St Andrews Centre for Transnational History

What is transnational history?

Is modern Europe simply the sum of its national histories and historiographies? Can modern European history be thought of and written beyond the framework and boundaries of national histories? To what extent did European societies perceive and influence each other since the late-eighteenth century? How far did - and does - Europe stretch at certain periods? What about the patterns and dynamics of interconnection amongst European societies? To what extent did colonies and other non-European regions influence European societies and culture and were, in turn, influenced by them? These are questions tackled by transnational history.

Research and Teaching

In the School of History at St Andrews a large group of historians share a strong interest in comparative and transnational history as well as finding new ways of locating European history within a wider context. Our research and teaching activities cover the time period from 1750 to the late-twentieth century and geographical areas as diverse as Germany, France, Switzerland, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Russia, South-Eastern Europe, Iran, Northern Africa and North America. Our current transnational research projects fall within the fields of travel writing and the circulation of knowledge, the history of borders and border regions, intellectual history, spatial history, the history of NGOs, popular culture, relations between Europe and Iran, and the Mediterranean as a European contact zone.

Lectures, seminars, conferences and workshops

The Centre organises lectures, research seminars on comparative and transnational history and hosts conferences and workshops. A wide range of courses combining comparative and transnational approaches to history are offered at the honours-level (3rd and 4th year undergraduates). From 2008 postgraduate students are able to enroll in a Master's level module "Crossing borders. European history in transnational perspectives".

Events

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