HIST11025  Survey History of the West

This course introduces students to the study of history as a discipline by undertaking a survey of the events, movements and especially ideas that shaped the contemporary western world from Graeco-Roman times to the present. Themes include; the contribution of Classical Greek and Hellenistic culture to the western tradition, the origins of Christianity, the emergence and spread of Islam and its influence on the West, the struggle between Church and State in the Middle Ages, the causes and consequences of the Reformation and Enlightenment, the Age of Revolutions, the Age of Ideology, western imperialism, the rise of Fascism, and the creation of a ‘new world order’ in the aftermath of the Second World War. The course aims to convey a broad understanding of the western tradition, and to allow students to acquire research, analytical, and communication skills that constitute the historical method.