Unit information: Memory in 2020/21

Unit name	Memory
Unit code	HIST30113
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Jessica Moody
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of History (Historical Studies)
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

How do we, as individuals or groups, as societies and collective agents ‘remember’ the past? What is the relationship between ‘history’ and ‘memory’, and how has this changed over time? This unit considers the complex relationship between history and memory, engaging with case studies and ideas from historians and social theorists about ‘memory’ which interrogate its collective, social and cultural manifestations, and various, often political, ‘uses’ in specific historic contexts. Is memory always a socially mediated construction? A mirror to contemporary concerns and hopes or anxieties about the future? How does the history of memory influence its shape? How has ‘forgetting’ been theorized and realized in practice; what does forgetting certain pasts look like, and how has this been achieved or challenged? How have histories of trauma and dissonance been remembered and can memory form part of projects addressing historic wrongs, abuses and recompense?

This unit takes a broad approach to memory in terms not only of chronology and geography, but also of ‘scale’. The individual; the family; the city; the nation; the institution, the globe – all root themselves in memory in some way, and all, therefore, have a history-memory relationship to be explored.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, successful students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the main theoretical and historical issues related to the history of memory and memorial culture.
2. Discuss and evaluate key historiographical debates relating to the history of memory and memorial culture.
3. Understand and interpret primary sources and select pertinent evidence in order to illustrate specific and more general historical points.
4. Present their research and judgements in oral and written forms and styles appropriate to the discipline and to level H/6.

Teaching Information

Classes will involve a combination of long- and short-form lectures, class discussion, investigative activities, and practical activities. Students will be expected to engage with readings and participate on a weekly basis. This will be further supported with drop-in sessions and self-directed exercises with tutor and peer feedback.

Assessment Information

1 x Individual Presentation (25%) [ILOs 1-4]

1 x Timed Assessment (75%) [ILOs 1-4]

Reading and References

Please see Blackboard for all Reading and References Information.