British Society and Culture 1870-2017 - MA Seminar 1

Master's seminars

Blended learning

The seminar deals with the major social/economic, political and cultural themes in the history of Great Britain from c. 1867 to the end of the 20th century. It is based on the assumption that the "modern" world begins in the 1860s, and that examination of developments from that point onwards is necessary in order to understand contemporary Britain: the connections between past and present are highlighted throughout.

First semester

The seminar deals with the major social/economic, political and cultural themes in the history of Great Britain from c. 1867 to the beginning of the twenty first century. It is based on the assumption that the "modern" world begins in the 1860s, and that examination of developments from that point onwards is necessary in order to understand contemporary Britain: the connections between past and present are highlighted throughout the course. The seminar is organised in three bands of themes, which are in turn broken down into strands that are followed through the period:

A. Social and economic themes:

1. Rural and urban

2. Work and leisure, social class

3. Women, men, the family and the state

4. The "standard of living"

B Political themes:

5. Britain and the outside world

6. Political and social thought

7. Political practice

C. Cultural themes:

8. Cultural theory

9. Cultural practice

10. Literature as a mirror of cultural practice

Work with primary sources includes examination of: published official documents, autobiography, letters, newspapers and records from other mass media, statistical publications, opinion surveys, works of fiction, visual images: film, fine and commercial art.

Examples of source texts:

Luigi Barzini, The Europeans, 1983

William Beveridge, Full Employment in a Free Society, 1944

Ronald Blythe, Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village, 1969

Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth, 1933

Bill Bryson, Notes from a small island, London 1995

Alan Clark, Diaries, 1986

Geoff Dench, Kate Gavron, Michael Young, The New East End: Kinship, Race and Conflict, 2006

Margaret Forster, Hidden Lives, 1995

Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, 1908

Robert Graves, Goodbye to All That, 1929

Germaine Greer, The Female Eunuch, 1970

Richard Hoggart, Townscape with Figures. Farnham, Portrait of a Town, 1994

Richard Hoggart, The Uses of Literacy, 1957

Richard Hoggart, An imagined life, 1993

Ian Jack, Before the Oil Ran Out, 1984

Henry Mayhew, London's Underworld, 1851-62

George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, 1937

John Stuart Mill, Autobiography, 1873

William Morris, News from Nowhere, 1890-91

Jonathan Raban, Soft City, 1973

Jonathan Raban, Coasting, 1986

Raphael Samuel, What's happened to the North of England? 1995

Anna Sewell, Black Beauty, 1877

Alan Sillitoe, Leading the blind. A century of Guidebook Travel 1815-1911, 1995

Samuel Smiles, Self-Help, 1859

R. H. Tawney, The Acquisitive Society, 1921

Keith Thomas, Man and the Natural World, 1983

E.P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working class, 1963

Sue Townsend, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4, 1982

Michael Young and Peter Willmott, Family and Kinship in East London, 1957

A student will acquire advanced information about : British Social and Cultural History /1870-2000/ and will develop his/her analytical skills.

The aim is to provide students with the following learning outcomes:

1. knowledge of differing British experiences throughout history, but primarily from the Victorian period to the present day, depending on perspectives dictated by class, race and gender;

and the following skills:

1. ability to use varied materials on the basis of which analyses of historical development are constructed;

2. awareness that historical sources present experience from different perspectives and with different motivations;

3. awareness of differing British experiences throughout history depending on perspectives dictated by class, race and gender;

4. ability to draw general conclusions on the basis of patterns constructed by particular events.

5. ability to evaluate different theoretical approaches and make use of them in research;

6. ability to interpret and rank source material used in research.

7. In class discussions students acquire skills of expressing their thoughts in a clear, coherent, logical and precise manner, with the use of language which is correct grammatically, lexically and phonetically.

K_W02 advanced knowledge of key methodologies and theories, contemporary trends and developments in the study of literature, culture and language, with particular emphasis on the English-speaking context;

K_W07 knows and understands the principles of designing advanced philological research, in particular, the creative application of methods and tools in formulating research problems and testing hypotheses;

K_W12 knows the principles and ethical norms in science;

K_U06 is able to evaluate the usefulness of various theoretical concepts for advanced philological research and for diverse practical applications;

K_U07 knows how to analyze research, define it, follow up on it, and conduct his own research tasks; knows how to formulate a problem and determine a method;

K_U10 knows how to proficiently search for information in various sources, evaluate its usefulness, interpret it in theoretical and practical terms in the English context;

K_K03 fully understands the ethical dimension of his/her activity and adheres to the principles of professional ethics;

K_K04 is ready to take full responsibility for his/her own work, at the same time recognizing and respecting the work of others;

K_K07 is able to express himself or herself coherently, clearly, logically and concretely in order to function effectively with others.

Assessed on the basis of:

1. knowledge in the field of the contemporary social, cultural and political history of England;

2. ability to present ideas and judgements logically and clearly in speech and writing.