The modules offered in any given year will be drawn from the listing below, the range and nature depending on such variables as staff research leave and timetabling constraints.

Note that “P” denotes “parent module” and that “L” denotes “linked module”. Linked modules allow students to study in greater depth some of the issues or topics raised in generalised terms in the more broad-ranging parent modules. Linked modules cannot be taken separately from the parent module, although parent modules can be studied purely in their own right. Some modules, however, are “stand-alone”, “S/A”, meaning that can be chosen without reference to any other module, parent or otherwise.

All modules are worth 20 credits apart from the Individual Study which is worth 40 credits.

• Students studying Single Honours History need to accumulate 120 credits at Level 6, and in making their choices they must take at least one parent+linked module; other than this restriction, there is freedom of choice in accumulating the remaining 80 credits.
• Students taking History as part of a combined honours degree may take one parent+linked module but are essentially free to accumulate the necessary credits in History from the choices listed below.
• No linked module can be taken in isolation from the parent module.

The Archaeology of the British Isles c.1100-c.1540. (S/A)

This module equips students with an in-depth knowledge and critical understanding of a range of material used by archaeologists of the later middle ages and develops the students' appreciation of the techniques and methods adopted by archaeologists evaluating and analyzing documentary and other material, and of the evidential limits within which archaeology operates. Content of the module includes studies of a range of topics, including a study of the Bayeux Tapestry, studies of twelfth and thirteenth century castle archaeology, medieval ceramics, the medieval skeleton; the recording and interpretation of medieval burials, the development of parish church architecture 1100-1450 and church excavation in Canterbury and beyond.

Daughters, Wives and Widows: Women in England c. 1050-c. 1400 (P)

This module provides students with a detailed knowledge of the status of women in medieval English society between c. 1050 and c. 1400, and of the wide framework of rights and responsibilities which contemporary theory and practice allowed women at different social levels. The content makes strategic use of primary sources to evaluate women's standing within public and private spheres at different stages of the female life-cycle, their contribution to the urban and rural economies before and after the Black Death, and whether they played a distinctive role in the development of medieval piety.

Love, Sex and Marriage: Sources for Medieval Women c. 1050-c.1400 (L)

This module examines a range of documents that supplement those considered in 'Daughters, Wives and Widows: Women in England c. 1050-c. 1400'. The content allows students to gain a more detailed knowledge of the role of gender in medieval culture by exploring attitudes towards female sexuality and the construction of gender hierarchies within families and local communities in medieval England, primarily through an examination of changing courtship practices and rituals, and the development of an ecclesiastical model of marriage.

The England of Lancaster and York, 1337-1509 (P)

This module provides students with a coherent, detailed knowledge and systematic understanding of the key themes and approaches to the history of late medieval England, during the period popularly known as 'The Wars of the Roses'. The module places the political upheavals of the fifteenth century in their political, social and economic contexts, including in particular an examination of the ideologies of late medieval kingship, the role of foreign war and the impact of prolonged economic crisis on the structures of politics in late medieval England.

Sources, Society and Politics, 1377-1509 (L)

This module, which accompanies 'The England of Lancaster and York 1377-1509', equips students with an in-depth knowledge of a range of primary sources used by historians of late medieval England, The sources and themes to be examined cover principally questions of elite and popular experiences of and attitudes towards the political upheavals of the 15th century. Students will explore not just the published state records and chronicle sources, but also the rich documentary material left behind by families such as the Pastons or the Stonors.

Crime, Courts and Social Protest in England, 1550-1750 (P)

This module explores the structures, administrative practices and jurisdictions of the courts of early modern England, paying particular attention to the relationship between legal theory and actual practice in the criminal common law courts, and to elite and popular perceptions of the law. Popular protest is then considered and, via a series of case studies highlighting the particularity and local configuration of resource allocation disputes (notably food riots and land protests), the attention of students is directed towards the character of 'social crime'.

Studies in the History of Crime and Social Protest in Early Modern England (L)

This module, linked to Crime, courts and social protest in England, 1550-1750 examines a range of documents that permit students to widen and deepen the understanding of themes, concepts and technical matters of historical interpretation they gain on the parent module. Documents scrutinized cast light on elite and popular attitudes to the law, the process of criminal detection and prosecution, the public reporting of crime, and a variety of forms of 'social crime'.

Civil War and Revolution in England, 1625-1689 (P)

The module starts by examining the key structures of power in England before the Civil Wars including the Monarchy, Parliament, and the Church. The causes and impact of the Civil Wars are considered and the ways in which the Wars and the Interregnum politicised the wider population between 1640 and 1660 are examined. The module ends with a consideration of the regime change of 1688-9 and an assessment of the nature of the mid-17th century English Revolution.

Sources for the English Civil Wars, 1640-1660 (L)

The module investigates the revolutionary years of 1640-1660 using detailed primary source materials, including petitions, letters, and printed news and propaganda pamphlets. There is a particular emphasis on the involvement of the wider population in the events of the period and on the responses in the provinces to events at Westminster. The various debates and interpretations of different schools of history are also examined.

Poverty in England during the Age of the Industrial Revolution, 1700-1870 (P)

This module examines the nature of poverty in an age of relatively rapid socio-economic change in both rural and urban communities, particularly the multifarious causes of its rapid growth from the late eighteenth century to the early 1830s. Issues covered include, inter alia, the Old Poor Law and its administration; an assessment of the reasons for burgeoning criticisms of the Poor Law from the 1790s onwards; the creation of the Commission of Inquiry in 1832; the passage of the Poor Law Amendment Act and the creation of the Poor Law Commission; the relationship between poverty and crime and, in this context, the reasons why the state committed itself to professional policing rather than retain its commitment to the theoretical underpinnings of utilitarianism.

Poverty, Crime and punishment in England 1750-1868 (L)

This module commences with an analysis of the relationships between poverty and crime, and examines the continued intensification of the criminal capital code until the 1810s, and the reasons why this was challenged and then systemically reformed in the early nineteenth century – until execution had been almost entirely limited to murderers. The module also considers the corollaries, namely growing resort to prison in the interests of reforming criminals, both adults and juveniles, and comes to some evaluative conclusions as to its trajectory as an alternative to traditional resort to transportation and the gallows.

Edge of the Union: the Irish and Ulster Questions since 1886 (P)

The module examines the core elements and development of the Irish Question (Nationalist Ireland's relationship with the United Kingdom and British Empire/Commonwealth), and the Ulster Question (Unionist Ireland's relationship with Nationalist Ireland). The themes covered in the module include concepts of national identity, including Irishness and Britishness; the religious conflict within Ireland; and attempts that have been made to resolve the conflict.

Conflict in Twentieth Century Ireland: Nations, States and Political Violence (L)

This source-centred module, which accompanies 'Edge of the Union: the Irish and Ulster Questions since 1886', provides students with an in-depth knowledge and critical understanding of historiographical and evidence-based issues connected with conflict in modern Ireland. It is concerned with questions of identity and ideology; the nature of sub-state violence in Ireland; and the response of the state to this violence.

Munich to Suez: Aspects of British Foreign Policy, 1938-1956 (P)

The crises over Munich and Suez have many similarities. Both, for instance, divided public opinion in a way unlike any other events in mid-twentieth century British history. However, the two crises occurred at quite contrasting moments for Britain. At the time of Munich, Britain was a major player in world politics and helped choreograph the circumstances in which the crisis was played out. By the time of Suez, Britain's status had deteriorated and arguably one of the great lessons of the crisis was to drive home to the British their reduced power. This module will trace some of the major features of British policy in between these two markers, including the origins of the second world war, the start of the cold war and the beginnings of British interest in European cooperation as a way of examining its principle theme, that of British decline.

Diplomats and Munich: historiography of & sources for the Munich Crisis (L)

Linked to 'Munich to Suez', this module offers a detailed examination of the Munich Crisis of 1938 through the eyes of a group of diplomats who advised their government on how the crisis might best be managed. This will involve an examination of a good range of printed primary sources available on this topic. At the same time the module will be concerned with the historiography of the crisis and of appeasement in general and the too-and-fro of the debates which have absorbed historians over the last half century.

War and Revolution in Vietnam, 1930-75 (P)

This module provides students with detailed knowledge and a critical understanding of one of the most important series of conflicts of the twentieth century. Beginning with the formation of the Vietnamese communist party in 1930, the module proceeds chronologically to 1975 and the final triumph of the Vietnamese revolution. This chronological approach is complemented by on-going thematic analysis. For example, the international dimension of the conflict is strongly emphasized – particularly the Soviet, Chinese, French and British involvement alongside the altogether more dominating American intervention in the 1960s.

Historians at War: the historiography of and sources for the Vietnam wars (L)

This module, which is linked to 'War and Revolution in Vietnam, 1930-75', focuses on the nature of the historiographical debates generated by the Vietnam wars. Given the sheer volume of the existing US historiography, much of the emphasis is on the debates over the reasons for US intervention and ultimately US failure in Vietnam, but the module also pays full attention to "satellite" debates, especially those concerning the communist side of the story, Vietnamese, Russian and Chinese.

Individual Study (S/A)

Students whose proposals for an individual study have been accepted are supervised on a one-to-one basis by a tutor from the History team. In the first four weeks of the module all individual studies students are brought together for general lectures on historical research methods and techniques for recording data and writing up an individual study, and during the second half of the module there is a series of student-led seminars in which all students deliver oral presentations of work in progress on their individual study. Students are also provided with written guidance notes on how the individual study should be finally presented. In addition to their dissertation and oral presentation all students submit an annotated bibliography for assessment.