Methods and Sources in First Millennium Studies (P01829)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : HCA-P-P01829

This course provides a critical overview of different primary sources of information characteristic of first millennium studies, and different methodological issues characteristic of their study. It is taught by several members of the programme teaching team with different disciplinary backgrounds, thus promoting interdisciplinary consideration of the first millennium.

Seminars are based on the close reading and discussion of pre-circulated research papers by members of the teaching team. Students discuss each week's paper with its author, paying particular attention to the sources used, the ways in which they are used, and other aspects of each scholar's methodology.

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Postgraduate (School of History and Classics), (School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Schedule E)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
14/01/2009	15:00	17:00

? Additional Class Information : Classes meet in Room B.3, 17 Buccleuch Place (or elsewhere by arrangement).

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

The principal aim of the Module is to familiarise students with a representative sample and range of the main types of sources of evidence for the study of the first millennium, and with some of the main problems, challenges and rewards surrounding their use. Completing this Module will also provide opportunities to:
• develop an awareness of the importance of critical perspectives in handling primary materials
• develop an advanced awareness of the limits of the evidence, and the role of the scholar in formulating historical 'facts'
• be exposed to the different research interests of the teaching team, promoting awareness of the rich variety of methodological approaches that characterise the study of the first millennium
• identify an appropriate Dissertation supervisor and research question
• improve existing skills in oral presentation, participating in productive seminar discussion, and producing balanced and readable written discussions of complex issues

Assessment Information

Students will be examined by means of a dissertation proposal of 3000 words (100% of the overall course mark) setting out an intellectual agenda for the Dissertation, including consideration of methodology and a critical preliminary discussion of the principal primary and secondary sources to feature in it.