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History & Politics Key Stage 4/GCSE |
There are many reasons for studying History. Here are some of the most practical:
It will give you the background knowledge you need to understand the modern world you will soon be entering as a responsible citizen, elector and hopefully critic.
It will give you the chance to develop valuable skills which you will need in many life situations, for example:
• reading complex material and extracting essential information
• constructing a clear and logical account of a complex problem
• detecting bias, spotting the weak points in an argument (lawyers were often good historians at school).
History is an umbrella discipline through which you encounter many other disciplines: economics, geography, ethics, political philosophy and psychology, art history. That is why historians always do so well in General Knowledge quizzes!
The study of History can enrich in other ways: by fostering empathy, kindling the imagination, encouraging you to make value judgments and giving perhaps more scope for debate than any other school subject. It is intellectually rewarding but it is also exciting and that is not to be despised as a reason for continuing with it.
COURSE CONTENT
The course focuses on international affairs from the end of the Great War in 1919 to the collapse of the Soviet Empire in the 1990s so it could not be more up to date. International Affairs sounds rather dry but nothing could be further from the truth. You will look in depth at the impact of towering individuals such as Hitler, Stalin and Roosevelt; you will encounter the dynamic ideas which have moulded our tumultuous century for good or ill: communism, democracy, fascism, nationalism and anti-semitism; you will grapple with economic concepts and social despair in the terrible slump of 1929. Part of the course focuses on Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century, looking at dramatic events such as the struggle to gain the vote for women and the winning of hearts and minds as the country entered the Great War. All the time, as you pass judgment on yesterday's world, you can learn from the frustrated hopes and triumphs of your grandparents and great grandparents and gain valuable insight into our contemporary world. It is an exciting course and no one could fail to find it stimulating.
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