HIS-10034 - Module Specification
School of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2023/24

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2023/24

This is a module specifically designed for Single Honours History students. It will introduce students to new topics of historical inquiry and the different approaches taken by historians when challenged by the vastness of extraordinary events and the minutiae and banality of the everyday. It is a seminar-based module in which students will undertake key readings each week in preparation for detailed analysis and discussion within the class. It is as much about how historians engage with the challenges of writing about the extraordinary and the everyday, as identifying what they have found out, the arguments they make and the conclusions they draw.
The module will consider in alternate weeks a specific example of an extraordinary event or an everyday experience. The idea is not to be bound by chronological periods but to draw examples from a range of different histories. Some of the 'everyday' topics might include: dirt; food; an 'ordinary' life; love; reading; shopping; walking. Some of the 'extraordinary' topics might include: massacre; famine; defeat, the 'hero'; mass deportations; pandemics. The aim is to pair topics, thus food and famine or the 'ordinary life' and the 'hero' or love and massacre or walking and mass deportations.

To introduce students to new topics of historical inquiry and the different approaches taken by historians when challenged by the vastness of extraordinary events and the minutiae and banality of the everyday.

Intended Learning Outcomes

compare and contrast the approaches taken by historians to past examples of 'the extraordinary' and 'the everyday': 1,2,3
structure a relevant argument supported by appropriate historical evidence: 1,2,3
use appropriate citations and bibliographic conventions: 1,2,3
contribute effectively to small group and seminar discussions: 1,2,3
make comparisons and draw contrasts across chronological periods: 1,2,3
read closely and critically in order to identify the key arguments of specific historians: 1,2,3

Study hours

12 x 2-hour seminars, 12 x 1-hour workshops, 40 seminar preparation, 24 research and write reflective diary, 10 research and write essay plan, 40 research and write essay.

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment