Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods include
- Two double sessions per week in seminar format with source interpretation and student presentations
- Close analysis and interpretation of primary sources in different genres.
- Essay workshops and tutorials
Learning activities include
- preparing introductory and background reading for each seminar
- preparing oral presentations on specific aspects of the course
- analysis, in groups and individually, of primary source materials
Seminars will introduce you to the changing notions of crime and punishment through the long eighteenth century and provide you with the necessary research skills, such as: how to find and analyse secondary literature and also how to research, evaluate and use primary source material. The seminar environment will help to develop your interpersonal skills through the use of individual and group presentations. These will develop your knowledge and understanding of particular subject areas and enhance your oral communication skills. The preparation for presentations will help you to find an essay topic, narrow it down to a specific question and start to research sources and secondary materials relevant for it, to critically evaluate the contributions made by published secondary works and to develop a coherent written argument at length.
Study time
Type |
Hours |
Independent Study |
260 |
Teaching |
40 |
Total study time |
300 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
British Newspapers 1600-1900 access through library website.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) access through library website.
Internet Resources
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey Online.
Textbooks
J. S. Cockburn, ed (1977). Crime in England, 1550-1800.
P. King (2000). Justice and Discretion in England, 1740-1820.
J. Briggs, C. Harrison, A. McInnes and D. Vincent (2001). Crime and Punishment in England: An Introductory History.
M. Gaskill (2002). Crime and Mentalities in Early Modern England.
D. Taylor (1998). Crime, Policing and Punishment in England, 1750-1914.
J. Beattie (1986). Crime and the Courts in England, 1660-1800.
C. Emsley (1987). Crime and Society in England, 1750-1900.
V. A. C. Gatrell (1984). The Hanging Tree: Execution and the English People, 1770-1868.
F. McLynn (1989). Crime and Punishment in Eighteenth Century England.
J. Sharpe (1984). Crime in Early Modern England, 1550-1750.
D. Hay, et al (1976). Albion’s Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in Eighteenth Century England.
J. Beattie (2001). Policing and Punishment in London, 1660-1750: Urban Crime and the Limits of Terror.