Module HIST2501: The World We Have Lost? Family and Household in Europe, c.1550-1914

Department: History

HIST2501: The World We Have Lost? Family and Household in Europe, c.1550-1914

Prerequisites

• A pass mark in at least ONE level 1 module in History

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To promote an understanding of the significance of the family and the household within long-run processes of economic and social change in Europe.
• To introduce students to the ways in which other disciplines in the social sciences have contributed to interpretations of the past, via the study of the family and the household.

Content

• The content of this module is designed:
• To examine the extent to which the family and household have changed over time.
• To examine the importance of the family and the household as a political, social and economic unit
• Introduce the students to a range of primary sources, including contemporary accounts, portraits, censuses, household listings, wills, inventories and parish registers; and to methodologies developed for their use.
• To introduce students to concepts and methodologies adopted by historians of the family and household from other disciplines, such as anthropology, sociology and demography.

Learning Outcomes

• An understanding of how the family and household have been shaped by broader forces of economic and social change but have also contributed to these changes
• An ability to evaluate both recent and older interpretations of these changes
• An ability to engage with and evaluate a wide range of sources
• An awareness of how other disciplines can contribute to economic and social history.

• Building on and developing skills gained at Level 1
• Deepening and extending historical understanding through focused, concentrated modules
• Developing precision, depth of understanding, and conceptual awareness.
• In addition students will acquire:
• An ability to evaluate both recent and older interpretations of these economic and social changes;
• An ability to construct reasoned arguments about the development and significance of the family and household to European society, drawing on work by economic, social and cultural historians.
• An ability to evaluate different sources and methodologies.

• The ability to employ sophisticated reading skills to gather, sift, process, synthesise and critically evaluate information from a variety of sources (print, digital, material, aural, visual, audio-visual etc.)
• The ability to communicate ideas and information, devise and sustain coherent and cogent arguments
• The ability to write and think under pressure, manage time and work to deadlines
• The ability to make effective use of information and communications technology.

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

• 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.
• Workshops are a forum for practising subject-specific key skills. They function as interactive lectures, organised around the assessments designed to advance and evaluate those skills, and are structured to improve the core competencies we expect second-year history students to develop. Workshops involve tutor-led activities in which students work together to discuss the mechanics of finding and evaluating primary sources, contextualuising primary evidence, building arguments, organising historical genres of writing, and evaluating the quality of historical argumentation.
• Assessment: Summative coursework will test students’ ability to communicate ideas in writing, present clear and cogent arguments succinctly and show appropriate critical skills as relevant to the particular module

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Workshops will include exercises that contribute to summative assessments, as well as guidance on implementing tutor feedback. The summative source commentary will have a formative element for the final assessment.

■ 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