Module manager: Dr Iona McCleery
Email: i.mccleery@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2024/25
This module is not approved as an Elective
This module takes a global perspective on the period often termed ‘the Middle Ages’, working across varied evidence types and multiple regions. Themes, such as faith, health, violence, materiality, mobility and the environment, foster depth and breadth of analysis at a global scale. Centring the challenge of applying global frameworks to the Middle Ages, or medieval frameworks outside Europe, the module confronts colonial legacies and seeks insights in the present through the study of the past.
To provide an understanding of theoretical debates and practical methods for studying the period c. 500-1500 at a global scale.
To build an awareness of simultaneity, connection and difference across the world in the period conventionally termed medieval.
To expose students to multiple regions, periods and evidence types within the Middle Ages.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Write about and discuss topics in medieval history in a global context, to both academic and public audiences, and with respect to plural regions of the world
2. Critique the concept of the medieval in a global context
3. Analyse plural evidence types relevant to the study of the global Middle Ages
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4. Engage in theoretical debate about global-scale, multi-generational and trans-regional phenomena.
5. Analyse evidence critically, using material from diverse perspectives and backgrounds.
6. process and communicate information from multiple sources and in varied registers.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Practical | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Seminar | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| Seminar | 6 | 2 | 12 |
| Private study hours | 276 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 24 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 300 | ||
Students will attend a 2-hour Skills@Library podcast training session create a 5-minute podcast discussing an article following this workshop, to be completed before week 6 of the module, on which students will receive formative written feedback.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | Portfolio: 15-minute podcast with script and 1500-word review essay | 50 |
| Essay | 2500-word essay | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
The first assignment is a portfolio comprised of a podcast and a review essay on how the chosen theme speaks to the challenges of the global Middle Ages: topics for the podcast will vary from year to year, but will include analysis of sources and themes from multiple regions, and aimed at a public audience, and will require students to take an active role in identifying appropriate material. The review essay will give students the opportunity to reflect, via discussion of appropriate theoretical literature, and discussion of their own practice on the concept of the global Middle Ages as applied to the theme of the podcast. This might include examining whether the idea of a Middle Ages is appropriate in all places, the role of interdisciplinarity in addressing regional evidence differences or the importance of post-colonial frameworks for studying the period c. 500-1500 in specific places. This portfolio will also enable students to demonstrate appropriate register choice for communication to different audiences. The second assignment is a synoptic essay, requiring students to engage with historiographical debate and primary evidence, discussing at least two regions of the medieval world. Resits will not require a different format, due to the flexible choice of podcast topics. Resit essay questions will be provided for the second assessment element.
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 30/01/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team