Power, Authority and Dissent: Sources for Medieval History
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| HIST4063 | History | 4 | 40 | Autumn UK |
- Code
- HIST4063
- School
- History
- Level
- 4
- Credits
- 40
- Semesters
- Autumn UK
Summary
This module focuses on sources for the study of the nature and exercise of power, authority in the Middle Ages, and to ways that people resisted and subverted such power. Through this, the module also introduces students to a broad range of skills and knowledge required for researching the Middle Ages. As well as gaining knowledge of the period and its history through specific topics, and the ability to interpret and evaluate a range of translated sources, students examine a variety of ways in which historians interpret the often-problematic sources and the processes which shape their interpretations. Discussion and assessment involve reflection on the nature of the subject matter itself and its contemporary relevance and resonances. Exact content will change each year according to staff availability, so the programme always reflects the research interests and specialisms of contributing staff.
Target Students
Available to all MA History students
Classes
- Two 2-hour seminars each week for 10 weeks
Activities may take place every teaching week of the Semester or only in specified weeks. It is usually specified above if an activity only takes place in some weeks of a Semester
Assessment
- 60% Coursework 1: 5,000 word essay
- 40% Coursework 2: 3,000-word source commentary
Assessed by end of autumn semester
Educational Aims
The team-taught module aims to introduce students to sources for the study of the nature and expression of Power, Authority and Opposition to it in the Middle Ages. It also introduces students to a broad range of skills and knowledge required for researching the Middle Ages. As well as gaining knowledge of the period and its history through specific topics, and the ability to interpret and evaluate a range of sources in translation, students will examine a variety of ways in which historians interpret the often problematic sources available to them and the processes which lay behind their interpretations. Discussion and assessment will therefore also involve reflection on the nature of the subject matter itself and its contemporary relevance and resonances. Exact content will change each year according to staff availability. The programme will therefore reflect the research interests and specialisms of contributing staff.Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding of:
- major themes in the history of formally and informally expressed power in the Medieval World
- the nature of the sources and the contexts in which they were composed
- current scholarship on the topic
Intellectual skills:
- identify and evaluate critically the key problems in the study of sources originating in both the elite and popular spheres in the Middle Ages within an intellectual framework informed by current scholarship
- locate, select and interpret critically a variety of primary and secondary sources in this area
- use the information gained in the module to reflect critically upon the discipline and develop awareness of them as changing and evolving entities
Professional and practical skills:
- articulate both knowledge and critical awareness of issues surrounding in particular the political, religious and social processes at work in the Medieval world
- develop individual analyses and interpretations of data within the broad framework of current scholarship
Transferable skills:
- demonstrate initiative and show some evidence of independent thinking in their essays, reviews
- and presentations
- Take responsibility for their own learning in the preparation for seminars and coursework.
- Communicate their findings clearly and coherently in both written work and verbally
Conveners
- Dr Claire Taylor