SRM University AP, Amaravati

School of Liberal Arts and Basic Sciences

Department of History
Curriculum

Department Overview:

The Department of History at SRM University AP, Amaravati will aim to equip the students
to learn from history rather than merely learning history. The courses in the BACHELOR OF
ARTS (B.A) degree in HISTORY are designed to equip students with the knowledge of
historical processes, events and transformations in world and Indian History from Stone Age
to the contemporary world. By putting forth the various arguments/positions on the nature of
the discipline, the program is designed to ensure that the students gather and are equipped to
answer the question as to what is history; the perspective that there are many histories of the
same event will drive the entire program and thus dispel the notion that history is just a narrative
of dates and personalities. The thrust here will be on intensive reading of a variety of texts in
History rather than rote learning; tutorial sessions where the student reads through text(s) on
specific topics and makes presentations before her/his peers will constitute an essential half of
the evaluation system at SRM University AP, Amarawati; such assignments will include
preparing book reviews and these will involve reading texts along with published comments
on those.
Thus every student will be trained in the art of reading, writing, speaking, reasoning
and interpretation of texts in periodic seminars. Continuous evaluation through tutorials, term
papers and seminars apart from the end-term examinations will be the hallmark of this program.
The courses contain necessary knowledge in the subject for pursuing higher degree in social
sciences, from an inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary approach as well as to equip the
students to face such competitive exams like the civil services.
The focus at SRM University AP, Amaravati, will be on interactive learning and the
core principle at the SLABS is knowledge through critical thinking as against rote learning and
performance in examinations. The core team of regular faculty members, drawn from among
the best in the discipline, in the department along with a host of visiting faculty comprising of
scholars of international repute will take education beyond the class-rooms and engage with
the students within and outside the class-rooms and also on subjects that are not necessarily
part of the curriculum. History in particular and Social Sciences in general will form the subject
matter of regular extra-mural lectures by scholars of eminence from across the world. All these
will then be brought into the exercises/assignments that are part of the continuous evaluation
system that the department will follow through the program.
All Courses carry four credits
Semester I
(i). Foundation Course 1
(ii). Foundation Course 2
(iii). An Introduction to History and the Historian’s Craft (Core)
(iv). Human Civilizations - I (Core)
Semester II
(v). Foundation Course 3
(vi). Foundation Course 4
(vii). Human Civilizations – II
(viii). Europe and the Middle Ages (Core)

Semester III
(ix). Foundation Course 5
(x). Elective 1-a (from an allied subject and out of courses offered in departments
across SLABS)
(xi). Elective 1-b (from an allied subject and out of courses offered in departments
across SLABS)
(xii). Social Formations in Europe (Core for History Major and Elective for other SLABS
Majors)
(xiii). Age of Conquistador – European Expansion in Latin America and Africa (Core for
History Major and Elective for other SLABS Majors)

Semester IV
(xiv). Foundation Course 6
(xv). Elective 2-a (from an allied subject and out of courses offered in departments
across SLABS)
(xvi). Elective 2-b (from an allied subject and out of courses offered in departments
across SLABS)
(xvii). History of China and Japan (Core for History Major and Elective for other SLABS
Majors)
(xviii). American War of Independence, Russian Revolution, Inter-war Europe and
Decolonisation (Core for History Major and Elective for other SLABS Majors)

Semester V
(xix). History of India I - 300 C.E.
(xx). History of India –II- 300-1200 C.E.
(xxi). Medieval India: Society and Politics (From the Sultanate to the Mughal Era)
(xxii). Pre Colonial Economy and the Development of India as a Colonial Economy
Semester VI
(xxiii). Society and Politics in India: From Plassey to Partition (1757-1947)
(xxiv). Agrarian Struggles and Movements in India
(xxv). Society, Politics and Economy: India after Independence
(xxvi). Seminar Course (Gender/Caste/ Agrarian/Environmental/Economic History)

NOTE:
1. Elective 1a and 2a will have to be from the same subject and similarly Elective 1b
and 2b. As for instance, where a student of History opts for Economics as elective
1a, then the student will necessarily opt for Economics for 2a as well. Similarly, if
English is the elective opted for 1 b, then 2b will have to be English as well.
2. More Courses as Departmental Electives will be introduced in due course and
students will eventually end up doing four courses of their choice from a basket of
many in the fifth and sixth semesters.