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HIL104 Stability and Change:European Society in the Eighteenth Century
This module introduces students to the main cultural, social and political developments of the mid eighteenth century in western Europe. Through an analysis of the main features of the ancien regime -monarchies, nobilities and churches - the focus of this module will be those elements of continuity and change that characterised this turbulent and ultimately revolutionary period.

HIL122 Society and Politics in Modern Britain
This is an introductory module which enables students to cover the main features of the socio-political history of twentieth century Britain, ranging across social policies and popular cultures as well as political formations and national identities. A variety of historical resources will be drawn upon in this module, and the structure will normally be organised around three key themes: the changing nature of the interventionist state, the democratisation of culture and re-definitions of Britishness throughout the century.

HIL 107 Making Histories
This module offers a systematic insight into the methods and assumptions that form historical research practice. The course is designed to introduce discussion of ‘academic’ history writing, its conventions and standard practices. This module offers space for students to become active learners and researchers, able to consider their own intellectual decisions in the light of various models of good practice.

HIL108 Renaissance and Reformation Europe
The aim of this module is to give students a broad overview of two of the major developments in European history from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, both of them equally dramatic in events, ideas and consequences: the Renaissance and the Reformation. Whilst these words are usually used to denote cultural and religious developments in particular, the module in facts reviews many other aspects of Renaissance and Reformation Europe, such as the growth of powerful new monarchies, the position of women, and the discovery of the new world. Special attention is given to some of the fascinating documents and artistic works of the period.

HIL 109 Europe in the Twentieth Century
This module provides a survey of European political history from 1870 to the 1950s. As well as covering general historical knowledge of the period, the module introduces a number of important historical controversies. The work of international historians such as AJP Taylor, Fritz Fischer and Stephen Ambrose are explored.

HIL113 Studies in Gender and History
This module aims to introduce students to the wide variety of approaches and themes undertaken by historians in the field of gender studies. The term ‘gender’ has attracted a remarkable amount of scholarly attention over the last 25 years and gender history is now one of the most rapid growth areas in the discipline of history.

This module will introduce you to some of this exciting material, beginning with a careful consideration of the term ‘gender’ itself and its arguably transformative potential for the study of history. The course then goes on to look at selected areas of research by gender historians, including topics such as science, the family, education, sexuality, work, class, ethnicity and war. We will look at the way in which historians of various periods have made use of the term to revise or supplement existing historical analyses and assumptions. Your role by the end of the module is to have made your own assessment of the significance of ‘gender’ in the writing of history.

HIL115 Contemporary Debates on the Nature of History

This Level 1 course introduces students to some of the key issues and debates currently taking place around the question of the 'nature of history' today. It examines a range of issues: what is history? How does the past become 'historical' what sort of knowledge can historians have about the past, are there such things as historical objectivity, truth and the disinterested pursuit of the past for its own sake and on its own terms, or are histories political, ideological, and so on. Combining overview lectures, seminar discussions based on set texts and tutorial sessions, the course discusses various traditional approaches to the above questions as well as exposing them to criticisms and suggesting new ways of looking at the 'historical past'. Some of the historians considered are probably already known by students - Geoffrey Elton, E. H. Carr, John Tosh, Arthur Marwick, Richard Evans and Mary Fulbrook - but others will probably be new: Gabrielle Spiegel, Hayden White, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Tony Bennett and Robert Young. Together, these historians and theorists will help students to understand not only how history is being currently considered, but will help them to work out the reasons why, and the methods by which, they will think about and study it themselves.

HIL 116 Film and History
This module invites students to think about how history is portrayed in the cinema. It questions the rise in popularity of historical film and television and in so doing explores the implications of this trend for historians. Among the many approaches to film that we discuss, special emphasis is given to the contributions of figures such as Walter Benjamin, Siegfried Kracauer, Marc Ferro, Robert Rosenstone, Natalie Zemon Davies and David Ellwood.

HIL117 Approaches to Cultural History
The subject matter of cultural history is vast. This overview module explores the range of historians’ approaches to the culture of past societies, drawing most of its case studies from the early modern period but including forays into the ancient world and the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The module covers the history of religious thought and of political ideas, the history of art and literature, and historical approaches to popular culture.

HIL118 Heritage as Public History
The aim of the module is to provide students with an awareness of the debates surrounding ‘the heritage industry’ and how it uses the past to promote displays, exhibitions, re-enactments and other types of events in the present. The module will also look at how museums impart knowledge and their role in providing education for a range of visitors. By understanding what is meant by ‘public history’, students will be able to recognise the ways in which the past is presented to a popular audience and how this differs from academic interpretations. The module will involve field trips to local museums or heritage sites and talks from museum professionals.

HIL119 Studies in Local History
This module introduces students to the general debates and approaches surrounding local history as well as some of main sources of information in local history studies work. Students will work independently for part of the module researching a selected aspect of local history in a small group and utilising the excellent facilities offered by the local Record Office, local museums and libraries. As well as inputs from the teaching team there will be contributions from local studies specialists.