Course directory

AHIS 22A00 - History of Contemporary Worlds, XX-XXI centuries

AHIS 22A00 · Spring semester 2025-2026

Language of tuition
English
Course type
Cours magistral
Number of hours
48
Credits
6

Information

Description

This second-year course is designed to cover key events and developments of the last century up until today in ways that map out the increasingly connected modern and contemporary worlds. It charts the rise of global alliances and institutions of governance that emerged out of the two world wars, the mid-20th century peak of modernization theory, urbanization and high modernist urban planning. It covers various aspects of the protracted period of decolonization across the world and its intersections with the cold war, the rise of humanitarian systems and human rights discourses, and the “war on terror”. It also covers periods of globalization and economic crisis and explores their effects on the evolving political landscapes of both the “free world” and under authoritarian regimes.

On other levels, this course aims to capture everyday life and popular experience through social and cultural trends and movements, like the civil rights and feminist movements and counterculture. Everyday technology is threaded through each week’s lecture, considering the ways in which it has shaped our world, from broadcast radio and the 24-hour cable TV news cycle to social media. Finally, the course puts special emphasis on ecological issues, the so-called green revolution and climate crisis. Geographically, we will aim to strike a balance between Western events (in Europe and the United States) and developments elsewhere, Asia in particular.

Teaching format

At the end of the course, the student is expected to : 1°) Possess a firm grasp of key events and developments over the 20th and 21st centuries 2°) Be familiar with debates among historians about the formation and nature of the modern world 3°) Be able to critically assess historical sources These objectives will be met through lectures, seminar discussion and presentations, and engaging with required primary and secondary source readings.

Assessment

To validate the course, the student is expected to pass the following assignments:

1°) Continuous assessment (conférences de méthode) : 2/3 of the final grade

2°) Final Exam : 1/3 of the final grade

Refer to your conférences de méthode syllabus for details on the assignments.

Readings

Main readings 1

  1. Annette Becker, “The Great War: World war, total war,” International Review of the Red Cross 97/900 (2015)

Further readings 6

  1. Arundhati Roy, The Cost of Living. Flamingo, 1999.

  2. Franz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, 1961.

  3. Ian Kershaw, “Hitler and the Uniqueness of Nazism,” Journal of Contemporary History 39/2 (2004).

  4. Mao Zedong, On New Democracy

  5. Mark Mazower, Governing the World: the history of an idea. Penguin, 2013.

  6. Rachel Carson, Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin, 1962.

Teaching units

Unit no.Unit type Teaching unitsTeachers Number of hoursCredits
53573Cours magistral History of the Contemporary Worlds, XX-XXI century Pierre FULLER246
53574Conférence History of the Contemporary Worlds, XX-XXI century Yuqing QIU240
53575Conférence History of the Contemporary Worlds, XX-XXI century Yuqing QIU240
53576Conférence History of the Contemporary Worlds, XX-XXI century Zuzana LOUBET DEL BAYLE240
53577Conférence History of the Contemporary Worlds, XX-XXI century Zuzana LOUBET DEL BAYLE240
53578Conférence History of the Contemporary Worlds, XX-XXI century Lukas TSIPTSIOS240
53579Conférence History of the Contemporary Worlds, XX-XXI century Lukas TSIPTSIOS240
53768Teaching assistant History of the Contemporary Worlds, XX-XXI century —160
54411Conférence History of the Contemporary Worlds, XX-XXI century Yuqing QIU240
60920Conférence History of Contemporary Worlds, XX-XXI centuries —240

Teachers

  • Pierre FULLER
  • Yuqing QIU
  • Zuzana LOUBET DEL BAYLE
  • Lukas TSIPTSIOS

In the curricula

Contacts and resources

Contact
BENOIT Aurélie