Historical Childhoods: antiquity to the modern day (X3253)

15 credits, Level 4

Autumn teaching

Exploring the question “is childhood a modern construct?”, this module provides an overview to the history of western childhoods and youth from antiquity through to the modern period, drawing on a range of historiographical debates and perspectives.

You will be supported to conduct your own desk-based research, which evaluates sources, their importance and limitations, and use them to explore this issue in depth. You will curate a small selection of sources and objects exploring a historical theme or concept in the study of childhood e.g. a collection of toys, or depictions of children in adverts over time.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 36 hours of contact time and about 114 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.