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Violence - HIS00104H

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  • Department: History
  • Module co-ordinator: Prof. Stuart Carroll
  • Credit value: 40 credits
  • Credit level: H
  • Academic year of delivery: 2022-23

Module summary

Violence is an inescapable theme in human history. War, violent crime, personal conflict and aggression appear to be constant features of the human condition. But is that really the case? This Comparative Special Subject aims to test that assumption, by examining various sorts of violence in various different periods, places and contexts. Among the themes which will be discussed are the extent to which the thresholds of acceptable or legitimate violence have changed over time and place. What may have seemed acceptable behaviour in one time and place may be unacceptable in another. This course will begin with ideas about and practices of violence in classical Rome and Norse civilisations, examine concepts and practice of honour, chivalry and the feud during the medieval and early-modern periods, and will engage with the simultaneous development during the modern period of the ‘civilising process’ and the greatest outbursts of human violence which the world has ever seen. Topics will include not only the conduct of war, violence public behaviour and political violence, but also what may be termed ‘intimate violence’ (rape, wife-battering, child-beating, etc.) and various attempts to control or regulate violence.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching cycle
A Autumn Term 2022-23 to Spring Term 2022-23

Module aims

The aims of this module are:

  • To introduce students to the practice of comparative history;
  • To enable students to acquire skills and understanding of that practice by studying a particular topic or theme; and
  • To enable students to reflect on the possibilities and difficulties involved in comparative history

Module learning outcomes

Students who complete this module successfully will:

  • Grasp the key approaches and challenges involved in comparative history;
  • Understand a range of aspects of the topic or theme which they have studied;
  • Be able to use and evaluate comparative approaches to that topic or theme; and
  • Have learned to discuss and write about comparative history
  • Have developed skills in group work

Module content

Teaching Programme:

Students will attend a 1-hour briefing in week 1 of the autumn term. Students prepare for and participate in fifteen three-hour seminars. These take place in weeks 2-5 and 7-9 of the autumn term and weeks 2-5 and 7-10 of the spring term. Both the autumn and spring terms include a reading week for final year students and so there will be no teaching in week 6. There will also be a 2 hour revision session in the summer term.

Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:

Autumn Term

  1. What is violence?

  2. Violence and Civilization i: Spectacle

  3. Violence and Civilization ii: Process

  4. The Feud

  5. The Duel

  6. Total War

  7. Experiencing Combat

Spring Term

  1. Religious Violence

  2. Race & Ethnicity

  3. Murder

  4. Political Violence

  5. Gender

  6. The State i: Punishment

  7. The State ii: Police

  8. Aesthetics and Culture

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Not-online take-home exam
24-Hour Open Exam		 N/A 67
University - project
Group Project		 N/A 33

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

For procedural work, the students will make group presentations towards the end of the autumn term. In addition, they may choose to submit an optional 2,000 word formative essay between weeks 7-9 of the autumn term. Essays should not be submitted in the same week as group project presentations are scheduled.

For summative assessment students will complete a 4,000-word group project due in week 6 of the spring term -- this will account for 33% of the final mark. They will then also take a 2,000-word 24-hour open exam during the common assessment period in the summer term, usually released at 11:00 on day 1 and submitted at 11:00 on day 2. The open exam will be worth 67% of the final mark.

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Not-online take-home exam
24-Hour Open Exam		 N/A 67
University - project
Group Project		 N/A 33

Module feedback

Following their formative assessment task, students will typically receive written feedback that will include comments and a mark within 10 working days of submission.

Work will be returned to students in their discussion groups and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss the feedback on their procedural work with their tutor (or module convenor) during student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.

For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 20 working days of the submission deadline. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.

Indicative reading

For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading:

Miller, William. ‘Getting a Fix on Violence’ in Humiliation and other essays on honour, social discomfort and violence, Ithaca; London: Cornell University Press, 1993.

Carroll, Stuart. ‘Introduction’ Cultures of Violence: Interpersonal Violence in Historical Perspective. Palgrave: Basingstoke, 2007.

Ruff, Julius. Violence in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.