Postgraduate taught 

Early Modern History MSc/PgDip

Military Scotland in the Age of Proto-globalization, c.1600-c.1800 HIST5140

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: School of Humanities
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

This course assesses the overseas military history of Scotland from 1600 to 1800, an era which witnessed radical changes in military organization, state formation and new trends in global forms of warfare. The course will involve students engaging with a range of primary sources including official state records, military biographies, newspapers and novels.

Timetable

2 hour seminars per week x 10 weeks

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

Essay (3,000 words): 60%

Oral Presentation (a minimum of 15 mins. a max of 20 minutes): 20%

Accompanying PowerPoint presentation: 10%

Seminar contribution (inc. chairing and responding) = 10%

Are reassessment opportunities available for all summative assessments? No

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

 

General oral contribution to seminars. Since this mark is awarded in respect of contribution to discussion across all seminars, it cannot be properly reassessed.

Course Aims

This course aims to:

■ Acquire a multifaceted and critical knowledge of Scotland's military history from c.1600 to c.1800

■ Evaluate, apply and critique concepts and models of historic state-formation and globalization

■ Identify, differentiate and utilise a range of relevant primary sources for the purposes of debating established interpretations and in the construction of new perspectives

■ Understand elementary skills in utilizing online research resources and databases

■ Formulate appropriate theses by inter-relating, comparing and rethinking concepts and conclusions drawn from relevant secondary and primary sources.

Construct, present and debate complex and specialized historical arguments in both written and oral forms.  

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Evidence a broad and critical knowledge of major trends in Scotland's military history from c.1600 to c.1800

■ Evaluate, critique, debate and reformulate specialised debates relating to historic globalization, state formation and Scotland's military history in these contexts

■ Identify, select, assess, compare and inter-relate specialized secondary literature and relevant primary sources

■ Find, select and use online databases of primary material

■ Formulate, organise, précis and debate interpretations in both written and oral forms

■ Engage in critical and constructive debate with peers and appreciate how such exercises advance subject knowledge and analyses.

■ Draw wider conclusions regarding the nature of proto-globalization through the case study of early modern Scotland  

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.