Unit information: Explorations in Early Modern History in 2020/21

Unit name	Explorations in Early Modern History
Unit code	HISTM0081
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Reeks
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

The period c. 1400 – c. 1700 was one of momentous change and upheaval: reformations and revolutions, scientific and geographical discovery, economic and demographic transformation, and artistic and cultural innovation. It is popular and fruitful territory for historical research and, consequently, its history is constantly being revised and rewritten.

This unit will address the most recent historiographical trends and issues in early modern history. Broad themes which can be covered each year include (but are not limited to): the Renaissance and the ‘New Learning’; the Reformation and religious transformation; The New World and ‘Atlantic History’; food, drink and recreation; social status, work and welfare; politics, warfare and ‘state formation’; gender, sex and marriage; magic and witchcraft.

This unit explores the sources, methods, theories and debates which have underpinned these revisions, drawing upon the wide-ranging expertise and current research interests of the teaching team. It therefore aims to:

• provide students with a broad understanding of the current state of early modern historiography
• enable students to form their own questions about the early modern period and frame appropriate research questions accordingly, in preparation for specialist units and dissertations
• provide students with the skills and knowledge to write an extended argumentative historical essay
• develop students’ understanding of the process of historical research, from conception of the initial idea to completion of the finished piece

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:

1. Identify and analyse recent historiographical developments and longer-term trends.
2. Evaluate the applicability of different historical sources and methodologies.
3. Appropriately frame an independent historical argument within relevant historiographies, theories, and methodologies.
4. Compose and organise an extended piece of argumentative historical writing

Teaching Information

Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, including group seminar-style discussion and self-directed exercises.

Assessment Information

One 5000-word summative essay (100%) [ILOs 1-4]

Reading and References

J. H. Elliot, Spain, Europe and the Wider World, 1500-1800 (New Haven and London, 2009)

Ronald Hutton (ed.), Medieval or Early Modern: The Value of a Traditional Historical Division (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 2015)

Diarmaid MacCulloch, Reformation: Europe’s House Divided, 1490-1700 (London, 2004)

Lyndal Roper, Oedipus and the Devil: Witchcraft, Sexuality and Religion in Early Modern Europe (New York and London, 1994)

Margaret Spufford, The World of Rural Dissenters, 1520-1725 (Cambridge, 1995)

Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, 4th ed. (Cambridge, 2019)