This seminar is intended as a broadly conceived introduction to the early modern history of the human body. Candidates should not expect a concentration on learned notions of the body. Our focus is wider, as we will be engaging in, and with, socio-cultural historiography. We will be surveying popular beliefs and meanings, everyday practices and social consequences, surrounding human physicality during the early modern period, particularly in terms of their relation to class, sexuality, gender, ethnicity, and race. Of equal importance will be the issues of how (and why) historians go about recovering the history of the body. While the early modern Anglophone world is our main point of departure, candidates will be free to focus their attention comparatively on other regions of Western Europe.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
Upon Successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Analyze the historical and socio-cultural contingency of
human physicality (rather than assume it is entirely natural or timeless).
- Speak, argue, and write about key themes and concepts in
early modern socio-cultural history.
- Identify and transcribe sources from the period, using
them to reconstruct beliefs, ideas, and attitudes.
- Design and execute a research project in early modern socio-cultural
history.
- Provide and respond to feedback in the process of identifying and formulating solutions to complex historical questions.
Indicative Assessment
Class Participation: (10%) [Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 5]
Historiographical Review: 1500 words (10%) [Learning Outcomes 1, 2]
Research Proposal: 1500 words (10%) [Learning Outcomes 3, 4]
Research Essay – draft version: 3500 words (20%) [Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4]
Research Essay – final version: 5000 words (50%) [Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
260 hours in total:
3 contact hours per week (1 x 2 hour reading seminar and 1 x1 hour workshop) for 13 weeks.
Students are expected to spend an additional 17 hours per week completing assigned readings, conducting research, and preparing for assessments.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
An e-brick consisting of primary material and scholarly essays will be compiled and made available on Wattle.Preliminary Reading
Toulalan, S. and K.Fisher, The Routledge History of Sex and the Body: 1500 to the Present (2013).Porter, R., Flesh in the Age of Reason (2003).
Bryson, A., From Courtesy to Civility. Changing Codes of Conduct in Early Modern England (1998).
Chaplin, J.E., Subject Matter: Technology, the Body, and Science on the Anglo-American Frontier, 1500–1676 (2001).
Earle, R., The Body of the Conquistador: Food, Race and the Colonial Experience in Spanish America, 1492-1700 (2012).
Feerick, J., Strangers in Blood. Relocating Race in the Renaissance (2010).
Gowing, L., Common Bodies. Women, Touch and Power in Seventeenth-Century England (2003).
Kuchta, D., The Three-Piece Suit and Modern Masculinity. England, 1550-1850 (2002).
Laqueur, T., Making Sex. Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud (1990).
Newton, H., The Sick Child in Early Modern England, 1580-1720 (2012).
Stein, C., Negotiating the French Pox in Early Modern Germany (2008).
Assumed Knowledge
Completion of a cognate major
Specialisations
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 12 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 12.00 | 0.25000 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $5436 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $7752 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3991 | 15 Feb 2016 | 26 Feb 2016 | 31 Mar 2016 | 27 May 2016 | In Person | N/A |
