Course Details in 2026/27 Session

Module Title	LH Advanced Option: Life After Death: Culture, Politics and Memory in Post-War Europe, 1945-1973
School	History and Cultures
Department	History
Module Code	09 38750
Module Lead	Thomas Brodie
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-10 hours Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-170 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	This course explores European society, culture and politics in the aftermath of the Second World War. Taking in the eastern block in addition to the continent's western half, the option analyses how democratic and socialist regimes set about rebuilding the continent politically and economically following the devastation of the Second World War, and the cultural resources they sought to mobilize for that purpose. The course's chief focus, however, will be on the societies these governments ruled over, and the ways they sought to confer meaning to the traumas of the recent past, and to create new life in the post-war era. The contested politics of memory accordingly occupies a central position within the course- a theme which will be explored via literature, film and visual culture in addition to historical works. The course begins with analysis of the Second World War's aftermaths in 1945, proceeds with the political and cultural upheavals of the late 1960s and early 1970s, such as the revolutions of '1968', and concludes with the transformative events of the post-Cold War era. The course takes France, West Germany, Poland and the German Democratic Republic as its core case studies, but readings do occasionally range beyond these states- the course's ethos is transnational and comparative.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: analyse and explain key events and historical processes relevant to the subject under scrutiny, analyse and explain reasons for and implications of these events and processes (including analysis of primary evidence where appropriate) compare and evaluate the main scholarly views on the subject under investigation, critically evaluate the historiographical context and trends of the subject under exploration work with an appropriate degree of learner independence to explain and analyse the material under scrutiny summarise, analyse and evaluate the subject material clearly and effectively in writing, synthesise and evaluate themes across a wide range of diverse material
Assessment
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: S1 = 1 x 3,000 word essay (100%)
Other
Reading List