070202 SE Seminar Historical sources and critique (2026S)
Kinship in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times in Vienna and its Surrounding
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
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).
- Registration is open from Mo 16.02.2026 09:00 to Fr 27.02.2026 14:00
- Registration is open from Mo 02.03.2026 09:00 to We 04.03.2026 14:00
- Deregistration possible until Tu 31.03.2026 23:59
Details
max. 25 participants
Language: German
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
KEINE EINHEIT: 04.03.2026 // STARTDATUM: 11.03.2026!
29.04.2026 und 13.05.2026 - Archivbesuch im Magistrat der Stadt Wien - MA 8, Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv - 1010 Wien, Guglgasse 14, 5. Stock- Wednesday 11.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum Geschichte 1 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 10
- Wednesday 18.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum Geschichte 1 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 10
- Wednesday 25.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum Geschichte 1 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 10
- Wednesday 15.04. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum Geschichte 1 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 10
- Wednesday 22.04. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum Geschichte 1 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 10
- Wednesday 29.04. 09:00 - 12:00 Ort in u:find Details
- N Wednesday 13.05. 09:00 - 12:00 Ort in u:find Details
- Wednesday 20.05. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum Geschichte 1 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 10
- Wednesday 27.05. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum Geschichte 1 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 10
- Wednesday 03.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum Geschichte 1 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 10
- Wednesday 10.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum Geschichte 1 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 10
- Wednesday 17.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum Geschichte 1 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 10
- Wednesday 24.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum Geschichte 1 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 10
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Assessment and permitted materials
s. Minimum requirements and assessment standard
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
The course is immanent to examination; consequently, the following criteria will be used to judge performance:
Attendance (MANDATORY!), continuous active participation and taking part in the general discussions, short presentations, and written seminar paper.
Independent registration within the registration phase at the beginning of the semester is mandatory for participation in this course! Subsequent registration or deregistration is NOT possible. Attendance is compulsory in the first course unit: Students who fail to attend the first unit without excuse lose their place in the course and students from the waiting list can move up.
The basis for assessment is:
- regular attendance (only one absence will be tolerated)
- regular text reading, preparation for the seminar units including independent participation in the discussions
- regular submission of a presentation slide or a short reflection paper per (and before each) session on the basis of the questionnaire distributed at the beginning of the course and several impulse presentations of texts based on one’s own slides or reflection papers
- active (!) oral participation during the semester
- submitting a written seminar paper at the end of the course.
To ensure good scientific practice, the course instructor may provide for an oral reflection on the written work submitted, which must be successfully completed.
Attendance (MANDATORY!), continuous active participation and taking part in the general discussions, short presentations, and written seminar paper.
Independent registration within the registration phase at the beginning of the semester is mandatory for participation in this course! Subsequent registration or deregistration is NOT possible. Attendance is compulsory in the first course unit: Students who fail to attend the first unit without excuse lose their place in the course and students from the waiting list can move up.
The basis for assessment is:
- regular attendance (only one absence will be tolerated)
- regular text reading, preparation for the seminar units including independent participation in the discussions
- regular submission of a presentation slide or a short reflection paper per (and before each) session on the basis of the questionnaire distributed at the beginning of the course and several impulse presentations of texts based on one’s own slides or reflection papers
- active (!) oral participation during the semester
- submitting a written seminar paper at the end of the course.
To ensure good scientific practice, the course instructor may provide for an oral reflection on the written work submitted, which must be successfully completed.
Examination topics
No final examination. Independent presentation; independent research on sources; joint discussions in plenary; written work: short impulse presentations, and written seminar paper.
Reading list
Literature will be announced step by step (on moodle).
The reading material is mainly in German and English.
In the course, you will independently examine medieval sources (edited and unedited). A basic knowledge of Early New High German and Latin is required!
The reading material is mainly in German and English.
In the course, you will independently examine medieval sources (edited and unedited). A basic knowledge of Early New High German and Latin is required!
Association in the course directory
SP: Mittelalter, Österreichische Geschichte, Frauen- und Geschlechtergeschichte, Wirtschafts- und SozialgeschichteMA Geschichte (2019): PM4, SE Seminar (8 ECTS)
MEd UF MA GP 01: Vertiefungsseminar 1 (6 ECTS)
MEd UF MA GP 01: Vertiefungsseminar 1 (6 ECTS)
Last modified: Fr 13.02.2026 17:26
The course offers a broad introduction to fundamental questions, debates and approaches in research on urban communities, kinship and families. The teaching method consists of practising critical engagement with specialist literature by analysing its content with reference to the circumstances of its creation, the questions it addresses, its sources, its reasoning and the underlying historical perspectives.
In addition, the seminar will focus on the various types of sources of urban history and discuss how to work with them (e.g. land registers, tax lists, account books and citizen lists). In this context, we will visit the Vienna City and Regional Archives once or twice to look at the original sources together. The willingness and ability to work with medieval sources (mostly Early New High German, sometimes Latin) is therefore required!
The first part of the seminar, with its readings and discussions, serves as the basis for the preparation of a seminar paper at the end of the semester. The topics of the presentations focus on Viennese families and their role in urban life as well as their networks in the late medieval period (1480s–1520s).OBJECTIVES:
• See: http://www.univie.ac.at/geschichte/studienplan
• In addition: Ability to independently comprehend, analyse and evaluate a problem based on the state of research (including theories and methods).
• Ability to critically analyse and interpret written sources, to develop questions and theses and to argue precisely.
• Ability to develop a clearly defined research question under supervision and to draw independent conclusions from one's own research.
• The focus is also on deepening knowledge through the systematic discussion of academic literature. This will be carried out in the context of joint discussions, individual study of literature and sources as well as an independent scholarly presentation.METHODS AND PROOF OF PERFORMANCE:
The seminar consists of several regular sessions and two half-day block sessions (archive visits – 3 hours).
The topics covered during the semester will be presented and discussed in various formats (presentation sessions).
After reading and discussing some basic texts together, individual presentations will be prepared based on selected readings and sources and presented during the presentation sessions.
There will be two “workshops” in which we will discuss how to work with urban sources relevant to the chosen topic.
After selecting a topic, independent research should be conducted using original sources.
The above-mentioned skills will be assessed based on regular attendance (10%), joint discussion (10%), continuous preparation of the reading units (10%), source research and presentation (including a two-page abstract) (15%), which should document the processes and results of your own research work, and the written seminar paper (55%).