This module will introduce you to history as an academic subject and professional activity and will support your transition to learning in higher education. It has two specific aims. It will support you to develop the necessary practical and intellectual skills necessary for the successful study of history at an undergraduate level. It will also encourage you to think reflectively and critically about the nature of history and the kinds of approaches and methods that historians use to construct knowledge about the past. The module will also support you to develop some of the practical competencies required of the undergraduate historian, including those in written and oral communication. You will learn how to present written assessments, how to reference secondary and primary sources and how to prepare for and participate in seminar discussions. There will be an emphasis on encouraging you to develop as reflective learners.

This module is designed to develop practical research skills and introduce you to a range of primary sources and methodological approaches which underpin historical research. By means of workshops and local case studies, some in partnership with Suffolk Archives in The Hold, you will develop skills in reading, understanding and interpreting a selection of primary resource materials such as the census, newspapers, local authority records, visual images, diaries and letters, wills, maps and legal records.

To provide a cross section of the deeper insights that primary source research can yield, the module will focus on a range of topics, periods and approaches, but the skills and lessons learned are intended to be applicable to any period, region or historical approach.

This module will introduce you to a formative period of English history spanning from the Battle of Bosworth to the Hanoverian succession. At the start of the Tudor era, England was, compared to its European neighbours, a war-torn and minor feudal state of modest population and size. But just over two centuries later, at the time of the coronation of the German-speaking George I, England was ruled by a constitutional monarch whose pathway to the crown was laid by parliament. And, by then, England was a burgeoning colonial and commercial power, and the recent Act of Union had brought Scotland into the fold and created Britain. Through taking this module you will become familiar with the fascinating political story of how the foundations for modern British politics were built during the early modern period. However, rather than focusing exclusively on ‘great men’ and key dates, students will also be encouraged to explore broader social, economic and cultural trends.

In this module will take an intersectional, interdisciplinary and anti-colonial approach to the study of Empire. Crucially, it will centre the voices, experiences and testimonies of people racialised as non-white and colonised by the British and other European empires. It will focus on the resistance, rebellion and revolutions against imperial rule and seek to challenge white supremacist narratives of the history of Empire. 

This module will introduce the economic, social, cultural, and political history of Britain 1750-1985. It will employ a thematic approach, focusing on experiences such as the impact and consequences of industrialization, the development of the modern state, political reform and the expansion of democracy, relations with Ireland and the influence and meaning of class, gender, racial and ethnic identities. It will also chart the rise and decline of Britain as an imperial and world power and the impact of total war in the twentieth century. It will provide you with an understanding of historical development over time and foster an appreciation of the complexity and diversity of past situations, events, and mentalities. It will also axiomatically explore concepts such as change and continuity.

History in Practice has two related aims and strands. It will provide you with experience in subject related careers, and it will also develop skills in scoping and developing independent research projects and proposals. Part of the module will focus on working in history-related careers (primarily the heritage sector and teaching). You will have the opportunity to meet and work alongside teaching and heritage professionals in order to gain a better understanding of working in these sectors and how they might develop careers within them. The module will feature contributions from external partners from these sectors and you will work closely with staff from Suffolk Archives at the Hold and teachers from Suffolk Schools in particular. You will be given the opportunity to gain practical experience alongside these staff and to use the skills in research, analysis and communication they have gained so far to make a meaningful contribution to a scheduled public exhibition/event and/or to an active school history curriculum. 

This module takes an intersectional and interdisciplinary approach to the inception and development of the United States from the beginnings of the American Revolution through to its ascendance as an industrial and imperial world power. Crucially, it will centre the voices, experiences and testimonies of people racialised as non-white and will focus on resistance and rebellion throughout the centuries. In doing so, we will chart the turbulence and violence of American history and cover multiple themes including enslavement, democracy, territorial expansion, immigration, industrial capitalism, the market revolution, the Civil War, the Wild West, Reconstruction and Redemption, the Harlem Renaissance, the World Wars, and the Civil Rights Movement. You will engage critically with a variety of primary and secondary sources that cover a vast array of print, performative, visual, literary and material cultures including speeches, autobiography, paintings, murals, poetry, film and photography.

How did ideological conflict and total war shape European history during the turbulent twentieth century? Building on previous learning connected to global geo-politics, society, culture and historiography, this module seeks to develop understanding and awareness of key concepts and events that shaped the world during the twentieth century. It will introduce you to primary source materials related to the key actors and events under investigation and will encourage you to adopt a comparative approach to assessing the nature and impact of total war, ideology and revolution, through which competing historiographical interpretations will be evaluated. ‘Age of Extremes’: The Turbulent Twentieth Century, 1901-2001’ will provide you with a foundation for some of the theory and content addressed in later modules.

The module offers you the opportunity to study the role of sex and gender in the lives of British men and women over the past five hundred years, and to question the extent to which both informed the lives of Britons. You will explore how and why ideas about appropriate gender roles and sexual mores were formed, contested, and adapted across the centuries, and the consequences this had for the social, material and cultural lives of women and men. In addition to considering the position of men and women in relation to each other, you will also be encouraged to consider the variety of experiences within the categories of male and female, and connections with other key markers of identity and hierarchy such as class, race, age and religion. The module will introduce you to the varied approaches, theories and debates within the field of gender history and you will be given the opportunity to engage with historiographical debate and to foster an appreciation for the complexity and diversity of past mentalities, beliefs, identities and customs.

This module will introduce you to the vibrant and growing field of consumption history. To contextualize the origins of present-day consumerism, the module will focus on the moment when buying and owning ‘stuff’ became a banal, daily experience, and when many everyday commodities ceased to be luxuries and became essentials for a civilized lifestyle. The module will therefore explore the ‘consumer revolution’ in Britain and western Europe between the late 1600s and early 1800s and its transformational impact on material culture. By encouraging you to investigate specific commodities and think about lived daily realities and constraints, the module will provide an accessible pathway into socio-economic history.

This module is a mandatory element within the History programme and gives you the opportunity to conceive and develop an extended study based on the analysis of both primary and secondary sources. The History Dissertation should either be an investigation into a particular topic based upon the evaluation of primary sources, positioned, and contextualised within their historiographical field, or an extensive and detailed review and analysis of the historiography of a specific historical topic, resulting in a dissertation of approximately 9,000 words in length. This module will provide for the demonstration and enhancement of skills and knowledge gained through earlier study at Levels 4 and 5 and concurrent learning at Level 6 and also support the further development of competencies associated with employability

The conflict in Northern Ireland known as ‘The Troubles’ lasted from 1969 until 1998. It brought death and injury, widespread destruction of property and economic disruption, to an integral part of the United Kingdon and its effects can still be felt today. Although the immediate origins of ‘The Troubles’ are sometimes located in the social and economic flux of the 1960s, the conflict should also be understood within a wider history of conflict and contention in Ireland shaped by both internal divisions and the long and often problematic relationship with the British State. This module examines that history of contention and conflict over a period extending from the late sixteenth-century through to the late twentieth-century. It will establish a context for the modern conflict in Northern Ireland which extends from the era of plantation, through rebellion and wars in the seventeenth-century, the rise of the Anglican protestant ascendancy, campaigns for Catholic Emancipation and Home Rule in the nineteenth-century, revolution and partition and the impact of the two World Wars and sectarian violence in the twentieth century. The module will end with an exploration of the path to a negotiated peace in the 1990s and the recent history of power sharing and the rise of Sinn Fein.

This module explores the history of the witch hunt in England, Scotland, continental Europe, and New England between 1450 and 1750, and its subsequent legacy. In each regional case study typical topics will include: the rise and decline of the hunt, the profile of the accused and accusers, the legal, social, religious, economic, political and cultural backdrops, the role of gender, age and rank, unique features and characteristics, and the persistence and evolution of witchcraft belief after the era of prosecution.

This course is designed to teach you both the importance and limitations of history as an academic discipline, and the dangers of history when misused in the construction of national and other group identities. In studying genocide, the attempt to annihilate people because of their membership of a real or perceived group, you are forced to confront core disciplinary issues. Are the historian’s tools adequate to explain this phenomenon? Is it possible to compare episodes of genocide? Why have lawyers and scholars disagreed over the fundamental definition of ‘genocide’? How are ‘modernity’ and ‘progress’ related to the perpetration of mass atrocities? How have societies constructed ‘us and them’ dichotomies of difference and how have these been mobilized in genocidal projects? Can our historical understanding of genocide be enhanced through engagement with other disciplines such as anthropology and psychology? How do supposedly ‘ordinary’ people become genocidal killers? Why has the international community failed to prevent genocides? The module also tackles crucial questions connected to memory and memorialization of genocides, and the politicization of these issues.

The military histories of the major global conflicts of the ‘short twentieth century’ are well documented at the international level. But the military contribution to the First World War, Second World War and the Cold War also had significant social, cultural, and domestic political effect across the United Kingdom. This module explores the domestic national experience of warfare by examining the evolving relationship between the British military, state, and society during periods of conflict during the twentieth century. It will explore the human experience of warfare and the legacy that has evolved within the public consciousness. You will be supported to apply prior learning to consider the impact of the global events of the twentieth century at the national level. The historiography of twentieth-century warfare will also be examined, and you will be encouraged to consider the value and limitations of the historical approaches that have been applied to the subject in the past. The module will also examine the cultural legacy of military conflict and will assess the impact of representations of warfare in literature, art and film on popular memory.

This module will introduce you to history as an academic subject and professional activity and will support your transition to learning in higher education. It has two specific aims. It will support you to develop the necessary practical and intellectual skills necessary for the successful study of history at an undergraduate level. It will also encourage you to think reflectively and critically about the nature of history and the kinds of approaches and methods that historians use to construct knowledge about the past. The module will also support you to develop some of the practical competencies required of the undergraduate historian, including those in written and oral communication. You will learn how to present written assessments, how to reference secondary and primary sources and how to prepare for and participate in seminar discussions. There will be an emphasis on encouraging you to develop as reflective learners.

This module is designed to develop practical research skills and introduce you to a range of primary sources and methodological approaches which underpin historical research. By means of workshops and local case studies, some in partnership with Suffolk Archives in The Hold, you will develop skills in reading, understanding and interpreting a selection of primary resource materials such as the census, newspapers, local authority records, visual images, diaries and letters, wills, maps and legal records.

To provide a cross section of the deeper insights that primary source research can yield, the module will focus on a range of topics, periods and approaches, but the skills and lessons learned are intended to be applicable to any period, region or historical approach.

This module will introduce you to a formative period of English history spanning from the Battle of Bosworth to the Hanoverian succession. At the start of the Tudor era, England was, compared to its European neighbours, a war-torn and minor feudal state of modest population and size. But just over two centuries later, at the time of the coronation of the German-speaking George I, England was ruled by a constitutional monarch whose pathway to the crown was laid by parliament. And, by then, England was a burgeoning colonial and commercial power, and the recent Act of Union had brought Scotland into the fold and created Britain. Through taking this module you will become familiar with the fascinating political story of how the foundations for modern British politics were built during the early modern period. However, rather than focusing exclusively on ‘great men’ and key dates, students will also be encouraged to explore broader social, economic and cultural trends.

In this module will take an intersectional, interdisciplinary and anti-colonial approach to the study of Empire. Crucially, it will centre the voices, experiences and testimonies of people racialised as non-white and colonised by the British and other European empires. It will focus on the resistance, rebellion and revolutions against imperial rule and seek to challenge white supremacist narratives of the history of Empire. 

This module will introduce the economic, social, cultural, and political history of Britain 1750-1985. It will employ a thematic approach, focusing on experiences such as the impact and consequences of industrialization, the development of the modern state, political reform and the expansion of democracy, relations with Ireland and the influence and meaning of class, gender, racial and ethnic identities. It will also chart the rise and decline of Britain as an imperial and world power and the impact of total war in the twentieth century. It will provide you with an understanding of historical development over time and foster an appreciation of the complexity and diversity of past situations, events, and mentalities. It will also axiomatically explore concepts such as change and continuity.

History in Practice has two related aims and strands. It will provide you with experience in subject related careers, and it will also develop skills in scoping and developing independent research projects and proposals. Part of the module will focus on working in history-related careers (primarily the heritage sector and teaching). You will have the opportunity to meet and work alongside teaching and heritage professionals in order to gain a better understanding of working in these sectors and how they might develop careers within them. The module will feature contributions from external partners from these sectors and you will work closely with staff from Suffolk Archives at the Hold and teachers from Suffolk Schools in particular. You will be given the opportunity to gain practical experience alongside these staff and to use the skills in research, analysis and communication they have gained so far to make a meaningful contribution to a scheduled public exhibition/event and/or to an active school history curriculum. 

This module takes an intersectional and interdisciplinary approach to the inception and development of the United States from the beginnings of the American Revolution through to its ascendance as an industrial and imperial world power. Crucially, it will centre the voices, experiences and testimonies of people racialised as non-white and will focus on resistance and rebellion throughout the centuries. In doing so, we will chart the turbulence and violence of American history and cover multiple themes including enslavement, democracy, territorial expansion, immigration, industrial capitalism, the market revolution, the Civil War, the Wild West, Reconstruction and Redemption, the Harlem Renaissance, the World Wars, and the Civil Rights Movement. You will engage critically with a variety of primary and secondary sources that cover a vast array of print, performative, visual, literary and material cultures including speeches, autobiography, paintings, murals, poetry, film and photography.

How did ideological conflict and total war shape European history during the turbulent twentieth century? Building on previous learning connected to global geo-politics, society, culture and historiography, this module seeks to develop understanding and awareness of key concepts and events that shaped the world during the twentieth century. It will introduce you to primary source materials related to the key actors and events under investigation and will encourage you to adopt a comparative approach to assessing the nature and impact of total war, ideology and revolution, through which competing historiographical interpretations will be evaluated. ‘Age of Extremes’: The Turbulent Twentieth Century, 1901-2001’ will provide you with a foundation for some of the theory and content addressed in later modules.

The module offers you the opportunity to study the role of sex and gender in the lives of British men and women over the past five hundred years, and to question the extent to which both informed the lives of Britons. You will explore how and why ideas about appropriate gender roles and sexual mores were formed, contested, and adapted across the centuries, and the consequences this had for the social, material and cultural lives of women and men. In addition to considering the position of men and women in relation to each other, you will also be encouraged to consider the variety of experiences within the categories of male and female, and connections with other key markers of identity and hierarchy such as class, race, age and religion. The module will introduce you to the varied approaches, theories and debates within the field of gender history and you will be given the opportunity to engage with historiographical debate and to foster an appreciation for the complexity and diversity of past mentalities, beliefs, identities and customs.

This module will introduce you to the vibrant and growing field of consumption history. To contextualize the origins of present-day consumerism, the module will focus on the moment when buying and owning ‘stuff’ became a banal, daily experience, and when many everyday commodities ceased to be luxuries and became essentials for a civilized lifestyle. The module will therefore explore the ‘consumer revolution’ in Britain and western Europe between the late 1600s and early 1800s and its transformational impact on material culture. By encouraging you to investigate specific commodities and think about lived daily realities and constraints, the module will provide an accessible pathway into socio-economic history.

This module is a mandatory element within the History programme and gives you the opportunity to conceive and develop an extended study based on the analysis of both primary and secondary sources. The History Dissertation should either be an investigation into a particular topic based upon the evaluation of primary sources, positioned, and contextualised within their historiographical field, or an extensive and detailed review and analysis of the historiography of a specific historical topic, resulting in a dissertation of approximately 9,000 words in length. This module will provide for the demonstration and enhancement of skills and knowledge gained through earlier study at Levels 4 and 5 and concurrent learning at Level 6 and also support the further development of competencies associated with employability

The conflict in Northern Ireland known as ‘The Troubles’ lasted from 1969 until 1998. It brought death and injury, widespread destruction of property and economic disruption, to an integral part of the United Kingdon and its effects can still be felt today. Although the immediate origins of ‘The Troubles’ are sometimes located in the social and economic flux of the 1960s, the conflict should also be understood within a wider history of conflict and contention in Ireland shaped by both internal divisions and the long and often problematic relationship with the British State. This module examines that history of contention and conflict over a period extending from the late sixteenth-century through to the late twentieth-century. It will establish a context for the modern conflict in Northern Ireland which extends from the era of plantation, through rebellion and wars in the seventeenth-century, the rise of the Anglican protestant ascendancy, campaigns for Catholic Emancipation and Home Rule in the nineteenth-century, revolution and partition and the impact of the two World Wars and sectarian violence in the twentieth century. The module will end with an exploration of the path to a negotiated peace in the 1990s and the recent history of power sharing and the rise of Sinn Fein.

This module explores the history of the witch hunt in England, Scotland, continental Europe, and New England between 1450 and 1750, and its subsequent legacy. In each regional case study typical topics will include: the rise and decline of the hunt, the profile of the accused and accusers, the legal, social, religious, economic, political and cultural backdrops, the role of gender, age and rank, unique features and characteristics, and the persistence and evolution of witchcraft belief after the era of prosecution.

This course is designed to teach you both the importance and limitations of history as an academic discipline, and the dangers of history when misused in the construction of national and other group identities. In studying genocide, the attempt to annihilate people because of their membership of a real or perceived group, you are forced to confront core disciplinary issues. Are the historian’s tools adequate to explain this phenomenon? Is it possible to compare episodes of genocide? Why have lawyers and scholars disagreed over the fundamental definition of ‘genocide’? How are ‘modernity’ and ‘progress’ related to the perpetration of mass atrocities? How have societies constructed ‘us and them’ dichotomies of difference and how have these been mobilized in genocidal projects? Can our historical understanding of genocide be enhanced through engagement with other disciplines such as anthropology and psychology? How do supposedly ‘ordinary’ people become genocidal killers? Why has the international community failed to prevent genocides? The module also tackles crucial questions connected to memory and memorialization of genocides, and the politicization of these issues.

The military histories of the major global conflicts of the ‘short twentieth century’ are well documented at the international level. But the military contribution to the First World War, Second World War and the Cold War also had significant social, cultural, and domestic political effect across the United Kingdom. This module explores the domestic national experience of warfare by examining the evolving relationship between the British military, state, and society during periods of conflict during the twentieth century. It will explore the human experience of warfare and the legacy that has evolved within the public consciousness. You will be supported to apply prior learning to consider the impact of the global events of the twentieth century at the national level. The historiography of twentieth-century warfare will also be examined, and you will be encouraged to consider the value and limitations of the historical approaches that have been applied to the subject in the past. The module will also examine the cultural legacy of military conflict and will assess the impact of representations of warfare in literature, art and film on popular memory.