Universität Wien

070021 SE BA-Seminar - Accused! (2023W)

Asymmetrical Power Relations and Social Inequality in Court Records of the European Middle Ages

10.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 7 - Geschichte
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Die Sitzung am 25. Oktober muss wegen eines Vortrags im Ausland entfallen.

  • Wednesday 04.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 10, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 11.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 10, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 18.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 10, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 08.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 10, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 15.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 10, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 22.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 10, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 29.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 10, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 06.12. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 10, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 13.12. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 10, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 10.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 10, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 17.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 10, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 24.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 10, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01
  • Wednesday 31.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum 10, Kolingasse 14-16, OG01

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Court records are „ideal observation posts for the historian as they are sited where political power met the social structure“ (Jean Delumeau). Historical records do not only testify the crimes of past times that may be statistically quantified. They are also mainly the results of political and institutional definitions and choices.

Based on recent discussions on the so-called ‚practice turn‘, our seminar is going to focus on the ‚making of‘ criminal judgments, the ‚doing of‘ criminal justice and the negotiating power of the parties involved. The judging as social event and the contextualising of legal and illegal violence will be at the centre of our discussion.

After a historiographical overview and a methodological introduction, we will focus on two premodern systems of criminal justice in particular: the Republic of Venice and England.

The seminar is related to a transregionally comparative research project led by a French-Austrian research team. Participating in this seminar will therefore not only allow you to develop your own research project (bachelor thesis) but also to familiarise yourself with digital databases and the transformation of premodern documents into digital data.

Assessment and permitted materials

Requirements:
- active participation in the seminar’s discussion (10% = 10 points)
- weekly assignments: short reading reflections or query tasks (20% = 20 points)
- group work on one court case: drafting a graph model with neo4j (30% = 30 points)
- bachelor thesis (deadline: 1. March 2024): c. 65.000 signs (± 5%), incl. blank spaces, footnotes, front page, table of content, and bibliography but excl. graphs or tables (= c. 25 pages, 1.5 line spacing, 12pt) (40% = 40 points)

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Minimum requirements for a valid grading:
- max. 2 absences without valid excuse
- max. 2 missing assignments
- recognisable contribution to the group work
- formal criteria for bachelor thesis are fulfilled

Assessment standards:
- 90-100 points: 1,0 (very good)
- 75-89 points: 2,0 (good)
- 60-74 points: 3,0 (satisfactory)
- 50-59 points: 4,0 (sufficient)
- 0-49 points: 5,0 (insufficient)

Examination topics

Prüfungsimmanente Lehrveranstaltung (pi)

Reading list

- Paul Knepper / Anja Johansen (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the History of Crime and Criminal Justice, Oxford 2016.
- Michel Foucault, Überwachen und Strafen. Die Geburt des Gefängnisses. 9. Auflage. Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch 2271, Frankfurt am Main 2008.
- Norbert Elias, Über den Prozeß der Zivilisation. Soziogenetische und psychogenetische Untersuchungen. Band 1: Wandlungen des Verhaltens in den weltlichen Oberschichten des Abendlandes (LXXXI, 333 S.) / Band 2: Wandlungen der Gesellschaft: Entwurf zu einer Theorie der Zivilisation (491 S.), Basel 1939.
- Natalie Zemon Davis, Fiction in the Archives. Pardon Tales and Their Tellers in Sixteenth-Century France, Standford University Press 1990.

Association in the course directory

BA Geschichte (2019): 10 ECTS
BEd UF Geschichte: 9 ECTS

Last modified: Fr 08.09.2023 10:07