The thing I have appreciated most about this module is the space it has given us to form our own opinions and dig deeper into more diverse material than typical chronological modules do. Spending so many weeks dissecting what transnational history and global history are and in what capacity they can serve, I think, was a great way to open up our minds to the possibilities and the range and depth of places we could go. This is fully demonstrated by everyone’s projects, which span such a vast range of topic that no one is really overlapping in material. I really enjoyed listening to everyone’s presentations this past week; it was great to hear more in depth about what everyone has been doing, and to see how their projects have developed since our first initial meeting where we quickly covered everybody’s topics.
What I think this module has done best more than anything, is expose us to areas that are not within the bounds of “mainstream” history, or history that is typically widely taught. From listening to everyone’s presentations, I realised how so much opportunity has been wasted through the teaching of “mainstream” or “typical” history. In particular, Charmaine and Timo’s presentations really struck this chord with me. They both covered topics which I either knew little-to-nothing about, or topics that I had touched upon in the past but not fully explored from a transnational perspective. In high school we briefly talked about the Cuban Missile Crisis in the context of John F. Kennedy’s presidency, and just last year I took a module at St Andrews about Cubans from an ethnomusicology perspective. However, in neither of these did I get exposure to the presence of Chinese in Cuba. I found Charmaine’s very comprehensive overview of how the Chinese fit into Cuban history fascinating, especially her explanation of how Chinese-Cubans occupy spaces in both Cuban and Chinese society, and how they see themselves as both and not one over the other.
I really enjoyed Timo’s presentation because it opened my mind to a history that I knew very little about. I found it extremely informative and comprehensive, with his breakdown of regional identities and ethnic differences making me think deeper about my own project concerning whaling identities, which incorporates many ethnicities, and made me wonder if there was a place for regionalism within my own work.
The range of presentations just demonstrates how multi-faceted the transnational and global approaches are to history, and how we should not limit ourselves by confining our thinking to pre-transnational frameworks. By utilising global and transnational frameworks, we are able to create a more comprehensive and deeper understanding regarding areas that have often been overlooked by more popular scholarship. Everyone has done amazing research on their respective topics, and it has been wonderful to see that research culminate in these presentations. I am sure that everyone’s essays will only continue to demonstrate our understandings, and I applaud everyone for their hard work thus far!