GREAT, we did not only have a discussion around migration and the transnational making of post 1945 Germany (Rita Chin) and the USA (Ian Tyrrell) but you also started thinking ahead about your projects. Most of you have already penned
Seeing & Reviewing Week 2
Last week, based on AHR conversation, Clavin, and Rüger’s OXO we had a good discussion (mainly in small groups) around a number of topics – with a number of looses ends. These included: -the relation between nation and trans -the
Writing transnational Europe – adding tomatoes
Back to routines and habits – have you started trying any new routines or braking with old habits? Have you started writing for an hour pre-breakfast for a week? Have you been jogging on the beach following reading Tyrrell and
Finding a transnational scope on French sailor clothes?!
For the past two weeks, I’ve been struggling to define what I could feasibly write about during the coming weeks. From the practical viewpoint of a historian, national topics are appealing; one’s research material is physically closer, in one’s language, culturally familiar,
A transnational ‘City upon a hill’
NB: I haven’t read either reading particularly carefully as of yet, so I may disclaim the opinions expressed here in class tomorrow. When I was in high school I did an American history course (which might have been odd given
Unconventional Approaches to Understanding American History
Ian Tyrrell’s Transnational Nation. United States History in Global Perspective Since 1789 is an innovative study regarding the connections and interchange between the US and the rest of the world during America’s process of development and expansion. It is easy to
Some thoughts on language use in transnational history (inspired by Chin’s introduction and readings from previous weeks.)
*Note: This is an attempt to express a thought that has been bothering me, by tomorrow I may completely disagree with everything I have just written.* I’ve had this niggling idea since last week of this issue of language in
Guest Workers in Post-war Germany
The introduction to Rita Chin’s book on guest workers in postwar-Germany focusses on the face, role and importance of guest workers in shaping the nation after the fall of the Third Reich. The wider argument highlights how the debate about
National governments as institutions in the study of transnational history
Patricia Clavin emphasizes that transnational history allows us t0 explore the history of supra-, trans-, and international institutions. She often references the League of Nations, as well as the United Nations, as heretofore unexplored nexuses for transnational history. However, it
How to Define Transnational History
What is the definition of transnational history? A simple Google search of the phrase produces a myriad of results none offering a clear definition. A result from University College London entertain that they’re a forum for transnational historical research, but
Welcome back MO3351
Thank you for a great start yesterday. We ran through the practicalities, scope and rationale of the module, we had a moment of confession time on “weaknesses”, habits (good and bad and new). Also, we ran through the assessment side
Project Problems: Structure, Sources and the Transnational Context
The current challenge I’m facing in writing my project is deciding upon a structure that keeps the transnational element at the centre. The essential purpose of my project is to uncover the transnational connections between Belfast and Glasgow through the
Project Progress and Problems
Where my project stands at the moment is one that still lacks focus and a specific argument at such. As the nature of my project has evolved from focusing on the first Documenta exhibition in 1955 to covering three (1955,
Some Clarity (finally!) with My Project
After my research frustrations, I decided to turn back to David Goldblatt’s comprehensive book about the global history of football, The Ball is Round. In his chapter on the turn of the professionalization of the game, he argues that the European game
Project problems: accounts from the angle of the Ghadarites
Ghadar has been written about from two main perspectives: firstly (and primarily), building it into the story of Indian nationalism; secondly, fitting it into the history of revolutionary movements of the early twentieth century. It is the challenge of how