Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 18 x 50 minute sessions |
| Seminars / Tutorials | 10 x 50 minute 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 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 in the field of modern and contemporary British political, social and cultural history.
b) Engage in source criticism, discussion and understanding of the scope and variety of sources in modern British history.
c) Demonstrate familiarity with a wide range of historical techniques relevant to a comparative study of political and social developments.
d) Gather and sift appropriate items of historical evidence
e) Read, analyse and reflect critically on secondary and primary texts, in particular contemporary reportage and other media sources.
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 option module considers British history from the turn of the twentieth century until the fairly recent past (the fall of Margaret Thatcher). It will focus primarily on political developments but will, in addition, incoroporate social, economic and cultural change. The main theme of the module is the changing character of British politics throughout the twentieth century - its structures, discourse, political culture - and how these developments reflect, and in turn influence, other aspects of British society. Central to this theme are such topics as the evolution of a mass democracy, the impact of the two World Wars, Britain's search for an international post-war role, the development and downfall of a politics of concensus.
Content
1. Introduction
2. Edwardian Britain: the 'strange death of liberal England'?
3. The Great War and British society.
4. Inter-war Britain (i): politics and class.
5. Inter-war Britain (ii): poverty and prosperity..
6. Inter-war Britain (iii) the phenomenon of Stanley Baldwin.
7. Britain and the Second World War (i): the 'People's War'.
8. Britain and the Second World War (ii): 'leftward shift'?
9. The Attlee governments and the welfare state.
10. Conservative hegemony 1951-64 (i): the Age of Affluence?
11. Conservative hegemony 1951-64 (ii): the 'Stagnant Society'?
12. State of the nation (i): Britain and the post-war world.
13. 'The Sixties': Britain and the 'Permissive Society'.
14. State of the nation (ii): Britain and the British.
15. Media and society in 20th century Britain.
16. 'Who governs Britain?': the 1970s and the end of consensus.
17. The 'Thatcher revolution'.
18. Conclusions: New Liberalism to Neo-Liberalism.
Seminars:
1. Introduction.
2. First World War: 'The Deluge'.
3. The 1920s: Class and politics
4. The 1930s: Healthy or Hungry Thirties?
5. Second World War: 'Finest Hour'?
6. Post-war consensus?
7. Suez and the End of Empire.
8. The Permissive Society.
9. Thatcherism.
10. Media, politics and society in 20th century Britain.
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6