Histories and Cultures (Making Histories)

Making Histories explores practices of history-making associated with the
creation and use of archives and collections. The pathway begins by investigating practices of ‘popular’ and local historical production in various contemporary sites both public and private, such as heritage tourism, the museum, the community writers’ workshop, and the family. These are situated in terms of their interaction with ‘academic’ modes of historical analysis, on one hand; and with conceptions of ‘the past’ and its relation to ‘the present’ in everyday life, on the other. Students examine a range of primary sources that provide the ‘raw material’ for such history-making, considering their provenance and exploring the practices of selection, interpretation and representation by which these are transformed into historical narratives. Critical methods in cultural analysis and historical interpretation are introduced and brought to bear upon various types
of source, including written documents (published and unpublished); material sites, objects and artefacts; moving and still images; and life-history material including personal and family memories. This work prepares students to tackle specific archives and collections - such as the South-East Film and Video Archive based at the University, and the Wolseley Collection in Hove Reference Library (but also, potentially, other collections in the local area, London, or further afield) - addressing questions concerning the cultural origins, history and purposes that underpin their existence, and the interpretation and use of the ‘source material’ collected therein, in constructing understandings of the past. Students will engage in detailed hands-on work with primary material, construct and present their own historical analyses, and reflect critically upon the processes involved. Throughout, questions of critical and historical practice are situated in relation to a range of academic and social contexts, such as the emergence of ‘history from below’; social movements such as feminism, anti-racism and gay liberation; and developments in public culture from mass communications media to the heritage industry.

Mode of Attendance : Full - time