Hello!
Already well into my first term of second year, I have been studying a variety of topics across the subject of history.
In first term we are required to take two lecture response units. This involves a two-hour, weekly session per unit, with one hour being a seminar and one hour being a lecture. I chose to do the units on Medieval English Lifestyles with Dr David Harry and Christianity and Islam in Early Modern Europe with Dr Fernando Cervantes. Both are thoroughly engaging and enlightening units that allow me to broaden my understanding of periods of history that I have previously never studied.
In Medieval English lifestyles we have examined everything from the medieval perspective on death to the roles of Queens in the middle ages. In Christianity and Islam we have looked at various aspects of the two faiths and their interaction with history, such as the Byzantine Empire and the epoch of the Crusades. For both topics I have written a three thousand word essay of my choosing. This required extensive research and planning but was an exercise I found remarkably enjoyable, discovering and writing about an entirely new area of history in depth is always interesting.
We also have a series of lectures and seminars throughout the term based on the study of history itself, or historiography. This has involved considering four different types of historical study, environmental, socioeconomic, cultural and political. At the end of this term we have a twenty four exam assessing our learning on these topics which I’m sure will be challenging but also rewarding.
– Luke
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