Main Field of Study and progress level:
History: First cycle, has only upper-secondary level entry requirements
Grading scale: Pass with distinction, Pass, Fail
Responsible department: Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies
Revised by: Head of Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, 2013-08-28
Contents
The overall purpose of the course Milestones in Swedish History is to give students who have little or no previous knowledge of Swedish history a comprehensive overview. The course focuses on selected periods in Swedish history from the Viking age to the present day.Milestones I, starts with the Viking age, a period of great cultural and political change in Scandinavia. During this period the foundations for the Swedish state were laid. It was also during this period that people in Sweden first encountered Christianity, a religion which would eventually become State religion. The consolidation and consequences of these changes will be followed into the first two centuries of the Nordic Middle Ages. The Viking expansion will also of course be in focus. Most raiding and trading expeditions from Sweden were directed eastward toward the Baltic region and further south reaching the Byzantine Empire and Abbasid Caliphate. The encounters, settlements and political influences of this eastward expansion which has been much debated, will be given special attention as well as more generally questions about social class, gender and cultural beliefs.
Expected learning outcomes
- the student must have an overall knowledge of Swedish history from the Viking age to the period of early state formation in the 12th and 13th centuries - the student shall be able to discuss social, political and cultural change in Sweden brought about by Christianity during the period - the student shall be able to discuss living conditions among people from a class and gender perspective
Required Knowledge
History 1b/1a1+1a2, Civics 1b/1a1+1a2, or History A, Civics A
Form of instruction
Campus course: Teaching is conducted through lectures and seminars.
Internet course: Teaching is conducted through recorded lectures and reading seminars.
Examination modes
Campus course: Examination will include active participation in oral seminars and a final take home exam.
Internet course: Examination will include written assignments and a final take home exam.
The grade is an overall assessment of the performance at the various examinations and is awarded first when all of the compulsory modules are passed.
Academic credit transfer
Academic credit transfers are reviewed individually.
Literature
Valid from:
2013 week 35
Jesch, Judith, Women in Viking Age. Woodbridge, 1991, pp84-123 (39 pp)
Medieval Scandinavia : from conversion to Reformation, circa 800-1500 Sawyer Birgit, Sawyer Peter Hayes Minneapolis, Minn. : Univ. of Minnesota Press : 1993 : 265 s. : ISBN: 0-8166-1738-4 Mandatory Search the University Library catalogue
Sawyer Peter Kings and Vikings : Scandinavia and Europe AD 700-1100 London : Methuen : 1982 : x, 182 s., [8] pl.-bl. : ISBN: 0-416-74180-0 (inb.) ; $15.95 Mandatory Search the University Library catalogue
Staecker Jörn Brutal vikings and gentle traders. Included in: Lund archaeological review Lund : Institute of Archaeology, University of Lund [Arkeologiska institutionen, Lunds universitet] : 1996- : Mandatory Reading instructions: (15 pp)
Kent Neil A concise history of Sweden Cambridge : Cambridge University Press : 2008 : 300 s. : ISBN: 978-0-521-81284-9 Mandatory Search the University Library catalogue Reading instructions: pp ix-48
Brink, Stefan & Price, Neil, The Viking World (Routledge 2012) Online access for UmU.
Other books and articles may be used as alternatives.
