This 30 CATS final-year option is an innovative module which involves the students in all aspects of the design and assessment. The syllabus is negotiated with both topics and primary sources selected at the start of the course in two workshop sessions. The aim is to immerse students in the reality of archival research from the very beginning of the module and to prepare them for their dissertation or assessed piece. The assessment may also be negotiated and take the form of an exhibition, play, website, multimedia resource, museum display, a conventional long essay, or any other form which is agreed by the department and the tutor.

The principal aims of the module are:

• The critical analysis of primary sources and secondary literature on crime and punishment in the long nineteenth century (primarily, but not exclusively, in Britain)
• To develop archival and research skills using a diverse range of source material, including manuscripts, data, digitised sources, newspapers, images and literature)
• To reflect critically on established and emerging historiographies of crime and theoretical perspectives from related disciplines
• To immerse students in the practice of historical research by their participation in curriculum design and assessment
• To support the 'student as collaborator, researcher and producer' model of teaching and learning
• To provide opportunities for creative assessment tasks (including collaborative projects) to enhance students employability and transferable skills