This module will introduce students to a range of long-eighteenth and
early-nineteenth century texts in which there is sustained reflection
and commentary on the individual, the polity, and an emerging conception
of society and the economy. In doing so, this module raises broader
philosophical questions about the construction of identity, character
and virtue, political realism and idealism, and relativism and
individualism. The module also involves students in reflecting on the
changes in styles of painting, architecture and fashion and linking this
to the core themes. The emphasis of the module is on how, as
historians, we should approach some of the major pieces of writing of
the period, both the more and the less philosophical. Consequently, a
core component of the module is encouraging a close reading of the
texts, coupling this with raising questions about the importance of
historical context in generating and reflecting critically on such
readings. The module is structured thematically, taking conceptions of
the individual, then the polis, then society; but within those themes it
is structured chronologically, allowing students to have a sense of the
increasing interaction of different lines of argument. The module
depends on students reading primary texts and the assessment and
examination focuses on these texts.
This 15 CATS second-year module option investigates global interactions in the early modern world (1400-1800) through the figure of the go-between. Each of the men and women discussed in weekly two-hour seminars – diplomats and traders, mestizos and missionaries, converts, slaves, and captives – offer a window onto a world in which societies and life trajectories were increasingly shaped by trans-regional connections, and where all kinds of borders were regularly being crossed. By following individuals as they met and mingled across the globe, you will deepen your understanding of the role of human agency in the macro-processes of religious change, commercial expansion, imperial conquest, and economic integration that marked the early modern period.
This undergraduate second-year 15 CATS option module explores changes in the culture, theology and political engagement of Catholicism during the era of Reformations in Europe and new encounters between Europe and the wider world. It focuses on the ideas of 'globalisation' – the sixteenth century has recently been proposed as the period when Christianity became a 'global religion' – and 'Reform', the various movements, policies and practices which have traditionally been studied as the Catholic Reformation or Counter-Reformation. Moving from Alexander VI's edict purporting to divide the New World between Spanish and Portuguese sovereignty to the Peace of Westphalia, the module will cover early Catholic/Humanist reform movements; the Protestant Reformation; the Council of Trent; new religious orders such as the Jesuits; the early modern Inquisition; missions to non-European territories; the early modern papacy.
A primarily thematic structure will be used to explore disparate regions and topic. The module will focus on the Catholic Church's engagement with external forces, whether Protestant churches and states, the Islamic Ottoman Empire, or the non-Christian societies of Asia and the Americas. The often uneasy relationship between theology and politics, spiritual and temporal rule will be examined, through the Church's relations with Catholic powers, the conjunction of mission and colonization, and attempts to ensure orthodoxy through coercion. Students will also be encouraged to explore developments in how religion was experienced by the masses of people who were or became Catholics during this period. Avoiding a dichotomy between 'popular' or 'elite' religion, the module will address the continuities and mutual influences between theology, ecclesiastical policy and widespread religious practice.