Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 11 x 1 Hour Lectures |
| Seminar | 6 x 2 Hour Seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 3,000 word essay | 50% |
| Semester Exam | 2 Hours 1 x 2 hour exam or 1 x 3,000 word essay | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 3,000 word essay | 50% |
| Supplementary Exam | 2 Hours 1 x 2 hour exam or 1 x 3,000 word essay | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module the student should be able to:
- evaluate debates about the origins, dynamics and conclusion of the crisis.
- adjudicate upon how close the world came to nuclear war in 1962.
- understand the implications of recent scholarship for the interpretations of historians, political scientists and students of crisis management.
- analyse the possible lessons of the crisis for the conduct of international affairs.
Brief description
In October 1962 Cold War came close to nuclear war. Ever since scholars, political leaders and military officials have pondered and debated how close we were to Armageddon. The causes, courses and consequences of the crisis continue to generate debate and disagreement among academics and surviving participants on all sides.
Aims
The aim of the module is to explore the debates surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis, and examine how historians, political scientists and students of crisis management analyse the events of 1962. A second aim is to show how the study of the crisis illuminates various aspects of scholarship. What, for example, can recent historiography tell us about the opportunities and challenges for historical method, especially now that the Cold War is over? Third, the possible lessons of the crisis for diplomacy and crisis management are studied not just in the Cold War context, but in the age of weapons of mass destruction which we still inhabit.
Content
- Origins of the Crisis
- Dynamics of the Crisis
- Resolution of the Crisis
- Historiography and Revisionism
- The role of nuclear weapons
- Soviet and Cuban perspectives
- The roles of Kennedy and Khrushchev
- Britain and the Missile Crisis
- Lessons of the Crisis
- Overview
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6