Course Details in 2026/27 Session

Module Title	LI Sources in History: Texts and Tales
School	History and Cultures
Department	History
Module Code	09 39809
Module Lead	Jonathan Willis
Level	Intermediate Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-10 hours Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-170 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	This module examines texts and tales as a category of primary source, across a broad chronological and geographical range. Within this category, students will be introduced to a range of textual, visual and material sources which may include material such as literary works, poems, novels, histories, treatises, folk tales, sagas, and oral histories. It is a team-taught module bringing together staff as specialists in the methodologies associated with this category of source for different periods and places. The exact periods and places covered will depend on staff availability each year, but may range from pre-modern to modern, and across Britain, Europe and the wider world. Seminars will engage with the possibilities and limitations of this type of source in the practice of history including a range of historical approaches and will provide training in the critical analysis of the source type, including attentiveness to changes in form according to time and place. Students will be encouraged to think about how analysis of such sources can inform the process of historical research.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: analyse and engage critically with a range of historical primary sources relevant to the genre of material under scrutiny analyse and explain the main theoretical, methodological and scholarly perspectives on the materials relating to the subject under exploration understand and evaluate the ways in which primary sources shape the nature, structure, and content of historical enquiry in the subject area under scrutiny. work with an appropriate degree of learner independence to explain and analyse the material under scrutiny summarise, analyse and evaluate the subject material clearly and effectively in writing, synthesise and evaluate themes across a wide range of diverse material
Assessment
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 1 x 3,000 word portfolio (100%) Reassessment: Re-submission of assessment
Other
Reading List