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Colonialism and the Representation of Society and State

Vak
2020-2021

Admission requirements

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

Description

How to represent the past and which past we (can) represent are questions that are central to the historian’s craft. One of the issues that renders these questions so complicated is the fact that the historical record has been shaped by inequitable relations of power, such that the voices of those on the margins are often only faintly audible in the archive. This course will grapple with the question of representation within the framework of colonialism. It will explore how historians, artists and intellectuals have portrayed both state and society within (post)colonial contexts, and how these representations have changed in the wake of decolonization.

Course objectives

General learning objectives

The student has acquired:

  • 1) The ability to analyse and evaluate literature with a view to addressing a particular historical problem;

  • 2) 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;

  • 3) 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;

  • 4) The ability to participate in current debates in the specialisation;

  • 5) (ResMA only:) The ability to participate in a discussion of the theoretical foundations of the discipline.

Learning objectives, pertaining to the specialisation

The student has acquired:

  • 6) 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 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).

  • 7) (ResMA only): Thorough knowledge and comprehension of the theoretical foundation of the discipline and of its position vis-à-vis other disciplines.

Learning objectives, pertaining to this Literature Seminar

The student:

  • 8) is familiar with different schools of thought within the literature surrounding the representation of society and state in colonial contexts.

  • 9) is able to place these different intellectual strands within the wider socio-political and cultural context of their development.

Timetable

Visit MyTimetable.

Mode of instruction

  • Seminar (compulsory attendance)
    This means that students have to attend every session of the course. If a student is not able to attend, he is required to notify the teacher beforehand. The teacher will determine if and how the missed session can be compensated by an additional assignment. If specific restrictions apply to a particular course, the teacher will notify the students at the beginning of the semester. If a student does not comply with the aforementioned requirements, he will be excluded from the seminar.

Course Load

Total course load 10 EC x 28 hours= 280 hours

  • Study of compulsory literature: 220

  • Assignment(s): 44

  • Attending tutorials: 8 x 2 = 16

Assessment method

Assessment

  • Weekly critical reviews (c.1000 words), from week 2 onwards. *measured learning objectives: 1-9

  • Class participation *measured learning objectives: 1-9

Weighing

  • Weekly critical reviews: 85%

  • Class participation: 15%

The final grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average of all assessment components.

Deadlines

Assignments and written papers should be handed in within the deadline as provided in the relevant course outline on Blackboard.

Resit

Should the overall mark be short of the minimum passing grade, a supplementary assignment will be due, after consultation with the instructor.

Exam review

How and when a review of the written paper will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the results at the latest.

Blackboard

Blackboard will be used for:

  • publication course outline

  • communication of deadlines

Reading list

The reading list will be announced through Brightspace prior to the start of the course.

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

G. Joshi MA Prof.dr. J.J.L. Gommans

Remarks

None.