Uses of the Past

Module title	Uses of the Past
Module code	HIH2002
Academic year	2019/0
Credits	30
Module staff	Professor Freyja Cox Jensen (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks	11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	220

Module description

In this module you will explore how people in the past used history to explain their present, and how people today use history. You will look at the ways in which the past has been constructed, including the roles people have played, the impact of different cultures, and how things have changed over time. You will explore the authority that different cultures have given to the past, what makes a past ‘authentic’ and ‘powerful’, how notions of good or bad history changed over time, and you will assess why people have turned to the past in order to make sense of their worlds. You will compare past and present uses of history across different cultures, and the way in which history is used by different states and rulers, and in education, entertainment and public commemoration. Finally, you will look at how groups have attempted to make sense of their past using a range of sources: for example, chronicles, paintings, films, genealogies, statues and memorials.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to:

Introduce you to the many and varied ways in which the past has been used, and continues to be used
Compare the function of history in different cultures of the past and present, addressing its use by different states and rulers, and in education, entertainment and public commemoration
Address the role that scholars, novelists, film makers or propagandists have played in constructing the past, using reflections on past cultures of historical production to contextualise and critique the function of the academic historian today
Explore the authority that different cultures have given to the past, what makes a past ‘authentic’ and ‘powerful’, and how notions of good or bad history changed over time, and it will assess why people have turned to the past in order to make sense of their worlds
Examine a range of texts and objects – such as chronicles, paintings, films, genealogies, statues, memorials – through which groups have attempted to make sense of their pasts
In small groups, you will have the opportunity to explore one ‘use of the past’ in detail, which will form the basis of your wiki project

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. Assess the varying functions of history in both the past and the present, for different cultures and social groups
2. Assess critically historical writing through consideration of the purposes for which it was created and the functions that it has played in past and contemporary societies
3. Analyse, through a particular case-study, the issues involved in the representation of the past to a public audience

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

4. Assess the work of scholars and handle different approaches in areas of controversy
5. Collate and critique data from a range of sources
6. Understand, recognise and deploy historical terminology in a comprehensible manner

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

7. Carry out both independent and autonomous study and group work, including presentation of material for group discussion, developed through the mode of learning
8. Present complex material orally
9. With minimum guidance, digest, select and synthesize evidence and arguments to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

Introduction: 1066 And All That
Writing Histories
Personal Histories
History in Culture
History, Education and Citizenship
Public Histories
Remembering and Forgetting History
History and Identity
Historicising the Uses of the Past
The Professionalisation of History
History and Identity
Education and the Transmission of Values and Knowledge
Collecting, Preserving and Presenting the Past
Memory and the Politics of Remembrance
Power, Legitimacy and the Uses of History
Selling the Past: Heritage, Tourism and Entertainment

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
44	256	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Lectures	22 hours	Lectures (2 x 1 hour per week)
Seminars	22 hours	Seminars (8 x 2 hours): these will be led by the tutor. You will need to prepare for each seminar in advance. Supervision sessions for group project (6 x 1 hour)
Guided Independent Study	256 hours	Private study to prepare the seminar reading, primary sources and assessed work

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Poster presentation conference	2 hours	1-9	Oral

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
50	50	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Group Wiki Project [comprising: Wiki of 2500 words (35%), Poster of 500 words (15%)]	50	3000 words and poster	1-9	Written comments and verbal feedback
Take-home exam	50	3000 words	1-7, 9	Written comments and verbal feedback

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Group Wiki Project	Individual essay of 1500 words	1-7, 9	Referral/Deferral period
Take-home exam	3000 words	1-7, 9	Referral/Deferral period

Re-assessment notes

In place of the group Wiki, there will be an individual essay of 1500 which represents that individual’s contribution to such a project. The take-home exam will remain the same.

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

B. Anderson, Imagined Communities (2006)
J. Black, Maps and History (1997)
J. Black, Using History (2005)
J. Fentress & C. Wickham, Social Memory (1992)
J. Goody, The Theft of History (2006)
Y. Hen and M. Innes (eds.), The Uses of the Past in the Early Middle Ages (2005)
E. Hobsbawm and T. Ranger (eds.), The Invention of Tradition (1983)
L. Jordanova, History in Practice (2000)
D. Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country (1985)
D. Lowenthal, The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History (1998)
P. Mandler, History and National Life (2002)
B. Melman, The Culture of History: English Uses of the Past 1800–1953 (2006)
W. Mignolo, Local Histories/Global Designs (2000)
R. Samuel, Myths we Live By (1990)
R. Samuel, Theatres of Memory (1998)
B. Southgate, Why Bother with History? (2000)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3468

Key words search

Past, History, Heritage

Credit value	30
Module ECTS	15
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	5
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	01/10/2011
Last revision date	14/12/2018