Module Information
Course Delivery
Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
---|---|
Seminars / Tutorials | Individual 10-minute 'feedback tutorial' per written assignment submitted |
Lecture | 18 x 50 minute sessions |
Seminars / Tutorials | 10 x 50 minute sessions |
Assessment
Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
---|---|---|
Semester Assessment | Essay 1 - 1 x 2,500 word essay | 25% |
Semester Assessment | Essay 2 - 1 x 2,500 word essay | 25% |
Semester Exam | 3 Hours (1 x 3 hour exam) | 50% |
Supplementary Assessment | Essay 1 - 1 x 2,500 word supplementary (resit) essay | 25% |
Supplementary Assessment | Essay 2 - 1 x 2,500 word supplementary (resit) essay | 25% |
Supplementary Exam | 3 Hours 1 x 3 hour supplementary (resit) examination | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
a) Demonstrate familiarity with a substantial body of historical knowledge relating to the formation of national identities in Britain and Ireland in the period 1800-1914.
b) Reflect critically on the formation of national identities in the four nations of the British Isles and their relationship to an overarching British identity.
c) Demonstrate familiarity with a wide range of historical techniques relevant to the study of national identities in the past
d) Gather and sift appropriate items of historical evidence
e) Read, analyse and reflect critically on secondary texts.
f) Develop the ability to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of particular historical arguments and where necessary challenge them.
g) Develop oral (not assessed) and written skills which will have been improved through seminar discussions and essays
h) Work both independently and collaboratively, and to participate in group discussions (not assessed).
Brief description
This module will examine the creation and development of national identities in the British Isles following the Union of Britain and Ireland in 1801. It will draw upon the theoretical work on the construction of 'imagined communities' to inform the discussion of specific themes. Among these themes will be the creation of a British identity and the tensions caused by competing identities; the generation of new 'traditions'; war and popular imperialism; attitudes to out-groups and gender; and the mobilisation of national allegiances in leisure activities, especially sport. The recent debate on the nature of 'British history' will also be discussed.
Content
1. Introduction
2. Patriotism and the French Wars, 1792-1815
3. Monarchy and the 'Nation', 1800-1837
4. Politics and Citizenship, 1815-32
5. Chartism: a National Movement?
6. Irish Repeal Agitation
7. Anti-Catholicism in Mid-19th Century Britain
8. Scottish national Identity
9. Liberalism
10. Patriotism in Mid-century
11. Re-inventing the Monarchy, 1870-1914
12. Conservatism, Englishness and Disraeli
13. Irish Unionism, 1885-1914
14. Imperialism
15. Sport and National Identity
16. State Education
17. National Communications
18. Britishness on the Eve of War
Seminars:
1. War with France and British identity, 1793-1815
2. The 'cult of monarchy'
3. Chartism and citizenship in the 1830s and 1840s
4. Images of the countryside and English identity
5. The Scottish Highlands and Scottish identity
6. Sport and National Identity
7. Popular imperialism and British identity, 1870-1914
Reading List
Recommended TextKeith Robbins Nineteenth Century Britain Primo search Linda Colley Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837 Primo search
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6