HS1S031 - Nations and Empires: The Making of Modern Europe, c.1750 to the Present 01 Aug 2024 - 31 Aug 2027 | Version 1

Associated Module Information

Module Code: HS1S031
Module Title: Nations and Empires: The Making of Modern Europe, c.1750 to the Present
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Culture and Animation
Faculty Sub Group: Culture
Module Leader: Rachel Lock-Lewis
Module Team: Andy Croll, Christopher Hill
First Intended Intake: SEP 2021 Final Year of Intake: 2026
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 4
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes:
HECOS Code Weighting:

Document Version Information

Version 1
Valid From 01 Aug 2024
Valid To 31 Aug 2027

Module Aims

This module has four main aims. The first is to introduce students to the key forces that shaped the development of contemporary European societies and, in doing so, encourages informed engagement with contemporary issues and challenges. The second is to provide students with a broad comparative study of different peoples, societies and cultures in a European context. A third aim is to develop students’ competence and confidence in interrogating a variety of primary and secondary sources including political tracts, treaties, speeches, newspaper reportage, music, artwork and literature. The final aim is to develop students’ competence and confidence in expressing findings, explanations and arguments in written formats.

Content Summary

This module traces the formation and development of key ideas from the late-eighteenth century to the present day to consider the changing ways in which people have sought to organise their societies and to distribute power and resources. Concepts such as secularism, liberty, equality, democracy, liberalism, capitalism, nationalism, imperialism, socialism, fascism and consumerism will form key threads. The conception and development of these ideas will the explored through a variety of case studies of societies across Europe including the Balkans, the Iberian peninsula, the Baltic states, the Great Britain, Ireland and Italy.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Lecture 19
Seminar 20
Tutorial 1
Independent Study 56
Directed Study 96
Formative Assessment - Scheduled 8
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Recognise and explain the main developments in, and distinguishing features of, the making of modern Europe
LO2 Interrogate a variety of primary and secondary sources in order to present findings clearly with supporting evidence and recognition of historiographical perspectives.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Synchronous Onsite Oral Assessment Presentation (Synchronous Onsite) 1 An individual oral presentation of 15 minutes maximum, delivered onsite, in answer to one of a choice of questions relating to the second half of the module (1914-1999). 15 N/A 50 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Project Output 1 A recorded presentation of 15 minutes maximum in answer to one of a choice of questions relating to the first half of the module (c.1750-1914). 15 N/A 50 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Presentation (Synchronous Onsite) 1
Project Output 1

Reading List

Stefan Berger (ed.), A Companion to Nineteenth-Century Europe, 1789-1914 (2006)
Robert Gildea, Empires of the Mind: The Colonial Past and the Politics of the Present (2019)
Eric Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism Since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality (2012)
David S, Mason, A Concise History of Modern Europe: Liberty, Equality and Solidarity (2019)
Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century (2000)
John M. Merriman, A History of Modern Europe, Volume 2: From the French Revolution to the Present (2019)
Robin W. Winks & Joan Neuberger, Europe and the Making of Modernity, 1815-1914 (2005)