Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

The aim of this module is to develop an understanding of the historical era known as Late Antiquity through the range of sources and evidence available, and drawing on the wide and impressive range of specialist research and staffing available across the School of History, Classics & Archaeology.

Late Antiquity, circa 284-750, was a period of substantial transformation across Europe, North Africa and the Near East. The period can be characterised by key themes and historical narratives, all of which are fundamental to the subsequent formation of 'the West'. By introducing students to a diverse range of evidence, key sources and methods for gathering that evidence, and the different appearances of Late Antiquity across a range of geographies, students will achieve an interdisciplinary understanding of this fascinating period of history. Framing the learning through the lens of Late Antiquity, spanning the traditional chronological categories of Roman and Medieval, and geographic separation of East and West, students will build better skills to evaluate traditional interpretations and epistemologies the past in terms of chronologies, regional divisions, orientations, and disciplinary boundaries.

Outline Of Syllabus

This module will draw on a wide range of expertise across Archaeology, Classics and History to create a learning programme that is both substantive and detailed. Detailed coverage of topics and specific case studies will vary depending on staff availability, but these will include:

1. A narrative overview of the period, which includes the demise of the Western Roman Empire, the continuation of the Eastern Roman & Byzantine state, the formation and demise of Sassanid Persia, expansion and dominance of Christianity across much of Europe, and the spread of Islam across North Africa and the Near East;
2. Those that rule - emperors/emperesses, kings/queens, and chiefs
3. Legal frameworks
4. Those that fight - soldiers and warriors
5. Those that pray and their religions - saints, prophets, and priests of Christianity and Islam
6. Economic frameworks
7. Trade and technology
8. Landscapes of change

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

On completing this module students should gain:

1. An in-depth knowledge of the era of Late Antiquity, with particular respect to concepts of continuity, collapse, and transformation.

2. A knowledge of a wide range of source material related to the study of Late Antiquity, drawing from textual works, art and sculpture, and material culture and monuments.

3. A knowledge of distinct approaches and methodologies related to the study of people and environments that span Europe, the Near East, and North Africa.

4. A understanding of how scholarly interpretation changes through disciplinary development and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Intended Skill Outcomes

It is intended that on completing this module students should be able to:

- develop their skills as scholars of the past, examining different cultures across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East in terms of similarities, differences, and influences;

- augment their primary disciplinary skills with understanding of the usefulness of cross-disciplinary insights and methodological strengths from their learning in the module, drawn from Archaeology, Art History, Anthropology, Ethnography, Economics, Environmental Studies, History, Literature, and/or Linguistics;

- identify and establish links between distinct geographies and cultures of the Late Antique era;

- reflect critically on the conventional boundaries across disciplines;

- enhance their ability to synthesise information from multiple sources on disparate topics, bringing together case studies from set reading, lectures, and key primary sources and data to inform their discussions in seminars and arguments in assessed work;

- practice key employability skills such as verbal and written communication, constructive group discussion and debate, organisation and planning, all underpinning knowledge and learning outcomes.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures will be provided by experts and will introduce topics and core knowledge and outline knowledge that students are expected to acquire and to think about.

Seminars are intended to consolidate students’ learning and enhance their understanding, by (1) providing an opportunity to review the week’s lecture and lecture materials and its set reading materials, and to discuss any questions that students have about them, but more importantly (2) providing an opportunity for creative work, in group discussion and debate that engages in comparative history, comparing the different societies/regions that the lecturers have introduced and that the students have read about.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Assessments are intended to measure progress against learning and skills outcomes.

The academic poster provides a means by which the student can demonstrate familiarity and understanding of a key form of evidence for historical enquiry (demonstrating learning outcomes) through good visual and written communication (demonstrating skills outcomes). As a mid-module assessment, this will build student confidence in dealing with diverse evidence working toward the final assessment.

The essay provides an expanded space for the student to demonstrate through writing (skills outcomes) a critical understanding of the period of Late Antiquity by focusing on a key debate within a particular theme in the period (learning outcomes).

Both assessments provide opportunities to also demonstrate interdisciplinary learning, knowledge, and understanding.

General Notes

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