2017/18 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

ARTF5008M Beyond the Trench: Collaborative Projects on the History, Remembrance and Critical Heritage of the First World War

30 creditsClass Size: 10

Module manager: Dr Claudia Sternberg
Email: c.sternberg@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2017/18

Pre-requisite qualifications

The module welcomes students with a wide variety of programme- specific and additional skills, including art, performance, design, languages, music, media, etc. Work and volunteering experience are also appreciated.

Students are not expected to have prior historical knowledge about the First World War, but will have to engage with this history before the start of the module.

Students have to be prepared to visit off-campus sites (e.g. archives) and may have to be available on weekends and outside the teaching weeks.

This module is not approved as an Elective

Objectives

The years 2014-2018 mark the Centenary of the First World War. A host of events and activities commemorating World War One and its legacies take place locally, nationally, internationally and across many institutions, organisations, groups and communities. This module invites you to team up with University of Leeds staff, external partners (archives, museums, galleries, cultural institutions, community groups, writers, artists) and fellow students to work collaboratively on projects which relate to the Centenary and are designed to reach and inform the public. Projects might include: heritage trails, exhibitions, community heritage/local history projects, performances, development of learning and digital resources, catalogues, and others.

The module enables you to apply your programme-specific and general academic knowledge and skills to a project which you will develop together with staff, communities and/or organisations. You will identify gaps in knowledge, issues of inequality and/or innovative ways of engagement and dissemination (including creative practice).

You are working as an individual researcher or in small student teams and receive advice and guidance from the module leader, other staff and the project partner(s). The module offers a lot of hands-on experience inside and outside of the University and introduces specialist resources and research methods. Your work will be presented to academic and non-academic audiences. You will gain confidence in planning, managing and evaluating projects and liaising with people in different positions and from different backgrounds.

The module runs over two semesters. In the first semester, you will attend informative lectures (with guest speakers) and interactive workshops before you embark on the development of your own project. In Semester Two, you will work on and complete your project. Progress meetings will be held with the module leader and wider project team. Your progress will be facilitated by continuous reflection, but assessment will mainly focus on the success of the planning and execution of your project. Your project work can take many forms, but has to contain either a research-informed piece of writing (e.g. a catalogue essay) or has to be accompanied by a document detailing your research process.

You are working alongside researchers in the University of Leeds Legacies of War project from which this module derives; you will be invited to attend further workshops, launches and talks organised by Legacies of War in order to deepen your knowledge base and become an active member of the academic community.

Learning outcomes
On completion of the module, you will have

- been introduced to Legacies of War, the wider discourse of commemoration and World War One’s diverse memory cultures,
- increased your knowledge about historical formations, the short-term and long-term effects of war and issues of representation and cultural memory,
- familiarised yourself with current thinking about collaborative research and methods, public and community engagement and (critical) heritage,
- developed a research/public engagement project in cooperation with other stakeholders,
- worked with academics, partners and audiences, responding flexibly to different needs and expectations,
- worked with specialist resources and further refined your academic and practical skills (including research ethics),
- gained insights and experience which enhance your employability in sectors relevant to the Arts & Humanities,
- reflected on how criticality, creativity and academic skills add value to a specific, public-facing project.

Skills outcomes
.

Syllabus

The module is built on actual activities and projects planned and executed in the context of the First World War Centenary 2014-18; they are developed by Legacies of War and internal and external partners. The syllabus is responsive to the respective focus of these projects and activities, and workshop themes can vary.
Semester One sessions might cover:

- Introduction to the Module, Legacies of War and Partners/Projects
- Universities, Collaborative Research, Public Engagement and the Role of Funding
- The First World War and the 1910s
- Cultural Memory Studies and the (Contested) Memory/ies of War and Conflict
- Critical Heritage Studies Applied: Aims, Methods, Challenges
- Cultural Theory- and Practice-Led Approaches to History, Commemoration and Heritage
- Using Specialist Archives, Collections and Resources
- Working with Local Authorities, Museums, Galleries and Cultural Institutions
- Working with Groups, Communities and Community Organisations
- Developing Learning Resources (National Curriculum, Diversity, Inclusion)
- Research Ethics and Assessing Risks
- Planning and Managing a Project

In the course of Semester One, the module leader will make you aware of opportunities for further investigation and together you will devise your own project. With your partners and the module leader you will agree on the project objectives, a timeline and criteria for success. The latter will be divided into project-related goals (partner/project/audience focus), value added (academic/research focus) and personal development (individual focus). Project can have varying times of intensive engagement, but must be completed according to the academic calendar for the Semester Two assessment period.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Seminar	15	2.00	30.00
Private study hours			270.00
Total Contact hours			30.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			300.00

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Seminar/Training sessions.
Progress meetings with the module leader who is also in contact with the project partners.
Reflective logs and staff/peer suggestions.
Support and guidance from internal and external project partners.
Attendance at Legacies of War or other relevant events (e.g. guest lecture, project launch, opening), monitored via entries in the reflective log.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Reflective log	1800- 2200 words	20.00
Project	Project Plan and Rationale 1800-2000 words	20.00
Project	Format variable	60.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Students can form teams, but do not have to. If there is a team, students receive a group grade for Project Plan, Project Work and Project Report, but with a discretionary 5% flexibility based on the Module Leader's assessment of individual contributions and collaboration within the group. Word length may be modified to retain parity. A re-sit will be arranged by the Module Leader depending on the circumstances of individual students.

Reading list

There is no reading list for this module

Last updated: 26/04/2017

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