Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Seminars / Tutorials | 10 x 2 hour sessions |
| Seminars / Tutorials | Individual 10-minute 'feedback tutorial' per written assignment submitted |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Essay 1 - 1 x 1,500 word essay | 20% |
| Semester Assessment | Essay 2 - 1 x 1,500 word essay | 20% |
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 5,000 word project | 60% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Essay 1 - 1 x 1,500 word supplementary (resit) essay | 20% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Essay 2 - 1 x 1,500 word supplementary (resit) essay | 20% |
| Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 5,000 word supplementary (resit) project | 60% |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
a) Demonstrate familiarity with a wide range of knowledge of historical sources and approaches relating to the British `home front? experience in the second world war
b) Demonstrate familiarity with comparative perspectives on the history of the civilian wartime experience.
c) Demonstrate an understanding of a range of approaches to the study of historical narratives, in particular the competing narratives of memory, popular culture and `academic? history.
d) Read, analyse and reflect critically on primary texts (written, audio and visual).
e) Develop the ability to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of particular historical arguments and where necessary challenge them.
f) Gather, sift and critically assess both primary and secondary source materials from a range of archive collections.
g) Work both independently and collaboratively and to participate in group discussion
Brief description
This module provides a close critical study of recent literature on Britain during the Second World War and of the source material on which that work has been based, focusing in particular on the 'mythologising' function of historical writing, and using the example of the so-called 'myth of the Blitz', to consider the nature of 'historical myths', their origins, and the historian's responsibilities when confronting them.
Content
1. Myth-making and history
2. Angus Calder's The Myth of the Blitz
3. Evacuation
4. Dunkirk
5. Project planning
6. Battle of Britain
7. The Blitz
8. Churchill
9. National character
10. The myth today
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6