HI989-30 Historical Research: Theories, Skills and Methods
Introductory description
This is a compulsory 30 CATS one-term MA module designed to equip students with the methodological skills needed to carry out an extended piece of historical research and writing. Students on all four MA History courses are required to follow it during the Autumn Term, and the teaching is delivered in weekly two-hour seminars.
Module aims
- To widen and deepen students’ understanding of methods and approaches to the study of history across space and time.
- To help students develop a conceptual and practical understanding of the skills required by historians and scholars from neighbouring disciplines.
- To help students hone their ability to formulate and achieve a piece of critical and reflective historiographical writing.
- To support students in developing the ability to undertake critical analysis.
- To help students develop the ability to formulate and test concepts and hypotheses.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
- Week 01: Introduction to studying for an MA at Warwick
- Week 2: Theory
- Week 3: Class
- Week 4: Power
- Week 5: Practice
- Week 6: Reading Week (no seminar)
- Week 7: Space
- Week 8: Gender
- Week 9: Race
- Week 10: Body
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- A conceptual and practical understanding of the skills required by Humanities scholars.
- The ability to formulate and achieve a piece of critical and reflective historiographical writing.
- The ability to undertake critical analysis.
- The ability to formulate and test concepts and hypotheses.
Indicative reading list
- Anne McClintock, Imperial Leather: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest (New York: Routledge, 1995)
- Stefan Berger, Heiko Feldner and Kevin Passmore (eds), Writing History: Theory and Practice (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2010)
- Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History. Beacon Press, 2005)
- Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto (London: Verso, 1998)
- Richard Sennett, The Hidden Injuries of Class (Cambridge, 1977)
- Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality. Volume 1. An Introduction (1978)
- Larissa N. Heinrich, The Afterlife of Images: Translating the Pathological Body between China and the West (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2008)
- Michel Foucault, I, Pierre Riviere, having slaughtered my mother, my sister, and my brother: A Case of Parricide in the 19th Century
- Brinkley Messick, The Calligraphic State: Textual Domination and History in a Muslim Society (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993)
- Daniel Miller, Material Culture and Mass Consumption (London, 1997)
View reading list on Talis Aspire
Subject specific skills
See learning outcomes.
Transferable skills
See learning outcomes.
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 8 sessions of 1 hour (3%) |
| Seminars | 8 sessions of 1 hour (3%) |
| Practical classes | 5 sessions of 2 hours (3%) |
| Private study | 274 hours (91%) |
| Total | 300 hours |
Private study description
PG taught History modules require students to undertake extensive independent research and reading to prepare for seminars and assessments. As a rough guide, students will be expected to read and prepare to comment on four substantial texts (articles or book chapters) for each seminar taking approximately 4 hours. Each assessment requires independent research, reading around 10-15 texts and writing and presenting the outcomes of this preparation in an essay, review, presentation or other related task.
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Students can register for this module without taking any assessment.
Assessment group A3
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
|||
| 1500 word essay or equivalent | 30% | Yes (extension) | |
|
1500 Word Essay |
|||
Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
|||
| 4500 Word Essay | 70% | Yes (extension) | |
Reassessment component is the same |
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Feedback on assessment
Written feedback from internal markers.
Courses
This module is Core for:
- Year 1 of THIA-V141 Postgraduate Taught History (Early Modern)
- Year 1 of THIA-V201 Postgraduate Taught History (Global & Comparative)
- Year 1 of THIA-V140 Postgraduate Taught History (Modern)
-
THIA-V3P7 Postgraduate Taught History of Medicine
- Year 1 of V3P7 History of Medicine
- Year 2 of V3P7 History of Medicine
This module is Core optional for:
- Year 1 of THIA-V141 Postgraduate Taught History (Early Modern)
- Year 1 of THIA-V201 Postgraduate Taught History (Global & Comparative)
- Year 1 of THIA-V140 Postgraduate Taught History (Modern)
- Year 1 of THIA-V3P7 Postgraduate Taught History of Medicine
This module is Optional for:
- Year 1 of TRSA-V1PF Postgraduate Taught Culture of the European Renaissance