Tag: Empire: The Controversies of British Imperialism

Free Course: ‘Empire – the Controversies of British Imperialism’

Published on by CIGH Exeter2 Comments

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Exeter’s Centre for Imperial and Global History is once again launching its free online course, which starts this week.

The British Empire was the largest empire ever seen. It ruled over a quarter of the world’s population and paved the way for today’s global economy. But British imperialism isn’t without controversy, and it continues to cause enormous disagreement among historians today. This free online course will help you understand why.

Over six weeks, we’ll explore the British Empire through six themes – money, violence, race, religion, gender and sex, and propaganda. You’ll get to hear the stories of the fascinating individuals who contributed to both its rise and fall. Continue reading “Free Course: ‘Empire – the Controversies of British Imperialism’” →

Innovative @ExeterCIGH Course Receives Commendation from Royal Historical Society

Published on by CIGH Exeter2 Comments

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Cross-posted from University of Exeter College of Humanities Research News

An online course run by leading historians at the University of Exeter has received a commendation from the Royal Historical Society (RHS) for excellence in the field of public history.

The course, Empire: The Controversies of British Imperialism has been officially commended by the RHS as part of the Public History Prize; the first national prize for public history in the UK.

The commendation, given in the web and digital category, recognises the work being undertaken within the University’s Department of History to engage people with the past in innovative ways using a wide variety of resources to entice new audiences to history in all its forms. Continue reading “Innovative @ExeterCIGH Course Receives Commendation from Royal Historical Society” →

On Empire and Anachronism

Published on by CIGH Exeter20 Comments

anachronismRichard Toye
History Department, University of Exeter
Follow on Twitter @RichardToye

Our free online course Empire: The Controversies of Imperialism has now been running two weeks; between them, the participants have already made thousands of comments, often arguing their respective points of view quite vigorously. One persistent theme of debate is the degree to which it is possible to pass judgements on the actions of people in the past, who were operating on the basis of standards that are different from those held today. This is an important and difficult issue for historians in general, although the contentious topic of ‘Empire’ seems to throw it into particular relief. Everyone can agree that we shouldn’t reach assessments that are anachronistic; it is much harder to reach agreement on what constitutes anachronism. Continue reading “On Empire and Anachronism” →