Unit name | Bristol and Slavery (Level H Special Subject) |
---|---|
Unit code | HIST30078 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. Stone |
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 |
Why is this unit important?
Our Special Subjects give you the opportunity to work at an advanced level alongside a single academic and a specialist area of research. Intensively taught through seminars only, they are designed to provide you with hands-on experience of how knowledge is produced in the discipline of History.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
Our Special Subjects involve the application of the full spectrum of core historical competencies within a narrower field of study. In this sense, they are designed to prepare you to undertake independent research for yourself by showing you how practicing historians work with sources, historiographies, methodologies, and concepts within a particular specialism.
In June 2020 Bristol hit the international headlines when Black Lives Matter protestors tore down the city centre statue of notorious trafficker of enslaved people Edward Colston, and unceremoniously tossed it into the harbour. In the past Bristol’s historic links to enslavement had been so little discussed that leading historian of the subject Madge Dresser titled her book Slavery Obscured. Now this difficult aspect of the city’s past was firmly under the spotlight. This unit takes students right to the forefront of historical research into Bristol’s difficult history, as well as considering how and why this has been remembered (or forgotten) in the way that it has, and thinking about how historians can engage with present day publics and institutions to face up to and come to terms with the legacies of historic enslavement. Unit tutor Dr. Richard Stone will introduce students to his own research, into the origins of the slavery economy that saw Bristol’s prosperity soar from the seventeenth century onwards, the links of institutions to slavery such as the University of Bristol and Society of Merchant Venturers, and tracing the impact of slavery derived wealth on the city’s development. We will look at the city’s past through the lenses of cultural and social history, contrasting Bristol’s ‘Urban Renaissance’ to the lives of people of African and Caribbean descent in the city. We will also look at how slavery has shaped Bristol today, both in terms of positive legacies institutions and businesses that have their roots in slavery, but also in shaping the experience of Caribbean migrants to Bristol in the twentieth and twenty first centuries. Students will be encouraged to bring their own specialities and interests to the subject, producing innovative projects which make a valuable contribution to ongoing research. To aid in this quest, they will be introduced to a wealth of material related to Bristol and slavery, available both online and in local archives.
By the end of this unit, successful students will be able to demonstrate:
Classes will involve a combination of 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.
1 x 3500-word Essay (50%) [ILOs 1-6]; 1 x Timed Assessment (50%) [ILOs 1-6]
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. HIST30078).
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 University 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. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.