The following book is recommended as background reading to the discussion: El Mundo Actual. Manual de Historia Universal¿ de Javier Tusell.

The main target of the subject is the acquisition of knowledge and skills that allow students to analyse the recent past from the perspective of the History of the Contemporany Worl (1945-). If we focus on specific objectives, aftercompleting this subject, the student will: - Know the historical context after the end of the Second World War from a political, economical, social and cultural point of view. - Acquire a Deep and complex view of the present-day and near future problems. - Handle different sources of memory for studing the History. The students will lear the way to analyse texts, chronicles, oral testimonies and, above all, images. - Have a transdisciplinary view of the History.

The subject ¿Historia del Mundo Actual¿ revolves around three main points which will be crossed througout the course: theory (block 1), methodology (block 2) and context (block 3): 0. Course Introduction: What is HMA? Epistemological, theoretical and methodological features which define the period. 1. Theory: 1.1 The sources of the present. 1.2 Present as a place in the time. 1.3 The way to escape from the present-time. 2. Methodology: What images say or don´t say in the Present-day framework. 2.1 The History ¿from¿ the images. The HMA as a framework. 2.2 The studies from the images: what images show or hide in the History. 2.3 The relationships between History and Images (1945-2001) 3. Context: Analysis of the HMA: 3.1 The world after the Second World War. The consequences of a war at a global level. 3.2 The Cold War. The new world order. 3.3 The 90`s. The prelude to other era. 3.4 From September 11 attacks until present time. The new era has arisen.

Students will attend two kinf of lessons. On the one hand, theoetical clases where students will reflecto n how present time has arisen. On the other one, the practical lessons where students will approach the new historical events from the study of the sources.