Admission requirements
BSA norm and a pass for both first year Themacolleges
Description
Since Oszkár Jászi wrote The Dissolution of the Habsburg Monarchy a mere decade after “the Empire” ceased to exist, historians have grappled with an event that on the one hand seems inevitable and on the other hand highly contingent. What forces (Nationalist? Socialist? Liberal? Internal? External?) and which actors (the military? treasonous nationlist leaders? irredentist powerbrokers? the “people”?) forced the Austro-Hungarian Empire to implode/explode/or dissolve? This seminar approaches the Fall of the Habsburg Empire from it’s rise, it’s successes, it’s failures, it’s people, the Great War and the concept of “Empire” itself. Drawing on Pieter Judson’s remarkable revisionist history (The Habsburg Empire: A New History) and supplemented by a rich array of academic articles, diverse primary sources, fiction, podcasts and films, this course prioritizes contingency even though we “know” how the story ends (or at least we “think” we know!). Students will gain practical knowledge about the life, death and afterlife of the Habsburg Empire while also honing their skills as historians.
Course objectives
General learning objectives
1) carry out a common assignment
2) devise and conduct research of limited scope, including
a. searching, selecting and ordering relevant literature:
b. organising and using relatively large amounts of information:
c. an analysis of a scholarly debate:
d. placing the research within the context of a scholarly debate.
3) reflect on the primary sources on which the scholarly literature is based;
4) write a problem solving essay and give an oral presentation after the format defined in the first year Themacolleges, including
a. using a realistic schedule of work;
b. formulating a research question and subquestions;
c. formulating a well-argued conclusion;
d. giving and receiving feedback;
e. responding to instructions of the lecturer.
5) participate in discussions during class.
Learning objectives, pertaining to the specialization
6) The student has knowledge of a specialisation, more specifically:
in the specialisation General History : the place of European history from 1500 in a worldwide perspective; with a focus on the development and role of political institutions;
in the track American History: American exceptionalism; the US as a multicultural society and the consequences of that for historiography; the intellectual interaction between the US and Europe;
in the track History of European Expansion and Globalisation: the development of global networks which facilitate ann ever growing circulation of people, animals, plants, goods and ideas, and the central role of European expansion in this from around 1500;
7) Knowledge and insight in the main concepts, the research methods and techniques of the specialisation, more specifically of
in the specialisation General History: the study of primary sources and the context specificity of nationally defined histories;
in the track American History: exceptionalism; analysis of historiografical and intellectual debates;
in the track History of European Expansion and Globalisation: the combining of historiographical debates with empirical research of primary sources and/or the combining of various historiographical traditions through the use of innovative research questions.
Learning objectives, pertaining to this specific seminar
8) Develop a broad competence and understanding of the Habsburg Empire and the people within it as a diverse and lived imperial state throughout the modern period up until the First World War.
9) Develop a better understanding of the important ISMs which saturate the modern world, like: nationalism, communism, socialism, liberalism, anti-semitism, racism, feminism, secularism, militarism, extremism, colonialism and (post)colonialism.
10) The student practices designing, documenting, and conducting his/her own historical research on a relevant topic that will be based primarily on secondary literature, as well as reports (orally and in writing) on it.
11) Learn how to read a historical “document” (be it a poem, a building, a painting or a material artifact) carefully and critically, and to present a clearly-argued and well-supported interpretation of its significance in both written and oral forms. Beyond mastering a body of factual information, in other words, you should be able to say something about these facts, to ask and answer the “so what?” question.
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar (attendance required)
This means that students have to attend every session of the course. If you are not able to attend, you are 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 you do not comply with the aforementioned requirements, you will be excluded from the seminar.
Assessment method
- Class participation/attendance
Assessment
Written paper (5000-6000 words, based on historiography, excluding title page, table of contents, footnotes and bibliography)
measured learning objectives: 2-4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11Oral presentation
measured learning objectives: 1, 3-4, 8, 9, 10, 11Participation
measured learning objectives: 5, 7, 11Comment on peer’s paper
measured learning objectives: 4, 10, 11Assignment 1 (Report on historiography)
measured learning objectives: 2-4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11
Weighing
Written paper: % 60
Oral presentation: %10
Particiation: % 10
Assignment 1: % 10
Comment on peer’s paper: % 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
The written paper can be revised, when marked insufficient. Revision should be carried out within the given deadline, as published in the corresponding Brightspace course.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organised.
Reading list
- Pieter Judson, The Habsburg Empire: A New History (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2018)
Registration
Enrolment through My StudyMap is mandatory.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga.
Remarks
Please contact the teacher, s.a.cramsey@hum.leidenuniv.nl with any questions.