M.A. in History Student Handbook 2011-2012

year to year depending on the staff teaching the module and the interests of the students taking the
module.
Assessment: One seminar presentation related to one of the module topics (25%) and an essay of 4-
5,000 words (75%) on a subject to be agreed with the module tutor.
Introductory Reading:
• Chartier, Roger. Cultural History (1988)
• Darnton, Robert. The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History
(1985)
HIST415: Historical Approaches to Locality and Region
Module Convenor: Dr Angus Winchester
Teaching: Lent Term
The module will address issues and approaches relevant to the pursuit of history at the scale of
locality and region. It will introduce the development of the study of history at micro-level and will
explore a range of themes encountered by historians working within a close spatial focus. These will
be drawn from the following: boundaries and localities (cultural divisions of space and the definition
of place); defining regions (questions of scale, cohesion and expression); relationships between places
- core and periphery; micro-history; community history (definitions and identities); case study
approaches (individual and comparative); perceptions of space (historical mapping).
Introductory Reading:
• Beckett, John V., Writing Local History (Manchester, 2008)
• Kammen, Carol (ed.), The Pursuit of Local History: readings on theory and practice (London,
1996)
• Tiller, Kate, English Local History: an Introduction (Stroud, 2002)
Assessment: Students are required to produce one assessed piece of coursework of 5,000 words.
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