P. H. (1996), Historia contemporánea de América Latina. América Latina en el siglo XX, Barcelona: Crítica.

VEIGA, Francisco; Ucelay Da Cal, Enrique & DUARTE, Ángel (2006), La paz simulada. Una historia de la Guerra Fría, 1941-1991, Madrid: Alianza.

WALKER, Martin (1994), The Cold War and the Making of Modern World, London: Vintage.

ZUBOK, Vladislav M. (2008), Un imperio fallido. La Unión Soviética durante la Guerra Fría, Barcelona: Crítica.

Software

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