Unit information: Approaches to History in 2021/22

Unit name	Approaches to History
Unit code	HISTM2009
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Jones
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

What is history and how should we study it? Do historians reconstruct or invent the past? What is the relationship between history and the 'facts'? Why do historians ask some questions and not others, and how does that affect their choice of sources? How do different ideas about narrative style (the need, for instance, for a history with a beginning, a middle and an end) affect our approaches to, and understandings of, the past? This unit invites students to explore these and related questions by introducing them to a series of contemporary debates about reading, researching and writing history. Through lecture and seminar discussions we will examine a series of themes such as: history and narrative, postmodernism and history, cultural history, and gender, feminism and history.

Intended Learning Outcomes

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

• have developed a detailed understanding of key historiographical developments and some of the major types of history which academics undertake
• be able to evaluate critically different approaches that historians have used
• be able to develop and justify their own independent opinions and arguments relating to established historiographical traditions
• be able to express these opinions at length in written work which deploys high level skills in selecting, applying, interpreting and organising information

Teaching Information

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

Assessment Information

5000 word essay

Resources

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. HISTM2009).

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.