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2015/16 Undergraduate Module Catalogue
HIST2075 Urban Experience and Identity in Early Modern Europe
20 creditsClass Size: 42
Module manager: Dr Sara Barker
Email: s.k.barker@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2015/16
This module is approved as a discovery module
Module summary
Although early modern society was largely rural, the period 1500-1800 saw massive urban growth across Europe, particularly Northern Europe. With increased urbanisation came many benefits - economic growth, community development and cultural innovation - but also many challenges, including crime, disease and social tensions, many of which were exacerbated by the circumstances of the post-reformation world. This module will explore the society and culture of early modern communities, using a variety of sources and examples from across Europe, in order to understand the pressures facing early modern urban communities and the ways in which they dealt with them.Objectives
The objectives of this module are:- To explore the culture, structures and geography of urban areas in the early modern period
- To understand the different pressures present within early modern towns, and how these changed due to increasing urbanisation
- To analyse the experiences of a variety of early modern townspeople from different places across Europe
- To critically analyse a range of primary sources, both written and visual, relating to these issues
- To formulate sophisticated and nuanced arguments in relation to these issues, in written and verbal form
- To further develop generic, transferrable and subject specific skills
Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate good awareness of the structure and development of a range of early modern European towns
2. Analyse how early modern towns developed, the various pressures they were under and how this affected everyday life
3. Evaluate carefully and critically the approaches that historians and scholars working in other disciplines have taken when exploring early modern urban culture
4. Define suitable research topics for independent study/student-led seminars in the history of early modern urban experience, evaluating different and complex types of historical sources and historiography
5. Demonstrate the possibilities and limitations of comparative methodological approaches in historical research more generally
6. Show analytical and critical skills in oral presentations
7. Show analytical skills in written work, using citations and footnotes correctly
Skills outcomes
- in-depth study and interpretation of primary sources
- thorough understanding of historiographical debate
- development and substantiation of own arguments
- historical comparison
- communication skills
- planning, running and reflecting on student-led seminar
Syllabus
Lectures
1. Introducing the early modern town
2. Building early modern towns
3. Urban structures and hierarchies
4. Trade and business
5. Popular culture
6. Health
7. Crime
8. Religion
9. Outsiders and marginal groups
10. Exploring tensions
11. Conclusions
Tutorials
1. Institutions and their sources
2. Individuals and their sources
3. Maps and Images
4. Objects and material culture
5. Walking Tour of York
6. Student-led seminar - topic to be decided in week 1
7. Student-led seminar - topic to be decided in week 1
8. Student-led seminar - topic to be decided in week 1
9. Student-led seminar - topic to be decided in week 1
Teaching methods
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
| Lecture | 11 | 1.00 | 11.00 |
| Tutorial | 9 | 1.00 | 9.00 |
| Private study hours | 180.00 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20.00 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200.00 | ||
Private study
Students will prepare for seminars by reading texts and primary sources specified by the Module Leader and by student leaders in later seminars. They will also be expected to undertake further, self-directed reading for each class. Students will also research and prepare a group-led seminar, giving an individual report (10% of module assessment), research and write an assessed essay (30%) and prepare for the final examination (60%).Opportunities for Formative Feedback
- Contributions to class discussions- Feedback on written work, including on seminar plan
- Feedback on any online work
- Tutorials with the module leader
Methods of assessment
Coursework
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
| Essay | 1 x 2,000-word essay due by 12 noon on Monday of teaching week 8 | 30.00 |
| Report | Reflective report c.1,000 words | 10.00 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 40.00 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Exams
| Exam type | Exam duration | % of formal assessment |
| Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc) | 2 hr 00 mins | 60.00 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Exams) | 60.00 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Reading list
The reading list is available from the Library websiteLast updated: 23/02/2016
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- Undergraduate module catalogue
- Taught Postgraduate module catalogue
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