BA (Hons) Archaeology and History

You will study the development of medieval Europe through its archaeological evidence during the course of this module. You will be encouraged to critically review the evidence for social, cultural, urban and economic change during this period and consider the varied and contested interpretations placed upon such evidence. Consideration will be given to the status of British sites and activity within European political, cultural and economic networks. The module will also review the archaeological evidence for medieval urban development.

In this module, you will study the transition from the medieval, to the industrial and then the modern world through archaeology. This period saw dramatic changes in the rural and urban landscape, and a revolution in the modes and scales of production. The module will introduce you to a range of case studies from around the globe that explore the development of settlement, industry, trade, and transportation.

During this module you will study the inter-relationship between the contemporary world and the archaeological evidence for the past. Consideration will be given to the administration, management and application of various processes and techniques to archaeology in the field, whether as landscape, standing-buildings, buried, or marine. The module will review the means by which archaeology is identified, recorded, investigated and protected. It will help you to develop advanced fieldwork skills where relevant through practical demonstrations and workshops.

This module will develop your knowledge, understanding and subject-specific skills related to local and regional history. This will include relevant research methods, including primary source analysis and digital information skills. The module will review the historiography associated with local and regional histories and you will consider a range of perspectives and framings such as the political, social, cultural and economic. A significant focus of the module will be the exploration of the variety of sources available to the historian investigating local history. These will include visual, oral and textual; tangible and intangible; official and private. This activity is normally facilitated by engaging with both physical and digital primary sources. Through practical exercises in the retrieval, synthesis and interpretation of a range of source material you will develop the skills needed to operate successfully in this field.

This module will engage you in a wide-ranging study of the Atlantic World in the early modern period with a particular focus on the 17th and 18th centuries. Through a critical review of secondary texts and a variety of primary source material you will analyse the political, economic, technological, social and cultural history of the Atlantic World, with a particular focus on the ‘Anglophone Atlantic’, its origins, growth and contact with European empires and indigenous peoples in the Americas and Africa. You will engage with historiographical debates concerning the character of the ‘Atlantic World’ with its competing empires and entities and consider whether this is a useful concept for understanding this period of history. Key themes to be explored include: the importance of the trade in goods and the movement of people, including the trans-Atlantic slave trade; the significance of conflict and co-operation between states, sub-state groups and individuals; the importance of identities and how they changed as a result of the Atlantic experience; and the role of science, knowledge and communication in the Atlantic World.

On this module you will explore modern urban history from the global to the regional and local levels. Content is organised thematically, enabling you to engage with historiographical debates and theoretical approaches to the modern city with case studies drawn from every continent. The chronological focus is on cities of the modern age (broadly post-1800). However, the module will include discussion of pre-modern cities (e.g. ancient Greece and Rome), tracing their lineage into the modern period from bustling Victorian industrial cities, coastal conurbations and imperial ports, to twentieth-century skyscrapers and megacities. You will analyse changes in the form and function of urban spaces and explore the profound demographic, architectural, environmental, social, cultural and political changes that took place in these urban spaces and contributed to the very concept of ‘modernity’. On this module you will gain understanding of the urban sphere beyond Britain, taking a comparative approach to a wide variety of case studies and engaging with recent research by urban historians outside the Anglosphere, including India and China. Close reading and discussion of theoretical texts and historiographical debate will be combined with primary source research in physical and digital formats.

This module will engage you in a long view of the history of magic, witchcraft and folklore. The module will begin by surveying the complex relationship between religion, health, miracles and magic during the later medieval period. It will then examine the subsequent development across early modern Europe of a culture of witchcraft persecution and prosecution, which will be considered through the lens of fear, often exacerbated by social status and/or gender. You will finally be tasked to evidence, explain and challenge the meta-narrative for the apparent decline in belief in a witch cult from the 18th century onwards. You will critically examine evidence for the persistence of pagan and magical beliefs as well as the development of folklore and fairy stories into the ‘modern’, ‘enlightened’ age. You will be exposed to relevant primary and secondary material in order to engage fully with the case studies and historical sweep of the module, and will be expected to critically explain and defend your interpretations. A parallel strand running throughout will be critical analysis of the trajectory of historiographical debate associated with the history of magic and, in particular, witchcraft and paganism.

This module provides you with an understanding of the causes and conduct of counterinsurgency operations and how different nations have confronted insurgencies. You will be introduced to key cases studies ranging from the American Civil War, 19th century ‘small wars’ such as the Second Anglo-Boer War to Cold War conflicts such as the Malayan Emergency and Afghanistan. The learning process and challenges faced by militaries when trying to adapt to fighting irregular and counterinsurgency warfare is a key focus.

You will explore and critically assess key concepts relating to counterinsurgency operations as well as the development of theories and doctrines relating to ‘irregular war’ from the colonial to the contemporary world. The links between insurgencies, nationalism, and revolution will be considered as well as the strategic and ethical issues arising from irregular warfare.

This module will engage you in an in-depth assessment of life in Britain during the twenty-year period between the First and Second World Wars. The overarching theme of the module reflects the perennial historiographical debate on whether these years are best seen through a pessimistic lens of political crisis and economic decline, or more positively via a focus on social opportunity and cultural vibrancy.

You will engage in critical discussion of interwar politics, debating issues such as: the rise of the Labour Party, Conservative electoral dominance, the failure of political extremism in the British context and the beginning of the end of Empire. Unemployment and economic challenges will also be covered, alongside the rise of consumerism, home ownership and the growth of leisure activities. Social and cultural change will be examined through a variety of issues such as the experience of women, the decline of the aristocracy and the impact of the wider world upon Britain: for example, the popularity of American jazz music and cinema. The shadow of war will be a key theme throughout, be it the economic and social consequences of the First World War, or international tensions coming out of it that culminated in the 1930s.

You will engage with a range of primary source material, including novels, autobiographies, contemporaneous journalism, oral histories, newsreels and film and will be expected to engage in and frame your interpretations utilising key, recent historiography.

This module will largely be undertaken through a ‘negotiated’ independent study. You will be allocated a tutor and will receive a series of group, individual and/or on-line tutorials, with the best form of tutorial being selected for the project or placement. This module is deliberately structured in an open-ended way to allow placements and/or projects to be developed which are most suited to your potential future career and to respond to opportunities presented by employers.

This module provides you with the opportunity to take an active part in a live archaeological project. Over the course of the 6-week excavation, you will gain a thorough practical knowledge of the methods and techniques used by archaeologists to survey, record, and excavate archaeological features. The module will also provide an opportunity for you to gain skills in the processing and interpretation of recovered archaeological artefacts and environmental evidence. By engaging in such activities you will develop a range of skills in site identification, recording methodologies, conservation evaluation, problem solving, public interpretation, project management, and team-working.

This module provides single honours history students and single honours military history students with the opportunity to engage in close, detailed and systematic historical study of a specific theme or topic at an advanced level. Based upon the in-depth critical reading and interpretation of primary and secondary texts, small group teaching will be led by academics whose specialist historical knowledge will be used as a focus for the chosen theme or topic.

Seminar and tutorial sessions will explore the chosen subject area through source-based analysis and critical interpretation with, where appropriate, reflection on the contested nature of historiographical debate. The content will include relevant and specific themes or topics that reflect the research specialisms of the academic staff leading each Special Subject group.

Normally a range of history and military history topics will be optionally available each academic year that will provide some degree of both thematic and chronological choice. Subject-specific details relating to the syllabus and session structure will be published in advance of delivery via the University’s VLE. The module is designed to support students as they further develop their subject specific research skills at an appropriate level

On this module you will undertake a critical and detailed study of the disciplinary area of conflict archaeology. The module will review a range of conflict archaeology contexts including battlefield archaeology, wreck sites, standing buildings evidence and material culture in both military and civilian contexts. Chronological range will be addressed by use of critical examples of archaeological projects from differing time periods from the classical world to the contemporary. Similarly consideration will be given to conflict archaeology projects undertaken across a variety of differing geographical locations both in the UK and overseas. Finally, you will consider and evaluate the challenging professional and ethical issues that frame many aspects of archaeological activity within this disciplinary area.

This module provides you with a critical study of the history of the Cold War ‘conflict’ between the US and its allies, and the Soviet Union during the second half of the 20th century. Through a wide-ranging study, based on primary and secondary sources, the module will review the political, diplomatic and social manifestations of the Cold War. A specific element of the module will focus on the foreign relations between the Soviet Union and the United States of America, examining the historiographical debates that surround the origins and the end of the Cold War. Key features such as Soviet and U.S. foreign policy, ‘proxywars’ and the role of secret intelligence alongside events such as the founding of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, Korea and Suez, the Chinese and Cuban Revolutions, Vietnamese and Afghan Wars will be examined. Popular protest movements will also be considered, such as CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) and the Anti-War movement. Key actors, episodes, events and crises will be addressed through an international lens encouraging you to take a global historical view on the issue of when, or indeed if, the Cold War ended. The module will consider relevant historiographical and methodological approaches, and you will learn how to apply these to the research and analysis of aspects of this period of history.

During this module you will undertake a wide-ranging critical study of British imperial development during the nineteenth century. The narrative underpinning the module is the increasingly global and expansionist nature of European empires at that time, with Britain in the vanguard of imperialistic, globalising forces. You will examine the impact of British political and military power, money, technology and culture on the peoples, societies and environments it came into contact with. You will likewise analyse the agency of human responses to imperialism through a mixture of adaptation, co-operation and resistance and be introduced to scholarly research on the geographical and environmental signifance of industrialised imperialism. Additionally, the ways in which British society and culture was transformed by the imperial experience will be a crucial point of consideration with its legacies stretching into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. You will utilise relevant secondary texts and a variety of primary sources in order to understand the most significant political, economic, technological, social and cultural aspects of the imperial experience and engage directly with classic and recent historiographical debates about the nature of the British Empire, its origins, purpose, meaning and legacies.

This module will explore the political history of the French and Haitian revolutions with a focus on the question of how far these revolutions represented the birth of ‘modernity’? In approaching the topic in this way, you will be encouraged to rethink the political ‘events’, personalities and ideas of the period and key economic, military, social and cultural changes in order to focus on the global significance of these revolutions and thus question more deeply the very concept of ‘modernity’. You will utilise the latest scholarship on figures such as Robespierre, Toussaint Louverture and Napoleon and examine case studies from the Fall of the Bastille to the Haitian Declaration of Independence in order to engage with concepts such human rights, racial and gender identity, terrorism, warfare and political violence, as well as questions of individual liberty, slavery, representative government and the role of the nation state in modern society. You will learn and apply the latest historical methods and approaches to an area that has consistently been one of the most creative (and divisive) in terms of historical theory and in so doing will learn about the role of historiographic debate in driving progress in the historical profession. By the end of the module you will be able to understand and intervene in discussions about the meaning and legacy of two revolutions which are frequently said to stand at the gateway to the modern world.

This module provides a critical approach to the study of archaeological artefacts from both an applied and theoretical perspective. You will undertake a wide-ranging critical study of the character and interpretation of archaeological artefacts. The processes of artefact management – from excavation to archiving or display – will be considered. You will develop skills associated with a number of relevant analytical techniques and theoretical approaches and thereby develop your subject specific professional and problem-solving skills.

On this module, you will be required to undertake a research-based project, drawing on academic advice as well as your own interests and intellectual skills, to produce a research-driven, written dissertation of 8-10,000 words. You will conduct your research by addressing self-formulated questions, supported by the critical selection, evaluation and analysis of primary and secondary source material. By these means you will devise and sustain a core argument, and/or solve relevant archaeological problems, to support the premise of your research question. Taught sessions will help you to explore and understand the research methodologies and issues of presentation required for the production of a successful archaeological dissertation. Through such workshops specific guidance is given with regard to appropriate research skills for the topics chosen. You will then have further individual tutorials spread across both semesters, in which allocated dissertation supervisors closely monitor and advise on the development of appropriate, distinctive, and critical arguments in respect of the chosen subject of study.

Each generation has left its mark on the landscape, which are superimposed on what went before. In this module, you will study the way in which humans have changed the physical appearance of the environment. Using an interdisciplinary approach combining archaeology, history and geography, you will learn how the landscape has evolved from prehistory to the present day.

On this module, you are required to undertake a research-based project, drawing on academic advice as well as your own interests and intellectual skills, to produce a research-driven, written dissertation of 8-10,000 words. You will conduct your research by addressing self-formulated questions, supported by the critical selection, evaluation and analysis of primary and secondary source material. By these means you will devise and sustain a core argument, and/or solve relevant historical problems, to support the premise of your research question. You will proactively manage the first stage of the development of your dissertation by forming conceptual ideas and related arguments and compile aresearch outline, research question and working, annotated bibliography to summarize both quantitatively and qualitatively the research you plan to undertake. Taught sessions will help you to explore and understand the research methodologies and issues of presentation required for the production of a successful history dissertation. You will then have further individual tutorials spread across both semesters, in which allocated dissertation supervisors closely monitor and advise on the development of appropriate, distinctive, and critical arguments in respect of the chosen subject of study.