JH History Modules Year 1
Compulsory modules
Practising History (A & B)
Practising History: Skills in History (A+B)
The main aim of this module is to give students a firm grounding in the skills, methods and principles needed for the study of the historical discipline at degree level.
Practising History A: Skills in History will offer students the chance to develop their own personal research skills portfolio by giving them supervised practice at note-taking, referencing, group-work, participation in class debate, research and production of an extensive bibliography for their seminar group’s research project. Much of this material will be accessed through a VLE, and the fact that the students will have to collaborate and make research decisions for themselves as a group makes this a valuable introduction to enquiry-based learning techniques they will meet elsewhere in their degree programmes.
Practising History B: Approaches to History focuses more on the methodological side of the historical discipline, with lectures on the major schools of historical thought backed up by seminars in which students can see how these schools are represented in their group’s particular project.
Optional modules
Choose one of the following modules in Semester 1:
- each module is 20 credits
Discovering the Middle Ages
This module aims to introduce students to a broad range of topics from the earlier part of the Middle Ages understood as part of global history, with a focus on staff areas of particular expertise in political, social-economic, religious, cultural history and material culture. The module will include introductions to topics taught as modules in Year 2 and 3, each framed as a question about some person or concept with which students may be familiar. Students will examine these topics through lectures and analysis of relevant primary and secondary source material, including material culture, online resources and accessible locations, to gain first-hand experience of some of the issues involved in the scholarly study of this period.
or
Making of the Modern World 1500-1800
This module aims to introduce students to all aspects of the early-modern world, including its social, economic, military, political, intellectual, religious and cultural history. The module will cover of the period from around 1500 with the discoveries of the new world and invention of printing, up to the late eighteenth century with the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. Though the focus will be primarily European (including the British Isles), the wider world will also be explored (e.g. interaction with the New World; American Revolution). Students will examine the above developments through analysis of a broad range of relevant primary and secondary sources; material such as contemporary letters, diaries, treatises, woodcuts, music and material culture will be given particular emphasis as a means of giving students first-hand experience of the key issues involved in the scholarly study of the early-modern period.
Choose one of the following modules in Semester 2:
- each module is 20 credits
The Making of the Contemporary World: Modern History c. 1800 to the Present
This module aims to introduce students to all aspects of the late-modern world, including its social, economic, military, political, intellectual, religious and cultural history. The module will cover of the period from around 1800 with the onset of industrialisation up to the turn of the twenty-first century with the end of the Cold War and increasing concern with ‘globalisation’.
Though the focus will be weighted somewhat towards Europe (including the British Isles), the wider world will also be explored (e.g. empire, decolonisation, modern nationalism). Students will examine the above developments through analysis of a broad range of relevant primary and secondary sources; material such as contemporary treatises, state documents, art and material culture will be given particular emphasis as a means of giving students first-hand experience of the key issues involved in the scholarly study of the late-modern period.
or
The History of Africa and its Diaspora
This module is a survey of the history of Africa and African diasporas. It introduces students to a study of Africa's deep and more recent past, highlighting migrations within, to and from the continent. The module has a broad geographical and chronological reach, locating Africa and Africans in global history. It seeks to widen students' understanding of sources and methods, and to introduce them to key concepts that will strengthen their ability to engage critically with history and memory. The module covers a wide range of topics such as: early African urbanism, cosmopolitanism and commerce, voluntary and forced migrations, slavery and resistance, cultural exchange, religious beliefs and practices, and the nature and legacies of European imperialism. This broad, introductory survey module provides a foundation for future study of Africa and African diasporas.