HIS32820 Measuring the world

Academic Year 2021/2022

Empires have long tried to define the shape of the world in order to control it. Measuring and quantification were both implicitly and explicitly tools of imperial governance. In this module, we will examine a range of imperial attempts to regulate space, time and people, and the ways that these were resisted. Taking examples from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas, we will analyse how new scientific instruments, mapping techniques, and statistical methods were used to impose new shapes, relationships and configurations on the globe. Key examples will also come from contested cases of universalisation, including the establishment of time zones and the question of the world’s highest mountain, as well as from the dubious histories of phrenology and anthropology. In taking a global approach to the histories of science, empire, environment and geography, we will examine the various ways that the globe and its inhabitants were imagined and reimagined, especially from the early modern period to the early twentieth century, and consider the ongoing consequences of these reconfigurations in our postcolonial and globalised present. This will involve looking at a wide range of historical sources, including maps, atlases, instruments and drawings, as well as the accounts of the diverse actors who attempted to map and measure, but also contest and resist, the reduction of the world to numbers on a page. Ultimately, we will reflect on the supposedly universal – and now often taken-for-granted – geographical categories that continue to shape our maps and our imaginations today.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should be able to:
- Assess how various types of scientific measurement and mapping were used as tools of control by empires, and the ways these processes were contested.
- Analyse a range of geographical and environmental categories, and critically engage with the historical contexts in which they emerged and evolved.
- Demonstrate a broader understanding of the role of measurement in key debates in the histories of science, geography, empire and environment.
- Engage with and analyse a wide variety of both primary and secondary sources.
- Plan, develop and write analytical essays to third level history standards.

Indicative Module Content:

The module will examine the following topics:

Week 1 – Introduction: Measuring the World
Week 2 – Greek and Islamic Globes
Week 3 – The ‘New’ World and the Shape of the Earth
Week 4 – Scientific Instruments and Precision
Week 5 – The World’s Highest Mountain and Mean Sea Level
Week 6 – Surveying, Cartography and Indigenous Labour
Week 7 – The Global Regulation of Time
Week 8 – The Prime Meridian and Contested Universalization
Week 9 – Anthropology, Phrenology and Racial Science
Week 10 – Imperial Demography and Statistics
Week 11 – Legacies: Metageographies in the 21st Century

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

11
Seminar (or Webinar)

22
Specified Learning Activities

95
Autonomous Student Learning

95
Total

223
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This is a small-group, seminar-based module. It is taught via a one-hour weekly lecture and a two-hour seminar. The lecture aims to provide an overview of the week's topic, familiarising students with key debates and events. The seminar is focused upon individual active and task-based learning by means of class debates, discussion and student presentations. Advanced research, writing and citation skills are developed through a combination of individual student presentations on primary sources, the write-up of this presentation and the extended 4000-word research project. Autonomous learning is advanced through student-led debate and discussion of set primary sources and student presentations each week. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Presentation: A combined 10-15 minute presentation and 1500-word written essay. Varies over the Trimester n/a Graded No

40
Continuous Assessment: Students are graded on their contributions to seminars throughout the semester. Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

20
Essay: A semester-long research project comprising an extended essay of 4000 words. Week 12 n/a Graded No

40

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback on seminar contributions will be given informally in class. Feedback on the mid-term presentation will be provided in writing either on the hard copy or via brightspace. Feedback on the end-of-semester essay will be provided in writing and opportunity to arrange a one-to-one meeting to discuss this further will also be offered.

Name Role
Dr Lachlan Fleetwood Lecturer / Co-Lecturer