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Course and Unit Catalogue 2010

Armidale, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA

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2007200820092010

HIST307 An Age of Uncertainty: Later - Plantagenet England

Updated: 04 January 2010

Unit Information
Additional Information

Credit Points	6
Offering	Not offered in 2010
Intensive School(s)	None
Supervised Exam	There is a UNE Supervised Examination held at the end of the teaching period in which you are enrolled.
Pre-requisites	12cp ANCH or ASST or ECON (units with a 4 or 5 as second digit [denoting ECON HIST] only) or HIST except HIST181 and HIST182 or candidature in a postgraduate award
Co-requisites	None
Restrictions	HIST207
Notes	None
Combined Units	None
Coordinator(s)	Eric Acheson (eacheson@une.edu.au)
Unit Description	The conventional wisdom about the late middle ages is that this was 'a period of disaster' when 'a general feeling of impending calamity hangs over all' and 'perpetual danger prevails everywhere.' In England, historians emphasise economic depression, growth in social tensions, decline of kingship and increasing lawlessness. In this unit we examine the reasons for these negative images: the Black Death, economic decline, peasant uprisings, religious dissent, the long, disastrous war in France and civil war at home. We also closely examine the fortunes of one family, the Pastons, to discover how it was possible to thrive and prosper in an age of uncertainty.
Materials	Text information will be published prior to commencement of the teaching period.
Disclaimer	Offer of some subjects is subject to viability. Information in these unit descriptions is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Assessment

Title	Exam Length	Weight	Mode	No. Words
Assignment 1		25%		2000
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-5 GA: 1,2,4,5,6
Assignment 2		25%		2000
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-5 GA: 1,2,4,5,6

Final Examination	2 hrs	50%
Relates to Learning Outcomes (LO) and Graduate Attributes (GA)
LO: 1-5 GA: 1,2,4,5,6

Learning Outcomes (LO)

Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:

acquire some understanding of the challenges of late medieval life;
examine the responses of these challenges prompted;
develop some empathy for the late-medieval world;
enhance their skills as historians by using primary sources;
practise research and writing skills.

Graduate Attributes (GA)

	Attribute	Taught	Assessed	Practised
1	Knowledge of a Discipline Knowledge of the history discipline will be taught through lectures and tutorials. It will be assessed in all three assessments.
2	Communication Skills Students will be taught communication skills through written and oral feedback on the essays and participation component of the unit. Students studying on-campus will learn valuable communication skills through participation in tutorials. Students will be assessed on the style of writing, clarity of writing, expression and development of ideas, and referencing. Students will practice their communication skills through completing the assessment tasks (written through essays).
3	Global Perspectives By focussing attention on the medieval past, this unit will contribute towards the formation of a 'global perspective', but no unit of itself can create such a perspective.
4	Information Literacy Students will be taught, and directed, to relevant historical literature and how to assess its validity. Students will be assessed (through the essay) on their ability to identify relevant literature, and on their ability to critically analyse the literature.
5	Life-Long Learning Through completing the assessments, students will be provided with the necessary lifelong skills to be able to research, write and discuss social issues. These skills can be transferred to any discipline, and will be useful in any research positions. These attributes will be assessed in all of the assessments (written skills; analytical skills). In addition, students who attend tutorials will be provided with the skills to debate topics and develop their understanding of a topic through group activities.
6	Problem Solving Students are taught how historians research, analyse and interpret the past. Problem solving lies at the heart of tutorial sessions and essay writing. The skills is both practised and assessed in essays.
7	Social Responsibility In history, students encounter the behaviour of humanity in a range of social, political and economic settings. Judgements are made about these behaviours and about their impact upon society.
8	Team Work Students will practice their teamwork skills through participating in tutorials, or online discussion postings. They will be required to discuss the weekly topics with their fellow students in a thoughtful and respectful manner (practice).