Module Information
Course Delivery
Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
---|---|
Lecture | 22 x 1 Hour Lectures |
Seminar | 10 x 1 Hour Seminars |
Assessment
Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
---|---|---|
Semester Assessment | 3,000 word essay | 50% |
Semester Exam | 2 Hours (1 x 2 hour exam) | 50% |
Supplementary Assessment | 1 x 3,000 word essay | 50% |
Supplementary Exam | 2 Hours (1 x 2 hour exam) | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to.
1. Critically evaluate the principal debates about Britain and Ireland at crucial junctures
2. Analyze the dynamics of British-Irish relationship
3. Evaluate the role of coercion and violence in British-Irish relations
4. Examine and evaluate the impact of the Anglo-Irish War of 1919-21
5. Examine and evaluate the course and impact of the 'Troubles' after 1969
6. Critically evaluate contending explanations for the end of the 'Troubles' in the 1990s
7. Analyze the role of individual political leaders in the development of the British-Irish relations
8. Critically evaluate emerging approaches to the study of the British-Irish relations including the study of culture and the use of critical oral history.
Brief description
The module examines debates about the origins and dynamics of the relationship between Britain and Ireland since the Act of Union in 1800. The course will provide an opportunity for the study of this relationship in times of peace and conflict. The course will be interest to political scientists and historians, as well as students of intelligence and strategy. It explores the role of diplomacy and coercion in British-Irish relations and examines debates about the evolution of the relationship between the two countries over two centuries. Students are encouraged to critically reflect on how British and Irish history is studied and how emerging methodologies provides fresh insights, perspectives and debates.
Content
1. Introduction: Britain and Ireland in History
2. British Ireland: the Rebellion of 1798, the Act of Union, Catholic Emancipation and the Famine
3. Conflict and Home Rule: Fenianism, the Land Question, Gladstone and Parnell
4. `Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right!" Home Rule, the Asquith government and the Unionist reaction
5. `The Union sealed in Blood'? The First World War and the Easter Rising
6. The Anglo-Irish War, 1919-21 (I)
7. The Anglo-Irish War, 1919-21 (II)
8. Treaty, Civil War and Free State
9. Britain and Ireland in the Second World War, 1939-1945
10. The challenge to the Northern Irish state and the emergence of the PIRA
11. The end of Stormont and Loyalist and Republican terrorism in the 1970s
12. The 'Long War' : Republicans, Loyalists and the British state in the 1980s
13. The British War against Terrorism
14. The Road to Good Friday, 1998, and beyond
Seminars
1. The Act of Union, Catholic Emancipation and the resurrection of Irish nationalism
2. Fenianism, Parnell and Home Rule: the Union Challenged
3. Three Wars: the First World War, the Anglo-Irish War and the Civil War, 1914-1924
4. Britain and Ireland, 1922-1985
5. Another Irish solution? The Good Friday Agreement and Beyond
Module Skills
Skills Type | Skills details |
---|---|
Application of Number | N/A |
Communication | Students will learn how to present their ideas both verbally and in writing and how to present their arguments most effectively. They will understand the importance of information and clear communication and how to exploit these. They will know how to use the many sources of information available and how to use the most appropriate form of communication to best advantage. They will learn to be clear in their writing and speaking and to be direct about aims and objectives. They will learn to consider only that which is relevant to the topic, focus and objectives of their argument or discussion. Seminars will be run in groups where oral discussion and presentations will form the main medium of teaching and the emphasis throughout the module will be on student participation and communication. This is facilitated by group-role play based on teams operating within and beyond the seminar environment |
Improving own Learning and Performance | The module aims to promote self-management but within a context in which support and assistance is available from both the convener and fellow students alike. Students will be expected to improve their own learning and performance by undertaking their own research and to exercise their own initiative, including searching for sources, compiling reading lists, and deciding (under guidance) the direction of their essay and presentation topics. Group work is integral to the seminars and provides opportunities for students to reflect individually and collectively on their performance. The need to contribute to the group presentation in seminars and to meet an essay deadline will focus students' attention on the need to manage their time and opportunity resources well. |
Information Technology | Students will be expected to submit their work in word-processed format. Also, students will be encouraged to search for sources of information on the web, as well as seeking sources through electronic information sources (such as Web of Science and OCLC). Students will also be expected to make use of the resources that will be available on the Blackboard VLE. |
Personal Development and Career planning | The discussions in particular will help to develop students' verbal and presentation and team-working skills. Learning about the process of planning an essay and a presentation, framing the parameters of the projects, honing and developing the projects and seeing through to completion will contribute towards students' portfolio of transferable skills. |
Problem solving | Independent project work and problem solving will be one central goal of the module; the submission of an essay will require that students develop independent research skills as well as problem solving skills. The need to research and prepare seminar presentations will also enable students to develop independent project skills. The ability of students to solve problems will be developed and assessed by asking them to: adopt differing points of view; organize data and estimate an answer to the problem; consider extreme cases; reason logically; construct theoretical models; consider similar cases; look for patterns; divide issues into smaller problems. A final examination will ensure that an assessment of students' ability to work alone can be undertaken. |
Research skills | The submission of the essay will reflect the independent research skills of students. The need to locate appropriate research resources and write up the results will also facilitate research skills. Research preparation for a seminar presentation will also enable students to develop independent project skills. A final examination will ensure that an assessment of students' ability to work alone can be undertaken. |
Subject Specific Skills | Students have the opportunity to develop, practice and test a wide range of subject specific skills that help them to understand, conceptualise and evaluate examples and ideas on the module. These subject specific skills include: 1 Collect and understand a wide range of data relating to the module 2 Ability to evaluate competing perspectives 3 Demonstrate subject specific research techniques 4 Apply a range of methodologies to complex historical and political problems |
Team work | Seminars will consist in part of small group role-playing activities where students will be obliged to prepare, present and discuss as a group the core issues related to seminar topics. Such class room debates and discussions are a vital component of the module learning experience. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6