Module Code - Title:

HI4112 - SOURCES FOR HISTORY

Year Last Offered:

2018/9

Hours Per Week:

Lecture

2

Lab

0

Tutorial

1

Other

0

Private

7

Credits

6

Grading Type:

N

Prerequisite Modules:

Rationale and Purpose of the Module:

The purpose of this module is to introduce history students, at the start of their primary degree programme, to the central significance of sources - whether primary or secondary - to gaining an understanding of history as a discipline and especially how an appreciation of the nature of sources enriches the work of the history student as well as that of the professional historian.

Syllabus:

1 Historians and their sources: a brief history 2 Primary and secondary sources 3 Identification, location, accession, critical evaluation and use of sources 4 Public and private archives: origins, ideologies and holdings 5 Using archives: access, availability, procedure and professional practice 6 The range and scope of electronically available source materials 7 Audio and visual sources 8 Old histories and new histories 9 Forgery, fabrication and the historian 10 The withdrawal, suppression and destruction of sources 11 Professional practice and political necessity 12 Appropriate citations of primary and secondary sources 13 Presenting a small research project

Learning Outcomes:

Cognitive (Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis)

On completion of this module the student should be able to: (1) Describe key features of historical inquiry and dissemination in past societies including classical Greece and Rome; medieval Christian Europe; early modern Ireland; Enlightenment Europe; nineteenth century Germany, France, Britain and Ireland; twentieth century Europe. (2) Understand the terms primary and secondary source as used by contemporary historians (3) Apply an understanding of primary and secondary sources to the a selected field of historical enquiry (4) Located, analysed and evaluated a range of source materials and developed and presented a written synthesis of those materials. The student should have further developed the skills of listening, evaluating, engaging, discussing and presenting historical material through effective and sustained participation in a the lectures and tutorials of the module.

Affective (Attitudes and Values)

On the completion of the module the student should have developed an awareness of the nature of historical research and writing and should have learned to value systematic research and evaluation of diverse and competing interpretations of historical subject matter.

Psychomotor (Physical Skills)

On completion of the module the student should have further developed the skills of listening, evaluating, engaging, discussing and presentating historical material through effective and sustained participation in the lectures and tutorials of the module.

How the Module will be Taught and what will be the Learning Experiences of the Students:

Attendance at two formal lectures weekly with occasional participation by students in discussion on specific points. Attendance at one tutorial weekly requiring student discussion on specified themes and tasks. Preparation and presentation of a research report on the use of primary and secondary sources.