Studying at York
Understanding & Interpreting Historic Buildings - ARC00011M
Module summary
Britain has a wide array of surviving historic buildings that have long fascinated scholars and the public alike, including medieval castles and churches, country houses, workers’ housing, public buildings, factories and prisons. This module provides an introduction to this diversity and considers how we might understand and interpret these buildings today. How can buildings help to illuminate the past and what questions do we choose to ask of them? This can be crucial in evaluating their current significance and the stories that we tell about them in the present.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2023-24 |
Module aims
This module aims:
- To train students in the specialised skills required in the interpretation of the historical function and meaning of a range historic building types
- To provide students with a critical understanding of the ways in which historic building types can be interpreted
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate a practical understanding of how to analyse and phase the historical development of a range of historic building types
- Engage critically with current academic debates about the form, function and meaning of a range of historic building types
- Demonstrate critical engagement with interpretations of the archaeology of buildings and other areas of archaeological and historical knowledge
- Communicate complex ideas in an analytical framework through essay writing
Module content
Buildings can provide insights into many different aspects of the past. Early scholarship often focused on constructing typologies of buildings, now we are often more concerned with exploring gender, class and race. Each week we will focus on a specific type of building, as well as some of the most interesting questions surrounding them. Are castles about defence or symbolism? How did changing church buildings help to structure religious practice? What are the connections between slavery and the British country house? How is power and control manifested in a factory, a prison or a museum? Are domestic buildings public or private and are they gendered space? In the assessment, you are free to focus on the types of buildings and themes that most interest you, with support from the module tutors.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Formative: oral feedback from module leaders
Summative: written feedback within the University's turnaround policy
Indicative reading
Goodall J (2011) The English Castle 1066-1650. New Haven, London: Yale University Press.
Giles K (2007) 'Seeing and believing: visuality and space in pre-modern England', World Archaeology 39(1): 105-121
Markus T A (1993) Buildings & Power: Freedom and Control in The Origin of Modern Building Types. London: Routledge.