070063 PS BA-Proseminar - Material culture and consumption in Europe in the early modern period (2022S)

In the first part of the pro-seminar we will study some introductory texts on the topic of material culture and consumption in Europe in the early modern period (ca. 1500-1800), with particular emphasis on its development in the eighteenth century. In this part of the course, we will define the field and examine the main characteristics and changes of the phenomenon in the period. Further, we will discuss some of the fundamental concepts and theories, which have defined the field and have greatly influenced the current scientific discussion. Finally, we will refer to the methodological approaches to the subject. We will read and discuss both general, introductory texts on the context and on the theoretical and methodological approach to the subject, as well as texts, which refer to specific case studies. In the second part of the seminar, we will discuss the sources historians use to examine the different aspects of the history of material culture and consumption in the early modern period, such as the history of diet, history of clothing or history of residency and private life. In the third and final part of the course, we will discuss the topics of the concepts of the students’ seminar papers in private sessions and the students will also present their seminar papers in a longer Workshop in the final weeks of the semester.
Apart from the main goal of the course, which is to familiarize the students with consumption history in Europe in the early modern period, the students should learn in this pro-seminar: a) to read, understand, evaluate and criticize scientific texts in English, b) to study both primary source material and secondary literature on a specific historical subject, c) to observe their source material though specific theoretical and methodological approach, d) to present their concepts and engage in a scientific discussion about them, d) to organize their work and formulate a scientific argument in form of a seminar paper.