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Undergraduate History Part I Course

HIST100: From the Medieval to the Modern: History and Historians

The Part I programme for students taking History is designed to extend and deepen your knowledge of the past and to introduce you to some major historical topics and themes from the period after the Roman Empire to the present day.

You will also become more familiar with the wide range of primary sources used by historians (including yourself) in the writing of history. You will gain insights into how historians (including yourself) conduct research and interpret the past, and you will therefore better understand the reasons for changing historical interpretations.

In the process, by undertaking directed reading, by using electronic resources, by independent research, by attending lectures, by participating in seminar discussions, by working sometimes in a team, and by writing, meeting deadlines, and receiving constructive feedback on what you have written, you will develop your study techniques and other transferable skills.

The long chronological range and types of history covered by the course will extend your intellectual and historical interests and enable you subsequently to make informed choices from among the many historical options available to you in Part II, either as a History Major student or as a Minor.

The themes covered by the course reflect the interests and expertise of the department's many academic staff. Hence you may explore such topics as:

• People, politics and religion in medieval Europe
• Europe and Religion in the middle ages
• Science, reason and Enlightenment
• US history
• Modernity and popular culture
• Urbanisation, nationalism and war in modern Europe from 1880 to 1945
• The British and French Empires
• Europe after 1945

The programme of lectures (two per week) and of seminars (one per week) runs throughout the Michaelmas and Lent Terms and the first half of the Summer Term. Since one aim of the programme is to demonstrate the varied ways in which History is written and disseminated, historical films are also included. The seminars will require you to study set texts, most of which are accessed in digital form. Assessment is by coursework (essays and other exercises, plus seminar performance) and by an end-of-course examination.

For those History major students taking Part I History in 2012-13, here is the Seminar and Lecture Programme for 2012-13

You will spend at least twelve hours a week on your History studies. They make up one–third of your Part I studies at Lancaster. The other Part I subject(s) you will study – some of which, especially in the Arts and Social Sciences, have historical content or are in allied disciplines – will take up the rest of your working week.

There is no text book as such, but before beginning the course you would find it useful to have dipped into some of these books and publications.

Here is what a recent Part I student thought of our Part I programme.

Part I Enquiries

Mrs Anne-Marie Mumford
Co-ordinator, Part I Studies
Department of History
Lancaster University
Lancaster LA1 4YT
Room: Bowland B115 | Tel: +44-1524-592607
Fax: +44 1524 846102

Email: a.mumford@lancaster.ac.uk

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