Rethinking Colonialism

This option will equip second year students to research and explore the history of modern colonialism, embellishing themes laid out in Part IA Outline papers. It will consider modern colonialism from a variety of perspectives, while placing emphasis on the agency and experiences of peoples in the Global South, and their interaction with modern colonial systems. The seminars offered will be organised thematically but cover several different regions and time periods. They will equip students to conceptualise and analyse the function and impact of colonial rule at the local level, and the dynamics of co-option, resistance, and hybridity that it necessitated. Seminars will introduce students to key historiographical and methodological debates, and enable them to engage closely with primary sources, equipping students to interrogate and assess these materials. This skillset can then be extrapolated and applied to a small independent research project.