The Iberian World: Portugal and Spain in Global History, c.1400-1900

Code

INTS3027

School

School of International Studies

Level

3

Credits

20

Semesters

Spring China

Summary

The Iberian world extended from Flanders, Sicily and Sardinia to Manila and Macao, comprehending the Portuguese colonies in Asia, Persian Gulf, East Africa, Central and West Africa and South America, as well as the Spanish colonies in South, Central and North America, including the Caribbean islands. The Iberian countries created a significant historical and geographical inter-continental complex that reached its peak during the period of unification of the crowns (1580-1640). This module covers the history of this Iberian expansion and its multifaceted impact and legacies in Global History, from the consolidation of the Portuguese and Spanish kingdoms in the fifteenth century through the nineteenth-century process of independence in the Americas and unexpected contemporary legacies in the Atlantic and in Asia. It looks at political, cultural, religious and economic developments in this period from a variety of angles, encouraging students to engage with different primary sources and historiographical approaches. The module focuses in particular on the tensions between so-called peripheries and metropolis, on the active participation of various imperial peripheries to the processes of empire-building and early globalisation, on the slave trade and Iberian abolitionism, on the development of systematic self-criticism and a modern framework for international law, and on ways in which the global history of Iberian empires contributed to cosmopolitanism, scientific exchange, Enlightenment thought, and constitutionalism.

Please note this module is assessed at the end of Spring semester. First sit/ Resit exams are scheduled normally in the summer and can take the same form as the missing/ failed component of the assessment (exam, essay etc.) or other form, as decided by the School.

Target Students

This module targets Level 3 undergraduate students with an interest in the history of the Spanish and Portuguese empires in Europe, the Atlantic world, and Asia. It is an optional module for students on the BA Honours in International Studies and Language, and BA Honours International Studies. It will be particularly attractive for students studying Spanish. Exchange students with an interest in European and Global History can also choose this module.

Classes

• One 2-hour seminar each week for 10 weeks
• One 1-hour lecture each week for 11 weeks

Assessment

• 50% Group presentations: weekly seminar presentations
• 50% Examination (2-hour): two-hour exam

Assessed by end of spring semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

A. Knowledge and understanding:
• The major events and processes in the Iberian kingdoms’ socio-political development and in their colonial societies;
• Differing historical interpretations and historiographical debates about Iberian contributions to the process of early globalisation and to intellectual movements such as the Enlightenment.
A1. Explain and interpret events concerning both the political and economic history of the Iberian kingdoms and their empires (including colonies in the Americas and Asia, enclaves in Africa, and territorial possessions/composite monarchies in Europe).
A2. Explain and interpret the nature of people's lives across time and space in the global history of Iberian empires, including themes such as slave societies and slave agency, economic and diplomatic networks, and ideas, motives and strategies employed by missionaries at the peripheries of empires.
A3. Evaluate the complex and diverse character of conquest and subsequent organisation of colonial societies in Latin America, and the multiple forces of change and continuity with particular reference to indigenous contributions and to intellectual and legal developments encouraged by the Church and the Iberian Crowns at different times.
A4. Show an awareness of the variety of perspectives in the disciplines represented on the degree, such as those of international relations, cultural studies and history. In particular: the interdisciplinary approaches to the origins of globalisation; and Spain’s and Portugal’s processes of state-formation and their relations with peoples and regions in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia.

B. Intellectual skills:
B1. Think critically and imaginatively about the subject area, especially taking advantage of key scholarly readings and discussions sparked by them during the seminars.
B2. Identify and address key problems in the disciplines involved, with specific reference to the important consequences of different periodisations and terminologies.
B3. Read texts critically, thanks to the systematic use of primary sources in class and the interactive approaches of many lectures.
B4. Compare and contrast differing explanations of events drawing, where appropriate, on a variety of approaches within the disciplines involved in the degree. At the lecture stage, with summaries of opposing interpretations and overall nuanced narratives, and then in particular during the seminars, with discussions of different historiographical approaches and of the contributions from disciplines such as economics, anthropology and literature.
B5. Construct coherent and independent arguments, both orally (during seminar presentations) and in writing (at the exam and especially when writing the essay).

C. Professional/practical skills:
C1. Select, sift and synthesize information from a wide range of sources, which will include not only written sources but also visual and audio-visual sources in research-led lectures and seminars, taking advantage of recent archival work conducted by the Module Convenor and of international digitised databases of material sources.
C2. Identify and compare key arguments in primary and/or secondary source materials, including documents distributed and discussed during interactive lectures and secondary sources presented and used during the seminars.
C3. Plan, research and write a sustained piece of research. The essay will be an original piece of research, and students will be supported throughout their work, e.g. with discussions concerning the critical use of sources during the seminars; and with one-to-one conversations about essay questions and bibliographies during the essay surgeries.
C4. Use IT to access sources and information and to complete assignments.

D. Transferable (key) skills:
D1. Undertake a research project exploring a theme that is of particular interest, in the global history of Iberian expansion, imperialism and complex modern legacies.
D2. Manage a diverse body of information.
D3. Express oneself clearly, coherently and fluently in writing through written exam/essay and oral reports/comments.
D4. Give a clear, fluent and well-structured oral presentation on the assigned seminar reading and also on written, visual and audio-visual sources that may be distributed during lectures and seminars.
D5. Work and learn actively with others, elaborating group reports on seminar readings.
D6. Manage and take responsibility for their own learning, for instance in the context of brief presentations and discussion of a draft bibliography during the essay surgery session.
D7. Use IT for research and presentation purposes.

The module aims to enable the participants to develop:
· Professional communication through seminar group discussion and debates; and through the oral reporting of group discussion outcomes
· Digital capabilities through the development of information skills such as library databases, enhancing searches using related and “cited by” literature search tools to produce research coursework.
· Co-ordinating with others persuading others of their views through a seminar debate.

Conveners

• Dr Matteo Salonia