Studiegids

nl en

Connecting Dreams: Europe in Africa, Africa in Europe

Vak
2016-2017

Admission requirements

This course is part of the (Res)MA History Programme. It is not accessible for BA students.

Description

There have always been connections between Europe and Africa. In this course, we study connectivity in expressions, movement, international relations that are both historically and anthropologically situated.
The concepts ‘connections/connectivity’, ‘mobility’ and ‘transnationalism’ are the methodological and theoretical backbone of this course.

Research on connections is, because of the nature of the concept, interdisciplinary. In this course the students are invited to develop their own take on mixed methods. The empirical topics we discuss and that will help to understand the concepts vary from the memory of slavery to colonialism, from mining to football, and from travelling objects to boat people.

Course objectives

General learning objectives

The student has acquired:

  1. The ability to independently identify and select literature, using traditional and modern techniques;
  2. The ability to independently identify and select sources, using traditional and modern techniques;
  3. The ability to analyse and evaluate a corpus of sources with a view to addressing a particular historical problem;
  4. The ability to analyse and evaluate literature with a view to addressing a particular historical problem;
  5. The ability to independently formulate a clear and well-argued research question, taking into account the theory and method of the field and to reduce this question to accessible and manageable sub-questions;
  6. The ability to independently set up and carry out an original research project that can make a contribution to existing scholarly debates;
  7. The ability to give a clear and well-founded oral and written report on research results in correct English, when required, or Dutch, meeting the criteria of the discipline;
  8. The ability to participate in current debates in the specialisation;
  9. The ability to provide constructive feedback to and formulate criticism of the work of others and the ability to evaluate the value of such criticism and feedback on one’s own work and incorporate it;
  10. (ResMA only): The ability to participate in a discussion of the theoretical foundations of the discipline.

Learning objectives, pertaining to the specialisation

  1. Thorough knowledge and comprehension of one of the specialisations or subspecialisations as well as of the historiography of the specialisation, focusing particularly on the following;
    • in the specialisation Cities, Migration and Global Interdependence: the manner in which migrations (of people, goods and ideas) between and within states have led to shifts (in cohesion, ethnic composition, policies, imaging, culture, and power relations) in the period 1600-2000, with a focus on (urban) networks (within and across borders);
    • in the specialisation Colonial and Global History: how global (political, socio-economic, and cultural) connections interact with regional processes of identity and state formation; hence insight in cross-cultural processes (including the infrastructure of shipping and other modes of communication) that affect regions across the world such as imperialism, colonisation, islamisation, modernisation and globalisation (in particular during the period 1200-1940).
  2. Thorough knowledge and comprehension of the theoretical, conceptual and methodological aspects of the specialisation or subspecialisation in question, with a particular focus on the following:
    • in the specialisation Cities, Migration and Global Interdependence: the interdisciplinary approach (application of theories and methods from social sciences), the comparative perspective (diachronic and synchronic) and working with a large variety of primary sources;
    • in the specialisation Colonial and Global History: empirical research from a comparative and connective perspective.

Learning objectives, pertaining to this Research Seminar

The student:

  1. Has developed insight into the manner in which migrations (of people, goods and ideas) between and within states have led to shifts (in cohesion, ethnic composition, policies, imaging, culture, and power relations) in the period 1750-present;
  2. Has gained knowledge of and skills for the interdisciplinary approach (application of theories and methods from social sciences), the comparative perspective (diachronic and synchronic) and working with a large variety of primary sources;
  3. (ResMA only) Has developed:
    a. The ability to interpret a potentially complex corpus of sources;
    b. The ability to identify new approaches within existing academic debates;
    c. Knowledge of the interdisciplinary aspects of the specialization.

Timetable

The timetable is available on the MA History website.

Mode of instruction

  • Seminar

Course Load

Total course load 10 EC x 28 hours= 280 hours

  • Attendance: 26 hours

  • Preparation for class/ study of compulsory literature: 84 hours

  • Assignment (Preparing presentations): 16 hours

  • Carrying out research: 52 hours

  • Writing paper/making documentary: 100 hours.

Assessment method

  • Written paper (ca. 7500 words, based on research in primary sources, including footnotes and bibliography)
    Measured learning objectives: 1-9, 13-14 (ResMA also: 9 and 15)

  • Oral presentations
    Measured learning objectives: 3-7, 11-12

  • Participation in class
    Measured learning objectives: 9, 11-12

Additional requirements for the ResMa students:
The paper has to be based on more extensive archival research or research based on primary sources. The student has to show (especially in the paper) innovative insights.

Weighing

Written paper: 70%
Oral presentations: 20%
Class participation: 10%

The final grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average with the additional requirement that the written paper must always be sufficient.

Resit

Should the overall mark be unsatisfactory, the paper is to be revised after consultation with the instructor.

Blackboard

Blackboard will be used for:

  • Providing information on the course

  • Submitting assignments

Reading list

We will use articles that can be downloaded from the university library.
The list will be distributed at the first meeting.

Registration

Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch

Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs

Not applicable.

Contact

I.A. (Irial) Glynn
M.E. de Bruijn

Remarks

None