Module HIST3733: ELIZABETH I: QUEEN, COURT AND PUBLIC SPHERE

Department: HISTORY

HIST3733: ELIZABETH I: QUEEN, COURT AND PUBLIC SPHERE

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To equip students with a detailed understanding of the history and historiography of the politics and political culture of Elizabeth's reign at an elite and popular level.
• To encourage students to evaluate critically a range of primary sources, including drama, literature, art as well as more conventional manuscripts and printed books.
• To acquaint students with debates and concepts pertaining to the nature of Elizabethan court politics, queenship and gender, the existence of a 'public sphere' in sixteenth-century England.
• To develop an awareness of new methodological approaches to early modern history, specifically the exploration of the interplay between political ideas and action, and to assess the effectiveness of such approaches.
• To contribute towards meeting the generic aims of Level 3 study in history.

Content

• How did Elizabeth perceive and exercise her queenship? How did her counsellors and courtiers perceive their own, as well as Elizabeth's, role? How much did Elizabeth's subjects outside the court know about major political issues, how did they learn about them and what did they think about them and about Elizabeth as a queen? Making use of some of the latest, and most exciting, research, this course locates these issues within the historiographical debates of both Elizabeth's reign and the early modern period as a whole.
• It also goes beyond the central and conventional focus of Elizabethan political history the court to explore whether Elizabeth's reign saw the emergence of the 'public sphere', traditionally defined as only developing in the late seventeenth century.
• The course also takes and asks students to test new approaches.
• First, that of 'New Tudor Political History': the study of the interplay between political ideas and political action.
• Does the study of individuals' education, social background, religious beliefs, perceptions and assumptions help us understand better Elizabeth and her reign? Second, by focussing on what have previously been regarded as less conventional sources (drama, sermons, visual arts, poetry, popular pamphlets), we explore how far approaches from other disciplines can help historians reconstruct real issues and events.
• Both approaches will enable students to develop a detailed understanding of the nature of the Elizabethan court and public sphere.

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge and understanding of key aspects of Elizabethan political culture (including classical-humanism, protestant identity, etc.) and how they shaped policy-making.
• an understanding of the nature of Elizabethan court politics (including conventions of counselling) and the 'public sphere'.
• Familiarity with historiographical debates on the nature of Elizabethan politics and broader conceptual arguments about the 'public sphere' and an ability to evaluate these critically.
• Awareness of different approaches to early modern history (including interdisciplinarity) and the ability to assess their effectiveness.

• Subject specific skills for this module can be viewed at:
• http://www.dur.ac.uk/History/ugrads/ModuleProformaMap/;
• In addition students will be able to evaluate critically and sensitively a range of primary sources.

• Key skills for this module can be viewed at:
• http://www.dur.ac.uk/History/ugrads/ModuleProformaMap/

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Student learning is facilitated by a combination of the following teaching methods:
• seminars to allow students to present and critically reflect upon the acquired subject-specific knowledge, methodologies and theories, and to identify and debate a range of issues and differing opinions. The seminar is the forum in which students are given the opportunity to communicate ideas, jointly exploring themes and arguments. Seminars are structured to develop understanding and designed to maximise student participation related to prior independent preparation. Seminars give students the opportunity to develop oral communication skills, encourage critical and tolerant approaches to reasoned argument and historical discussion, build the students' ability to marshal historical evidence, and facilitate the development of the ability to summarise historical arguments, think in a rapidly changing environment and communicate in a persuasive and articulate manner, whilst recognising the value of working with others and, occasionally, towards shared goals;
• tutorials either individually or in groups to discuss topics arising from prepared work, allowing students the opportunity to reflect upon their personal learning with the tutor.
• Assessment:
• Unseen Examinations test students' ability to work under pressure under timed conditions, to prepare for examinations and direct their own programme of revision and learning, and develop key time management skills. The unseen examination gives students the opportunity to develop relevant life skills such as the ability to produce coherent, reasoned and supported arguments under pressure. Students will be examined on subject specific knowledge;
• Summative essays remain a central component of assessment in history, due to the integrative high-order skills they develop. Essays allow students the opportunity to recognise, represent and critically reflect upon ideas, concepts and problems; students can demonstrate awareness of, and the ability to use and evaluate, a diverse range of resources and identify, represent and debate a range of subject-specific issues and opinions. Through the essay, students can synthesise information, adopt critical appraisals and develop reasoned argument based on individual research; they should be able to communicate ideas in writing, with clarity and coherence; and to show the ability to integrate and critically assess material from a wide range of sources;
• Assessment of Primary Source Handling Students are assessed on their understanding of original primary sources, usually in print, their character varying according to the nature of the subject, and the students' ability to bring that knowledge to bear on 'cutting edge'research-based monographs and articles. Students are given the opportunity to discuss and articulate an understanding of changing interpretations and approaches to historical problems, drawing evidence from a body of primary source materials. Students are required to demonstrate skills associated with the evaluation of a variety of primary source materials, using documentary analysis for a critical assessment of existing historical interpretations.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One formative essay of not more than 2500 words (not including footnotes and bibliography), submitted in Term 1. This will be returned with written comments and a standard departmental feedback sheet. Coursework essays are formative as well as summative. They are to be submitted in two copies, of which one will be returned with written comments and a standard departmental feedback sheet. Preparation to participate in seminars and tutorials. At least one oral presentation in each term, and at least two practice gobbets in each term.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University