Nations and Nationalism

This course proposes to introduce students to the phenomena of nations and nationalism. It takes a global perspective from the long nineteenth century to the twenty-first to attempt to understand why nations and nationalism have remained such attractive analytical objects for historians, as well as why they have rendered so differently in theory and practice across time and space. Drawing on a wide range of global case studies, it is intended to prepare students to write a 5000-word essay using a mixture of theory and primary sources, and will introduce frameworks, methodologies and debates which might inform their approach to a research topic. Individual lecturers will be expected to touch on some theories and methodologies pertinent to their subject area of enquiry so that theory and practice are in dialogue throughout the course.