Texts & Histories - HIS00054I

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Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Spring Term 2022-23

Module aims

The aims of this module are:

• To introduce you to key debates about the different, but potentially complementary, natures of literary and historical scholarship;
• To encourage reflection on the relationship between the English and History components of your joint degree; and
• To structure your thinking about your Bridge Dissertation.

Module learning outcomes

Students who complete this module successfully will:

• Have developed a critical understanding of the ways in which ‘texts’ are constructed, the agenda that shaped their construction, and the ways in which they have been read historically and may be read by modern scholars.
• Be able to understand and implement an interdisciplinary methodology, and have developed an appropriate critical vocabulary to express this skill set; and
• Understand the requirements of the English/History Bridge Dissertation.

Module content

This English/History module asks you to reflect on the opportunities and challenges of studying literature and history. The module is designed to provide you with a range of analytical skills that will be applicable across periods, and that will highlight the possibilities offered by studying two disciplines. You will thus develop your interdisciplinary skills and methodologies, questioning the boundaries between the empirical and the fictive, between historical documents and works of literature. We will focus on a range of texts reflecting a variety of historical contexts, genres of writing, purposes, and audiences.

Texts and Histories is the cornerstone of your combined course programme; the module is therefore compulsory for all English/History students. Texts and Histories is also a key part of your preparation for the Bridge Dissertation, and the last seminar of the term will provide a targeted training session on the dissertation.

The module is co-taught by a staff member from each of your two Departments. Therefore the particular choice of texts, both literary and historical, is liable to vary from year to year according to the combination of tutors.

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Module feedback

Formative assessments

• Within two working weeks of the completion of the assessment task. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.

Summative assessments

• Within six working weeks of the completion of the assessment task. For more information, see the Statement on Assessment.

Indicative reading

Castiglione, Baldassarre. The Book of the Courtier, ed. George Bull. 1528; London: Penguin, 1976.

Barker, Pat. Regeneration. 1991; London: Penguin, 2008.

Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities, ed. Andrew Sanders. 1859; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.