War is as old as mankind, but it has changed its character over the centuries. This module will introduce students to the changing character of war from ancient times to the present, highlighting the latest research results on a large variety of conflicts and themes: wars, piracy and civil wars in the ancient world, the Viking conquests in Europe, the Crusades, the Wars of Religion, the Napoleonic Wars of the 19th century and the American Civil War to the total wars of the 20th century. The module takes an inter-disciplinary perspective on war, combining insights from history, classics, politics , medicine and sociology. Together, faculty from these diverse disciplines will introduce some of the latest cutting edge research on violence and gender, medical responses to the outbreaks of war and the ‘new wars’ on terror in today’s Middle East.

On completion of this module students: 
1. will be able to critique texts on war drawing on the methods used by historians, sociologists, and political scientists, among others;
2. understand the major historical changes in the nature and context of war since the earliest times of human history;
3. will appreciate a variety of analytic techniques used by researchers investigating human conflict;
4. will have improved their academic writing skills.