All History Courses

Women in Medieval Europe (tutorial) [Spring]

This tutorial explores the representation and condition of women in literary and historical sources, beginning with the idea of 'woman' inherited from classical and Judeo-Christian thinking, and progressing to representations of women in western Europe between 500 and 1500. Students will have the opportunity to explore in detail the roles played by religion, learning and artistic production in the lives of women, and will be given scope to write on any aspect of women's achievements as artists, thinkers, and writers in the Middle Ages. For general information on ASE's Oxford-style tutorials, please visit The Tutorial Programme.

Subject areas: Medieval Studies, History, English and Women's Studies
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

History of the Middle Ages: The Formation of England 400-1400 [Autumn & Spring]

Why and how did England become England? How was the English language created? Where did parliament and answerable government come from? How did a bunch of Rome-defeating Dark Age warriors create Oxford University? These and many other key questions are tackled in this wide-ranging course, which will provide you with a thorough-going understanding of the development of England, in its broader European context, from the eclipse of Rome to the dawn of the Reformation. This is achieved not only by wide reading in standard text-book sources, but, above all, by an emphasis upon reading original documents in modern English translation. A key aim is that students will, by the end of the course, have a much deeper understanding of how to set about reconstructing the history of this dimly-lit corner of the past. As well as a study trip to the medieval library at Merton College, Oxford, this course includes an optional visit to the Bayeux Tapestry, Mont St Michel, and the castle of Falaise (birthplace of William the Conqueror ) in Normandy. While ASE subsidises this trip, students will be asked to contribute to their travel and accommodation expenses.

Subject areas: Medieval Studies and History
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

This course will introduce students to the philosophical and medical concepts underpinning the study and understanding of the mind and body in the Ancient World through to the Early Modern period. After an initial focus on Homeric and Hippocratic texts the course will cover medical and philosophical writings in Hellenistic and Roman worlds, and the transmission of ideas through the Ancient World to the time of Galen. We will explore the influence of the humoural and other medical models during the Byzantine period and into the Middle Ages, and trace the evolution of medical education and medicine as a profession through to the time of William Harvey.

The course will also look at alternative traditions of healing, and pay special attention to ideas of madness, with a detailed exploration of ideas of divine causation and demonic possession. Other topics such as gender, astrology, anatomy and plague remedies will be covered in tandem with the social history of the time.

No prior knowledge is required and all texts will be studied in translation.

Subject areas: History, Classical Studies, Medieval Studies.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, both Christianity and Islam developed the idea of religious warfare, justifying violence in pursuit of a spiritual goal. Covering the period from the preaching of the First Crusade to the fall of the Crusader states, this course will explore the concepts and practices of Holy War and how the doctrines of Jihad and crusade were evolved, assessing the impact of these movements upon the history of the medieval world. As well as detailing the military and political aspects of the Crusades, the course will explore what motivated medieval European men and women to set out on the conquest of a land thousands of miles away, examining in particular the role of the papacy in promoting violence against its Muslim inhabitants. It will also address the internal social and religious conflicts in Europe which culminated in the Albigensian Crusade, and detail the role of the Military Orders in the Latin Kingdoms in the military and political expansion into Eastern Europe. No prior knowledge of the period is necessary and all texts will be provided in translation.

Subject areas: History, Medieval Studies.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

The Tudor and Stuart period was one of almost continuous social and political conflict, out of which came the outline of modern Britain. Parliament and monarchs fought for supremacy within politics and, ultimately, on the battlefields in the Civil War. We will examine how parliament’s victory in that war led to a re-evaluation of how, and by whom, the country should be governed. We will also look at the religious persecution that filled England with martyrs following Henry VIII’s break with the Roman Catholic Church; at the witchcraft, astrology and superstition that infiltrated both heresy and official religion. The ideas that had coloured the medieval world were challenged and fell away: literacy increased, and the plays of Shakespeare became available to many; the scientific revolution began to redefine the nature of man and the world; Elizabeth’s Court encouraged a reformation of manners and new possibilities for women; and the voyages of Drake and Raleigh opened up the Americas to the English imagination. The period confirmed England as a parliamentary state with world influence and interests.

Subject areas: History.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

In the Courts of Princes: Politics and Élite Culture in Renaissance England [Autumn]

The great princes of sixteenth-century Europe were allied by blood and a common cultural inheritance but divided by religious belief and nascent nationalism. This course charts the connections between some of the great Renaissance courts of Europe by reference to the cultural artefacts they produced: sonnets, plays and court masques, royal propagandist portraits, and houses and palaces for royalty and nobility. Crucial to this production were princely patronage, confessional allegiance and artistic innovation.

The focus will be on the courts of Henry VIII (1509-47), Elizabeth I (1558-1603), and James I (1603-25), but the influence of other princely courts of Europe will also be considered. Texts studied may include sixteenth-century books on the philosophy of politics and education, poems, court masques, plays by Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, portraits by Holbein, Hilliard and Oliver, letters and speeches.

The course includes a field trip to Hampton Court, one of Henry VIII's palaces.

Subject areas: English.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Liberty, Rights and Rebellion: A Century of Revolution: England, France and the United States 1642-1792 [Autumn & Spring]

This course traces the developments, ideas and outcomes of three important revolutions of the modern period. It aims to compare and contrast the influence of each revolution on the development of history. Popular beliefs and notions of the rights of individuals, as well as political constitutions and the theories of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Jefferson, the Levellers and Tom Paine will be studied. Attention will be paid both to how each revolution influenced and shaped the course of the others, and to the emergence of the modern age. The study trip will combine a visit to the Civil War museum at Abingdon with a civil war walk of Oxford.

Subject areas: History, Political Sciences and Social Sciences
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Women, Culture and Society in Eighteenth-Century England [Autumn]
May also meet requirements for Women's Studies and History.

In recent years, television and film adaptations of the novels of Jane Austen and her contemporaries have crossed our screens. They have fed a popular and academic fascination with eighteenth-century women's history. This course, aimed at both specialists and newcomers alike, looks beyond heaving bosoms and tinkling teacups to the realities of eighteenth-century women's lives, their contributions to culture and their place in society. By examining women's participation in both public and private spheres - through topics such as education, marriage and family life; work, poverty, criminality and philanthropy; politics and religion; and consumerism, art and culture - the course seeks to integrate women into eighteenth-century history. We will listen to the voices of ordinary and exceptional women, to draw out a picture of a vibrant and dynamic society in which they were constrained by literary prescription, custom and law, and yet sought out new avenues for involvement and, by the end of the century, feminist advance. The study trip focuses on Chatsworth, the Derbyshire home of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.

Subject areas: History and Women's Studies
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Britain in 1837 was a country rising to undisputed dominance of industry, intellectual life, global markets, and the Atlantic world. During the subsequent 65 years, it would become the greatest empire in history. This course will study Britain ‘inside and outside’ the Imperial experience, looking at rival arguments about what fuelled the industrial revolution; why Britain did not experience a violent political revolution and why Chartism failed but Parliamentary reform succeeded. The growth of parliamentary government and the civil service will be traced, and the interaction of literature, art and cultural self-confidence and criticism in Empire illuminated.

Case studies of Ireland, India, and the scramble for Africa will allow us to pose questions about terrorism, world power and race. We shall also look at the London poor, the Victorian mode of social reform, and the growth of Victorian consumerism and media outlets, considering how the interaction of all these forces contributed to collective panic about crime, from Spring-Heeled Jack through the garrotters and Jack the Ripper. The course will end with the intimations of Imperial mortality encountered in the Boer Wars and the rise of Germany, and an assessment of Britain’s Imperial legacy. The study trip visits the Victoria and Albert Docks and museums in London.

Subject areas: History.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Politics and Society in Georgian England 1714-1832 (tutorial) [Autumn & Spring]

Central to this tutorial will be an examination of Britain’s response to the three great Revolutions which, collectively, ushered in the modern world. The Industrial Revolution led to new patterns of living, new consumerisms, new working practices and new opportunities for leisure. The French Revolution presented Europeans for the first time with the challenges of universal suffrage and social equality. The American War of Independence led to a re-evaluation of the worth of Empire, and to a rethinking of how Empires should be governed. Yet the British monarchy, the aristocracy and the Church of England all survived. How did Georgian Britain absorb change without being overwhelmed by it?

Subject areas: History, Political Sciences, Social Sciences.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

This tutorial examines the writing and the lives of some of the people most profoundly touched by Britain’s role in the African slave trade. Making full use of the excellent resources available at the nearby British Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol - one of the main ports used in the trade – and reading stories, essays, and poetry by black and white writers of the period, we will consider the rise of the abolition movement and its backlash, and examine the legacy of this history for contemporary Britain. The representation of the slave trade in recent films and novels, such as Amazing Grace and Philippa Gregory’s A Respectable Trade, will also be studied.

Subject areas: History.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Europe: From Total War to Political Unity [Spring]
May also meet requirements for Government, History, International Relations.

This course aims to trace the evolution of Europe during the twentieth century from total war (1914-18, 1939-45) to prospective federal state, with the emphasis on the years since 1945. The course begins with geographical, historical and demographical outline of the evolution of Europe from Roman times to the late nineteenth century. We then focus on the impact on Europe of the two World Wars, which have been fundamental to developments in Europe ever since. We turn next to phenomena that were in large degree by-products of those wars, namely the fall of the European empires and the Cold War domination of Europe by the two Superpowers, the latter theme being covered by seminars on the onset of the Cold War and Europe's Cold War security architecture - military, political and economic - on both sides of the Iron Curtain. We then move on to consider why the USSR disintegrated and the consequences thereof for Europe. The culminating focus of the course is the emergence and evolution of Community Europe, including prospects for the twenty-first century.

Subject areas: Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Government, History and International Relations
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

This course looks at the key political developments in twentieth-century Britain from 1900 to the present. It is designed to provide an overview of general trends and also an in-depth assessment of certain historical events which have impacted the political culture of twentieth-century Britain. The first part of the course deals with general themes in twentieth-century British political history, from the turn of the century to World War II. The second part looks at post-war society and traces the events that have led to the creation of a new British society as well as the continuation of past developments. Students will do specialised studies on various themes in British history such as the decline of the Liberal Party, rise of Labour, women's suffrage, the Irish question (including recent Northern Irish 'troubles') and the decline of the Empire. One recurring theme is the debate about a new Britain compared with a continuation of historical patterns. Students will have an opportunity to visit the Imperial War Museum or War Cabinet Rooms as well as the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London on their study trip.

Subject areas: Political Sciences, Social Sciences, History and Government
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

This course looks at one of the most momentous changes to take place in modern British society - the social, political and economic advancement of women. As well as celebrating the progress made and the battles won, however, it also examines the failures and the reverses, questioning why, for example, ‘equal pay’ remains an aspiration and not an achievement. Besides the prominent individuals - such as the Nobel laureate Dorothy Hodgkin, and Britain’s first woman prime minister, Margaret Thatcher - we also deal with the history of women en masse: in war and peace, education and employment, at home and at work. Alongside political struggle, we assay a rich vein of British culture in the twentieth century, taking in pioneer aviators and champion golfers, painters and novelists, and the remarkable sisters who outshone their brothers. The course weighs the overall impact of the emancipation of women, while underlining their indispensability to the ideal of democratic secular society.

Subject areas: History.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Twentieth-Century Reputations: Historical Biography Reconsidered (tutorial) [Autumn]

This tutorial compares the biographies of five pairs of public figures whose place in modern British history remains the subject of hot debate: the prime ministers Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill; the political activists Millicent Fawcett and Emmeline Pankhurst; the poets Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen; the Antarctic explorers Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton; and the royals, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. The close study of specific historical biographies will allow varied insight into twentieth-century Britain, as well as fostering greater awareness of the philosophical underpinnings of historical research.

Subject areas: History.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

This course examines the development of Irish nationalism, the struggle for Irish independence and the development of a separate identity in the north-east of Ireland. The major focus will be on the partition of the island, the relationship between the two parts of the country and the relationships between the United Kingdom and both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The role of violent Republicanism in the creation of the Irish Republic and in the consolidation of defensive unionist attitudes in the north will be considered. The post-1969 campaign by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, the response in the unionist community and the political changes which have resulted will be examined in detail. An optional part of this course will be a study trip to Dublin. While ASE subsidises this trip, students will be asked to contribute to their travel and accommodation expenses.

Subject areas: Political Sciences, Social Sciences, History, Government and International Relations
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

This course traces the evolution of the Anglo-American Special Relationship from the days of Churchill and Roosevelt through to the present day. We begin with an introductory session on the bases of the relationship - demographic, cultural, political, diplomatic, strategic, economic and historical. This is followed by seminars on the Special Relationship and the Second World War; the onset of the Cold War; the intensification of the Cold War; the Suez Affair; Peaceful Co-existence; Détente; the New Cold War; and the New World Order. We end with an overall look at the relationship, an assessment as to the extent to which it has been special, and a consideration of whether it has a future.

Subject areas: Political Sciences, Social Sciences, History and International Relations
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Since September 11th 2001 understanding terrorism has become a major concern for both politicians and academics. This course examines terrorism in the context of international and national security. It proceeds by examining the motives of terrorist groups (ethnic, nationalist, religious, ideological) and the methods they use (bombings, hi-jackings, assassinations, hostage-taking). The different approaches to countering terrorism – political, law and order and military – are also examined. Attention is devoted to the psychology of those prepared to kill and die for their cause and the question of what distinguishes a terrorist from a freedom-fighter is addressed. Examples will be drawn from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas, with particular attention paid to the ‘new’ terrorism aimed at the West and the United States in particular.

Individual research forms a major part of the course and students will be required to prepare and present their findings to the rest of the group.

Subject areas: Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Government, International Relations, Government, History.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

This course offers students a chance to study the more important of those great issues of universal impact collectively known as international peace and security matters. It begins with a consideration of the question of why conflicts happen: is the answer to be found at the international, national or individual human level? We then look at typologies of conflict: total war, limited war, conventional war, irregular war - guerrilla warfare and terrorism - and asymmetrical war. We also examine how conflicts affect societies and individuals, and at the ethical aspects of the subject: is there such a thing as a just war and, even if there is, should certain moral constraints still be honoured? The course also involves an examination of how humanity might achieve peace. Among the issues covered are: can peace be achieved through disarmament; armament; deterrence (conventional and nuclear); or by stronger international bodies? We conclude the course by projecting into the future: do present trends suggest humanity faces further conflict or will peace prevail?

This course traces and critically evaluates the evolution of Anglo-American relations with Afghanistan from 1839 to the present day. The first sessions will comprise a study of Britain's pioneering imperial role in the region, culminating in the first three Anglo-Afghan conflicts (1839-42, 1879-81 and 1919). The causes and legacies of the first disastrous Anglo-Afghan war, which culminated in the brutal annihilation of a 16,000-strong Anglo-Indian army in the frozen Afghan passes, will constitute the major primary source-based element. The still controversial roles of key political players such as the enigmatic American adventurer, Harlan, Victorian heroine Lady Sale, doomed diplomats Burnes and Macnaughten and Afghan leader Dost Mohammed, will be re-assessed. The course will go on to examine contrasting Anglo-American policies towards the Mujahaideen in the 1980s and the post 9/11 conflict with the Taleban. Local Afghan responses to recent Anglo-American interventionism, especially attempts at social reconstruction such as the introduction of human rights, the ‘liberation' of Afghan women, and the war against drugs, will be included as part of the overall interpretation and assessment process.

Subject areas: Political and Social Science, History.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Northern Ireland Since the Good Friday Agreement (tutorial) [Spring]

The context and content of the Good Friday (or Belfast) Agreement of 10 April 1998 will be explored, together with the positions and expectations of the main political 'actors' in the process. Each student will then choose an aspect of the developing political scene in Northern Ireland for closer examination. Much of the material will be accessed from the internet, using media archives as well as academic, government and political party web sites. For general information on ASE's Oxford-style tutorials, please visit The Tutorial Programme.

The Holburne Museum of Art (internship) [Autumn & Spring]

Bath’s museum of decorative arts and crafts offers a placement working alongside museum staff on a variety of projects. Typically, there will be extensive opportunities for the intern to liaise with local schools and colleges through the museum’s Education department, and to help produce the museum's promotional materials, as well as additional work assisting in the setting up of special exhibitions or the maintenance of the permanent one. A readiness to work with school age children, good interpersonal skills and confidence with written language are therefore all pre-requisites for the successful candidate.

For general information on ASE Internships, please visit The Internship Programme.

Subject areas: History, Art, Education and Business
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

The Museum of Bath at Work aims both to complement and act as a counterpoint to the many heritage attractions of the city, charting Bath’s fascinating commercial and industrial history, its development as a manufacturing centre as well as a tourist destination. Permanent collections include the contents of a local engineering firm, a hardware shop, a Victorian soft drinks factory, and Bath Stone mine. The museum also has a lively educational programme for schools and colleges, presenting regular lectures, dayschools and workshops. Besides general experience of a heritage attraction, including exhibition preparation, liaison with schools, archival research etc. the placement offers the chance to work on 'behind the scenes' collections management projects.

Subject areas: History, Political and Social Sciences.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.