| Unit name | Everyday Life in Tudor and Stuart England |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HIST20100 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Hailwood |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None. |
| School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Historians now know that even before the Industrial Revolution and the advent of modernity, English society underwent a series of dramatic transformations: political, religious, economic, social, and cultural upheaval were characteristic of the Tudor and Stuart centuries. This was a dynamic and tumultuous age. But what impact, if any, did these changes have on the everyday lives of ordinary people? How did the alewife, or the agricultural labourer, experience this period of history that is so often approached through the story of its kings and queens? In this unit, we will attempt to find out. To do so, we will need to reflect on how we, as historians, go about trying to recover what day-to-day life was like for people who left few written historical accounts of their own. We will be asking not just 'what was everyday life like?', but also 'how do we find that out?' As well as drawing on the fruits of several decades of social history, we will explore a wide variety of primary sources for ourselves. Examples include ballad songs, records of accidental deaths, diaries, witness statements from court cases, and surviving physical artefacts, images and buildings. We will use these to immerse ourselves in, and investigate, various aspects of everyday life in the period - family life, patterns of work and play, what and how people ate and drank, how they spent and managed their time, and even how their everyday sensory experiences of noise, smell and light differed from our own, and think about how all of these changed over time. We will also reflect on the ways in which class, gender and age shaped these experiences of everyday life. Students will then develop their own research project on whatever aspect of everyday life in the period interests them most.
Successful students will be able to:
1 x 2hr Seminar per week
1 x 1hr Seminar per week
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
1 x 3500-word Essay (50%) [ILOs 1-5]; 1 x Timed Assessment (50%) [ILOs 1-5]
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. HIST20100).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
