2nd Year History.

ReacherCreature

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone can give me information regarding this?

I passed 1st year and I'm thinking about keeping on History & Politics.

I love History. Absolutely. I like Politcs too, it's great but I prefer History and thinking of majoring (40/50 credits, I'm not sure).

Is there anyone who can give me advice on the subject?
Is it difficult? Is more than 30 credits too much to handle? I'm also interested in what the Research Essay part entails. I've checked the Book of Modules & courses but I'd rather some student insight on this and the course in general.

Thanks a lot, any help on the course at all would be greatly appreciated.

Amtmann

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone can give me information regarding this?

I passed 1st year and I'm thinking about keeping on History & Politics.

I love History. Absolutely. I like Politcs too, it's great but I prefer History and thinking of majoring (40/50 credits, I'm not sure).

Is there anyone who can give me advice on the subject?
Is it difficult? Is more than 30 credits too much to handle? I'm also interested in what the Research Essay part entails. I've checked the Book of Modules & courses but I'd rather some student insight on this and the course in general.

Thanks a lot, any help on the course at all would be greatly appreciated.

If you love it, then don't be afraid to do a Single. If you love a subject then a Major can be a a bit of a distraction.

More than 30 credits isn't too much to handle; but you must make a plan for yourself and set deadlines yourself. RE the Research Project, try to get it out of the way by January for instance so that you're free to concentrate on the module essays after Christmas. In addition, you can do the research project on ANYTHING historical. I did it on the evolution of conservative attitudes to foreign policy in the US for instance. I sent an email to the lecturer who I thought I would like to supervise it over the summer and he recommended a few books, articles etc to get me started. So I read those casually over the summer and I was in a position to hit the ground running when college started back.

The other advantage of a Single (or a Major) is that you have much more choice when it comes to choosing modules. If you do a Joint, timetable clashes with your other subject tend to kill a lot of your options.

The core course in second year - Ireland, Europe and the Wider World - is EXCELLENT.

There's another mandatory course too (unless this has been changed in recent years) called Information Revolutions. This course is not so good. But if you have to do it, then get yourself this little book even if it's not on the course reading list (it really should be; I might contact *someone* and recommend that he make it a core textbook) and you'll sail through it. The price is a little steep, but it will be worth it. Trust me.

The modules are all very good. Are you dead set on modern history? If yes, then you'll know to do modules taught by David Ryan, Geoff Roberts and Detmar Klein. But if you're not, and if you like all types of history, then choose a few modules across a range of eras (e.g. early modern, modern, Irish, etc.). This will give you a greater feel for what History as a whole is about, and you can always specialise more in third year if you want to.

Lastly I would say that you can do a Major in second year to see what it's like and then change to a Single for third year if you want to. The more time you give to one subject, the more you get to know and enjoy it, and the higher your chances of securing a First - and consequently a postgraduate scholarship - will be. If you've any further questions, ask me.

ReacherCreature

Thanks a lot Furet.

If you love it, then don't be afraid to do a Single. If you love a subject then a Major can be a a bit of a distraction.

I'm sorry but this is a little confusing. How's a major distracting if I'm not afraid to do a Single?

More than 30 credits isn't too much to handle; but you must make a plan for yourself and set deadlines yourself.

Definately.

In addition, you can do the research project on ANYTHING historical. I did it on the evolution of conservative attitudes to foreign policy in the US for instance

Wow that's quite out-of-the-way! That's useful if I can do it on anything

I sent an email to the lecturer who I thought I would like to supervise it over the summer

Can you just email any lecturer?

The core course in second year - Ireland, Europe and the Wider World - is EXCELLENT. There's another mandatory course too (unless this has been changed in recent years) called Information Revolutions.

I was talking to a couple of people about these. Ireland, Europe and the Wider World was considered a great course, Information Revolutions is still there...nobody I talked to liked it whatsoever.

But if you have to do it, then get yourself this little book even if it's not on the course reading list (it really should be; I might contact *someone* and recommend that he make it a core textbook) and you'll sail through it. The price is a little steep, but it will be worth it. Trust me.

Thanks for that. From what I heard about the course, the product's description fits -
Product Description
'This is a comprehensive introduction to books and print culture which examines the move from the spoken word to written texts, the book as commodity, the power and profile of readers, and the future of the book in an electronic age.'

The modules are all very good. Are you dead set on modern history?

Very set on Modern History.

Is there any module you'd recommend to avoid? Based on your own personal opinion.

Amtmann

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Thanks a lot Furet.



I'm sorry but this is a little confusing. How's a major distracting if I'm not afraid to do a Single?

Just that if you're in for a penny, you might as well be in for a pound. A Major is 40/20, a Single 50/10. If you do a Major, those 20 credits to your other subject might frustrate you in terms of timetable clashes; and if you are really loving your majority subject, you might wish you had concentrated on it even more, i.e., done a Single. But again, it's up to you: Politics and Modern History are quite complimentary I suppose.

Wow that's quite out-of-the-way!

This is what I mean about the trend towards expertise and specialisation (mentioned in another currently active thread) that is implicit in Arts. People have a very secondary school notion of the subjects. I didn't pursue that area - but it would lead you into such fields as political science and philosophy, intellectual history, political theory and International Relations IF you wanted to specialise in it at a postgraduate level. So you go into First Arts as a 'History' student, with the potential to come out as something else entirely. Such is Arts...Anyway, I digress.

That's useful if I can do it on anything

It is. The only caveat is that there needs to be a lecturer here who's willing to supervise it. In reality, that won't be a problem.

Can you just email any lecturer?

Any History lecturer, yes, absolutely. Just introduce yourself, tell him/her what your research idea is, and ask if s/he would be willing to supervise it. For the Research Project it's your responsibility to choose your own topic and supervisor. It's great practice for the dissertation in Third Year (when you have to do another Research Project AS WELL AS the dissertation).

I was talking to a couple of people about these. Ireland, Europe and the Wider World was considered a great course, Information Revolutions is still there...nobody I talked to liked it whatsoever.


Thanks for that. From what I heard about the course, the product's description fits -
Product Description
'This is a comprehensive introduction to books and print culture which examines the move from the spoken word to written texts, the book as commodity, the power and profile of readers, and the future of the book in an electronic age.'

Second Year is when you get introduced to David Edwards, Hiram Morgan and Jason Harris - all of whom deal with aspects of Irish and continental history circa 1400-1750 (i.e. most of the early modern period). The core deals with the Black Death, Reformation, Discovery, Italian Wars, Plantations, Thirty Years War, French Revolution, Industrial Revolution, Enlightenment, etc. In other words, there's something for everyone.

Information Revolutions is about just that - the transition from orality to literacy. It's actually a fascinating topic, one which the course doesn't really do a lot of justice to. Just get that book! It's actually a very nice read.

ReacherCreature

Just that if you're in for a penny, you might as well be in for a pound. A Major is 40/20, a Single 50/10. If you do a Major, those 20 credits to your other subject might frustrate you in terms of timetable clashes; and if you are really loving your majority subject, you might wish you had concentrated on it even more, i.e., done a Single. But again, it's up to you: Politics and Modern History are quite complimentary I suppose.

Alright, I understand. I'm really thinking of going for the Major but I'm gonna keep researching the modules and see what I'll do.

It is. The only caveat is that there needs to be a lecturer here who's willing to supervise it. In reality, that won't be a problem.
Any History lecturer, yes, absolutely. Just introduce yourself, tell him/her what your research idea is, and ask if s/he would be willing to supervise it. For the Research Project it's your responsibility to choose your own topic and supervisor. It's great practice for the dissertation in Third Year (when you have to do another Research Project AS WELL AS the dissertation).

Brilliant. Thank you.

Second Year is when you get introduced to David Edwards, Hiram Morgan and Jason Harris - all of whom deal with aspects of Irish and continental history circa 1400-1750 (i.e. most of the early modern period). The core deals with the Black Death, Reformation, Discovery, Italian Wars, Plantations, Thirty Years War, French Revolution, Industrial Revolution, Enlightenment, etc. In other words, there's something for everyone.

Terrific. I've looked over these in the past and they look interesting.

Brilliant post, thank you!