HS2O57-Encountering the Atlantic World, 1450-1850

Module Provider: History
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:5
Terms in which taught: Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Dr Richard Blakemore
Email: r.blakemore@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module introduces students to the ‘Atlantic world’, the idea that from the late fourteenth to the late eighteenth century new connections were established around and across this ocean, connections which drove profound and often turbulent changes to cultures, economies, and political structures, and which have left an important and sometimes unsettling legacy for the modern world.

Aims:

Part 2 Options can be either chronological or thematic. Chronological Options will usually take the form of a survey of a particular geographical area or nation over a defined period of one or two centuries. These Options aim to acquaint students with the causes and consequences of continuity and change over the long term in the political, social, economic and cultural systems under study. Thematic Options take key concepts, ideas, or debates in history and study them in a number of different contexts, either geographically or across historical periods. The aim again is to acquaint students with the causes of continuity and change, but this time by a more comparative approach.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the module it is expected that the student will be able to: 

• identify and explain the main issues and events studied


• appraise critically the primary sources and historiographical interpretations of the subject


• think comparatively about aspects of African, American, British, European, Middle Eastern and South Asian history over a substantial period


• assess the nature of social, economic, political and cultural change and the particular methodologies associated with tracing it


• organise material and articulate arguments effectively in different kinds of written exercises and orally


• locate and assemble bibliographic and other information by independent research, using IT as appropriate

Additional outcomes:

The module aims to encourage the development of oral communication skills and the student’s effectiveness in group situations and team-working. Students will also develop their IT skills by use of relevant web resources and databases, where appropriate.

Outline content:

This module introduces students to the ‘Atlantic world’, the idea that from the late fourteenth to the late eighteenth century new connections were established around and across this ocean, connections which drove profound and often turbulent changes to cultures, economies, and political structures, and which have left an important and sometimes unsettling legacy for the modern world. It will begin with a survey of the societies which existed around the Atlantic basin before regular contact was established, and consider early encounters between European travellers and African and American communities, together with their consequences for both indigenous and alien participants. We will then examine a variety of themes – such as trade, empire, technology, warfare, slavery, religion, and culture (including music) – which bound the Atlantic world together through interaction and circulation, though often also characterised by disjuncture and conflict. Through these themes will explore the growth of European commercial and imperial interests in South and North America and the Caribbean, and the interactions between these newcomers and the resident populations of these regions, before turning to one of the defining features of this world, the transatlantic slave trade, to consider its impact upon societies in Africa and the Americas. The module will conclude with the ‘age of revolutions’, when political upheaval in France, Haiti, and North and South America broke apart the Atlantic empires of the previous few centuries. Students will be encouraged to reflect on this history in a wide-ranging and comparative perspective, and to analyse the ways in which scholars have sought to describe and understand the ‘Atlantic world’.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Seminars, requiring preparatory reading and investigation, may include informal and interactive presentations by the module teacher; structured group discussion; short seminar papers by students; occasional tutorials; team-based simulation exercises and debates; examination of primary and secondary sources, as appropriate. Staff will be available for consultation as necessary.

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures		10
Seminars		21
Project Supervision		1
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)		40
Wider reading (directed)		40
Advance preparation for classes		10
Preparation for seminars		3
Revision and preparation		35
Essay preparation		30
Reflection		10
Total hours by term	0	200	0
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written exam	50
Written assignment including essay	50

Summative assessment- Examinations:

One two-hour paper requiring two answers to be taken at the time of the Part 2 examinations.

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

Students will produce one coursework portfolio of 2,500 words, to be handed in by 12 noon on the Monday of week 11 of term, which should be submitted electronically via Blackboard. Five marks will be deducted if the coursework portfolio exceeds 2,625 words (i.e. 5% over the word limit).

Formative assessment methods:

1,000 words or 2 pages of A4 maximum to include, at the module convenor’s discretion, an essay plan, bibliography, book review or other preparatory work towards the summative essay.

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: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/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: 4 September 2023