Assessment
For assessment deadlines, see Tabula.
- Seminar contribution (10%)
- 1500-word historiographical essay (10%)
- 3000-word source-based essay (40%)
- 3000-word essay (40%)
For details of the submission of assessed work, click hereLink opens in a new window.
NB Each assessed element will be marked according to History Specific Marking DescriptorsLink opens in a new window. Students should ensure that they follow the MHRA style guideLink opens in a new window carefully, especially for the presentation of the footnotes and the bibliography.
Seminar contribution
Your seminar contribution takes the form of structured self-evaluation, which you will submit to Tabula at the end of the module. You will receive feedback on your self-assessment from your seminar tutor, who will adjust the mark you've given yourself if needed. There will be an (unassessed) interim self-evaluation in week 10 (Term 1).
Please use the following form for self-evaluation.
For detailed instructions, see MoodleLink opens in a new window.
1500-word historiographical essay
For this essay you will explore and engage with a particular concept (e.g. race, gender, the natural world, knowledge-making, Orientalism, discovery, civilisation, the Other, exoticism, tourism, wonder, the monstrous, pilgrimage, the quest, the picturesque, home, wilderness) from the literature on travel and travel writing. You may limit the discussion to a context of choice (e.g. the role of wonder in medieval Islamic travel accounts; the exotic in modern European travel writing). The essay should reflect on, and advance an argument regarding, the following:
- What role does this concept play in the secondary literature on travel?
- How are travel and travel writing relevant for thinking about this concept?
For detailed instructions, see MoodleLink opens in a new window.
3000-word source-based essay
For this essay you will select and analyse a primary source or related set of primary sources and situate them within their historical and historiographical context. The focus is on critical engagement with e.g. a travel account or set of images and advancing an argument regarding their value for understanding a relevant historical theme. The essay should be framed around an analytical question and offer analysis of the chosen source as a means to shine light on a particular historical issue, period, or debate.
For detailed instructions, see MoodleLink opens in a new window.
3000-word essay
Your final essay (3,000 words) should be framed around a relevant historical question related to travel or travel writing, which may be based on one of the weekly seminar questions or a question of your own choosing. Make sure to discuss your question with the module convenor for advice and guidance. Where relevant, you are encouraged to adopt a comparative perspective, e.g. by incorporating materials from different time periods or different parts of the world. You are encouraged to engage with both secondary literature and primary sources. These may overlap with materials analysed in the historiographical essay and source-based essay, yet substantial development is required.
For detailed instructions, see MoodleLink opens in a new window.
Essays should be submitted via Tabula in accordance with Departmental rulesLink opens in a new window. See Tabula for submission deadlines.
Feedback on assessment
Written feedback (via Tabula) and optional individual tutorials (via Teams, in office hours or by appointment).
