HS2GPP: Going Public: Presenting the Past, Planning the Future

Module code: HS2GPP

Module provider: History; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Professor Kate Williams, email: k.r.williams@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module provides students with an opportunity to explore public interpretations of the past and how history is presented in the world outside academia, to work collaboratively with external partners on a group project which involves researching and communicating about history for public audiences, creating a public history project such as a TV show or exhibition, and to develop key areas of employability. This module is compulsory for all Single Subject History students, and optional for Joint Honours History students. 

This module allows students to reflect on and engage with the issues in presenting the past to the public and producing a public history project, engaging with matters such as unseating the dominant narrative, invoking wide audiences, widening participating, engaging with difficult history, stakeholders, conflicting narratives, and asking whose voices are not being heard. It aims to provide students with an opportunity to apply their skills of researching, presenting and compiling to a practical Project for an external client. This will involve both independent analysis and group co-operation, as well as developing expertise in project-design and time-management. The module also aims to enhance personal career-development by giving students the opportunity to consider future career options in the light of their ambitions, aptitudes, previous work experience, and the transferable skills arising from the study of history at degree level. The emphasis will be on critical thinking, self-reflection and effective career-planning strategies. 

Module learning outcomes

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

1. Understand the issues involved in presenting the past to the public, such as contested stories, difficult history, conflicting narratives between history and memory/fable, diversity of audiences. 
2. Conceive and plan a group project, practising collaborative work and group organisation in order to successfully execute the project  
3. Organise material, marshal research, and articulate arguments, and present this effectively in a group presentation and group-authored portfolio 
4. Reflect on the relevance of their degree and the module and other experience for careers planning and employability, and consider how to present university experiences to employers.

Module content

Students are required early in semester 1 to choose one of the listed projects, on which they will work to a brief from an organisation outside the history department, as a group placement. 

Students will be divided into groups, and will work independently and as a group on their projects, producing a portfolio and keeping a log of their activities and division of labour. Group presentations of the portfolios will be given at the end of semester 1, and will include students’ peer-assessment of their own work and that of their group. The portfolios will be submitted in the assessment period. Students will also submit an individual reflective report on their career planning of up to 1,000 words in the assessment period. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

In semester 1, there will be a series of lectures about public history, the projects and process for the module, and careers. These will be supplemented with meetings with the group supervisors, with three scheduled meetings, two with supervisors and one with the module convenor, and more meetings on request. There are usually meetings with the clients or support meetings with guidance about producing work for the clients.  

The students are asked to conduct their public history projects through collaborative and independent research, with support from their supervisors, and work independently on research, creative planning and thinking critically about public history, as well as thinking critically about careers planning.  

Study hours

At least 15 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

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

Assessments with numerical marks

• 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 three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/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.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs