FutureLearn

Learning from the Past: A Guide for the Curious Researcher (FutureLearn)

Offered by University of Birmingham, The University of Nottingham, British Library,

Learn how to understand the past to explain the present, and get to know the amazing sources and resources of the British Library. Discover sources that help you understand the past, and explain the present! The language of history determines how we view our world and understand urgent issues, such as the environment, conflict and human rights.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

This language is shaped by documents held in libraries and archives, and the ways in which researchers interpret these is constantly developing. This course will provide you with skills to discover and critically analyse the records of the past, including hidden treasures from the British Library’s collections. Researchers at the University of Nottingham and University of Birmingham will show how these collections influence the way we view our world today.

What topics will you cover?

Week 1 - Language and History
Why does the past matter today?
History as language – and how to crack the code….
Reading critically

Week 2 - Images and Artefacts
Photographs: A Window on the Past?
Maps and Historical Images as Sources
Finding Sources in Library Catalogues and Archives

Week 3 - Thinking Outside the Box…
The impact of the present on understanding the past
Sound Collections and Oral History
Digital Sources & the Archived Web
Plan your own research project

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

Develop a research project on a topic of your choice
Assess the relevant scholarship and existing research
Collect and evaluate relevant primary sources from a variety of genres (written text, images/photos, oral history, recorded sound, web archive)
Debate your research plan with educators and other learners, be inspired by their ideas
Evaluate how history influences the contemporary world

Go to Class

MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

FutureLearn

The Open University

Start Writing Fiction (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature Art and Culture

Get started with your own fiction writing, focusing on the central skill of creating characters, with this hands-on course. Discover the rituals and approaches that successful fiction writers use. On this online course, established writers – including Louis de Bernières, Patricia Duncker, Alex Garland, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Tim Pears, Michèle Roberts and Monique Roffey – will talk about how they started writing.

Self Paced

5-12 Weeks

Writing Creativity Fiction

FutureLearn

University College London

An Anthropology of Smartphones: Communication, Ageing and Health (FutureLearn)

Health & Society

Explore how smartphones have affected our lives by using comparative anthropology as a method of research. Discover digital anthropology and the relationship between technology and ageing. This course will develop your understanding of the concept of digital anthropology as you explore how smartphones have transformed our daily lives and how they can be used productively.

Self Paced

3 Weeks

Ageing Anthropology Research

FutureLearn

University of York

Discover the Hidden History of York (FutureLearn)

History

Investigate York’s cultural and social history and the pivotal events and people that helped define a nation. Uncover fascinating facts about the city of York, from medieval times to today. York is a city bursting with engaging and unusual episodes from its rich and diverse history. On this three-week course, you’ll delve into the city’s past and learn about some of the most interesting events and people to have contributed to York’s story.

Self Paced

3 Weeks

History York Medieval York

FutureLearn

Coventry University

Academic Research Methodology for Master’s Students (FutureLearn)

Education

Understand the academic research process at master’s level and build the skills to define research questions for a written project. Explore how to do academic research for a master’s written project. This course offers master’s students the chance to develop a variety of key academic research skills for producing a great written project at a university master’s level.

Self Paced

2 Weeks

Research Academic Research Management Research Skills Program

FutureLearn

Newcastle University

Hadrian's Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier (FutureLearn)

Humanities History

Explore the archaeology of the most heavily fortified frontier in the Roman Empire, its people and their lives. Hadrian’s Wall stretches over 73 miles (117 km), from coast to coast in what is now Northern England. The Wall, complemented by a sophisticated system of outposts and coastal watch stations, offers a remarkable glimpse of ancient society. In addition to housing one of the largest concentrations of Roman soldiers anywhere in the Empire’s provinces, Hadrian’s frontier system was home to an incredibly cosmopolitan array of civilians. This six week course offers a comprehensive introduction to Hadrian’s Wall and its people and raises fascinating issues concerning colonisation, cultural transformation, immigration, integration and imperialism.

Self Paced

5-12 Weeks

History Archaeology Roman Empire

FutureLearn

University of Bath,Aberystwyth University

How to Succeed in Your Welsh Bacc: the Individual Project Essentials (FutureLearn)

Languages & Literature

A short course designed to help students prepare for the Welsh Bacc Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate – Individual Project. Learn everything you need to know for your Welsh Bacc Individual Project. The Welsh Bacc is valued by universities and employers for the combination of personal growth and academic skills it develops in learners.

Self Paced

2 Weeks

Research Time Management Welsh Bacc

FutureLearn

University of Reading,Colchester Musuems

Dead Interesting: Uncovering Roman Britain in Old Museum Collections (FutureLearn)

History

Explore the archaeology of early Roman Britain an d learn techniques to build a profile of an individual from the first century AD. Uncover the history of early Roman Britain. What did a Roman funeral look, sound, and smell like? And how can you tell just from a person’s remains? Join a research team uncovering exciting new information about cremation burials excavated over 100 years ago in Colchester, the site of Camulodunum, one of Britain’s oldest towns and its first Roman capital city.

Self Paced

2 Weeks

History Archaeology Roman Britain

FutureLearn

Lancaster University

Corpus Linguistics: Method, Analysis, Interpretation (FutureLearn)

Humanities Social Sciences

Get a practical introduction to the methodology of corpus linguistics for researchers in the social sciences and humanities. Learn how to build and query corpora in this practical course On this course, you’ll get a practical introduction to corpus linguistics, an extremely versatile methodology of language analysis using computers.

Sep 16th 2024

5-12 Weeks

Language Social Sciences Linguistics

FutureLearn

University of Edinburgh

Christian-Muslim Relations (FutureLearn)

Health & Society

Uncover important themes in the history of Christian-Muslim relations and understand the politics that continue to shape it. Gain an insight into the academic study of Christian-Muslim Relations. On this innovative four-week course, you’ll be introduced to the academic study of Christian-Muslim Relations with the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh.

Oct 3rd 2022

4 Weeks

History Politics Society

FutureLearn

Luleå University of Technology

Computer Vision: Image Understanding for Efficient Business and Industry (FutureLearn)

Robotics & Computer Vision

Delve into the foundations of computer vision and explore its potential to transform business and industry as we know it. Discover the basics of computer vision and its role in Industry 4.0. Humans are in the midst of what is referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0: the advent of new technologies that will forever change the face of business, and chief among them is computer vision. This three-week course from the Luleå University of Technology will give you a solid introduction to computer vision and help you explore its effects on industry and business.

May 2nd 2022

3 Weeks

Business Image Machine Learning

FutureLearn

University of Glasgow

Multilingual Learning for a Globalised World (FutureLearn)

Education Teacher Professional Development

This free online course will explore multilingual education and how it can impact and improve education and even wider society. Our languages are an essential part of who we are as human beings. They are instruments of communication and are often a source of dignity and of human pride. Our life experiences and views of the world are bound up in our languages. Our sense of self might be strengthened by our ability to speak the language we choose or curtailed by our inability to understand the language that speaks to us.

Self Paced

3 Weeks

Learning Language Multilingual

FutureLearn

University of Birmingham

Improving Your Image: Dental Photography in Practice (FutureLearn)

CS: Information & Technology Medicine & Pharmacology

Learn how to achieve consistent and excellent results in all aspects of dental photography with this free online course. This free course will cover all aspects of the use of digital photography in dental practice: intra-oral, extra-oral, and portraits. Participants will be taken through photography, from the basics of choosing correct equipment and setting it up, to optimum settings, techniques for consistent imaging and the safe storage of images.

Self Paced

4 Weeks

Image Photography Dental Photography