HIST 2501A: Early Modern Britain - Department of History

HIST 2501A: Early Modern Britain
Fall 2023

Introduction: This fully online asynchronous course invites you to explore the history of Britain between the Black Death and the dynastic conflicts of the fifteenth century to the aftermath of the seventeenth century revolutions. Lectures will provide a narrative of key events and developments, continuity and change, as well as an introduction to historical interpretations and debates. This period of reformations, revolutions, and astounding transformations in everyday life did much to shape Britain today. Much of your time in the course will be engaging with the written, visual, aural, material, and topographical traces left behind by those who lived in these tumultuous years.

Class Format: This is an asynchronous, fully online course, organized in weekly modules. Each module will offer lectures, readings, links to resources etc. which you can work through at your own pace. To help you schedule your work modules will be released weekly. Discussions, all course materials (including links to external sites), assignment submission etc. will happen through Brightspace.

Goals and Aims: You will leave the course with an understanding of the main features of early modern British history which will provide context for some of the key issues facing Britain today such as the role of the monarchy, Brexit and Northern Ireland, the movement for an independent Scotland, and coming to terms with the legacies of slavery. You will also develop skills in reading, deciphering, and deconstructing an extraordinary range of primary sources that will be applicable to other courses and subjects.

Assessment: quizzes and short assignments (including reading and analysing primary sources, using databases, and critically engaging with modern representations of the period). There is no mid-term and no final examination.

Textbook: Ken Macmillan, Death and Disorder. A History of Early Modern England, 1485-1690 (University of Toronto Press, 2020).

Questions? Please email me at David.Dean@carleton.ca