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| Semester | fall semester 2023 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Corey David Ross (corey.ross@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This course offers an introduction to global environmental history and the history of European imperialism through the lens of water. It focuses on how the waters of the colonial world shaped the history of empire, and how their management and exploitation were part of an increasingly global system of water knowledge. Focusing particularly on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, we will explore how water control was related to evolving power structures, cultural values, social hierarchies, and ideas about the environment. |
| Learning objectives | The lecture provides an insight into the latest debates in 19th and 20th-century Imperial and Global History. We engage in discussions regarding the empirical foundation of historical assertions, focusing on the selection of source materials, and demonstrate the methodologies employed in examining the impact of environmental and ecological factors, such as water, on historical processes. |
| Bibliography | Sunil Amrith, Unruly Waters: How Mountain Rivers and Monsoons Have Shaped Asia’s History (London: Allen Lane, 2018). Corey Ross, Ecology and Power in the Age of Empire: Europe and the Transformation of the Tropical World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017). John McNeill, Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-century World (London: Penguin, 2000). Heather J. Hoag, Developing the Rivers of East and West Africa: An Environmental History (London: Bloomsbury, 2013). Optional: Daniel J. Headrick, Power over Peoples: Technology, Environments, and Western Imperialism, 1400 to the Present (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010). Rohan D’Souza, ‘Water in British India: The Making of a “Colonial Hydrology”’, History Compass, vol. 4 no. 4 (2006), 621–8. John Broich, ‘Engineering the Empire: British Water Supply Systems and Colonial Societies, 1850–1900’, Journal of British Studies vol. 46, no. 2 (2007), 346–65. James Beattie, Ruth Morgan, ‘Engineering Edens on This “Rivered Earth”? A Review Article on Water Management and Hydro-Resilience in the British Empire, 1860-1940s’, Environment and History vol. 23 (2017), 39-63. |
| Comments | None. |
| Weblink | Europainstitut Basel |
| Admission requirements | None. |
| Course application | Via Online Services. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Course auditors welcome |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Thursday | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 21.09.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Thursday 28.09.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Thursday 05.10.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Thursday 12.10.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Thursday 19.10.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Thursday 26.10.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Thursday 02.11.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Thursday 09.11.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Thursday 16.11.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Thursday 23.11.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Thursday 30.11.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Thursday 07.12.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Thursday 14.12.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Thursday 21.12.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 001 |
| Modules |
Modul: Areas: Europa Global (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Basis Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Bachelor's degree subject: History) Modul: Epochen der europäischen Geschichte: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Europäisierung und Globalisierung (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Modul: Synthese (Master's degree subject: History) Modul: Themen der Nahoststudien (Bachelor's degree subject: Near & Middle Eastern Studies) Modul: Themen der Near & Middle Eastern Studies (Master's degree subject: Near & Middle Eastern Studies) Module: Fields: Governance and Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Fields: Public Health and Social Life (Master's degree program: African Studies) Vertiefungsmodul Global Europe: Regional Integration and Global Flows (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Vertiefungsmodul Global Europe: Staatlichkeit, Entwicklung und Globalisierung (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Vertiefungsmodul Global Europe: Umwelt und Nachhaltigkeit (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | record of achievement |
| Assessment details | There will be a 90-minute online exam on 21 December from 10:15 to 11:45, which can be completed in either German or English. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | 1-6 0,5 |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | University of Basel |
| Offered by | Europainstitut |