HS1MEM-'Broken-Hearted': Medicine, Emotion, and the Body in Early Modern England, 1570-1730

Module Provider: History
Number of credits: 10 [5 ECTS credits]
Level:4
Terms in which taught: Autumn term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2021/2

Module Convenor: Ms Amie Bolissian McRae
Email: a.t.bolissianmcrae@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module is optional for SINGLE HONOURS STUDENTS ONLY. It was possible to die from a broken heart in seventeenth-century England. Any extreme emotion – including joy – was considered potentially fatal in the early modern period. This module investigates the medical beliefs and personal experiences that lay behind such assumptions. Through hands-on analysis of rare and fascinating sources such as personal diaries and doctors’ casebooks, students will reach a deep understanding of the perceived link between the body, health, and the ‘passions’ in this period. It will also explore thinking about the impact of a person’s gender, age, and race on their physiology and emotions. 

Aims:

This module aims to familiarise students with medical ideas about the body, health, and ‘the passions’ or emotions in early modern England. It will introduce them to the exciting new field of the history of emotions, as well as the more established area of medical history. Through the weekly analysis of different types of primary sources – from diaries to doctors’ casebooks -  it will show how particular emotions were thought to cause or cure disease, such as the plague and  ‘melancholy’. Students will also find out how variables like gender and age could affect bodily and emotional health according to physicians in this era.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the module, students will be able to:

• identify the sources of the topic in question


• trace its historical development


• be aware of the differing – and often competing – historiographical interpretations of the nature and causes of this development


• understand how ideas and events are shaped by their historical contexts


• organise material and articulate arguments effectively i n writing, both in timed exam conditions and assessed coursework


• demonstrate familiarity with bibliographical conventions and mastery of library skills. 

Additional outcomes:

The module also aims:

• to encourage students to think independently


• to help students develop good oral and written communication skills


• to develop the effectiveness of students in group situations


• to develop IT skills through the use of relevant resources.

Outline content:

This module introduces students to the history of the body, health, and ‘the passions’, or emotions, in early modern England c.1570-1730. It will explore beliefs that emotions could dramatically improve or harm human health, and demonstrate that these ideas informed how diseases, such as the plague and ‘melancholy’, were diagnosed and treated. The module will begin by providing essential context about the medicine and emotion in this period: what happened when a person fell ill? Who treated the sick, and how were disease, the body, and emotions understood? It will look at ideas that emotions were considered to be profoundly linked to the fluids and organs of the body, as well as the soul. We will then go on to explore a specific emotion each week: sorrow, fear, anger, joy, and cheerfulness. Using a wide variety of primary sources, such as doctors’ casebooks, diaries, letters, and ballads we will ask how each passion was thought to affect health and the body. Students will be encouraged to consider how these heavily gendered and age-dependent medical beliefs about the body and emotions may have influenced cultural attitudes about the roles of different groups in society.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Teaching is by eight two-hour seminars over one term. Students are reminded to email their tutors for help and advice whenever needed and to note office hours.

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Seminars	16		1
Tutorials	1
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)	16
Exam revision/preparation			25
Preparation for seminars	8
Completion of formative assessment tasks	8
Essay preparation	25
Total hours by term	74	0	26
Total hours for module	100

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written exam	50
Written assignment including essay	50

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Written exam 50% 

one 1-hour unseen paper requiring 1 answer

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

Written assignment 50%:

1 written assignment of c. 1,250 words, to be submitted once via Blackboard on Turnitin, by 12 noon on the submission deadline in Week 11 specified on the module site on Blackboard.

Formative assessment methods:

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/qualitysupport/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

A mark of 40% overall. 

Reassessment arrangements:

Where a re-sit is permitted, students will be assessed on the failed element(s) only in August. Any element(s) already passed will be carried forward if it bears a confirmed mark of 40% or more. The module mark will be capped at a maximum of 40%. Failed coursework must be re-submitted by 12 noon on the third Friday of August.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books: 

2) Specialist equipment or materials: 

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear: 

4) Printing and binding: 

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification: 

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence: 

Last updated: 15 February 2022