England: Cindy Liu (Learning on excursions)

One of the classes that I am taking this semester is in the international relations department with a specific focus on the history of international political economy. And so far, this course is the most challenging out of the four classes I am taking but my favorite one.

Seven weeks into the semester, we spent a lot of time discussing the gold standard, Bretton Woods system, and the events that led to the world wars in general. The class is designed around three big international relations questions: Idea vs. Material, Structure vs. Agency, and Markets vs. States. It is undoubtful that almost every historical event that has shaped global order the way it is today can be explained by at least one of the three big questions. We used these questions to address the problems happened during the world wars and the nations’ response to how to correct their past mistakes and then move on.

To help us further understand the context and have a tangible feel of the world as it was almost 100 years ago, the professor took us on a class trip to the Imperial War Museum located in London. I have never been a big history person, let alone studying wars and countries’ motivations behind getting involved in those mess. However, at the museum, connecting with the content that we have learned in lectures and the professor’s explanation on what each display meant, I started to become much more intrigued by this topic. It fascinates me on how fast a country’s idea and actions can change that one can go from being colonized and bullied to a bully and abuser, vice versa. History may not always repeat on the same person or country, but it’s the same history being acted out by different people and different countries. What we can only hope, is that every time when the same history repeats, the trauma that it leaves on this world could be lighter but the lesson that we learn could be more impactful.

 

Cindy Liu

Hometown: Dalian, China

Major: Political Science; Economics; International Studies

Program: London School of Economics