Courses

How can we move beyond ethnocentric approaches to history focusing upon the nation? What is the significance of the movement of individuals and institutions through networks spanning places, spaces, regions and political units to processes of historical transformation? Recently, calls have been heard for historians to respond to critiques of the national and comparative paradigm by adopting what has been referred to as a “transnational” or “entangled” perspective on the past. This involves the study of the flow of ideas, people and commercial goods across the networks and institutions that linked and overlay particular political units, rather than the units themselves. This course allows students to become familiar with this new perspective. Through small group discussion it provides an opportunity to discuss the problems and possibilities of transnational history and to critically evaluate recent works advancing attempts to move “beyond the nation” from fields as diverse as the history of empire, migration, politics, and youth.