Admission requirements
In addition to LIAS PhD students, this course is open to students of the MA Middle Eastern Studies (research and the MA Asian Studies (research). Interested students from other relevant PhD and Research MA programmes are kindly advised to contact the course convener and the education coordinator before registering for this course.
Description
This PhD seminar explores how history can be reconstructed by using sources which historians generally neglect. The discipline of historiography has developed methods to identify the kinds of sources which can be used for historical reconstruction, and techniques to interpret those sources. Some types of material, however, have often been overlooked as witnesses of historical events, and poetry is a prominent example of such marginalisation. Present-day associations of poetry with artistic expression and imagination may seem far removed from the facts and data associated with history, but poetry ought not be dismissed so quickly. For many civilisations, poetry was a privileged method of memorialising the past, which suggests that it should play a key role in exploring their heritage. And even in societies where poetry is not a traditional method of recording history, poets’ voices have documented their engagement with their lived reality, making their work potential source material for historiography as well.
What has poetry to offer for historical reconstruction? What kind of historical information can be deducted from it? How can it be interpreted to assist traditional historiography? To address these questions, we begin in pre-Islamic Arabian society, which privileged poets as spokespeople for social groups and holders of collective memory. Next, we look at India and the work of British administrators as they draw on poetry in creating colonial narratives of Indian history. We then turn to the themes of war and societal change in mid-twentieth century America, as seen through the lens of poetry and song. Throughout the course, we will consider how different cultural traditions have used poetry to create different senses of the past, what are the implications for the theory and practice of historiography, and what our inquiry can tell us about methodology at large.
Course objectives
The ability to position your interests in a wider landscape of academic inquiry
Sensitivity to your positionality in scholarship and that of others
Academic skills (e.g. reading outside your field, academic debate, presenting, writing)
Generic skills (e.g. teamwork, group work).
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
The deadline(s) in MyTimetable is/are set for administrative purposes only. The actual date(s) will be communicated by the lecturer(s) in Brightspace.
Mode of instruction
Seminar.
Attendance and active participation are obligatory for seminars. Students are required to prepare for and attend all sessions. The course convener needs to be informed without delay of any classes missed because of illness or misadventure. In these cases it is at the discretion of the course convener(s) whether or not you will have to compensate by doing an extra assignment. Missing class for no valid reason and/or failing to notify the convener of your absence can result in a no-pass grade for the course or exclusion from it.
Assignments may include web posts, presentations, moderating the discussion etc, at the discretion of the convener.
Assessment method
ResMA students take the course for credit and will write a paper worth about 70 hours of work. The course convener will provide Information on the requirements for the paper at the start of the course.
Academic integrity
Students should familiarize themselves with the notion of academic integrity and the ways in which this plays out in their own work. A good place to start is this page. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students may not substantially reuse texts they have previously submitted in this or other courses. Minor overlap with previous work is allowed as long as it is duly noted in citation. For information on plagiarism (in the context of academic writing at large), see clips 4-5-6 in this series of video clips.
Students must submit their assignment(s) to Brightspace through Turnitin, so they can be checked for plagiarism. Submission via email is not accepted.
ChatGPT: What is possible and what is allowed? Dos and Don'ts.
Assessment and weighing
| Partial Assessment | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Contributions to in-class debate and any assignments (see above) | 50% |
| A paper (see above) | 50% |
The final mark for this course is formed by the weighted average.
In order to pass the course, students must obtain an passing grade, i.e. 5.50 (=6) or higher, for both components of the assessment.
The course is an integrated whole. All assessment parts must be completed in the same academic year. No partial marks can be carried over into following years.
Inspection and feedback
Feedback will be supplied primarily through Brightspace. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the assessment results, a review will be organized.
Reading list
Prior to the start of the course, the course convener will provide detailed information on the material to be reviewed and any other preparatory activities for each session through Brightspace.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the information bar on the right.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Herta Mohr.
Remarks
-