THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2020/2021

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of History, Classics and Archaeology : History

Undergraduate Course: Early Modern History: A Connected World (HIST08034)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course introduces students to key themes and debates in early modern history (c. 1500-1800), using selected case studies from Britain, Europe and the wider world. Particular attention will be paid to the usefulness (or otherwise) of the concept of 'early modernity', and the extent to which it can be applied to the world beyond Europe.
Course description The period between c. 1500 and c. 1800 was an age of discovery, in which adventurers, merchants and diplomats sailed farther than ever before, and the lives of peoples from disparate parts of the globe became meaningfully entangled for the first time in human history. Trade in new commodities allowed great fortunes to be made by some, while others found themselves subjugated by the emergence of new imperial powers. Established relationships between church, state and the self were contested, and social and technological developments allowed for the dissemination of the written word beyond a privileged elite for the first time. A vibrant and noisy urban culture - and the emergence of women into the public sphere - brought with it new opportunities and new anxieties for the people of the early modern world.This course introduces students to key themes and debates in early modern history (c. 1500-1800), using selected case studies from Britain, Europe and the wider world. Particular attention will be paid to the usefulness (or otherwise) of the concept of 'early modernity', and the extent to which it can be applied to the world beyond Europe.

Indicative timetable
(themes subject to change):

Week 1: Introduction: Early Modernity?
2 lectures

Weeks 2-3: Theme 1: Travel & Communication
4 lectures, 2 tutorials

Weeks 4-5: Theme 2: Empire& Power
4 lectures, 2 tutorials

Weeks 6-7: Theme 3: Religion & Belief
4 lectures, 2 tutorials

Weeks 8-9: Theme 4: Production & Consumption
4 lectures, 2 tutorials

Weeks 10-11: Theme 5: Society & Gender
4 lectures, 2 tutorials

In other years, themes may include:
Popular Culture
Deviance
Natural Environment
Crisis
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites Students MUST also take: The Historian's Toolkit (HIST08032)
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2020/21, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  363
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 22, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10, Online Activities 3, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1, Formative Assessment Hours 1, Other Study Hours 5, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 154 )
Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) Other Study Hours to be used to prepare for the lectures
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Coursework:
1,250-1,500 word Essay (40%)
2,000-2,500 word Essay (60%)
Feedback Students will receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the tutor/Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. demonstrate, by way of coursework, a sound knowledge of the subject considered in the course;
  2. demonstrate, by way of coursework, an ability to assimilate a variety of sources and formulate critical opinions on them;
  3. demonstrate, by way of coursework, an ability to research, structure and complete written work of a specified length, or within a specified time;
  4. demonstrate an ability to organise their own learning, manage their workload, and work to a timetable.
Reading List
Brotton, Jerry, Trading Territories: Mapping the Early Modern World (London, 2003).

Burke, Peter, 'Rex et Verba:Conspicuous Consumption in the Early Modern World', in J. Brewer and R. Porter (eds), Consumption and the World of Goods (London, 1993), ch. 7.

Cameron, E. (ed.), Early Modern Europe (Oxford, 1999).

Collins, James B. and Karen L. Taylor (eds), Early Modern Europe: Issues and Interpretations (Oxford, 2006).

Crosby, Alfred W., The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 (Westport, 1972).

Frank, Andre Gunder, ReOrient: Global Economy in the Asian Age (Berkeley, 1998).

Kümin, Beat (ed.), The European World, 1500-1800 (London, 2009 or 2013).

Parker, Charles H., Global Interactions in the Early Modern Age (Cambridge, 2010).

Porter, David (ed.), Comparative Early Modernities, 1100-1800 (New York, 2012).

Richards, John F., The Unending Frontier: An Environmental History of the Early Modern World (Berkeley, 2003).

Wiesner-Hanks, Merry, Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789 (Cambridge, 2nd edn, 2006 or 3rd edn, 2013).

Woodworth, C. K. 'Ocean and Steppe: Early Modern World Empires', Journal of Early Modern History, 11.6 (2007), pp. 501-518.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills The course will develop the following graduate attributes and skills:

Skills and abilities in research and enquiry:

- ability to draw valid conclusions about the past
- ability to identify, define and analyse historical problems
- ability to select and apply a variety of critical approaches to problems informed by uneven evidence
- ability to exercise critical judgement in creating new understanding
- ability to extract key elements from complex information
- readiness and capacity to ask key questions and exercise rational enquiry
- ability critically to assess existing understanding and the limitations of knowledge and recognition of the need regularly to challenge/test knowledge
- ability to search for, evaluate and use information to develop knowledge and understanding

Skills and abilities in personal and intellectual autonomy:

- openness to new ideas, methods and ways of thinking
- ability to identify processes and strategies for learning
- independence as a learner, with readiness to take responsibility for one's own learning, and commitment to continuous reflection, self
- evaluation and self-improvement
- ability to make decisions on the basis of rigorous and independent thought
- ability to test, modify and strengthen one's own views through collaboration and debate
- intellectual curiosity
- ability to sustain intellectual interest

Skills and abilities in communication:

- ability to make effective use of oral and written means convey understanding of historical issues and one's interpretation of them.
- ability to marshal argument lucidly and coherently
- ability to collaborate and to relate to others
- readiness to seek and value open feedback to inform genuine self-awareness

Skills and abilities in personal effectiveness:

- ability to approach historical problems with academic rigour
- ability to manage and meet firm deadlines
- possession of the confidence to make decisions based on one's understanding and personal/intellectual autonomy
- ability to work effectively with others, capitalising on diversities of thinking, experience and skills
KeywordsEarly Modern
Contacts
Course organiserProf Diana Paton
Tel: (0131 6)50 4578
Email: Diana.Paton@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Annabel Stobie
Tel: (0131 6)50 3783
Email: Annabel.Stobie@ed.ac.uk
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