| Supervisors | dr. David de Boer (Radboud University Nijmegen), Solange Ploeg (MPhil) (Radboud University Nijmegen), dr. Dries Raeymaekers (Radboud University Nijmegen) |
| Date | January-March 2026 (6 meetings | Thursday afternoons: 29 January, 5, 12, 19, 26 February, 5 March 2026) |
| Time | Exact times TBA |
| Location | Radboud University |
| Credits | 5 ECTS (6 is optional) |
| Registration | Deadline TBA |
What is political history today? Among historians and social scientists, definitions of and approaches to political history have diverged immensely and continue to do so. In this course, students explore recent approaches relevant to the history of politics and discuss the ongoing conceptualization of politics and the political, as well as its consequences for methods and the study of source material. What is the current state of the art in both early modern and modern political history, and what remains to be explored?
Participants in this course will learn at rMA level:
- How to define and analyze recent key concepts and approaches in the history of politics and the political;
- How to evaluate political historical studies from a historiographical, theoretical and methodological perspective;
- How to employ key concepts in the analysis of sources for the study of the political history;
- How to discuss these matters with fellow students;
- How to write a paper in which these topics are further developed
The course will be taught in Dutch or English (depending on the language skills of the participants).
We ask that students prepare questions, discussion points and analytical commentary on the readings and the discussion papers of the week. Participation will not be graded, but if you cannot make it to class, you are asked to notify the teaching staff well in advance.