| Unit name | Sexualities |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HIST30118 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Jones |
| 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?
Units in our Big Ideas optional panel ensure that as you enter your final year of study, and narrow your research agenda, you don’t lose sight of the bigger picture and the big questions about significance, impact, and meaning. Your programme has developed your ability to speak to the big challenges faced by society from a platform of authority and expertise. These units are designed to support and augment these attributes, ensuring that our students leave our university as engaged and global citizens.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
By the final year of study, you have discovered where your passions lie and have embarked on a programme of sustained and focused historical research. Now is the time to turn your attention towards the utility of what you know and what you can do. Together with our TB2 History at Work panel, the Big Ideas options invite you to think about what historians can offer the world, and equip you with the confidence to apply your studies to the problems and challenges we all face.
An overview of content
Over the last forty years, the history of sexuality has been at the forefront of historical investigation. Historians have attempted to chart attitudes towards, and experiences of, sex, sexuality, and intimate relationships across a wide range of societies and over long periods of time. This unit takes as its starting point Michel Foucault’s path-breaking text The History of Sexuality. Foucault argued that the discourse of sexuality as identity did not exist before the late nineteenth century; before this, he suggested, ‘sex’ had simply been a series of acts. This account had a profound influence on subsequent studies of sexuality, but questions have emerged over how accurately this model describes sexual cultures in the modern West, the pre-modern world, and non-Western societies. This unit will consider the history of sexuality from a range of geographical and chronological perspectives. Drawing upon a variety of written, visual, theoretical and political sources, we will explore the relationship between sex and identity as well as how the histories of the body, the law, popular cultures, and technology all shaped understandings of sexuality in the past.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
As your attention turns towards your capstone research dissertations, these units ensure that students don’t lose sight of the big questions of meaning, significance, and impact. Your skills as an independent researcher are greatly enhanced by your ability to speak to these wider issues. Units on this panel will give you the confidence equip you with the skills you need to frame your knowledge as responses to these ‘Big Ideas’.
Your learning on this unit
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
Classes will involve a combination of long- and short-form lectures, 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 and self-directed exercises with tutor and peer feedback.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Individual Presentation, 10 minutes (25%) [ILOs 1-4]
Exam, 2 hours (75%) [ILOs 1-4]
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. HIST30118).
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.
