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2014/15 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

HIST3460 Inventing the Barbarians

20 creditsClass Size: 12

Module manager: Professor Ian N. Wood
Email: i.n.wood@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2014/15

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

THIS MODULE IS LIKELY TO PRESENT DIFFICULTIES TO STUDENTS WHO HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY STUDIED EITHER THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF THE EIGHTEENTH TO TWENTIETH CENTURIES.This course looks at the way the Early Middle Ages were written about in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: how, why and how those interpretations were used. The initial seminars will provide a general introduction to the historiography of the period, but the main weight of the course will be the intensive study of individual texts, which students will present in 'workshops'.Each student will choose a work on the Early Middle Ages from an agreed list (the Brotherton holdings for this subject are extensive). The work chosen will be considered not only in terms of what it has to say about the medieval period, but also in terms of the period in which it was written and of the author himself (or herself). The course will therefore be an exercise in historiography, which students can attach to work they have done in the second year, or are doing in the third year - whether on the early Middle Ages or on the Modern Period. It will also be research based, in that students will be using historical works of the modern period as sources in their own right.

Objectives

On completion of this module, students should:
- be aware of major interpretations of the theme of the barbarian invasions:
- have an understanding of the interplay between documentation and interpretation:
- be able to relate interpretations to the context in which they are written:
- be aware of the importance of political, social and cultural developments in determining the development of historiography.

Skills outcomes
An ability to analyse interpretative documents in terms both of the material they deal with, and in terms of the circumstances in which they are written.


Syllabus

The course will study modern historical interpretations of some of the following:
- The Fall of the Roman Empire
- The early Anglo-Saxons
- The early Franks
- The early Lombards
- The Vandals

Teaching methods

Delivery typeNumberLength hoursStudent hours
Lecture41.004.00
Seminar92.0018.00
Private study hours178.00
Total Contact hours22.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)200.00

Private study

After the introductory lectures, students will be expected to choose the subject of their study from a list. They will research their subjects independently, presently their conclusions in seminars.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

- 2 essays: the first of 2,000 words a general discussion of the relevant historiography
- the second of 4,000 words, a detailed study of the historiographical importance of the chosen work
- Seminar presentation.

Methods of assessment


Coursework
Assessment typeNotes% of formal assessment
Essay2,000 words to be submitted by 12 noon on Monday of teaching week 930.00
Essay4,000 words to be submitted by 12 noon on Monday of exam week 160.00
Oral PresentationClass presentations10.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)100.00

10% oral presentation is redone with 'an equivalent written exercise'

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 27/03/2015

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