Module Convenor: Sophie Mann

This 30 CAT module is core for single honours history students, and optional for joint honours students. As a core module it complements teaching in specialised History modules, by providing a broad context for an understanding of the discipline of history. As well as covering themes and approaches to historical research, broadly conceived, it will enable students to undertake a research project on a topic of their own choosing, as preparation for the dissertation in the final year.

This module introduces students to the historical research process. It looks at various ways of approaching, practising and presenting History. We will look at some of the most significant approaches in historical scholarship. We will study different kinds of historical evidence, and consider related issues of primary source selection and interpretation. The course also offers students the chance to explore current research being conducted by departmental staff.

As we explore various ways of approaching, practising and presenting History, the module will provide a unique insight into the origins and workings of these processes. It demonstrates that the past is never ‘neutral’ or simply to be ‘discovered’. All historical research is a sophisticated negotiation between the historian’s own lived experience, their socio-cultural context and the source materials they choose to tell their stories.

Assessment

• Seminar Contribution (10%)
• 2000 Word Essay (20%)
• Research Proposal (20%)
• Research Project (50%)