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| Semester | fall semester 2022 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Meike von Brescius (meike.vonbrescius@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This course introduces students to the puzzles and possibilities of object-based scholarship. By surveying a range of different approaches and analytic techniques used in history, material culture studies, anthropology, art history, and the history of collecting, students learn to use objects more effectively both as historical evidence and as starting points to rethink established narratives in history. We will discuss a mix of classical writings on material culture, commodification and object agency and some very recent work in order to understand the intellectual scaffolding behind commonly used terms in the literature. Going beyond textual discussions, we will also gain practical experiences with object research through museum excursions and class sessions on specific objects. Students will apply the range of approaches to a single object or discrete set of objects throughout the semester as a way to test the theories in practice. Smaller writing and research tasks will help us understand how to turn our object-based questions and insights into convincing narratives. We will engage with artefacts from the 17th to the 21st centuries. |
| Bibliography | Leora Auslander, 'Beyond Words', The American Historical Review, 110:4 (2005), pp. 1015-1045. Ivan Gaskell and Sarah Anne Carter (eds), The Oxford Handbook of History and Material Culture (Oxford, 2020) Anne Gerritsen and Giorgio Riello (eds), Writing Material Culture (London, 2021). |
| Admission requirements | Studierende der Geschichte aller Studienstufen sowie Studierende anderer Studienfächer, in deren Module die Übung verknüpft ist. Bei Überbelegung werden Studierende der Geschichte bevorzugt zugelassen. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Friday | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 23.09.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Friday 30.09.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Friday 07.10.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Friday 14.10.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Friday 21.10.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Friday 28.10.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Friday 04.11.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Friday 11.11.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Friday 18.11.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Friday 25.11.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Dies Academicus |
| Friday 02.12.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Friday 09.12.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Friday 16.12.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Friday 23.12.2022 | 10.15-12.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Modules |
Modul: Archive / Medien / Theorien (Bachelor's degree subject: History) Modul: Forschung und Praxis (Master's degree subject: East European History) Modul: Methoden der Gesellschaftswissenschaften (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Modul: Reflexion, Methodik, Praxis (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Spezialisierung «Geschichte und Polititsche Bildung» (Master's Studies: Subject-Specific Teaching and Learning) Modul: Theorie (Master's degree subject: History) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Previous knowledge of the subject matter is not required, but a commitment to reading all the class texts and a willingness to do some research independently is expected. The course will be taught in English. A date for our obligatory excursion to the Historical Museum, Bern will be agreed during our first session. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Departement Geschichte |