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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2015/2016

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of History, Classics and Archaeology : Postgraduate (History, Classics and Archaeology)

Postgraduate Course: Contacts and Conflicts between East and West 600-900: the Pirenne Thesis Re-examined (PGHC11171)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis postgraduate course examines changes which occurred in political, economic and cultural relations between the Eastern and Western areas of the Mediterranean world between the late sixth century and the late Carolingian period. Particular emphasis will be placed on differing scholarly views of the extent of these contacts since the time of Henri Pirenne and the consequences which various changes had for each area.
Course description The course aims: a) To develop or enhance an understanding of economic, political and cultural change within the Mediterranean zone over the period c.300 and 1900 and the effect this had on various areas, especially Italy and the Byzantine Empire. b) To acquaint students with a range of sources which illuminate the developments studied and to develop skills in the analytical use of such primary evidence. c) To study the main scholarly contributions to the debate in their historiographical context and to critically examine and question such views.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 174 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) one 3000 word essay
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate in a detailed and critical command of the body of knowledge concerning the changing relations between the Eastern and Western parts of the Mediterranean world from the sixth to the ninth century
  2. Demonstrate an ability to analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship primary source materials concerning and conceptual discussions
  3. Demonstrate in [an ability to understand and apply specialised research or professional skills, techniques and practices considered in the course
  4. Demonstrate the ability to develop and sustain original scholarly arguments in oral and written form [in seminar discussions, presentations, and online forum posts] by independently formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence considered in the course
  5. Demonstrate in seminars and presentations originality and independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers; and a considerable degree of autonomy
Reading List
D. Abulafia, The Great Sea (Oxford, 2011)

T. Brown, Gentlemen and Officers. Imperial Administration and Aristocratic power in Byzantine Italy (London, 1984)

L. Brubaker and J. Haldon, Byzantium in the iconoclast era (c. 680-850): a history (Cambridge, 2011)

H. Chadwick, East and West: the making of a rift in the Church: from apostolic times until the Council of Florence (Oxford, 2003)

R. Hodges and D. Whitehouse, Mohammed, Charlemagne and the origins of Europe: archaeology and the Pirenne thesis (London, 1981)

J. Howard-Johnston, ed. Byzantium and the West, c. 850-1200 (Amsterdam, 1988)

P. Horden and N. Purcell, The Corrupting Sea (London, 2001)

M. Maas, ed., Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian (Cambridge, 2004)

M. McCormick, Origins of the European Economy (Cambridge, 2001)

H. Pirenne, Mahomet and Charlemagne (London, 1939)

J. Pryor, Geography, technology and war: studies in the maritime history of the Mediterranean, 649-1571 (Cambridge, 1988)
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsContacts Conflicts East West Pirenne Thesis
Contacts
Course organiserDr Tom Brown
Tel: (0131 6)50 3761
Email: T.S.Brown@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Lindsay Scott
Tel: (0131 6)50 9948
Email: Lindsay.Scott@ed.ac.uk
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