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Understanding History: Facts, Interpretations, Stories (ELCS0003)

Key information

Faculty
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Teaching department
School of European Languages, Culture and Society
Credit value
15
Restrictions
Not available to Affiliate Exchange Students.
Timetable

Alternative credit options

There are no alternative credit options available for this module.

Description

This is a first-year foundational module which introduces students to aspects of studying European history from the Protestant Reformation to present days. The core lectures introduce key historical topics – such as the relationship between religion and politics; sovereignty and citizenship; nationalism; colonialism – providing the major contextual parameters for each topic and outlining the contours of the relevant historiographical debate. The small group seminars are based on focused analysis of specific aspects of historical evidence in the contexts set out by lectures. The seminar aims to aid students to critically evaluate different kinds of evidence (documents, academic argument, testimonials etc.) and develop skills of historical and contextual analysis.Ìý

All materials will be available in English or English translation but may also be read in the original language.Ìý

Ìý Suggestive bibliographyÌý

  • Lynn Hunt, History: Why it matters (Medford, Mass.: Polity, 2018), pp. 30–61.Ìý

  • Anna Green and Kathleen Troup, The Houses of History: A Critical Reader in History and Theory (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2016 – 2nd edition).Ìý

  • Marc Bloch, The Historian’s Craft (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992 - originally 1949).Ìý

  • E. H. Carr, What is History? (London: Penguin, 2018 – originally 1961).Ìý

  • Sarah Maza, Thinking About History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017).Ìý

  • Lloyd Kramer and Sarah Maza (eds.), A Companion to Western Historical Thought (London: Wiley-Blackwell, 2008).Ìý

  • John Tosh, The Pursuit of History: Aims, Methods and New Directions in the Study of Modern History (London: Routledge, 2015 – originally 1984).Ìý

  • Ludmilla Jordanova, History in Practice (London: Hodder Arnold, 2006 – second edition).Ìý

  • David Löwenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country – Revisited (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).Ìý

  • Paul Veyne, Writing History: Essay on Epistemology (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1984), trans. Mina Moore-Rinvolucri.Ìý

  • Aviezer Tucker, Our Knowledge of the Past (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).Ìý

  • Penelope J. Corfield, Time and the Shape of History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007).Ìý

Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year

Intended teaching term: Term 2 ÌýÌýÌý Undergraduate (FHEQ Level 4)

Teaching and assessment

Mode of study
In person
Methods of assessment
85% Coursework
15% Viva or oral presentation
Mark scheme
Numeric Marks

Other information

Number of students on module in previous year
58
Module leader
Dr James Connolly
Who to contact for more information
james.connolly@ucl.ac.uk

Last updated

This module description was last updated on 8th April 2024.

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