Universität Wien
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070310 UE Foreign Languages in Historical Science - Herstory (2023W)

Reading English-language sources on Queen Victoria and the Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi

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

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: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Thursday 05.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Thursday 12.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Thursday 19.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Thursday 09.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Thursday 16.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Thursday 23.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Thursday 30.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Thursday 07.12. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Thursday 14.12. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Thursday 11.01. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Thursday 18.01. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß
  • Thursday 25.01. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum WISO 1 (ZG1O2.28) Hauptgebäude, Stiege 6 Zwischengeschoß

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This course is dedicated to providing students with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with English language primary and secondary sources. Additionally, discussions in this course will be in English and oral presentations and papers submitted to the course will use English, too.
We will focus the choice of sources and the discussions in the classroom on the following questions:
1. How much do we know about women in power and their impact on the historical development?
2. What kind of sources do we have to understand how women in power envisaged their rule as following in the steps of men or consciously diverting from the male model of reign?
3. To which degree do biographers tell the story of women in power as different from the story of men in power?
We are going to use the history of two women in power at the end of the 19th century as examples to answer the above mentioned questions. One example will be Queen Victoria who ruled over the United Kingdom and Ireland from 1837 to 1901, the other example will be Empress Dowager Cixi who de facto ruled over China from 1861 to 1908.

Assessment and permitted materials

Students are required to participate regularly in class and read the primary or secondray sources discussed during each meeting. Additionally, they are required to give a presentation in English on primary or secondary sources related to the topic and laid out in detail on the related moodle page attached to this course.
As their term paper, students write an essay of no more than 6.000 characters answering the following question: Do women in power conceive of themselves as having a style of governance typical of women?
In order to answer this question, students are expected to draw onto the discussions and sources with which they have familiarized themselves in the course, but they can also divert from the historical perspective and draw onto more recent examples or theoretical deliberations related to the issue.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

1. Non-attendance must not exceed more than three meetings.
2. Students must show that they are familiar with the assigned reading for each meeting (25% of final grade, i.e. a maximum of 25 points out of 100)
3. Students have to present in class, either individually or as members of a team (30% of final grade, i.e. a maximum of 30 points out of 100).
4. Term papers must be submitted in time (45% of final grade, i.e. a maximum of 45 points out of 100). The deadline for submission is February 29, 2024.
5. Students must have accumulated a minimum of 60 points to pass this course.

Examination topics

1. Make sure that you read the texts assigned for each meeting. This will help you to acquire the necessary vocabulary for understanding primary and secondary sources related to the topic, and will prepare you to assist in the discussion in class. Be prepared to be asked by the professor at least once during the semester what your insights are from reading the sources.
2. For your presentation, you can choose either of the topics given on the attached moodle page. In preparation of your presentation, you can contact the professor and ask for assistance.
3. For your term paper, be sure that you develop your argument and find a strategy to spell the argument out in your essay so that your potential reader can be convinced that your argument is well researched and robust. An essay is not an academic paper as usually written in the German speaking world, but follows the rules of how arguments are being presented in a written form in the English language world. Be sure you familiarize yourself with this particular style. The professor will introduce students to the details of how to write an essay in class.

Reading list

Woo, X.L., Empress Dowager Cixi: China's last dynasty and the long reign of a formitable concubine: legends and livesduring the declining days days of the Qing dynasty. New York: Algora Pub., 2002 (available as e-book in the university library)
Kendall, Paul, Queen Victoria. Barnsley: Frontline Books, 2020 (available as e-book in the university library)
There are also German language biographies available of Empress Dowager Cixi and Queen Victoria which students can consult in order to gain a basic understanding of the two women in power and the times in which they ruled their resepctive countries. If you want to prepare yourself for the language challenge of this class, however, I would recommend to read the biographies in English.

Association in the course directory

MA Globalgeschichte & Global Studies (2019): PM1 Einführung in den Schwerpunkt (5 ECTS)

BA Geschichte: ZWM Fremdsprachen in der Geschichtswissenschaft (5 ECTS)

Last modified: Su 01.10.2023 00:04