HST2517 - Culture in Early Modern Europe

HST2517: Culture in Early Modern Europe

20 credits (semester 2)

Module Leader: Erin Maglaque

Module Summary

Culture is the key to understanding how societies thought and behaved in the past. Early modern Europe – a period of immense cultural change and conflict – is no different. This wide ranging course introduces students to ideas about culture and examines how cultural history has revolutionised what we know about the lives of men, women and children in Europe between 1500 and 1800. Building on a rich historiography and through a series of intriguing case studies, the course draws on wide range of sources – such as diaries, letters, and legal records, to printed works, art and archaeology – to enter into the many cultures of early modern Europe. The course explores issues like material culture, youth culture, cultures of protest, intellectual culture, and religious culture. It asks whether we can talk about different cultures of men and women and how cultures were affected by social and economic inequalities. It thinks about forces of cultural integration and pressures of cultural conflict. And it explores ideas of cultural change, and how these changes helped create the modern world.

Aims

To Follow.

Assessment

Please see this page for assessment details: Level 2 assessment

Selected Reading

To follow.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, students will be able to:

• identify and understand different cultures in early modern Europe.

• talk critically about different concepts of culture.

• show an advanced ability to engage with scholarly literature on early modern cultural history.

• demonstrate some critical familiarity with germane source material on the subject.

• show confidence in articulating ideas in oral and written work.