Module: HIS7001-30 Methods, materials and interpretations

Level: 7

Credit Value: 30

Module Tutor: Sarah Morton and Astrid Swenson

Module Tutor Contact Details: s.morton@bathspa.ac.uk and a.swenson@bathspa.ac.uk

1. Brief description and aims of module

This methods module aims to provide students with an advanced understanding of, and the ability to use and develop, key concepts in historical thinking and different kinds of historical sources. Global and inter-disciplinary in outlook, it discusses different global traditions of conserving, recovering and narrating the past and brings together ‘classical’ historical methods with methods from cognate disciplines. As such, the module aims to deepen your understanding of a range of methods and sources in preparation for subsequent modules.

The module offers an advanced discussion of established methods and sources, re-evaluating them in light of current questions and connecting them to developing approaches and different materials. As a result, the syllabus has designed to incorporate new challenges and directions in the study of the past, as they emerge.

2. Outline syllabus

This module comprises a series of seminars in which we will work together to review and analyse key texts and sources. Some of the major topics for us to consider are:

• Facts & Fictions
• Researcher Positionality
• Global traditions of conserving, recovering and narrating the past
• Decolonisation of the mind
• Structures and agency: politics, society, economy and culture
• Playing with scales: micro and macrohistory
• Connecting local, regional, national, transnational, imperial & global histories
• Intersectionality: class, gender and race
• Historical approaches to material culture
• The environment and non-human agency
• The Arts: historical context and object autonomy
• Senses and emotions
• History, heritage and memory

3. Teaching and learning activities

• Seminars, presentations, workshops, visits (including self-directed visits), tutorials
• Reading and exploration of core texts; discussion and analysis

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: CW
• Description: Critical Review (500 words)
• % Weighting: 20%

Assessment Item 2:

• Assessment Type: CW
• Description: Oral Presentation (20 minutes)
• % Weighting: 20%

Assessment Item 3:

• Assessment Type: CW
• Description: Critical Essay (2000 words)
• % Weighting: 60%