| Unit name | Rebels, Runaways, and Revolutionaries: Agency and Slavery in the United States. |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HIST20166 |
| Credit points | 40 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Wallace |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
none |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
none |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
none |
| School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
Our Special Fields give you the opportunity to work at an advanced level alongside a single academic and a specialist area of research. Intensively taught through seminars only, they are designed to provide you with hands-on experience of how knowledge is produced in the discipline of History.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
Our Special Fields involve the application of the full spectrum of core historical competencies within a narrower field of study. In this sense, they are designed to prepare you to undertake independent research for yourself by showing you how practicing historians work with sources, historiographies, methodologies, and concepts within a particular specialism. The assessment for this unit includes a substantial independent research project linked to the topic area, designed to provide you with practical experience of doing historical research before your capstone dissertation.
An overview of content
Slavery in the United States was a race-based system of exploitation designed to brutalise, commodify, and dehumanise. More than 12 million African people were trafficked across the Atlantic and enslaved in the Americas, including some 700,000 women and men enumerated simply as ‘slaves’ in the first U.S. Census of 1790, growing to almost 4 million by 1860. The unit investigates the agency of enslaved persons, their expressions of freedom, and their resistance to enslavement during the founding years of the United States (1790-1865). Through an exploration of unique source materials including autobiographies, newspaper advertisements, and music, students will explore key questions: Who were the enslaved escapees advertised in local newspapers, and who were the women and men labelled as rebels and revolutionaries by enslavers? How did localised expressions of agency and self-actualisation challenge the socio-political and racial ordering of slave societies and white racialised notions of their body and personhood?
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
Special Field units will enhance your capacity to build arguments with primary sources, properly located within appropriate theories, concepts, methodologies, and historiographies. The assessment for this unit is designed to support your development as an independent researcher in history, preparing you for your dissertations.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
Classes will involve a combination of class discussion, investigative activities, and practical activities. Students will be expected to engage with readings and participate on a weekly basis. This will be further supported with drop-in sessions.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
You will have the opportunity to submit a 2-page written project proposal to your unit tutor before the winter vacation and you will receive a short amount of written feedback. Additionally, you will have the chance to workshop your plans during class time for peer feedback and support.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Essay, 2,500 words (20%) [ILOs 1-4].
Individual Research Project, 4,000 words (40%) [ILOs 1-5].
Timed Assessment (40%) [ILOs 1-4, 6].
The first essay, submitted in TB1, will be designed to consolidate your understanding of sources and approaches in the field. The individual research project, submitted in TB2, will see you apply and develop the skills and approaches from your first assessment. It will challenge you to develop your own research plan and produce an individual research essay. This is designed to support your progression towards your capstone dissertation. The Timed Assessment, held in the summer assessment period, completes your research journey. It will be a synoptic assessment designed to tie the whole unit together and will address deeper questions of meaning, significance, and impact.
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the format or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are confirmed by the School/Centre shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. HIST20166).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
