MODULE SPECIFICATION TEMPLATE
See the Code of Practice for Quality Assurance for Taught Programmes: Annex B before
completing this template - available on http://www.ukc.ac.uk/registry/quality/code2001/annexb.html and the relevant Faculty notes of guidance.
To use this template, download the file and insert text in the sections provided. You should
consult your Department Director of Learning and Teaching when preparing a proposal. Directors
of Learning and Teaching are required to sign off proposals before submission to the Faculty
Learning and Teaching Committee. Please delete all the sections in italics before submission to
the Faculty Officer.
Instructions:
1. If the module is part of a programme of study in a University department, please
complete sections 1 and 2.
2. If the module is part of a programme of study in an Associate College, please
complete Sections 1 and 3.
SECTION 1: MODULE SPECIFICATIONS
1. The title of the module
Reading the Medieval Town: Canterbury, an International City
2. The Department which will be responsible for management of the module
The Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies
3. The Start Date of the Module
September 2008
4. The cohort of students (onwards) to which the module will be applicable.
Students enrolled for the CMEMS MA from September 2008 onwards.
5. The number of students expected to take the module
6-12
6. Modules to be withdrawn on the introduction of this proposed module and consultation with
other relevant Departments and Faculties regarding the withdrawal
N/A
7. The level of the module (eg Certificate [C], Intermediate [I], Honours [H] or Postgraduate [M])
M
8. The number of credits which the module represents
15
Note: undergraduate full-time students take modules amounting to 120 credits per year and
postgraduate full-time students take modules amounting to 180 credits per year for a Masters
award
9. Which term(s) the module is to be taught in (or other teaching pattern)
Autumn term
10. Prerequisite and co-requisite modules
Palaeography and Manuscripts
11. The programmes of study to which the module contributes
The CMEMS MA
12. The intended subject specific learning outcomes and, as appropriate, their relationship to
programme learning outcomes

Students will improve their skills of ‘close reading’ and ‘close looking’, enabling them to
analyse better primary sources: texts, objects, buildings (CMEMS Learning Outcome C.10)

Students will develop a working knowledge of medieval urban history and medieval urban
archaeology and the attendant research resources (CMEMS Learning Outcomes B.4, B.5,
D.16)

Students will improve their ability to engage critically with the secondary literature on
medieval urban society through the use of Canterbury as a detailed case study and the
deployment of comparative approaches (CMEMS Learning Outcomes B.5, B.6, C.10, C.11)

Students will develop their ability to assess and apply critical and theoretical strategies
appropriate for the study of material culture in the later Middle Ages (CMEMS Learning
Outcomes B.6, D.14)
13. The intended generic learning outcomes and, as appropriate, their relationship to programme
learning outcomes

Students will develop writing and presentational skills by delivering short talks on the
material covered in the course, and by producing an assessed essay of not more than
5,000 words (CMEMS Learning Outcomes B.6-9, C.12, D.14-19)

Students’ ability to articulate sophisticated, coherent and persuasive arguments will be
enhanced through structured in-class debates (CMEMS Learning Outcomes B.6, D.14-15)

Students’ research and organisational skills will be developed through preparation for
seminars and the assessed essay (CMEMS Learning Outcomes D.16, 19)
14. A synopsis of the curriculum
The teaching will focus on a number of inter-related themes which will be studied through differing
types of evidence from written and printed texts to objects and standing buildings. Consequently,
certain seminars will take place outside the seminar room, looking at the evidence in situ. Topics
covered will include topography, civic governance, urban defence, house and household,
commercial practices and premises, parish church development, the place of religious houses,
pilgrimage and city-crown relations, as a way of examining issues such as space, power,
patronage and responses to changing social, political and economic conditions. Students will be
encouraged to think comparatively, both nationally and internationally, to assess Canterbury’s place
within medieval European society.
15. Indicative Reading List
Bassett, S. (ed.), Death in Towns. Urban Responses to the Dying and the Dead, 100–1600
Beattie, C., Maslakovic, A. and Rees Jones, S. (eds), The Medieval Household in Christian
Europe, c.850-c.1550
Collinson, P., Ramsey, N. and Sparks, M. (eds), Canterbury Cathedral
Creighton, O. and Higham, R., Medieval Town Walls. An Archaeology and Social History of Urban
Defence
Frere, S., Stow, S. and Bennett, P., Excavations on the Roman and Medieval Defences of
Canterbury
Hicks, M. and Hicks, A., St Gregory’s Priory, Northgate, Canterbury, Excavations 1988–1991
Steane, J., The Archaeology of Power: England and Northern Europe AD 800–1600
Swanson, H., Medieval British Towns
Trio, P. and De Smet, M. (eds), The Use and Abuse of Sacred Places in Late Medieval Towns
Urry, W., Canterbury under the Angevin Kings
16. Learning and Teaching Methods, including the nature and number of contact hours and the
total study hours which will be expected of students, and how these relate to achievement of
the intended learning outcomes
The course will be taught by twelve weekly 2 hour seminars. Students will be expected to devote
about eight hours per week preparing for seminars and undertaking research for their assessed
essays, and a total of approximately 150 hours overall. Seminars and private study will focus on
a variety of primary sources and the attendant secondary literature; multi-disciplinary, and
wherever possible inter-disciplinary, studying will be encouraged. In other words, students will be
required to acquaint themselves with the historical and archaeological sources and bibliography.
Students will be expected to deliver a short presentation on their essay topic in the seminar,
which will not be assessed.
17. Assessment methods and how these relate to testing achievement of the intended learning
outcomes
The course will be assessed by a 5,000 word essay on a relevant topic of each student’s
choosing. The essay will test the learning outcomes by requiring students to make a coherent,
sophisticated, scholarly argument with an appropriate scholarly apparatus.
Both the learning and teaching and assessment methods relate closely to the intended learning
outcomes. They will encourage student-centred exploration and discussion of primary and
secondary materials in both their seminar contributions and essays. Students will develop their
presentation skills (written and spoken) and their capacity for independent research.
18. Implications for learning resources, including staff, library, IT and space
Some books will have to be acquired for the library.
19. A statement confirming that, as far as can be reasonably anticipated, the curriculum, learning
and teaching methods and forms of assessment do not present any non-justifiable
disadvantage to students with disabilities
As far as can be reasonably anticipated, the curriculum, learning and teaching methods and forms
of assessment do not present any non-justifiable disadvantage to students with disabilities
If the module is part of a programme in an Associate College, please complete the following:
20. Associate College:
21. University Department (for cognate programmes) or Faculty (for non-cognate programmes)
responsible for the programme:
SECTION 2: MODULE IS PART OF A PROGRAMME OF STUDY IN A UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT
Statement by the Director of Learning and Teaching: "I confirm I have been consulted on the
above module proposal and have given advice on the correct procedures and required content of
module proposals"
................................................................
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Director of Learning and Teaching
Date
…………………………………………………
Print Name
Statement by the Head of Department: "I confirm that the Department has approved the
introduction of the module and, where the module is proposed by Departmental staff, will be
responsible for its resourcing"
.................................................................
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Head of Department
Date
…………………………………………………….
Print Name
SECTION 3: MODULE IS PART OF A PROGRAMME IN AN ASSOCIATE COLLEGE
(Where the module is proposed by an Associate College)
Statement by the Nominated Officer of the College: "I confirm that the College has approved
the introduction of the module and will be responsible for its resourcing"
.................................................................
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Nominated Responsible Officer of the Associate
Date
College
………………………………………………….
Print Name
…………………………………………………..
Post
…………………………………………………….
Associate College