Imperial & Commonwealth History King's College London

Programme Structure

POGRAMME MODULES:

Students are required to complete 180 credits as follows:

1. Compulsory modules:

Concepts and Debates (20 credits)

This module introduces students to key concepts and debates in British imperial history. In particular it critically examines the assumption, still widely taken to be self-evident that Britain´s `imperial history´ is the history of Britain´s empire, and that this statement of the obvious needs no further dissection. The module begins by introducing students to the difficulties of this assumption. Imperial history is not simply the history of an imperial system of government and expanding rule as it was devised and understood in London. It is concerned with the varied understandings of `empire´ and `imperialism´ as well as the encounter of and interaction between the varied agents of an expanding (and eventually) declining Britain and many local peoples around the world. A number of seminars are devoted to the economics of empire and to the exploration of cultural history.
Assessment: 3 hour written examination

Advanced skills for Historians (20 credits) - 1st Semester

This module addresses the nature of historical practice, ensuring that students can use and critically evaluate a range of theories, methods and approaches. It will raise awareness about history as a discipline and its relationships with other kindred fields. There will be visits, for example, to libraries, archives and museums, and an opportunity for students to discuss their dissertations. Skills to be considered in the module include quantitative approaches, visual and textual analysis and the oral presentation of materials.
Assessment: Two 2,000 word essays

2. Optional modules:

All modules are studied through seminars and individually supervised coursework. Modules worth 40 credits are taught across both semesters (20 x 2 hour sessions). The number of credits is indicated in brackets.

Students choose optional modules to the value of 80 credits.

• Missionary Religion, Humanitarianism and Empire, 1780-1910 (40 credits) (not available 2008/9)
• India, Empire and the 'Global Village', 1780-1914 (40 credits)
• Connecting Greater Britain: Britain and the Dominions, c1850-1939 (40 credits) (not available 2008/9)
• Empire in the Twentieth-Century World: An Era of Decolonization (40 credits)

from MA Modern

• Patriotism in British Politics, c. 1870-1918 (40 credits)

from other departments

• Aborigines, Europeans & Australians (20 credits)
• Australian Politics: An Historical Approach (20 credits)
• 20th Century Australia: War and Society (20 credits)
• Navies and Sea Power, 1793 - 2000 (40 credits)
• Andrew Lambert, War Studies
• The History and Politics of Portuguese-speaking Africa, 1885 to the Present (40 credits)
• Patrick Chabal, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies

DISSERTATION:

The dissertation of 15,000 words provides the opportunity to demonstrate your ability as a historian to conceive and execute a research project and to present your findings in an extended scholarly form. A formal introduction both to archives (including visits) and to the problems of dissertation writing forms part of the module and is normally covered in the first term. Most of the research for and the writing of, your dissertation will then be done in the three months from mid-June.

Recent topics have included:

• Female Missionaries in Madagascar: The London Missionary Society and Conceptions of Gender, 1865-95
• The Administration of Criminal Justice in the Madras Presidency, c.1830-60
• The Consular Courts in Japan, 1859-99: An Aspect of Britain´s `Informal Empire´
• Wavell: The Undermining of a Viceroy
• The Coorg Vagabond
• The Hudson´s Bay Company and the French Raid of 1782
• Tropical Academe. The inception and the foundation of the University Colleges of the Gold Coast and Ibadan, Nigeria, c.1943-1953
• British policy towards Quasim´s Iraq, July 1958 - February 1963: a study in defence planning, oil concessions and inter-Arab politics