One-year programme in Contemporary History

The programme consists of four courses, each of 15 credits:

• The century of Europe (the period from the French Revolution to the First World War)
• World wars and extremism (1914-1945)
• Cold War, development and underdevelopment (ca. 1945-1980s)
• Globalisation and new conflicts (1970s to today)

It is possible for those interested to choose only one (or some) of the four topical areas/periods which the programme consists of.

The one-year programme as a whole will however provide the students with a much better basis for specialisation and for seeing exciting connections over longer time span. The deadlocked conflict in the Middle East (The Israel/Palestine conflict) must for instance be analysed based on structural geopolitical changes during the First World War. Another example is the issue of “globalisation” which characterises much of the current political debate. There came new impulses in the 1980s and 1990s (e.g. the central role of the finance capital, and the fall of the Soviet Union), but a famous analysis of globalisation was done already by Marx and Engels in the middle of 19th century. An historical perspective on this phenomenon should also be stretched back to the 15th century.

As the educational plan shows, the programme is organised in four topical areas/periods. The curriculum in the one-year programme will therefore be the sum of what is listed under each of the four courses. In addition there will be a method curriculum. The issues dealt with here will illustrated by integrating theoretic/methodical reasoning in the teaching during the whole academic year. This curriculum is also compulsory for all course students, regardless of the course taken.

The total volume of the common compulsory curriculum is of app. 3275 pages. In addition there is specialisation literature which will be used in connection with writing of the four home assignments during the academic year.

Curriculum: Theory and method (Compendium = C)

Knutsen, Paul: Analytisk narrasjon. En innføring i historiefagets vitenskapsfilosofi (2002). The whole book (241 pp.) is curriculum, but ch. 4, 6 and 7 are cursory.

Knutsen, Paul: Eklektisisme og analytisk narrasjon. Some notes on the distinctive character of the history subject (4 pp.), printed in a compendium for the one-year programme.

Sejersted, Francis: Historiefagets fortellinger, Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift nr. 4/1995 (12 pp.) (C)

Sejersted, Francis:Litt av en historie. Om forholdet mellom humanister og samfunnsvitere (12 pp.) (C)

Bull, Edv.: Fra bøndenes og husmennenes samfunn til den organiserte kapitalisme (17 pp.), (C)

Seip, Jens Arup: Fra embedsmannsstat til ettpartistat (36 pp.), (C)

322 pages in total.

The history subject is a typical reading subject: The students must get a thorough overview of the compulsory literature and the recommended additional literature. The lectures (normally one double hour four days per week) are important summarising elements in the programme. Here, there will not only be review of the curriculum, but the material will also be discussed. An important point is to introduce the students to the research world, preferably based on the lecturers own research. The main issues discussed in the lectures will be included as part of what is traditionally called curriculum.

Practice in literature search and independent written presentations are central in the programme. Based on experience, the students will profit a lot from this working method. During the programme, the students will write four home assignments on topics approved by the course teachers, with supervision.

The examination method depends on the students take the whole programme or only individual courses.

A. For students in the one-year programme in Contemporary History, the examination consists of a written home assignment of two weeks (in May) and a day examination of 8 hours towards the end of the spring semester. In addition, there will be an oral examination based on the home assignment. The assignment incl. the oral examination and the day examination each count 50 % of the total grade in the programme.

B. For other students taking the courses, the individual assignment is only a work requirement that has to be approved in order to sit for the final examination. These students will be given a grade which is decided after a written examination of 8 hours. The written day examination is arranged twice during the academic year (December and May/June).

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