Postgraduate Course: The School of Statecraft: History, Leadership, and Policymaking (online) (PGHC11525)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | John Robert Seeley told his students that history is 'the school of statesmanship'. This course will examine the possibilities and limitations of employing history as a toolkit to develop, and reflect on, practical skills for the conduct of statecraft. It will use an interdisciplinary approach and draw upon a large and diverse body of writings composed from antiquity to the present. |
| Course description |
This course uses history as a lens to examine the conduct of leadership and statecraft. John Robert Seeley told his students that history is 'the school of statesmanship'. R.G. Collingwood wrote that historical insight enables us to see 'the tiger in the grass'. And Thucydides intended his history to be a possession 'for all time'. Reflecting seriously upon historical examples offers many profound insights into the dilemmas involved in political decision-making. Students will range widely, examining the impressive possibilities and acute limitations of 'the lessons of history'; explore a set of important case studies of modern statecraft (principally in the United States and Great Britain); and ponder the practical skills involved in successful leadership.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate competence in core skills in the study of History: essay-writing, independent reading, and group discussion in various online forms.
- show detailed knowledge of themes related to history and statecraft.
- plan and execute a substantial written analysis of concepts related to the interaction between history and statecraft.
- evaluate and apply recent critical debates in the study of statecraft.
- demonstrate the ability to reflect critically on a variety of critical and methodological approaches to the way in which statecraft is conceptualised and its linkages to history are discussed.
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Reading List
1. Thucydides, Peloponnesian War.
2. N. Machiavelli, The Prince.
3. R. Crowcroft, 'The tiger in the grass: the case for applied history', History Today (2020).
4. M. Leffler, A Preponderance of Power: National Security, The Truman Administration and the Cold War (1993).
5. R. Bowie and R. Immerman, Waging Peace: How Eisenhower Shaped an Enduring Cold War Strategy (1998).
6. R. Crowcroft, The End is Nigh: British Politics, Power, and the Road to the Second World War (2019).
7. D. Acheson, Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department (1969).
8. P. Bobbitt, The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History (2002).
9. W. Murray (ed.), Successful Strategies (2014).
10. John Bew, Realpolitik: A History (2016). |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Skills in research and analysis
Oral communication skills, through live seminar participation
Written communication skills, through the writing of a 4,000-word essay and weekly discussion forum posts |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Robert Crowcroft
Tel: (0131 6)50 3764
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Lindsay Scott
Tel: (0131 6)50 9948
Email: |
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