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Modules for course V130 | BA/MEMH
BA Mediaeval and Early Modern His

These are the modules currently offered on this course in the 2019–20 academic year.

You can also view the modules offered in the years: 2018–19; 2020–21.

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Year 1 Modules

Compulsory Modules

Semester 1

40 to 60 credits from:

  • HXH-1002: Birth of Modern Europe (20) (Semester 2)
    The Renaissance; state formation; multiple monarchies (Valois France, the Habsburg Dominions, centre and peripheries in Britain and Ireland); the Reformation in Britain and on the Continent.
    or
    HXC-1003: Genedigaeth yr Ewrop Fodern (20) (Semester 2)
  • HXW-1007: Wales: Princes to Tudors (20) (Semester 2)
    Wales in the age of Owain Gwynedd and Lord Rhys; Gerald of Wales; rise of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth in Gwynedd and over much of the rest of Wales; the reign of Dafydd ap Llywelyn and succession to Gwynedd; the hegemony and downfall of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, prince of Wales; poetry and history writing in medieval Wales; Welsh political aspirations in l4th century; Owain Glyndŵr and his movement; Brutus, 1485 and political prophecy; Wales and the Reformation; Wales and the Renaissance; Wales and 16th-century politics – the Acts of Union.
    or
    HXC-1007: Cymru: Tywysogion i Duduriaid (20) (Semester 2)
    Oes Owain Gwynedd a'r Arglwydd Rhys; Gerallt Gymro; Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (m. 1240) a'i feibion; Penarglwyddiaeth a chwymp Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Tywysog Cymru (m. 1282); barddoniaeth a hanes yn yr Oesoedd Canol; dyheadau gwleidyddol Cymreig yn y bedwaredd ganrif ar ddeg; mudiad Glyndwr; Brutus, 1485 a'r traddodiad proffwydol; Cymru a'r Diwygiad Protestannaidd; Cymru a'r Dadeni; Cymru a gwleidyddiaeth yr unfed ganrif ar bymtheg - y Deddfau Uno.
  • HXH-1011: Europe in the High Middle Ages (20) (Semester 1) or
    HXC-1011: Ewrop yn y Canol Oesoedd Uchel (20) (Semester 1)
  • Students on this programme must take one module covering the Medival Period (c.500-1500) and one module covering the Early Modern Period (1500-1750) but can take all 3

Optional Modules

40 to 60 credits from:

  • HAC-1001: Y Wladwriaeth Les (20) (Semester 2)
  • HPS-1002: Power, Freedom & the State (20) (Semester 2)
  • HPS-1004: Death of God (20) (Semester 2)
  • HXH-1004: Intro Modern History1815-1914 (20) (Semester 1)
    This module provides an introduction to nineteenth-century history, in particular: - Key events and dates - The political geography of Europe - Industrial Revolutions - Workers - Workers’ Political Movements - Middle Classes - Liberalism and Conservatism - Elites - Revolutions - Nationalism and Nation States - The Disintegration of Multinational Empires - War and Diplomacy - Imperialism It also provides an introduction to basic study skills, in particular: - The Library - Planning, Literature Search, Bibliography - Essay Writing - References, Footnotes, Plagiarism
    or
    HXC-1004: Cyflwyniad Hanes Modern (20) (Semester 1)
    Bydd y modiwl hwn yn rhoi arweiniad i hanes y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg, yn arbennig: - y chwyldro amaethyddol a’r chwyldro diwydiannol - yr elit a’r dosbarth canol - Rhyddfrydiaeth a Cheidwadaeth - gweithwyr a'r werin - mudiadau gwleidyddol gweithwyr - chwyldroadau - cenedlaetholdeb a hunaniaeth genedlaethol - rhyfel a diplomyddiaeth - Imperialaeth
  • HPS-1005: Existentialism (20) (Semester 1)
  • HXA-1005: Archaeological Principles&Tech (20) (Semester 1)
    What is archaeology?; what archaeologists study; the history of archaeological principles and techniques; archaeological techniques: surveying, excavation, scientific analysis and dating; interpretation in archaeology; internet tools and resources, aerial photography, stratigraphy and experimental archaeology.
  • HXH-1005: Intro to History and Heritage (20) (Semester 1)
    Definitions of history, heritage and archaeology; the development of museums; cabinets of curiosities; new heritage sites; heritage agencies; the state and heritage management; heritage and landscape conservation; industrial heritage; heritage and identity.
  • HXA-1006: Intro. to British Prehistory (20) (Semester 2)
    What is prehistory?; homo erectus and the earliest human societies; from ancient to modern ¿ the Middle Palaeolithic; late glacial hunters of the Upper Palaeolithic; managing the land ¿ the Mesolithic; the Meso/Neo transition; an introduction to the Neolithic; tombs for the ancestors - death and burial; communal monuments; Bronze Age beakers and barrows - rise of the individual; Stonehenge and its landscape; settlement and agriculture - the earlier/later Bronze Age transition; the production and deposition of metalwork; houses and households in later prehistory; enclosures and Iron Age 'hillforts'; Iron Age settlement and agriculture; ritual and burial practices; Late Iron Age Britain and the Romans; regional variation; social change in prehistory.
  • HXA-1008: Intro. to Historic Archaeology (20) (Semester 2)
    This course will provide a foundation for the period demonstrating the main developments using examples and showing how interpretations have changed. For the Roman Period, the course will examine the conquest and military archaeology; the countryside (villas, native settlements, farming and mineral extraction); towns; craft and the economy; religion and burial; and the end of Roman Britain. For the Early Medieval Period, the course will examine the archaeology of western Britain from the fifth to seventh centuries; Anglo-Saxon settlement and pagan cemeteries; Anglo-Saxon rural settlement; the origins of Anglo-Saxon towns; the conversion and Anglo-Saxon monasteries and churches; the Picts; the Viking impact; and the archaeology of late Anglo-Saxon England. For the Later Medieval Period, the course will examine the Norman Conquest and castles; rural settlement; the countryside; urban settlement; craft and trade; and church archaeology, including that of monasteries.
  • HXW-1010: Wales since 1789 (20) (Semester 1) or
    HXC-1006: Cymru yn y Byd Modern (20) (Semester 1)
    Wythnos 1: Darlith: Deall Cymru fodern ac amcanion y modiwl Dim seminar Wythnos 2: Darlith: Meithrin Cymru fodern (i): Diwydiant ac economi Seminar: Siartiaeth a Beca Wythnos 3: Darlith: Meithrin Cymru fodern (ii): Trosedd, cosb a moesoldeb Seminar: Y Gymru fywgraffiadol: David Lloyd George fel astudiaeth achos Wythnos 4: Darlith: Themâu (i): Mewnfudo ac allfudo Seminar: Mewnfudo Wythnos 5: Darlith: Themâu (ii): Iaith, addysg a chrefydd yn y 19eg ganrif Seminar: Cenedlaetholdeb, Tynged yr Iaith Wythnos 6: Darlith: Themâu (iii): Effaith y ddau ryfel byd Seminar: Y Gymru Lafurol Gweithdy: Eidalwyr yng Nghymru Wythnos 7: WYTHNOS DDARLLEN Wythnos 8: Darlith: Themâu (iv): Merched a llunio Cymru fodern Seminar: Cerddoriaeth boblogaidd Wythnos 9: Darlith: Themâu (v): Diwylliant poblogaidd a newid cymdeithasol Seminar: Merched mewn llenyddiaeth Gymreig Wythnos 10: Darlith: Themâu (vi): Chwaraeon a hunaniaeth Seminar: Hunaniaeth Wythnos 11: Darlith: Materion (i): Y frwydr am hunan-reolaeth Seminar: Y Cwestiwn Cenedlaethol Wythnos 12: Darlith: Materion (ii): Creu Cymru newydd? Seminar: Sesiwn adolygu
  • HXH-1012: Modern Politics in Action (20) (Semester 2) or
    HXC-1012: GweithreduGwleidyddiaethFodern (20) (Semester 2)
  • Students are encouraged to select modules from Archaeology and Heritage as well as History to gain increased breadth of knowledge and understanding of how History is informed by these and other disciplines. In addition, students may take up to 40 credits from modules offered outside the School.

Year 2 Modules

Compulsory Modules

Semester 1

  • HCH-2050: Debating History (20)
    The first part of the course is concerned with the use of the past made by historians and commentators such as politicians, the way traditions are invented (and destroyed), and introduces the different historiographical schools. The second part covers some historiographical (ie. concerned with the art of writing history) issues with emphasis on the various ideas about the study and writing of history which have developed over the last two centuries and which students need to understand in order to engage confidently with the different approaches which professional historians take to their work. This is taught through a case-study approach where students can apply the different approaches studied in the first part of the course to specific controversial historical subjects. The course will cover the following topics: Whig and Tory history, Ranke, the professionalisation of the study of history, nations, empire, structuralism, post-structuralism, revisionism, counter-factual history, case studies may change from year to year but will include topics such as The Peasants’ Revolt, The English civil war, the outbreak of world war one; suffrage, consumerism, the Welsh in history, the Reformation. American Civil war, Cold War; Oral history; National identity.
    or
    HCG-2011: Dehongli'r Gorffennol (20)
    Er y byddir yn rhoi peth sylw i rai o haneswyr mawr y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg – fel Ranke, Macaulay a Marx – bydd pwyslais y cwrs ar hanesyddiaeth yr ugeinfed ganrif. Canolbwyntir gan hynny ar feddylwyr a thueddiadau allweddol ym maes hanesyddiaeth yn ystod y ganrif ddiwethaf gan astudio enghreifftiau penodol o gynnyrch y meddylwyr a’r ysgolion dan sylw. Ymysg y pynciau a astudir bydd Ysgol yr Annales, Hanesyddiaeth Farcsaidd, Hanes Merched, Hanes Llafar, a her syniadaeth ôl-strwythurol ac ôl-fodern. Neulltuir yn ogystal ddwy ddarlith i drafod agweddau ar Hanesyddiaeth Cymru yn y cyfnod diweddar.

Optional Modules

100 credits from:

  • HPS-2001: Work Placement - Semester 1 (20) (Semester 1) or
    HAC-2001: Lleoliad Gwaith - Semester 1 (20) (Semester 1)
  • HAC-2002: Addysg yn y Gymru Gyfoes (20) (Semester 1)
  • HGW-2003: Re-igniting the Dragon (20) (Semester 2) or
    HGC-2003: Ail Danio'r Ddraig (20) (Semester 2)
  • HPS-2005: Work Placement - Semester 2 (20) (Semester 2) or
    HAC-2005: Lleoliad Gwaith - Semester 2 (20) (Semester 2)
  • HAC-2009: Cymdeithas, Iaith a Phrotest (20) (Semester 2)
  • HPS-2011: Paradoxes of Self: Nietz./Jung (20) (Semester 1)
  • HTA-2111: Ancestral Landscapes (20) (Semester 1)
    1. Introduction and the chronology of later prehistoric Britain and Ireland 2. Mesolithic background and the nature of hunter-gatherers 3. The Mesolithic/Neolithic transition 4. The environment, forest clearances and the role of cereals and meat in Neolithic diets 5. Settlements, houses and mobility 6. Neolithic material culture: pottery, stone tools, axes and flint mines 7: Places for the ancestors: the role of the dead in Neolithic society 8. Monuments 1: chambered tombs 9. Monuments 2: causewayed enclosures 10. Monuments 3: cursus, henges and stone circles 11. Theory 1: Prehistoric landscapes, phenomenology and experience 12. Theory 2: The natural world: natural places and human-animal relations 13. Ireland: a case study 14. Early Bronze Age: Introduction 15. Places for the dead: Earlier Bronze Age burial and ceremony 16. Early Bronze Age: elements of continuity, elements of change 17. Early Bronze Age/Middle Bronze Age transition 18: Dividing the land: Later Bronze Age Settlement 19. Later Bronze Age burial and ceremony 20. The production and consumption of prestige goods 21. Regional archaeologies? 22. Revision session
  • HGH-2112: Civil War: Eng & Wal 1558-1660 (20) (Semester 2)
    The course concentrates upon political and religious history - but social, cultural, economic and intellectual aspects are also considered where they are relevant to the core of the course. Major topics explored include: The ‘crisis’ of the 1590s; The impact of the arrival of the Stuart dynasty; Divisions in English Protestantism; Charles I’s Personal Rule, and the outbreak of civil war; The course of the conflict, and attempts at a settlement; The reasons for the regicide; The English Republic and the restoration, 1649-1660
  • HTA-2114: Experimental Archaeology (20) (Semester 2)
    1. Introduction: experimental archaeology today and its links with ethnoarchaeology 2. The history of experimental archaeology 3. Experiment by design: designing experiments, recording data and methodology 4. Prehistoric metallurgical practices: copper and bronze production 5. Stone and flint technologies; production and use-wear analysis 6. Prehistoric metallurgical practices: iron production 7. Food production: cooking with stone and food storage pits 8. Making prehistoric roundhouses 9. Cremation pyres: a case study on Early Bronze Age practices 10. Taphonomies: understanding the formation of the archaeological record through experimental archaeology 11. Experiencing experiments and materials; revision lecture
  • HTA-2117: Roman Frontier Society (20) (Semester 2)
    One of the key themes of this module is the interaction between the Roman army and native populations, and the subsequent evolution of distinct frontier societies. Contextualisation will be central to the investigation of the archaeology. Examination of material evidence from military and civilian sites will include settlement, burial and environmental evidence. Iconographic and epigraphic evidence will also be examined, as will contemporary written sources (e.g. the Vindolanda letters). Key issues explored will centre on continuity and change, and topics will include syncretism and native resistance. The history of Roman scholarship and its influence on perceptions of frontier life forms an important aspect of this course, with particular emphasis given to current post-colonial approaches.
  • HGH-2118: The United States, 1877-1945 (20) (Semester 1)
    This course module is designed to provide a general but comprehensive introduction to the major themes and events of American History from 1877-1945. Topics covered include: Progressivism; the 'Incorporation' of America and the rise of big business; immigration and migration; the birth of American foreign policy; the First World War; America in the 1920s; the Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression; Pearl Harbour and the Second World War.
  • HTA-2118: Field Archaeology in Britain (20) (Semester 1)
    Lectures 1. Course introduction: outline of course aims, content, assessment. 2. Research designs and regional sampling. 3. Desk-based research: (using HERs, literature searches (including grey literature), accessing aerial photographs, historical documents, place name research, map regression analysis). 4. Surveying upstanding monuments: building recording; setting up a site grid (EDM and tapes); surveying earthworks; fieldwalking strategies. 5. Geophysical surveys: magnetometer, resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, GPR 6. Setting up an archaeological excavation: SMCs, landowner permissions, logistics, sampling strategy, schedule. 7. Doing an excavation: excavation techniques: dryland, wetland, contexts 8. Doing an excavation: recording techniques (planning, section drawing, small finds) 9. Doing an excavation: sampling strategies (soil samples, dating samples) 10. Excavating human remains 11. Planning post-excavation analyses and presenting sites to the public: the importance of outreach Workshops 1. Interpreting aerial photography and geophysical surveys: formation processes, site and landscape stratigraphy, plotting data 2. Making maps (downloading data from Edina, Illustration, plotting data) 3. Designing an excavation strategy for three different case-study sites 4. Environmental soil sampling; sorting of soil residues (course residues) and presentation and analysis of data 5. Interpreting archaeological field illustrations (e.g. sections and plans); site formation processes and stratigraphy; writing stratigraphic reports Fieldtrips 1. Using the HER and grey literature searches: Gwynedd Archaeological Trust (2 hours) 1. Setting up a site grid and surveying upstanding remains (5 hours) 2. Building recording (3 hours)
  • HTA-2120: Rethinking Archaeology (20) (Semester 2)
    Lectures 1. The origins of archaeological theory 2. The ‘New Archaeology’ and post processualism 3. Marxist and structuralist approaches in archaeology 4. The post-processualist critique 5. Multi disciplinary approaches to the archaeological record 6. The archaeology of people and social relations 7. Towards an archaeology of gender 8. Approaches to the study and interpretation of material culture 9. Contemporary approaches to archaeological landscapes 10. Understanding the built environment 11. The archaeology of ritual and religion 12. Archaeology in theory and in practice Seminars 1. The identification of cultural groups from archaeological evidence 2. The loss of innocence and the development of the ‘New Archaeology’ 3. Symbolic and structural archaeology 4. Re-constructing an interpretive archaeology 5. Social evolution and cognitive archaeology 6. How were past societies organised? 7. Representing gender in the archaeological past 8. Art or artefact: key debates in material culture studies 9. Experiencing the past: a phenomenology of landscape 10. House form and culture 11. What is ritual and religion and can we identify them in the archaeological record? 12. Critical approaches to archaeological fieldwork
  • HTC-2123: Owain Glyndwr a'i Fudiad (20) (Semester 2)
    Yn unol â¿r amcanion a nodir uchod, bydd y themau a ganlyn yn cael eu trafod: 1. Beth ddigwyddodd rhwng 1400-1421? ¿ Cwrs y Gwrthryfel 2. Glynd¿r y dyn ¿ yr arweinydd a¿r arwr 3. Rhesymau dros wrthryfel ¿ i Cymru¿r drefedigaeth wedi 1282; ii Cymru a thrychinebau¿r bedwaredd ganrif ar ddeg; iii Anawsterau¿r Eglwys; iv Uchelwyr a gwerin 4. Cenedligrwydd a gwleidyddiaeth ar droad y bymthegfed ganrif. 5. Propaganda a phrydyddion ¿ y bardd yn y gymdeithas Gymreig. 6. Gwladwriaeth Gymreig y bymthegfed ganrif ¿ breuddwyd gwrach? 7. Cynlluniau¿r mudiad ar gyfer Cymru a¿i phobl ¿ Senedd, Addysg ac Eglwys 8. Cwymp y mudiad 9. Cymru wedi¿r cwymp
  • HTH-2124: Heritage and Identity (20) (Semester 2)
    Individual, group, local, regional, national and global identities; museums; political and cultural role of archaeology and history, the heritage in minority groups, the heritage of elites, oral culture, heritage and the nation state, the creation of heritage-based identities in past societies.
  • HGH-2127: Europe, Early Middle Ages (20) (Semester 1)
    1. The fall of the western Roman empire; 2. The foundation of the `barbarian¿ kingdoms; 3. Merovingians and Carolingians; 4. Charlemagne; 5. The papacy and monasticism; 6. Justinian and the Byzantine revival; 7. Culture and society; 8. Towns and economy; 9. The Vikings and the foundation of Normandy; 10. The birth of Islam and the creation of the caliphate of Cordoba. Students taking the course will study these topics using both primary sources (such as Gregory of Tours, Paul the Deacon, Einhard¿s Life of Charlemagne) and the modern historiography.
  • HTC-2128: Cestyll a Chymdeithas (20) (Semester 2)
    Bydd y modiwl yn edrych ar y themâu canlynol: 1. Cefndir a chyd-destun hanesyddiaethol; 2. Gwreiddiau cestyll y cyfnod; 3. Cestyll a chrefft rhyfela yn y cyfnod; 4. Castell pawb ei dŷ: cestyll fel cartrefi ac anheddau; 5. Astudiaeth achos 1: Cestyll y Croesgadwyr 1098-1291; 6. Cestyll y dychymyg a’r delfryd sifalrig; 7. Astudiaeth achos 2: Cestyll yng Nghymru 1063-1415; 8. Tirlun a phensaernïaeth gastellog; 9. Cestyll a chartrefi caerog yr Oesau Canol Diweddar; 10. Machlud Cestyll yr Oesau Canol? Ceir cyfle yn ystod y seminarau i archwilio’r themâu hyn ymhellach.
    or
    HTH-2157: The Age of the Castle (20) (Semester 2)
    This module explores the following themes: 1. Introduction: From the ‘Castle Story’ to Current Thinking; 2. The Origin of the Castle; 3. ‘The King of the Castle’: Great Towers and Keeps; 4. ‘An Englishman’s Home is his Castle’?: The Castle as Lordly Residence; 5. The Castles of the Crusaders 1098-1291; 6. Castles and the Chivalric Ideal; 7. The Castles of Wales 1066-1415; 8. Castles and Elite Landscapes; 9. The Decline of the Castle?; 10. Romantic Ruins? Artists, Poets and the Heritage Industry You will be given an opportunity to focus in-depth on these themes and on the underpinning primary sources in your seminars.
  • HTC-2132: Rhyfel Mawr trwy lygaid y Cym. (20) (Semester 2)
    (Wythnos 1) Cyflwyniad Darlith 1 - Adrodd hanes y Rhyfel Sut mae’r ddealltwriaeth o’r Rhyfel Mawr wedi newid dros y degawdau Seminar 1 - Trafodaeth o sut mae’r myfyrwyr yn edrych ar y Rhyfel, a’r delweddau sydd yn gyfarwydd i’r Cymry; gwylio rhaglen Y Rhwyg (1988), a gyflwynwyd gan Dr John Davies (Wythnos 2) 1880-1914 Darlith 2 - Sôn am ryfel; poeni am ryfel; paratoi at ryfel; ysu am ryfel? Darlith 3 - Gorffennaf i Awst 1914 (Wythnos 3) Gwleidyddiaeth: Lloyd George, y Rhyddfrydwyr a’r Sosialwyr Darlith 4 - Cymeriad Lloyd George; Cyfraniad Lloyd George; Chwedl Lloyd George; Atgofion Lloyd George Darlith 5 - Sosialwyr a’r Rhyfel Seminar 2 – Gwleidyddiaeth a’r Rhyfel. Sut wnaeth gwleidyddion bortreadu’r Rhyfel, yn ystod yr ymladd ac yn y degawdau canlynol. (Wythnos 4) Her i’r hen syniadau am wareiddiad Darlith 6 - Gwrthwynebwyr Cydwybodol; Merched Cymru a’r Rhyfel Seminar 3 - Ymladd a gwrthod ymladd: agweddau Gwrthwynebwyr Cydwybodol, ac agweddau cymdeithas tuag at wrthwynebwyr cydwybodol (Wythnos 5) Ennill y Rhyfel; colli’r heddwch Darlith 7 – Buddugoliaeth Lloyd George? Cytundeb Versailles Darlith 8 – Dirwasgiad a Dadrithiad: y 1920au; Gwersi 1914 a’r ymgais i gymodi â Hitler: y 1930au (Wythnos 6) Yn sgil y Dadrithio Darlith 9 – Ymateb llenyddol yn y degawdau ar ôl 1918: chwedl Hedd Wyn; All Quiet on the Western Front Seminar 4 - David Davies a’r mudiad heddwch; Dyhuddiaeth a gwrthwynebiad i’r Ail Ryfel Byd (Wythnos 7) Y Llewod a’r Asynnod Darlith 10: Trafodaeth y 1960au: ‘Lions led by Donkeys’; pwysleisio ffolineb a gwastraff y rhyfel Seminar 5 – Gwylio darnau o gyfres The Great War (BBC, 1964) (Wythnos 8) Conundrum ‘y ddau Ffrynt Gorllewinol’ Darlith 11: Y gwahaniaeth rhwng maes y gad a fodolodd yn Ffrainc a Fflandrys rhwng 1914 a 1918 a’r un dychmygol sy’n gread y cenedlaethau a edrychai nôl mewn syndod a braw Seminar 6 – Cofeb Mametz; gwylio rhaglen Mametz (S4C, 1987) (Wythnos 9) Atgofion hen wŷr Darlith 12 - Trafferthion gydag atgofion cyn-filwyr, er gwaethaf eu hatyniad amlwg Darlith 13 – atgofion Griffith Williams, Bob Owen ac Ithel Davies (Wythnos 10) Hanes Diwylliannol y Rhyfel Darlith 14 - Rhoi’r cyfan mewn i gyd-destun diwylliannol Seminar 7 – Portreadu’r Rhyfel Mawr yn y Gymraeg heddiw: Lleisiau’r Rhyfel Mawr (2008) + Sesiwn ar gyfer cyflwyniadau’r myfyrwyr
  • HGH-2135: Victorian Britain 1837-1901 (20) (Semester 2)
    (1) Victorian values (2) Economy, industry and work (3) Popular culture and leisure (4) Medicine and science (5) Technological developments (6) Poverty and crime (7) Votes for women (8) Eclipse of the elites (9) The British Empire (10) Shadows of war (11) Concluding lecture
  • HGH-2138: Europe 1945-1992 (20) (Semester 1)
  • HTH-2142: Americanisation (20) (Semester 2)
    This module examines American impacts on the rest of the world - in particular Europe - and addresses reactions to these focused by a critical approach to the concepts 'Americanisation' and 'Anti-Americanism'. In particular: . Attraction and resistance: ambivalences of Americanisation . Images and enemy images . The reciprocity of transatlantic cultural transfers . Anti-Americanism as a projection . Anti-Americanism in the inter-war period . Nazi Germany and America . GIs as agents of Americanisation . Americanisation and Sovietisation . Anti-American propaganda in the Cold War . The anti-Americanism of the New Left . Anti-Americanism and Anti-Semitism . Shopping mall, Disneyland and theme park in Europe
  • HTH-2143: The Reign of King Stephen (20) (Semester 2)
    This course offers students the opportunity to study the reign of king Stephen in the period 1135-54. It was, and has remained, controversial. Topics include: the roots of civil war: the reign of Henry I, the origins of civil war, the course of the war and the stalemate in the period1150-54, the role and characters of king Stephen and the Empress Matilda, the role of the barons, the social, economic, political impact of civil war, masculinity, kingship, queenship, women and power, attitudes to war and the role and views of the church.
  • HTH-2149: Britannia Rule the Waves (20) (Semester 1)
    (1) Introduction to the module, British Empire and Imperial Studies (2) Governing the Empire (3) British Policy and Trade (4) Technological Change (5) Scientific Exploration (6) The Empire: Asia (7) The Empire: America (8) The Empire: Africa (9) The Empire: Australasia (10) The British Empire and the Approach of War (11) Concluding lecture
  • HTC-2156: Rhyfel Cartref America (20) (Semester 1)
    Y Gogledd a’r De Gwleidyddiaeth yr 1850au Caethwasiaeth Achosion y Rhyfel a’r Argyfwng Arwahanu Ymladd y Rhyfel Abraham Lincoln Y Cymry a’r Rhyfel Y Rhyfel a’r Gorllewin Rhyddhau’r Caethweision Ennill y Rhyfel Adluniad a’i Fethiant
  • HTH-2157: The Age of the Castle (20) (Semester 2)
    This module explores the following themes: 1. Introduction: From the ‘Castle Story’ to Current Thinking; 2. The Origin of the Castle; 3. ‘The King of the Castle’: Great Towers and Keeps; 4. ‘An Englishman’s Home is his Castle’?: The Castle as Lordly Residence; 5. The Castles of the Crusaders 1098-1291; 6. Castles and the Chivalric Ideal; 7. The Castles of Wales 1066-1415; 8. Castles and Elite Landscapes; 9. The Decline of the Castle?; 10. Romantic Ruins? Artists, Poets and the Heritage Industry You will be given an opportunity to focus in-depth on these themes and on the underpinning primary sources in your seminars.
    or
    HTC-2128: Cestyll a Chymdeithas (20) (Semester 2)
    Bydd y modiwl yn edrych ar y themâu canlynol: 1. Cefndir a chyd-destun hanesyddiaethol; 2. Gwreiddiau cestyll y cyfnod; 3. Cestyll a chrefft rhyfela yn y cyfnod; 4. Castell pawb ei dŷ: cestyll fel cartrefi ac anheddau; 5. Astudiaeth achos 1: Cestyll y Croesgadwyr 1098-1291; 6. Cestyll y dychymyg a’r delfryd sifalrig; 7. Astudiaeth achos 2: Cestyll yng Nghymru 1063-1415; 8. Tirlun a phensaernïaeth gastellog; 9. Cestyll a chartrefi caerog yr Oesau Canol Diweddar; 10. Machlud Cestyll yr Oesau Canol? Ceir cyfle yn ystod y seminarau i archwilio’r themâu hyn ymhellach.
  • HTH-2159: History in Practice (20) (Semester 2) or
    HTW-2159: History in Practice (20) (Semester 2)
  • HTH-2163: Nazi Germany 1933-1945 (20) (Semester 1)
  • HTH-2164: Violence in Early Mod Britain (20) (Semester 1)
  • VPR-2301: 20th Century Phil of Religion (20) (Semester 2)
    The module begins by clarifying the state of the analytic philosophy of religion at the turn of the 20th century, reflecting upon its inheritance of 19th century ‘modernity’. This is contrasted with some concurrent developments in the continental tradition (German Romanticism, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche). This is the context from which, and into which, Wittgenstein speaks. We will cover the early, middle, and late eras of Wittgenstein’s thought, and show the revolutionary impact that his thought had for the philosophy of religion. We track the various directions in which Wittgenstein’s influence was felt; for example, in A. J. Ayer’s verificationism, or those overtly ‘Wittgensteinian’ philosophers of religion such as D. Z. Phillips. The ‘meta-philosophy of religion’ is introduced throughout, as we tackle the question of how best to philosophise about religion.
  • Over Level 5 and 6 students must take 2 General Modules - those with a codes beginning HGH, HGW or HGC, and they may take only 20 credit of modules that cover the period after 1750. In addition student may take a 20 credit module offered from outside the School as an elective module.

Year 3 Modules

Compulsory Modules

Semester 1

Semester 2

40 credits from:

Optional Modules

40 credits from:

  • HPS-3001: Work Placement - Semester 1 (20) (Semester 1) or
    HAC-3001: Lleoliad Gwaith - Semester 1 (20) (Semester 1)
  • HAC-3002: Addysg yn y Gymru Gyfoes (20) (Semester 1)
  • HGW-3003: Re-igniting the Dragon (20) (Semester 2) or
    HGC-3003: Ail Danio'r Ddraig (20) (Semester 2)
  • HPS-3003: Race democracy * pol ideaology (20) (Semester 2)
  • HTA-3111: Ancestral Landscapes (20) (Semester 1)
    1. Introduction and the chronolgy of later prehistoric Britain and Ireland 2. Mesolithic background and the nature of hunter gatherers 3. The Mesolithic/ Neolithic transition 4. The environment, forest clearances and the role of cereals and meat in Neolithic diets 5. Settlements, houses and mobility 6. Neolithic material culture: pottery, stone tools, axes and flint mines 7. Places for the ancestors: the role of the dead in Neolithic society 8. Monuments 1: chambered tombs 9. Monuments 2: causewayed enclosures 10. Monuments 3: curses, henges and stone circles 11. Theory 1: Prehistoric landscapes, phenomenology and experience 12. Theory 2: The natural world: natural places and human animal relations 13. Ireland: a case study 14. Early Bronze Age: Introduction 15. Places for the dead: Earlier Bronze Age burial and ceremony 16. Early Bronze Age; elements of continuity, elements of change 17. Early Bronze Age/ Middle Bronze AGe transition 18. Dividing the land: Later Bronze Age Settlement 19. Later Bronze Age burial and ceremony 20. The production and consumption of prestige goods. 21. Regional archaeoloiges? 22. Revision session
  • HGH-3112: Civil War: Eng & Wal 1558-1660 (20) (Semester 2)
    The course concentrates upon political and religious history - but social, cultural, economic and intellectual aspects are also considered where they are relevant to the core of the course. Major topics explored include: The ‘crisis’ of the 1590s; The impact of the arrival of the Stuart dynasty; Divisions in English Protestantism; Charles I’s Personal Rule, and the outbreak of civil war; The course of the conflict, and attempts at a settlement; The reasons for the regicide; The English Republic and the restoration, 1649-1660
  • HTA-3114: Experimental Archaeology (20) (Semester 2)
    1. Introduction: experimental archaeology today and its links with ethnoarchaeology 2. The history of experimental archaeology 3. Experiment by design: designing experiments, recording data and methodology 4. Prehistoric metallurgical practices: copper and bronze production 5. Stone and flint technologies; production and use-wear analysis 6. Prehistoric metallurgical practices: iron production 7. Food production: cooking with stone and food storage pits 8. Making prehistoric roundhouses 9. Cremation pyres: a case study on Early Bronze Age practices 10. Taphonomies: understanding the formation of the archaeological record through experimental archaeology 11. Experiencing experiments and materials; revision lecture
  • HTA-3117: Roman Frontier Society (20) (Semester 2)
    One of the key themes of this module is the interaction between the Roman army and native populations, and the subsequent evolution of distinct frontier societies. Contextualisation will be central to the investigation of the archaeology. Examination of material evidence from military and civilian sites will include settlement, burial and environmental evidence. Iconographic and epigraphic evidence will also be examined, as will contemporary written sources (e.g. the Vindolanda letters). Key issues explored will centre on continuity and change, and topics will include syncretism and native resistance. The history of Roman scholarship and its influence on perceptions of frontier life forms an important aspect of this course, with particular emphasis given to current post-colonial approaches.
  • HGH-3118: The United States, 1877-1945 (20) (Semester 1)
    The period 1877–1945 saw America transformed from a predominantly rural nation to a dynamic, diverse and industrialised world power. During this era, the United States became overtly active in foreign policy; the character of its population changed dramatically as new immigrant groups came from Eastern and Southern Europe and beyond; many strong challenges were mounted to the status quo as disadvantaged, marginal and minority groups – including working people, black Americans, and women – pressurised for rights and recognition; and the nation involved itself in two world wars and survived a crippling economic depression. The first half of the twentieth century saw the making of ‘modern America’, and many of the changes undergone by the country in this era continue to have repercussions today. This module will provide students with an in-depth understanding of the events and themes of this eventful era, introduce them to competing historical interpretations, and encourage them to study specific aspects of the era in which they take particular interest.
  • HTA-3118: Field Archaeology in Britain (20) (Semester 1)
    Lectures 1. Course introduction: outline of course aims, content, assessment. 2. Research designs and regional sampling. 3. Desk-based research: (using HERs, literature searches (including grey literature), accessing aerial photographs, historical documents, place name research, map regression analysis). 4. Surveying upstanding monuments: building recording; setting up a site grid (EDM and tapes); surveying earthworks; fieldwalking strategies. 5. Geophysical surveys: magnetometer, resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, GPR 6. Setting up an archaeological excavation: SMCs, landowner permissions, logistics, sampling strategy, schedule. 7. Doing an excavation: excavation techniques: dryland, wetland, contexts 8. Doing an excavation: recording techniques (planning, section drawing, small finds) 9. Doing an excavation: sampling strategies (soil samples, dating samples) 10. Excavating human remains 11. Planning post-excavation analyses and presenting sites to the public: the importance of outreach Workshops 1. Interpreting aerial photography and geophysical surveys: formation processes, site and landscape stratigraphy, plotting data 2. Making maps (downloading data from Edina, Illustration, plotting data) 3. Designing an excavation strategy for three different case-study sites 4. Environmental soil sampling; sorting of soil residues (course residues) and presentation and analysis of data 5. Interpreting archaeological field illustrations (e.g. sections and plans); site formation processes and stratigraphy; writing stratigraphic reports Fieldtrips 1. Using the HER and grey literature searches: Gwynedd Archaeological Trust (2 hours) 1. Setting up a site grid and surveying upstanding remains (10 hours) 2. Building recording (5 hours)
  • HTC-3123: Owain Glyndwr a'i Fudiad (20) (Semester 2)
    Yn unol â¿r amcanion a nodir uchod, bydd y themau a ganlyn yn cael eu trafod: 1. Beth a ddigwyddodd rhwng 1400-1421? ¿ Cwrs y Gwrthryfel 2. Glynd¿r y dyn ¿ yr arweinydd a¿r arwr 3. Rhesymau dros wrthryfel ¿ i Cymru¿r drefedigaeth wedi 1282; ii Cymru a thrychinebau¿r bedwaredd ganrif ar ddeg; iii Anawsterau¿r Eglwys; iv Uchelwyr a gwerin 4. Cenedligrwydd a gwleidyddiaeth ar droad y bymthegfed ganrif. 5. Propaganda a phrydyddion ¿ y bardd yn y gymdeithas Gymreig. 6. Gwladwriaeth Gymreig y bymthegfed ganrif ¿ breuddwyd gwrach? 7. Cynlluniau¿r mudiad ar gyfer Cymru a¿i phobl ¿ Senedd, Addysg ac Eglwys 8. Cwymp y mudiad 9. Cymru wedi¿r cwymp
  • HTH-3124: Heritage and Identity (20) (Semester 2)
    Individual, group, local, regional, national and global identities; museums; political and cultural role of archaeology and history, the heritage in minority groups, the heritage of elites, oral culture, heritage and the nation state, the creation of heritage-based identities in past societies
  • HGH-3127: Europe Early Middle Ages (20) (Semester 1)
    1. The fall of the western Roman empire; 2. The foundation of the `barbarian¿ kingdoms; 3. Merovingians and Carolingians; 4. Charlemagne; 5. The papacy and monasticism; 6. Justinian and the Byzantine revival; 7. Culture and society; 8. Towns and economy; 9. The Vikings and the foundation of Normandy; 10. The creation of the caliphate of Cordoba. Students taking the course will study these topics using both primary sources (such as Gregory of Tours, Paul the Deacon, Einhard¿s Life of Charlemagne) and the modern historiography.
  • HTC-3132: Rhyfel Mawr trwy lygaid y Cym. (20) (Semester 2)
    (Wythnos 1) Cyflwyniad Darlith 1 - Adrodd hanes y Rhyfel Sut mae’r ddealltwriaeth o’r Rhyfel Mawr wedi newid dros y degawdau Seminar 1 - Trafodaeth o sut mae’r myfyrwyr yn edrych ar y Rhyfel; Dadansoddi delweddau poblogaidd o'r rhyfel ar y teledu, gan roi sylw arbennig i raglen Y Rhwyg (1988), a gyflwynwyd gan Dr John Davies (Wythnos 2) 1880-1914 Darlith 2 - Sôn am ryfel; poeni am ryfel; paratoi at ryfel; ysu am ryfel? Darlith 3 - Gorffennaf i Awst 1914 (Wythnos 3) Gwleidyddiaeth: Lloyd George, y Rhyddfrydwyr a’r Sosialwyr Darlith 4 - Cymeriad Lloyd George; Cyfraniad Lloyd George; Chwedl Lloyd George; Atgofion Lloyd George Darlith 5 - Sosialwyr a’r Rhyfel (Wythnos 4) Her i’r hen syniadau am wareiddiad Darlith 6 - Gwrthwynebwyr Cydwybodol; Merched Cymru a’r Rhyfel Seminar 2 - Ymladd a gwrthod ymladd: Sosialwyr a’r Rhyfel / Gwrthwynebwyr Cydwybodol. Dadansoddi’r disgrifiadau a gafwyd yn y wasg o’r rhai a wrthwynebodd y Rhyfel (Wythnos 5) Ennill y Rhyfel; colli’r heddwch Darlith 7 – Buddugoliaeth Lloyd George? Cytundeb Versailles Darlith 8 – Dirwasgiad a Dadrithiad: y 1920au; Gwersi 1914 a’r ymgais i gymodi â Hitler: y 1930au (Wythnos 6) Yn sgil y Dadrithio Darlith 9 – Ymateb llenyddol yn y degawdau ar ôl 1918: chwedl Hedd Wyn; All Quiet on the Western Front Seminar 3 – Dadansoddi agweddau gwleidyddion Cymreig a Phrydeinig (gan gynnwys David Davies) tuag at yr ymgyrch heddwch yn y degawdau rhwng y rhyfeloedd; dadansoddi’r gwrthwynebiad a welwyd yng Nghymru i’r Ail Ryfel Byd, a’i gymharu â dadleuon y rhai a gefnogai’r ymgyrch (Wythnos 7) Y Llewod a’r Asynnod Darlith 10: Trafodaeth y 1960au: ‘Lions led by Donkeys’; pwysleisio ffolineb a gwastraff y rhyfel Seminar 4 – Dadansoddi cynnwys a phwysigrwydd cyfres fawr The Great War (BBC, 1964) (Wythnos 8) Conundrum ‘y ddau Ffrynt Gorllewinol’ Darlith 11: Y gwahaniaeth rhwng maes y gad a fodolodd yn Ffrainc a Fflandrys rhwng 1914 a 1918 a’r un dychmygol sy’n gread y cenedlaethau a edrychai nôl mewn syndod a braw Seminar 5 – Trafod yr amrywiol ffyrdd y mae’r Cymry wedi coffâu brwydr Mametz; dadansoddi rhaglen Mametz (S4C, 1987) (Wythnos 9) Atgofion hen wŷr Darlith 12 - Trafferthion gydag atgofion cyn-filwyr, er gwaethaf eu hatyniad amlwg Seminar 6 – Dadansoddi atgofion y cyn-filwyr Griffith Williams, Bob Owen a’r gwrthwynebydd cydwybodol Ithel Davies, a thrafod eu dilysrwydd (Wythnos 10) Hanes Diwylliannol y Rhyfel Darlith 13 - Rhoi’r cyfan mewn i gyd-destun diwylliannol Seminar 7 – Dadansoddi’r modd y portreadir y Rhyfel Mawr yn y Gymraeg heddiw, gan astudio cyfres Lleisiau’r Rhyfel Mawr (S4C, 2008) + Sesiwn ar gyfer cyflwyniadau’r myfyrwyr
  • HGH-3135: Victorian Britain 1837-1901 (20) (Semester 2)
    (1) Victorian values (2) Economy, industry and work (3) Popular culture and leisure (4) Medicine and science (5) Technological developments (6) Poverty and crime (7) Votes for women (8) Eclipse of the elites (9) The British Empire (10) Shadows of war (11) Concluding lecture
  • HTH-3142: Americanisation (20) (Semester 2)
    This module examines American impacts on the rest of the world - in particular Europe ¿and addresses reactions to these focused by a critical approach to the concepts 'Americanisation' and 'Anti-Americanism'. In particular: . Attraction and resistance: ambivalences of Americanisation . Images and enemy images . The reciprocity of transatlantic cultural transfers . Anti-Americanism as a projection . Anti-Americanism in the inter-war period . Nazi Germany and America . GIs as agents of Americanisation . Americanisation and Sovietisation . Anti-American propaganda in the Cold War . The anti-Americanism of the New Left . Anti-Americanism and Anti-Semitism . Shopping mall, Disneyland and theme park in Europe
  • HTH-3149: Britannia Rule the Waves (20) (Semester 1)
    (1) Introduction to the module, British Empire and Imperial Studies (2) Governing the Empire (3) British Policy and Trade (4) Technological Change (5) Scientific Exploration (6) The Empire: Asia (7) The Empire: America (8) The Empire: Africa (9) The Empire: Australasia (10) The British Empire and the Approach of War (11) Concluding lecture
  • HTC-3156: Rhyfel Cartref America (20) (Semester 1)
    Y Gogledd a’r De Gwleidyddiaeth yr 1850au Caethwasiaeth Achosion y Rhyfel a’r Argyfwng Arwahanu Ymladd y Rhyfel Abraham Lincoln Y Cymry a’r Rhyfel Y Rhyfel a’r Gorllewin Rhyddhau’r Caethweision Ennill y Rhyfel Adluniad a’i Fethiant
  • HTH-3157: The Age of the Castle (20) (Semester 2) or
    HTC-3128: Cestyll a Chymdeithas (20) (Semester 2)
    Bydd y modiwl yn edrych ar y themâu canlynol: 1. Cefndir a chyd-destun hanesyddiaethol; 2. Gwreiddiau cestyll y cyfnod; 3. Cestyll a chrefft rhyfela yn y cyfnod; 4. Castell pawb ei dŷ: cestyll fel cartrefi ac anheddau; 5. Astudiaeth achos 1: Cestyll y Croesgadwyr 1098-1291; 6. Cestyll y dychymyg a’r delfryd sifalrig; 7. Astudiaeth achos 2: Cestyll yng Nghymru 1063-1415; 8. Tirlun a phensaernïaeth gastellog; 9. Cestyll a chartrefi caerog yr Oesau Canol Diweddar; 10. Machlud Cestyll yr Oesau Canol? Ceir cyfle yn ystod y seminarau i archwilio’r themâu hyn ymhellach.
  • HTH-3163: Nazi Germany 1933-1945 (20) (Semester 1)
  • HTH-3164: Violence in Early Mod. Britain (20) (Semester 1)
  • Select 40 credits from the remaining modules: 20 credits from each semester. Students must ensure that the requirement to take 2 general modules over Levels 5 and 6 has been met, and may take only 20 credits of modules that cover the period after 1750.