Studying at York
A Reading Revolution? Gender, Politics and the Written Word in Early Modern England - HIS00170I
- Department: History
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
Module summary
The early modern period saw a number of transformations in how people read. After the invention of the Gutenberg press, print became increasingly widely available across Europe, and literacy rates rose. Books were becoming familiar objects and reading was a key part of everyday life. Moreover, print became increasingly important in politics, even helping to provoke revolution in seventeenth-century England.
This module will cover themes such as gender, genre, and political change, looking at how and what people were reading in the period c.1580-1700. We will consider the place of reading in politics, religion and the home, and the ways in which people could read even if they were not literate. We will also investigate the common historiographical claim that reading and methods of reading underwent a ‘revolution’ in the early modern period, moving from intensive and active to extensive and passive reading. We will explore whether this narrative can be applied to the reading habits of non-elite groups and women, and question the ways in which scholars have approached long-term change in the history of reading.
The module will introduce students to the methods of studying reading in the past, considering how we might access a largely intangible action. We will also see how studying reading can give an insight into the political, religious and social changes of early modern England.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 1 2024-25 |
Module aims
The aims of this module are:
- To provide students with the opportunity to study particular historical topics in depth
- To develop students’ ability to examine a topic from a range of perspectives and to strengthen their ability to work critically and reflectively with secondary and primary material
Module learning outcomes
Students who complete this module successfully will:
- Have acquired a deep knowledge of the specific topic studied
- Have developed their ability to use and synthesise a range of primary and secondary sources
- Be able to evaluate the arguments that historians have made about the topic studied
- Have developed their ability to study independently through seminar-based teaching
Module content
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:
- A History of Reading
- Education, Literacy Rates and ‘Active’ Reading
- Cheap Print and Popular Culture
- Protestantism and Print
- Politics and Print
- Gendered Genres?
- Reading Early Modern Science
- Book Collectors and Libraries
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
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.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
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.
Indicative reading
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:
- Manguel, Alberto. A History of Reading. London: Flamingo Press, 1997.
- Knight, Leah, Elizabeth Sauer and Micheline White (eds.). Women’s Bookscapes in Early Modern Britain: Reading, Ownership and Circulation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2018.
- Sharpe, Kevin and Steven N. Zwicker (eds.). Reading, Society and Politics in Early Modern England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.