Module manager: Danielle Terrazas Williams
Email: D.TerrazasWilliams@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2023/24
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Slavery in nineteenth-century Cuba was a site of great tragedy and transition. Juan Francisco Manzano’s slave narrative is the only such autobiography of an enslaved person while slavery still existed in Cuba. Manzano (1797-1854) experienced the height of Cuba’s investment in slavery and did not live to see its abolition (1886). Through the close reading and analysis of his autobiography and additional primary sources on slavery and empire, we will consider themes of family/community, gendered experiences of slavery, labour conditions, freedom, violence, and mental health. We will also discuss what it means for a historian to explore the history of slavery primarily through the lens of one person’s experience of this expansive and dominating institution. This skills-focused module will ensure weekly individual and pair/group engagement with primary sources related to slavery, including visual materials, data sets, testimonies, and legal culture.
The aim of this module is develop skills and strengthen concepts relevant to Slavery Studies; to enhance students’ knowledge of the histories of marginalized people; to challenge meanings of domination and resistance; to introduce understudied themes of early modern history; to critically analyse relevant theoretical and historiographical developments; to develop students’ methodological approaches for written and graphic primary sources; to enable them to formulate nuanced observations and conclusions in both written and oral presentations.
By the end of this module students will have
1. demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of the complexity of slavery in the Americas.
2. enhanced their understanding of the practices and experiences of people and institutions of the long 19th century.
3. identified, synthesized, critiqued, and constructed advanced historical arguments
4. expressed a working proficiency in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to interrogate sources
5. strengthened their knowledge of the relevant historiographical debates and topical trends
This module may include the following topics: empire, slavery, class, laws, the Americas, the Caribbean, race, gender, religion, resistance, labour systems, the arts, mental health, family, and autobiography.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seminar | 11 | 2 | 22 |
| Private study hours | 178 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 22 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
3000-word essay: students will have the opportunity receive formative feedback on an essay plan in week 8 of the semester in which the module runs.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Essay | 3000 words | 60 |
| Written Work | 1500 word primary source analysis | 40 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 4/28/2023
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