Aims and Objectives

Building on the respective French/German/Spanish/Italian modules for Year 1 single-honours historians, this module aims to:

• Improve reading, comprehension and translation skills in order to give students the ability to engage with texts in French/German/Spanish/Italian
• Reinforce and consolidate grammar skills in French/German/Spanish/Italian acquired in the first year
• Allow students to broaden their resource base through access to French/German/Spanish/Italian texts
• Engage with non-Anglophone historiographical traditions and debates
• Address the challenges of working with historical texts in French/German/Spanish/Italian

 

Syllabus

Language Component (delivered through the language classes):

• Comprehension and/or translation of a number of selected passages of prose from various sources (e.g. extracts taken from authoritative academic texts)
• Consolidation of grammar
• Acquisition of recognition skills in advanced grammatical areas

History Component (delivered within the ‘European World’ core module):

• Five historiographical lectures relating to general early modern issues and specific French/German/Spanish/Italian debates
• Additional lectures (on popular culture, Reformation, witchcraft and the New World) relating to the themes of the core texts from French, German, Spanish and Italian historiography
• In the spring and summer terms, three dedicated seminars on the selected texts (available in translation) involving group presentations by students on associated contextual and historiographical issues

 

Assessment

Type of Assessment	Duration	Weighting
Exam 1 (languages)	1 hour 30 minutes	grammar 5%, comprehension/translation 20%
Exam 2 (languages)	1 hour 30 minutes	grammar 5%, comprehension/translation 20%
Exam 3 (History)	1 hour 30 minutes	50%

 

 
Learning Outcomes

By the conclusion of the module, students will be expected to:

• Demonstrate a good knowledge of French/German/Spanish/Italian grammar, syntax and history related vocabulary as a prerequisite for efficiently dealing with the complex structures of written French/German/Spanish/Italian in historical contexts
• Demonstrate a good degree of competence in reading techniques
• Demonstrate a good degree of competence in translation skills with a view to linguistic understanding and accuracy
• Demonstrate an ability to apply critical analysis and interpretative skills to texts originally published in French/German/Spanish/Italian
• Demonstrate an awareness of non-Anglophone historiographical traditions and debates