Postgraduate Course: History as Romance, Profession, Critique: Theory and Scholarship in the West, 1835 to 1985 (HIST11009)
Course Outline
| School |
School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College |
College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type |
Standard |
Availability |
Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) |
SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits |
20 |
| Home subject area |
History |
Other subject area |
None |
| Course website |
None |
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| Course description |
Critical engagement with the history of historical inquiry now extends into and beyond the province of intellectual historians. Indeed, attempts to trace the methodological, epistemological, ideological, institutional, and stylistic trends that have characterised the theory and practice of historical scholarship now constitute a growing preoccupation for social, material, cultural, and political historians. In turn, such preoccupations with the history of our professional endeavours have made their mark on the ways that we teach our students, justify our applications for research funding, frame our written and oral presentations, and to an extent evaluate the rigorousness of historical scholarship. While knowledge-transfer becomes a significant means of evaluating the public benefits of historical studies, so have historians&© abilities to make sense of our own professional pasts. |
Entry Requirements
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites |
|
| Prohibited Combinations |
|
Other requirements |
None
|
| Additional Costs |
None |
Course Delivery Information
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| This course will enable graduate students to engage meaningfully with the key philosophical concepts, research methods, and publications that have contributed to the history of modern historical inquiry in Western Europe and North America. Using Jules Michelet&©s popular rediscovery of Giambattista Vico&©s Scienza Nuova (1725) in 1835 as a primary reference-point for the course, we will address the ways in which historians who maintained a wide range of intellectual commitments (including nationalist, romantic, positivist, sociological, anthropological, structuralist, and poststructuralist commitments) have made use of historical scholarship and Viconian historicism to elaborate their projects. Drawing on theoretical readings and historical publications from across the West that span 150 years, the weekly readings and discussion also will feature documentary evidence to illustrate the legacies of this past in current professional practice. |
Assessment Information
| The final numerical grade for the course will be determined upon assessment of a 3000-word research paper that comprises a critical study of materials related to any of the themes or topics addressed in the course. A primary criterion for assessment will comprise effective use of the knowledge and skills outlined in the Learning Outcomes. Individual topics will be chosen by the students and will be subject to approval by the course organiser. Students will be expected to participate in all seminar meetings and to contribute to the weekly online discussion as outlined on the syllabus. |
| Please see Visiting Student Prospectus website for Visiting Student Assessment information |
Special Arrangements
| Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser |
Dr Adam Budd
Tel: (0131 6)51 3761
Email: adam.budd@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary |
Mr Nicholas Ovenden
Tel: (0131 6)50 9948
Email: Niko.Ovenden@ed.ac.uk |
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copyright 2010 The University of Edinburgh -
1 September 2010 6:08 am
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