Certificate in Local History

General Information: Certificate in Local Historical Studies and Courses in Local and Regional History

now offered with a NEW pathway in

Family and Community History

The University of Essex offers an exciting programme of courses in Local and Regional History for members of the general public. Students can take one of the modules (or as many as they wish) as ‘stand-alone’ modules for general interest, without completing any form of assessment. Or they can complete and be assessed successfully on four of the modules in order to obtain the Certificate of Continuing Education in Local Historical Studies, or the new pathway in Family and Community History.

All modules will be taught in ten weekly two-hour sessions, from 7-9pm on the Wivenhoe Park Campus of the University of Essex. Please check individual module outlines (below) for details of the day on which they will be taught and the date on which teaching will start.

The two-hour weekly session on each module will usually take the format of a lecture by the module tutor providing an overview of the topic, followed by discussion based on specified reading, and/or the analysis of relevant sources or artefacts.

Students must take four of the Certificate modules offered and on each module pass (with a mark of at least 40%) a piece of written assessment, the title of which will be agreed between the student and tutor.  Students can also follow the new Certificate pathway in Family and Community History by successfully completing the three family history modules (Meeting Your Ancestors, parts 1-3), plus one other module.

Modules towards the Certificate can be taken over a maximum period of four years or a minimum period of one year. Each module counts as 15 credits within the Higher Education Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme and the credits obtained on the Certificate can be transferred into other degree programmes at Essex or other universities.

£95 per module (plus an additional charge of £5 per pack of module materials for each module where such a modulepack is necessary)

Please print off and complete the registration form (pdf) indicating which of the modules you would like to take. Please return the form to Lisa Willis, Graduate Administrator, History Department, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ.

Practical Archaeology Part 1: The Prehistoric and Roman landscape

Module Code: HR195
Tutor: Howard Brooks.
(7-9pm, starting 27 March 2012; this module has 5 class-based evening session and three extended Saturday field-trips from 10am-2pm)

This module gives students hands-on experience of two types of archaeological survey. The first is a field-walking survey of a local prehistoric or Roman site. This will involve setting up a survey grid, the surface collection of finds, processing and identifying finds, plotting finds, and preparing an analytical report. The second is a survey of one of the Colchester Iron Age dykes, leading to the production of a completed survey drawing.
 
1.      (27.03.2012) Introduction to techniques of archaeological field-walking.
2.      (31.03.2012) Field-walk I: Set-up and survey.
3.      (14.04.2012) Field-walk II: Continuation of survey.
4.      (17.04.2012) Examine and catalogue finds.
5.      (21.04.2012) SPARE SURVEY DATE IN CASE OF RAIN ON 31.03 OR 14.04.
6.      (24.04.2012) Interpret and plot field-walk finds.
7.      (01.05.2012) Introduction to earthwork survey.
8.      (05.05.2012) Field-walk III: Set up and undertake prehistoric earthwork survey.
9.      (08.05.2012) Draw up earthwork survey.

Meeting Your Ancestors: Further Sources for Family History (Part 3).

Module Code: HR190
Tutor: Patrick Denney
(7-9pm, starting Monday 23 April 2012)

This module builds on Meeting Your Ancestors Parts 1 and 2 and covers some of the more advanced forms of primary evidence available to family historians. We will, for example, look at sources for the family historian that pre-date the Census (such as manorial records), and think about how family historians can make best use of more specialised sources such as military records or taxation records.
 
1. Subject Indexes / Secondary Sources
2. Manorial Records (Part 1)
3. Manorial Records (Part 2)
4. Military Records
5. Taxation Records
6. Poll Books & Directories
7. Electoral Records
8. Parliamentary Papers
9. Oral History
10. Other Census Records & Name Indexes 

A History of Southend

Module Code: HR171
Tutor: Ian Yearsley
(7-9pm, starting Tuesday 24 April 2012)
Seminars will be taught in the ground-floor seminar room of the Elmer Suite, The Gateway Building , Elmer Approach, Southend on Sea SS1 1LW.  Nearest car parks are at University Square, or South Essex College; for map, see www.essex.ac.uk/about/getting_here/southend/maps.aspx

This module looks at the history of Southend-on-Sea, charting its transformation from a humble 18th-century fishing hamlet at the ‘south end’ of the parish of Prittlewell into a popular 20th-century seaside resort and the largest town in Essex. In the 19th century Southend grew so much that it took over its mother parish of Prittlewell and expanded to encompass a further five historic parishes: Southchurch, Leigh, Eastwood, South Shoebury and North Shoebury. The module explores the key developments in the town’s history, focusing in particular on Prittlewell and the rise of Southend, but also exploring developments in the other parishes where relevant. The module covers such diverse topics as the ‘Saxon king’ (aka the ‘Prittlewell Prince’), Prittlewell Priory, the medieval manors, the world’s longest pleasure pier, the impact of the railway and the development of the suburbs, Southend United Football Club, the impact of the two world wars, the growth of the airport and the lure of the Kursaal. Note that one lesson will take the form of a two-hour walking tour of the town.

1. Early History
2. Prittlewell
3. The ‘South End’
4. Expansion
5. The Town Council
6. From One War to the Next
7. A Walking Tour of the Town
8. Post-war Heyday & Major Change
9. Modern Times
10. The Impact of the Growth of Southend and a Comparison with Other Resorts

Please note that week 7, the walking tour, falls on the Jubilee bank holiday (Tuesday 5th June) so may need to be held on a different day; the tutor will discuss this with students once the course is underway and arrange a mutually convenient alternative date with them if required.

Previous modules include:

Meeting Your Ancestors: Basic Sources for Family History (Part 1)

Constable's Cornfield: Cereal production, mills and landscape in the Stour Valley.

Meeting Your Ancestors: Adding Flesh to the Bones (Part 2).

Histories of House and Home in Essex, 1700-1900. 

Please note that modules may not run if the numbers enrolled on them are too low.

Further information and enquiries

If you would like further information and to receive details of new and future Certificate level modules in Local History and Archaeology, please contact Lisa Willis, Graduate Assistant, Department of History, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex, CO4 3SQ. Tel: 01206 872190; Fax: 01206 873757; E-mail: history (add @essex.ac.uk for full email address).

All other enquiries, including from qualified lecturers interested in contributing to the programme should contact Dr. Alison Rowlands in the first instance: alisonc (add @essex.ac.uk for full email address).

See elsewhere: The Local History Centre

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