Unit information: Rethinking History in 2021/22

Unit name	Rethinking History
Unit code	HIST23101
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Will Pooley
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

This course is called ‘Rethinking History’ because we want you to rethink your understanding of the discipline of History. We want you to develop a greater awareness of how and why historians are constantly rethinking the past. We want you to reflect on how and why historians’ interpretations of the past are constantly changing, but also how and why their approaches to it have changed, and continue to change, over time. What questions do historians ask about the past, and what concepts and methods do they use to do so? What influences these things? It is, essentially, a course in historiography. This is not a dirty word. A unit on historiography requires you to explore the types of questions you explore in all other units: how and why do things change over time? What are the main causes of change, or of continuity? Who are the key individuals and groups driving change? It is just that in this unit we are not asking these questions of twentieth century China, or Reformation Europe, but rather of the discipline of History itself.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:

1. articulate the methodological diversity and richness of historical studies,
2. evidence and critically assess the development and character of varieties of historical writing over time
3. discuss how historians use and apply concepts (e.g.gender) in historical debates
4. evaluate historiographical debates, and to locate texts within their appropriate historiographical context
5. characterise the relationship between history and cognate disciplines within both the humanities and the social sciences
6. make historiographical and methodological connections between historical writing about different periods and places

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 3000-word Portfolio (100%) [ILOs 1-6]

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. HIST23101).

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.