History

Course summary

History is about questions. If you are good at asking questions (that don’t always have an answer) and have an enquiring mind then you will enjoy History. You will be asking questions about people and their motivations: how could the Civil Rights movement overcome systematic racism and hostility in the Southern United States? Questions about groups of people: how did people react to the army killing 15 peaceful protestors in Manchester? Questions about different countries: why did Germany go from democracy to dictatorship (and back again) in the twentieth century? Questions about leaders: was Mussolini a victim of his own propaganda? All of these topics allow you to make links across time and with other subjects, whilst at the time learning how to write so that you are able to convincingly put across your answer to the big issues in History. We will go beyond looking at the events and people of the past. You challenge your friends by disagreeing with their view of events and evidence. Perhaps most importantly you will question your own view of the past as you get involved in each of the periods we study. Trying to answer these issues will be complicated and you may not reach any final answers, but on the way you will learn to love unpicking thorny issues with other students and then arguing your ideas clearly and concisely.