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Bodies and Sexuality in the Early Modern Period

This website is an archive of historical images related to bodies and sexuality in the early modern period (c.1500-c.1780). It is for use in the module, 6HUM1098 - Bodies and Sexuality in the Early Modern Period at the University of Hertfordshire. 

The project aims to bring together a collection of images and brief historical context for images relating the following themes:

• Anatomy and dissection

• Sex and Gender

• The ageing body

• Bodily functions

• Foreign bodies

• Monstrous birth

• Nudity

• Clothing

The inital aim was to curate the images already in use on the module and organize them according to the themes listed above. The central aim is to provide core information – where possible – about these images.

The principle audience is the students of the module at the University of Hertfordshire. However, the project also benefits the interest of other educators, students, journalist and members of the public interested in history. The site is part of the larger 'Inherited Learning' Project at the University of Hertfordshire.

About the ‘Inherited Learning’ Project

What if today’s students created resources not just for their own use, but for future cohorts? What if each successive wave of students did the same, always leaving the collection and module richer than when they arrived? This ‘iterative pedagogy’ harnesses the enthusiasm of students, the power of the social web, and the expertise of our history staff to launch an exciting new teaching and learning opportunity, and support teaching in four final year history modules at the University of Hertfordshire:

This co-creation project brings together talented recent graduates from the school to work with academic staff in history, to curate digitised historical primary sources currently sprinkled widely around the web, into ‘digital collections’ with proper context. These flexible new archives are used in class and are made openly available to educators worldwide. The outputs of the project will be used year-upon-year, making them living collections and an important part of teaching and research at the University of Hertfordshire.

Inherited Learning – Project Team

Funding

The project was made possible by a generous grant from the School of Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire (2017).