War Studies

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

You will take:

Semester 1: September to December You will spend the first semester studying the programme core course.

This course will examine some of the most important developments that have transformed the nature of warfare and armed conflict, focusing mostly but not exclusively, on the western world. Each week a different historical case study will highlight one important battle, broadly defined, which will then be examined from a variety of perspectives. In this manner, students will be introduced both to evolutions in the theory and practice of war and armed conflict as well as to conceptual approaches focusing more on the political, social and cultural afterlives of battles.

Some of the key questions we aim to address in this course include:

Why do battles matter (and do they matter)? What role, if any, do they play in the wider scheme of war and armed conflict? What can they tell us about the nature of warfare/armed conflict and how it has evolved? What has their long-term impact and legacy been? Why do we remember them the way we do and why do we remember some over others? Subject to availability and approval, you may enrol on one optional course in addition to the core course.

Semester 2: January to March

In the second semester, you will take three optional courses (two, if you chose to take one in semester 1), which delve in greater detail into a particular aspect of military, strategic, or international history. See course page for options

Subject to availability and approval, one of your options may also be taken from a list of courses offered by colleagues in other subject areas such as Archaeology or Politics.

Summer: April to September

You will complete the programme by writing a 15,000 word dissertation based on your own research. This requires you to engage in original research. You will be guided by an expert supervisor in the field.