Contemporary History
Code: 101141 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2500262 Sociology | FB | 1 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Arnau Gonzalez Vilalta
- Email:
- arnau.gonzalez@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- Yes
Teachers
- Steven Forti
Prerequisites
For its correct understanding, this subject requires the reading of the bibliography that will be indicated in the classroom, as well as an elementary knowledge of basic concepts of historical vocabulary (state, nation, anarchism, liberalism, socialism, etc.) and of the spatio-temporal coordinates of matter.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The subject aims to provide students with an approach that allows them to think historically about the social, cultural and political problems of the present time. In this context, a historical approach will be made to the great themes of the “long” XX century: the birth of the mass society, the political and social economic articulation of this society, the transformations of the states, the center–periphery dynamics in their different perspectives, the great conflicts of the century, etc.
The final objective of the subject is that students acquire a solid historical perspective of issues that they will have to address during the degree studies.
Competences
- Analysing the problems arising from the implementation of public policies and conflict situations by recognising the complexity of the social phenomena and political decisions affecting democracy, human rights, social justice and sustainable development.
- Applying the concepts and approaches of the sociological theory, specially the explanations of social inequalities between classes, between genders and between ethnic groups, to the implementation of public policies and to the resolution of conflict situations.
- Describing social phenomena in a theoretically relevant way, bearing in mind the complexity of the involved factors, its causes and its effects.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Students must be capable of assessing the quality of their own work.
- Students must be capable of managing their own time, planning their own study, managing the relationship with their tutor or adviser, as well as setting and meeting deadlines for a work project.
Learning Outcomes
- Describing the social changes of these phenomena in the 20th century.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Differentiating the eventual progresses and regressions of these principles in the main historical changes of the 20th century.
- Discussing their causes and effects from several historiographical perspectives.
- Distinguishing historical precedents of specific policies or conflicts.
- Distinguishing the historical processes where these principles were formulated.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Students must be capable of assessing the quality of their own work.
- Students must be capable of managing their own time, planning their own study, managing the relationship with their tutor or adviser, as well as setting and meeting deadlines for a work project.
Content
1. The Interwar World: the First World War and the Nes Order of Versailles, 1914-1919
2. New Extreme Alternatives: Fascism and Soviet Communism, 1917-1922-1933
3. The Second World War: Europe and Asia, 1937-1945.
4. The Postwar Crisis and the Beginning of the Cold War in Europe, 1946-1949.
5. The Great World Powers: the USA and the USSR
6. The Cold War: the Period of Confrontation.
7. The New Political Forces and the Decolonization Processes in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
8. Western Europe: Economic Growth and Socio–political Transformations. The New Feminine Condition.
9. Spain: the Franco Regime.
10. The USA and the USSR: from Peaceful Coexistence to the Second Cold War.
11. The World in the Post-Cold War, 1991-2020.
Methodology
The monitoring of the subject will be carried out through two weekly sessions and the topics developed by the teacher throughout the course.
The practical part (text commentary) will have to be done individually by the students within the deadline set by the teacher. This part will be delivered on the appointed day, within the established period. Once corrected, the teacher will return them and dedicate a session to the analysis of all the work carried out.
For the correct monitoring of the subject the students will have to do the recommended readings. At the same time, they will have a tutorial schedule set by the teachers during the course.
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 | |||
| Seminars | 26.5 | 1.06 | 3, 2, 4, 5 |
| Theoretical-practical classes | 23 | 0.92 | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 13 | 0.52 | 9, 3, 2, 10, 8 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Study and autonomous work | 74 | 2.96 | 9, 1, 3, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 8 |
Assessment
The final evaluation will be the result of adding three evaluation activities.
1. In the middle of the semester an exam will be carried out based on the analysis of materials announced by the teacher. The list of materials will be provided to the students during the teaching period. This exam will represent 20% of the final grade.
2. In the middle of the semester an analysis work will be carried out on some type of material that the teacher will post in the Campus Virtual. It will be the practical part. This work will represent 30% of the final grade.
3. At the end of the semester there will be an exam on the topics taught during the course, either in the classroom, posted on the Campus Virtual or through the readings. This exam will represent 50% of the final grade.
In order to pass the subject, the student must obtain 5 by adding the marks of the three parts/exams (partial exam on the materials, practical part and exam on the contents taught during the course).
If the total of the three parts/exams is between 3'5 and 4'9, a remedial exam can be taken to pass the subject.
REMEDIAL EXAM
They can take the remedial exam only those students who:
a) Having done the exams and the practical part, they don’t reach the final grade of 5.
b) The remedial exam is not to improve the grade. It only serves for those students who need it to reach a final grade of 5.
FINAL GRADE
It will be the result of the sum of the grades of the partial exam (20%), the practical part (30%) and the exam (50%).
In case of taking the remedial exam, it will be from a final exam on all the topics taughts during the course.
NO EVALUABLE
Students who have not submitted to a minimum of two evaluation activities will be classified as "No evaluable" (Not Assessable)
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evaluation | 70% | 6 | 0.24 | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 |
| Practical part / work | 30% | 7.5 | 0.3 | 9, 1, 3, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10 |
Bibliography
El alumnado tiene que conocer la bibliografía básica del curso, que se expone a continuación. El conocimiento de este material bibliográfico es fundamental para completar, con todo tipo de detalles e informaciones precisas, las clases magistrales y los contenidos teóricos.
Además, estas lecturas (mediante el comentario de algún fragmento, etc.) están presentes en los exámenes del curso.
ARÓSTEGUI, Julio (dir.): El mundo contemporáneo: Historia y problemas, Barcelona, Crítica, 2001.
ARTOLA, M. i Pérez Ledesma, M.: Contemporánea. La historia desde 1776, Madrid, Alianza, 2005.
BRIGGS, Asa; CLAVIN, Patricia: Historia contemporánea de Europa: 1789 – 1989, Crítica, Barcelona, 2000.
CASANOVA, Julián: Europa contra Europa, Barcelona, Ed. Crítica, 2010.
FONTANA, Josep: El siglo de la revolución. Una historia del mundo desde 1914, Crítica, Barcelona, 2017.
GERWART, Robert: Los vencidos. Por qué la Primera Guerra Mundial no concluyó del todo (1917-1923), Barcelona, Galaxia Gutengerg, 2017.
GONZÁLEZ CALLEJA, Eduardo: Socialismos y comunismos. Claves históricas de dos movimientos políticos, Paraninfo, Madrid, 2017.
HOBSBAWM, Eric J.: Historia del siglo XX, Crítica, Barcelona, 1995.
JACKSON, Gabriel: Civilización y barbarie en la Europa del siglo XX, Planeta, Barcelona, 1997.
JUDT, Tony: Postguerra. Una historia de Europa desde 1945, Madrid, Taurus, 2006.
MANN, Michael: El lado oscuro de la democracia, Valencia, PUV, 2008.
MAZOWER, Mark: La Europa negra, Barcelona, Ediciones B, 2001.
MOLINERO, Carme; YSÀS, Pere: El règim franquista. Feixisme,modernització i consens, Eumo, Vic, 2003.
PAXTON, Robert O.: Anatomía del fascismo, Barcelona,Península, 2005.
VEIGA, Francisco; DA CAL, Enrique U.; DUARTE, Ángel: La paz simulada. Una historia de la Guerra Fría, 1941-1991, Alianza, Madrid, 1997.
VEIGA, Francisco: El desequilibrio como orden. Una historia de la postguerra fría, 1990-2008, Madrid, Alianza, 2009.
Software
NO