Skip to main content Skip to navigation

Module Catalogue

HI299-15 Violence in Early Modern Europe

Department
History
Level
Undergraduate Level 2
Module leader
Jonathan Davies
Credit value
15
Module duration
10 weeks
Assessment
100% coursework
Study location
University of Warwick main campus, Coventry

Download as PDF

Introductory description

The module provides an introduction to the methodological and theoretical issues involved in researching and writing on violence in Europe between c. 1450 and c. 1750.

Module web page

Module aims

The module serves both to encourage students to think in theoretical terms about the ways in which the experience of violence can be historically reconstructed and to expose them to the opportunities and problems presented by a variety of evidence. These sources include letters, diaries, broadsheets, pamphlets, newspapers, chronicles, histories, songs, plays, stories, engravings, woodcuts, paintings, and film as well as legislation and court records. The module draws on insights from neighbouring disciplines including anthropology, film studies, gender studies, history of art, law, literary criticism, neuroscience, politics, sociology and social theory.

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.

  1. The Problem of Violence in Early Modern Europe
  2. Verbal Representations of Violence
  3. Visual Representations of Violence
  4. Justice
  5. States, Arms, Armies, and Navies
  6. Reading Week
  7. The Discourse of Interpersonal Violence
  8. Ritual Group Violence
  9. Popular Protest
  10. Organised Crime

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

  • Demonstrate the ability to contextualise violence as a subject of historical enquiry.
  • Act with limited supervision and direction within defined guidelines, accepting responsibility for achieving deadlines.
  • Communicate ideas and findings in a comparative context, adapting to a range of situations, audiences and degrees of complexity.
  • Generate ideas through the analysis of a broad range of primary source material, including relevant information technology.
  • Analyse and evaluate the contributions made by existing interdisciplinary scholarship on violence.

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Specific reading list for the module

Subject specific skills

See learning outcomes.

Transferable skills

See learning outcomes.

Study time

Type Required
Seminars 9 sessions of 2 hours (12%)
Tutorials 1 session of 1 hour (1%)
Other activity 2 hours (1%)
Private study 129 hours (86%)
Total 150 hours

Private study description

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 three substantial texts (articles or book chapters) for each seminar taking approximately 3 hours. Each assessment requires independent research, reading around 6-10 texts and writing and presenting the outcomes of this preparation in an essay, review, presentation or other related task.

Other activity description

1 two-hour film presentation

Costs

No further costs have been identified for this module.

You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.

Assessment group A3
Weighting Study time Eligible for self-certification
Assessment component
Seminar contribution 20% No
Reassessment component
1000 word reflective essay in lieu of seminar contribution Yes (extension)
Assessment component
Essay or Podcast or Videocast 80% Yes (extension)
Reassessment component is the same
Feedback on assessment

Written feedback provided via Tabula; optional oral feedback in office hours.

Courses

This module is Core optional for:

  • Year 2 of UENA-VQ32 Undergraduate English and History

This module is Optional for:

  • Year 2 of UENA-VQ32 Undergraduate English and History
  • Year 2 of UENA-VQ34 Undergraduate English and History (with a term in Venice)
  • Year 2 of UHIA-V102 Undergraduate History (Renaissance and Modern History Stream)

This module is Option list A for:

  • Year 2 of UHIA-V100 Undergraduate History
  • Year 2 of UHIA-VM11 Undergraduate History and Politics
  • Year 2 of UHIA-VL13 Undergraduate History and Sociology

This module is Option list B for:

  • Year 2 of UHIA-V100 Undergraduate History

This module is Option list F for:

  • Year 2 of UHIA-V1V5 Undergraduate History and Philosophy