Module Information

Module Identifier
HQ35320
Module Title
Gender in History: The Early Modern Experience (Part 2)
Academic Year
2016/2017
Co-ordinator
Dr Michael F Roberts
Semester
Semester 2
Co-Requisite
HQ35220
Other Staff
 

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Seminar 10 x 2 Hour Seminars
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment 1 x 2,500 word essay  50%
Semester Exam 2 Hours   (1 x 2 hour exam)  50%
Supplementary Assessment (Resit) 1 x 2,500 word essay  50%
Supplementary Exam 2 Hours   (Resit) (1 x 2 hour exam)  50%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1) Identify and discuss a body of historical knowledge in the field of the early modern British Isles; and relate that to cognate knowledge relating to earlier and later historical periods
2) Identify, discuss and analyse comparative perspectives on the history of these islands and the place of the terms ‘gender’, ‘identity’ and ‘crisis’ when studying them
3) Read, analyse and reflect critically on secondary texts and primary evidence relating to the ‘English revolution’, as these illustrate elements of gender conflict in the period 1625-1670

Aims

The original version of this module was the first History course to be taught in the University of Wales on a gender subject. Its present incarnation embodies the approaches to this subject which have developed over 25 years of research. These are organized to investigate changing attitudes towards gender identity during the Renaissance, introducing students to the wealth of primary source materials available for the period 1530-1670, many of them now accessible in full online.

Brief description

This module and HQ35220 use the experience of gender in Britain between the reigns of Henry VIII and Charles II as a ‘case study’, drawing on the relatively familiar political history of the period to enable students to explore its gendered implications through study of key episodes and examples. The two modules are articulated around the proposition that an early Stuart ‘crisis in gender relations’ may have contributed to the political turbulence which resulted in civil war and revolution after 1637. This particular module concentrates on these latter events after 1625.

Content

1. Introduction
2. The Overbury murder scandal 1613-16
3. Joseph Swetnam’s Araignment of Lewde, Idle, Froward and Unconstant Women (1615)
4. Charles I and Henrietta Maria: a marriage made in heaven?
5. A ‘Crisis’ in gender relations before the civil war?
6. Gender identities in war and revolution 1642-53
7. The regicide as parricide: killing the ‘nursing father’
8. Patriarchy and the Protectorate
9. Oliver Cromwell and femininity 10 Restoration voices: Samuel Pepys, Katherine Phillips, Hannah Woolley, Aphra Behn

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number N/A
Communication Written communication skills will be developed through the coursework and written examination; skills in oral presentation will be developed in seminars but are not formally assessed.
Improving own Learning and Performance Students will be advised on how to improve research and communication skills through the individual tutorial providing feedback on submitted coursework.
Information Technology Students will be encouraged to locate suitable material on the web and to apply it appropriately to their own work. Students will also be expected to word-process their work and make use of Blackboard. These skills will not be formally assessed.
Personal Development and Career planning Students will develop a range of transferable skills, including time management and communication skills, which may help them identify their personal strengths as they consider potential career paths.
Problem solving Students are expected to note and respond to historical problems which arise as part of the study of this subject area and to undertake suitable research for seminars and essays.
Research skills Students will develop their research skills by reading a range of texts and evaluating their usefulness in preparation for the coursework and the written examination.
Subject Specific Skills The use of contemporary primary source materials allows students to begin to familiarize themselves with a distinctive period language and vocabulary, and to reflect on its relationship with later, modern, English forms and usages, thus contributing to their self-awareness when preparing their own written assignments
Team work Students will be expected to play an active part in group activities (e.g. short group presentations in seminars) and to learn to evaluate their own contribution to such activities.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6