This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
This module further develops students' understanding of the methods and interpretations, introduced in Reading the Past, and encourages them to consider how these can be applied to their own specialist areas of historical research. There is a particular focus on communication skills, both written and oral, as a dimension of the historian’s professional practice. The nature and use of history in public contexts is also considered. The module is delivered via workshops; the trajectory of the workshops and the module’s assessments is to enable students to lay the groundwork for their dissertations.
Total contact hours: 20
Private study hours: 280
Total study hours: 300
Main assessment methods:
Written portfolio (5,000 words): 80%
Oral presentation: 20%
Reassessment methods
100% coursework
Indicative Reading List:
De Groot, Jerome. Consuming history: Historians and heritage in contemporary popular culture. Routledge, 2016.
Finn, Margot, and Kate Smith. New Paths to Public Histories. Palgrave, 2015.
Frisch, M. (1999) A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History. New York: SUNY Press
Kean, H., Martin, P., and Morgan, S. (2000) Seeing History: Public History in Britain Now. London: Francis Boutle Publications
MacMillan, Margaret. Dangerous games: The uses and abuses of history. Modern Library, 2009.
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Apply theoretical and methodological insights from historiography to their own specialised areas of interest.
2 Confidently deploy historians' skills in critique, research and writing, dealing with complex historiographical issues both systematically and creatively.
3 Embark upon their own original historical project (the dissertation), demonstrating self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems of historical research and writing and acting autonomously in planning and implementing these activities.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Demonstrate exceptional communication skills suitable for the (post)graduate workplace, conveying their ideas clearly and coherently, in a manner appropriate to specific audiences, both orally and in writing.
2 Exercise initiative and personal responsibility, exemplified by the ability to reflect on their own learning, plan their use of time, and identify appropriate directions for further study.
3 Exercise an ability for independent learning such as is required for continuing professional development, exemplified by their ability to research issues independently and productively.
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