HKU SPACE Community College
Associate Degree Programmes 2024-25
Course Document
Course Title: Histories, Societies and Identities: Connecting the Past to the Present
Course Code: C C A H 4 0 1 4
QF Level: 4
Lecture Contact Hours: 36 Hours
Non- Lecture Contact Hours: 3 Hours
Examinations Hours: 0 Hour
Aims and Objective
This course helps students engage in analysing both global and local current issues by connecting them to the past, as
well-known American novelist, William Faulkner, once commented, ‘The past is not dead. The past is not even past.’
In fact, we are all living in the shadow of the past. Adopting an inter-disciplinary approach and using a wide range of
material, including text, cartoons, various artworks, this course will pay special attention to some major issues, for
example, the global positioning of the USA and the USSR, the situations in Europe, the legacy of colonialism and the
art of demonstrations. This course aims to let students make sense of the world in the 21st century.
Intended Learning Outcomes of the Course
On completion of the course, students should be able to
ILO1. analyse the global political situations and changes in the current multi-polar world system;
ILO2. analyse historical events and contemporary politics;
ILO3. examine how political, economic and social developments have constructed and defined identities;
ILO4. utilise a wide range of resources (such as newspaper articles, texts, pictures, photos, cartoons, various
art forms) to analyse issues and form their own conclusions;
ILO5. interpret the connection of the past and present through first-hand observations, and evaluate the inter-
connection between ‘self’ and the world.
Syllabus
Issue #1: The ‘New Cold War’ and the ‘Cold War’
a) To define and discuss the meaning of the ‘New Cold War’ and its connection with the concept of the ‘Cold
War’
b) To discuss the concepts of ‘bipolar world order’ and ‘multi-world order’ systems
c) To evaluate the efforts of both the USA and the USSR on keeping peace
Issue #2: The Transforming Europe: A Continent, A Democracy, Different Identities
a) To discuss the significance of the European Union – its strength, its weakness and the construction of a
common identity for Europeans
b) To trace to process of cooperation and integration among European states
c) To examine impact of European integration on the lives of people
d) Brexit and the rise of right wing politics in Europe
Issue #3: In the Shadow of Decolonisation
a) Case studies: The situations of former colonies after independence (e.g., the Democratic Republic of Congo
/ Algeria etc.)
b) Compare and contrast the decolonisation process of Britain, France and Belgium
c) To evaluate whether the notion that the colonial powers would plant time-bombs during the process of
decolonisation was a myth or not
d) The issue of post-colonial identity
Issue #4: Demonstration as the Progress of the Human Race
a) Case studies: Comparing the nature and characteristics of demonstrations
b) How demonstrators use various art forms to spread their beliefs
c) Introducing the concepts of modernity and postmodernism, baby boom, environmentalism, gender and
feminism etc
Assessment
Description Weighting
Group Discussion 10%
Group Project 40%
Individual Essay 35%
Logbook 15%
Pre-requisite(s)
Nil
Required and Recommended Reading
There is no standard ‘textbook’ for this course. Suggested readings are listed below. Readings will also be
distributed to students in class.
Recommended Reading:
The ‘New Cold War’ and the ‘Cold War’
Berridge, Geoff, International Politics: States, Power and Conflict since 1945, (New York: Prentice Hall, 1997)
Gaddis, John, The Cold War, (London: Allen Lane, 2006)
Herpen, Marcel van, Putin's Propaganda Machine: Soft Power and Russian Foreign Policy, (Lanham: Rowman &
Littlefield, 2016)
Issacs, Jeremy and Downing, Taylor, Cold War: An Illustrated History, 1945-1991, (Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown,
c1998)
Liber, Robert, The American Era: Power and Strategy for the 21st Century, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2005)
Rider, Toby, Cold war Games: Propaganda, the Olympics, and U.S. Foreign Policy, (Urbana: University of Illinois
Press, 2016)
The Transforming Europe: A Continent, A Democracy, Different Identities
Bruter, Michael, Citizens of Europe?: the Emergence of a Mass European Identity, (New York : Palgrave Macmillan,
2005)
Holmes, John, The United States and Europe after the Cold War: A New Alliance? (Columbia, S.C.: University of
South Carolina Press, 1997)
Morris, Ian, Why the West Rules - for Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal about the Future,
(London : Profile Books Ltd, 2011)
Schmidt, Vivien, Democracy in Europe: the EU and national polities, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)
Talani, Leila, (ed.), Globalisation, Migration, and the Future of Europe: Insiders and Outsiders, (New York :
Routledge, 2012)
Wegs, Robert, Europe since 1945: A Concise History, (New York : St. Martin's Press, c1996)
Winks, Robin, and Talbott, John, Europe, 1945 to the Present, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005)
Wood, David, and Yeşilada, Birol, The emerging European Union, (New York: Longman, 2002)
In the Shadow of Decolonisation
Carroll, John, A Concise History of Hong Kong, (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007)
Chafer, Tony, The End of Empire in French West Africa: France's Successful Decolonization?, (Oxford : Berg, 2002)
Ferguson, Niall, Civilization: the West and the Rest, (New York : Penguin Books, 2011)
Ferguson, Niall, Empire: How Britain made the Modern World, (London : Allen Lane, 2003)
Halperin, Sandra, and Palan, Ronen, (ed.), Legacies of Empire: Imperial Roots of the Contemporary Global Order,
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015)
Tsang, Steve, A Modern History of Hong Kong, (London; New York: I.B. Tauris, 2004)
Demonstration as the Progress of the Human Race
Bhambra, Gurminder, and Demir, Ipek, (ed.), 1968 in Retrospect: History, Theory, Alterity, (Basingstoke; New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2009)
Coate, Roger, and Thiel, Markus, (ed.), Identity Politics in the Age of Globalization, (Boulder, Colo.: First Forum
Press, 2010)
Fink, Carole, Gassert, Philipp, and Junker, Detlef (ed.), 1968: The World Transformed, (Washington, D.C.: German
Historical Institute; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998)
Hambourg, Serge, Protest in Paris 1968, (Hanover, N.H. : Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College ; Hanover :
Distributed by University Press of New England, 2006)
Nester, William, Globalization, Wealth, and Power in the Twenty-first Century, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
2010)
30.08.2024
