Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
World Contemporary History
Teaching staff
Ask for appointment via email with professor Fernando Sánchez Costa fersancos@uic.es
Introduction
Today's world is the result of a set of complex political, social and cultural processes that humanity has undergone from the mid-18th century to the present day. Throughout this course we will analyse the main events, processes, structures and personalities that have shaped the configuration of the contemporary world.
We will focus on our own sphere of civilisation - Europe and the West - but we will also study the historical evolution of the other spaces that make up our global world. We will focus on political history, but we will also look at economic transformations, technological leaps, cultural currents and the evolution of mentalities.
We will work from an open hermeneutic, i.e., understanding that historical phenomena were not already decided or closed in advance, but could have taken several paths. Understanding why they followed the course they did and how we have arrived at our present is the main objective of this course, as well as the best way to awaken an awareness of freedom and responsibility in each and every one of us.
Pre-course requirements
No pre-course requirements are needed to enrol in this subject
Objectives
The goal is not to memorize dates, or the names of battles or people, but to help students develop, through the study of the past, basic, transferable abilities. Students will learn how to:
- Analyze primary sources (textual, visual or audiovisual)
- Critically analyze secondary sources
- Structure a well-reasoned historical argument
- Critisize traditional historical discourses in a structured manner
- Use digital tools for academic work
- Work as a team
In order to achieve these objectives students will be given the opportunity to engage in historic research the same way as a professional historian does.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- 01 - The ability to adapt to varying circumstances
- 02 - The ability to understand, accept criticism and correct errors
- 03 - The ability to administer and manage human and technical resources
- 04 - The ability to work in a team and autonomously
- 05 - The ability to organise time and workspace
- 06 - The ability to develop academic rigour, responsibility, ethics and professionalism
- 07 - The ability to apply the deontology and respect for the audiovisual sector
- 08 - The ability of critical analysis, synthesis, concretion and abstraction
- 09 - The ability to objectify, quantify and interpret (data, statistics, empirical evidence )
- 10 - The ability to confront difficulties and resolve problems
- 11 - The ability to generate debate and reflection
- 12 - The ability to meet deadlines, develop the ability to be punctual and respect for human, technical and material resources
- 13 - The ability to create spoken and written communication
- 14 - Knowledge and mastery of rhetoric and oratory to communicate own ideas
- 15 - Knowledge and mastery of body language and techniques for public speaking
- 16 - The ability to manage, analysis and reflect on content
- 17 - The ability to contextualize and critically analyze the events of social reality and to represent Contemporary History
- 18 - The capacity and development of general culture and interest in social events
- 19 - The ability of informative documentation
- 20 - Knowledge and mastery of bibliographic media
- 21 - Knowledge and mastery of the digital culture
- 22 - Knowledge and mastery of the distinction between opinion and information / colloquial and cultured register
- 23 - The ability to prioritize newsworthy events and contrast information
- 24 - The ability to plan and organize both short term and long term projects
- 53 - Lingustic ability in Catalan, Spanish and English
- 54 - The ability to skillfully manage the literature, terminology and linguistic structures of the English language related to the field of communication.
Learning outcomes of the subject
Learn about the major events that have shaped and help understand the present
Understand and analyze the main socio-economic features of modern societies
Develop the ability to critically analyze reality
Syllabus
BLOCK I: THE BIRTH AND HEGEMONY OF LIBERAL EUROPE
1. The Ancien Régime and the contrasts of early modernity.
2. The foundations of liberal thought.
3. The first cycle of revolutions in the Anglo-Saxon world.
4. The French Revolution and Napoleonic Europe.
5. Romanticism.
6. The Industrial Revolution and the consolidation of capitalism.
7. Empires and nation states in 19th century Europe.
8. Colonialism and globalisation.
BLOCK 2: THE CRISIS OF MODERNITY
9. The Rise of Socialism and the Labour Movement.
10. The crisis of modernism and the artistic avant-garde.
11. The First World War, the Fascist Revolution and the Second World War.
12. The communist revolution and the development of the Soviet world.
BLOCK III: SHAPING THE WORLD TODAY
13. The European Union.
14. American Hegemony.
15. China and the Rise of the Asian Dragons.
16. The Islamic World: Pan-Arabism, Iran and Turkey.
17. The renewal of Catholicism in the 20th century.
18. The Feminist Revolution and the Ecological Transition.
Teaching and learning activities
In person
| TRAINING ACTIVITY | ECTS CREDITS |
| Coaching. Monitoring how students learn the content of the subject, either individually or in groups. In the coaching sessions, mistakes will be corrected, queries answered, and exercises and activities to achieve the established objectives will be suggested. | 0.2 |
| Focused Praxis. Handing in occasional exercises to learn theory through practice. | 1.4 |
| Lectures. In lectures, lecturers/professors not only transmit content or knowledge, but also, and above all else, attitudes, motivation, skills and values, etc. They also ensure that participants can express their opinions and arguments to the other students. | 3.6 |
| Peer learning. The aim of this activity is to ensure that students gain the ability to analyse and be critical. One way of achieving this is by correcting their peers' exercises and results, etc. Each student will be evaluated twice: as both a recipient and a transmitter of critical knowledge. | 0,8 |
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
The evaluation of the subject will have three axes:
- The partial exams of contents [30% + 30%].
- The production of a podcast on optional topics in contemporary history [15%].
- The elaboration of a didactic video on an optional topic of contemporary history [15%].
- Participation in the development of the course: attendance, participation, reflection diary, work [10%].
Bibliography and resources
Recomended bibliography
Arostegui, J. y Saborido, J., El mundo contemporáneo, historia y problemas, Barcelona, Crítica, 2001.
Artola, Miguel y Pérez Ledesma, Manuel, Contemporánea. La historia desde 1776, Madrid, Alianza Editorial.
Briggs, Asa, Historia contemporánea de Europa, 1789-1989, Barcelona. Crítica, 2000.
Brower, D.R., Historia del mundo contemporáneo, 1900-2001. Madrid, Pearson, Educación, 2002.
Fontana, J. Por el bien del imperio, Pasado y presente, Barcelona, 2011.
Fuentes, J. F., La Parra, López, E., Historia universal del siglo XX. De la Primera Guerra Mundial al ataque de las Torres Gemelas. Madrid, Síntesis, 2001.
Kinder, Hermann, Atlas histórico mundial, Madrid, Istmo, 1999-2000.
Martínez Carreras, José U., Introducción a la Historia Contemporánea, Madrid, Istmo, 1996-1999.
Palmer, R., y Colton, P, Historia contemporánea, Madrid Akal D.L.1981.
Paredes Alonso, Francisco Javier, Historia universal contemporánea, Ariel, Barcelona, 1999.
Procacci, Giulano, Historia General del siglo XX, Crítica, Barcelona, 2001
V.V.A.A, Historia Universal, vols. IX-XIII, EUNSA, Pamplona, 1990.
Additional Bibliography
Avilés Farré, Juan, Historia política y social moderna y contemporánea, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, 2001
Baldó Lacomba, Marc, La revolución industrial, Síntesis, Madrid, 1993.
Carr, Edward Hallett, La revolución rusa: de Lenin a Stalin, 1917-1929, Alianza editorial, Madrid, 1988
Castells Oliván, Irene, La Revolución Francesa (1789-1799), Síntesis, Madrid, 1997.
Deane, Phyllis, La primera revolución industrial, Península, Barcelona, 1998.
Egido Leon, Angeles, La historia contemporánea en la práctica (Textos escritos y orales, mapas, imágenes y gráficos comentados), Centro de Estudios Ramon Areces, Madrid, 1996.
González Pacheco, Antonio, La Revolución Francesa (1789-1799), Ariel, Barcelona, 1998.
Hobsbawm, E.: La era de la revolución, 1789-1848, Barcelona, Labor, 1991/2003.
Hobsbawm, E.: Historia del siglo XX, Barcelona, Crítica, 2010.
Kemp, Tom, La revolución industrial en la Europa del siglo XIX, Editorial Fontanella, Barcelona, 1979.
Lario González, Ángeles (coord.): Historia contemporánea universal: del surgimiento del Estado
Contemporáneo a la Primera Guerra Mundial, Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 2010.
Martínez Roda, F. (dir.): Historia del mundo contemporáneo de la revolución a la globalización,
Valencia, Tirant lo Blanch, 2010
Sirugo, Francesco, La segunda revolución industrial, Oikos-Tau, Barcelona, 1989.