Handbook

Today, news headlines are dominated by the rise of populist leaders like Donald Trump, by stories of ethnic and racial tensions, political violence, war and conflict. The post-cold war period has witnessed the concentration of global wealth into fewer and fewer hands; Asia’s return to the centre of world power; the rise of individualism and hyper-consumption; a re-inscription of borders (most recently typified by Brexit and refugee crises); and we face unprecedented environmental crisis, fuelled by global capital and, which are both unaccountable to national electoral cycles. How can history help explain such phenomena? 

In History of the Present, you will explore how colonialism and decolonization, modernity and tradition, communism, fascism and liberalism, the rise of liberation movements, the intensification of global exchanges, and environmental developments in the twentieth century profoundly shaped the present. We will focus on a ‘long twentieth century’ timeframe, starting with the Great War and ending with yesterday, to explore historical concepts such as continuity and change, significance and controversy. 

Working with historians who specialise on the twentieth century, you will learn the skills of historical investigation and inquiry, to come to an understanding of how the last century explains, problematises and deepens our understanding of the present.