Course Convenor:  Dr Weipin Tsai

Lecture: Tuesday 12-1 @ Wettons-A

Tutorials: As per your timetables.

Course Leader: Dr David Gwynn

Email: David.Gwynn@rhul.ac.uk

Office: 0-01B International Building

(consultation and feedback hours: Monday 12:30-1:30 pm; Friday 9:30-10:30 am)

Lecturing team:

JL - Dr Julia Leikin (Julia.Leikin@rhul.ac.uk)

Consultation and feedback hours: Mondays 3:30-4:30 pm; Wednesdays 1-2 pm

ES - Dr Emily Steinhauer (Emily.Steinhauer@rhul.ac.uk)

Consultation and feedback hours: Mondays 11-12 am; Wednesdays 4-5 pm

PC - Dr Paris Chronakis, IN006A (Paris.Chronakis@rhul.ac.uk)

HS2023 

The Shock of the New: European Culture and Society 1789-1905

Course leader: 

Dr Julia Leikin

julia.leikin@rhul.ac.uk

International Building 045

Feedback and Consultation Hours: Mondays 3-4, Wednesdays 1-2

Europe underwent a ‘food revolution’ in the Middle Ages. Between c.1100 and c.1300 the production, supply, preparation and consumption of food underwent huge changes. In the early Middle Ages the diet of even the wealthy and powerful was monotonous and based on local and seasonal supplies. By c.1400, however, courts vied to outdo each other in extravagance and pageantry, and the first celebrity chefs were even writing their own cookbooks. The revival of long-distance trade, improvements in shipping technologies and extensive contacts with new cultures as a result of territorial expansion in the eastern Mediterranean had brought a wealth of new ingredients – such as cumin, pepper, ginger, cinnamon - and new cooking methods, to the tables of western Europe. In the thirteenth century we see the first recipes for pasta, and the revolutionary blending of flowers and fruit with meat. The increasing prosperity of the nobility and mercantile classes, in turn, ushered in a period of conspicuous consumption that increased demand for exotic spices and new recipes. At the same time, however, the ideal of voluntary fasting and of simple eating remained a powerful spiritual inducement to some, and an exemplar of ‘the good life’ for others. Advocates of spiritual and bodily health urged the benefits of simplicity in cooking, and use of ‘natural’ ingredients. Moreover, the spectre of famine from failed harvests was never far away, as population increase before c.1300 put increasing pressure on agricultural resources. As in our own world, feast, fast and famine operated in precarious balance with each other. This course explores the development and expansion of Europe through food: how and why tastes changed; how new technologies and socio-economic change underpinned cultural change; and what contemporaries thought about eating and drinking.

This module introduces students to digital technologies that have been applied to historical studies. Through lectures, practical workshops and seminars we will develop a grounding to the range of different approaches that have been used for both research and public engagement to study the past. Over ten weeks we will consider a different approach, some high profile projects that have applied them, practical and ethical considerations from using them, and in some cases have a go ourselves. After introducing Digital Histories and the Digital Humanities more broadly we will move on to focusing on specific themes including: digital archives and databases, GIS and WebMapping, 3d recording and the digital museum, making 3d models and 3d printing, 3d modelling and “reconstructions” and multisensory digital pasts. As we learn different skill sets students will design a project which uses a digital approach to either answer a specific research question or to be used for public engagement which alongside the write up will form the final assessment for the module. 

Students will come away understanding that digital approaches are not independent to historical research but are powerful tools that have the potential to unlock new avenues into research and allow different approaches to a range of research questions. While they will develop their skills they will also learn correct application and understand the importance of not applying digital approaches for the sack of a digital approach but instead know when a technique or methodology might support a research question.

People and Things in Victorian London

Course Leader: Dr Alex Windscheffel

Email: a.windscheffel@rhul.ac.uk

Office: International Building 0-40