- Department: History
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
- See module specification for other years: 2023-24
Catherine the Great (1729-1796) was one of the most extraordinary women of any epoch. Empress, philosophe, author, journalist, this multi-faceted woman dominated an entire epoch. Chosen to be the bride of the heir to the Russian throne by the Empress Elizabeth, Catherine went on to be empress in her own right. Catherine raised the Russian Empire to a position of unprecedented power in Europe, transformed the internal administration of the Empire and deepened and extended the cultural revolution began by Peter the Great. The splendour of her court in St Petersburg dazzled Europe.
However, Catherine ruled autocratically, the majority of her subjects were serfs, barely distinguishable from slaves and she carried out a successful foreign policy guided by unparalleled cynicism. In this course we will look at Catherine’s reign primarily focusing on the woman herself, her character, her relations with her family, and her rule to attempt to assess this most remarkable woman. We will make use of Catherine’s own writings and those of her contemporaries as well as the extensive secondary literature that exists on her.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Semester 1 2024-25 |
The aims of this module are:
Students who complete this module successfully will:
Students will attend a 1-hour briefing in week 1. Students will then attend a 1-hour plenary/lecture and a 2-hour seminar in weeks 2-4, 6-8 and 10-11 of semester 1. Weeks 5 & 9 are Reading and Writing Weeks (RAW) during which there are no seminars. Students prepare for and participate in eight 1-hour plenaries/lectures and eight 2-hour seminars in all.
Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
None
For formative assessment, students will complete a referenced 1200 to 1500-word essay relating to the themes and issues of the module. This will be submitted in either the Week 5 or Week 9 RAW week (on the day of the weekly seminar).
For summative assessment, students will complete an Assessed Essay (2000 words, footnoted). This will comprise 100% of the overall module mark.
Summative assessments will be due in the assessment period.
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
Following their formative assessment task, students will typically receive written feedback that will include comments and a mark within 10 working days of submission.
Work will be returned to students in their seminars and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss the feedback on their formative work during their tutor’s student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.
For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 25 working days of the submission deadline. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.
For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading: