Gwybodaeth Modiwlau
Module Identifier
HYM5330
Module Title
BRITAIN SINCE 1945: DEVOLUTION AND IDENTITY IN THE POST-IMPERIAL AGE
Academic Year
2010/2011
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Seminars / Tutorials | Introductory seminar + 6 x 100 min seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 2 Assessed Essays of 3,500 words each | 100% |
| Supplementary Assessment | New essays on topics different from those originally undertaken in any failed module, as required by university regulations governing resits for modules with marks under 50%. | 100% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
Demonstrate a critical understanding of relevant themes in and approaches to the history of identity, migration and devolution in post-war Britain.
Marshal, evaluate and understand the use of appropriate evidence in formulating historical arguments regarding the history of the modern British Isles.
Demonstrate through written work an ability to integrate historical themes and methodology into their own research.
Aims
This module seeks to examine some of the key questions which shape contemporary discussions of civic society in Britain - devolution, migration and identity - and to place them in their recent historical context.
Brief description
It has become a truism to state that identities are in a constant state of change and evolution. During the years following 1945, notions of Britishness - which were brought to bear very powerfully during the Second World War itself - have been subject to a range of challenges.
This module will assess how British public opinion responded to the end of the UK's role as an imperial power, along with the concurrent challenge posed by the migration of Commonwealth citizens into the country. Challenges to the nature of the state from within Britain will also be examined. The module will trace changes in the nature of identities in the Celtic lands and their political ramifications, including the growth of nationalist politics, popular protest (including the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland and cultural protest in Wales) and demands for devolution. The wider impact of arrival of devolution on the British political agenda, and its consequences in terms of a re-examination of concepts of Englishness, will be studied.
The module will also consider the extent to which the discipline of history itself has been challenged by changes in definitions of Britishness. The growth in the history of migration, and debates over 'New British History', will be addressed.
This module will assess how British public opinion responded to the end of the UK's role as an imperial power, along with the concurrent challenge posed by the migration of Commonwealth citizens into the country. Challenges to the nature of the state from within Britain will also be examined. The module will trace changes in the nature of identities in the Celtic lands and their political ramifications, including the growth of nationalist politics, popular protest (including the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland and cultural protest in Wales) and demands for devolution. The wider impact of arrival of devolution on the British political agenda, and its consequences in terms of a re-examination of concepts of Englishness, will be studied.
The module will also consider the extent to which the discipline of history itself has been challenged by changes in definitions of Britishness. The growth in the history of migration, and debates over 'New British History', will be addressed.
Content
Introductory seminar, plus six from the following:
End of Empire: Britain's place in the world
Immigration and Britishness
Internal migration: town and country
Questioning the old order: social and intellectual change and the British state
Cultural crisis and protest: the 1960s and after
Nationalism and devolution
Identity and electoral politics
British History or the history of the isles? Post-war historiography
Individual tutorials for essay feedback
End of Empire: Britain's place in the world
Immigration and Britishness
Internal migration: town and country
Questioning the old order: social and intellectual change and the British state
Cultural crisis and protest: the 1960s and after
Nationalism and devolution
Identity and electoral politics
British History or the history of the isles? Post-war historiography
Individual tutorials for essay feedback
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | By understanding and discussing quantitative data on such issues as national identity |
| Communication | Through seminar discussion and essay writing. Only the latter is formally assessed. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | By guided reflection during seminars and feedback sessions following submission of written work. |
| Information Technology | Through data retrieval exercises for research purposes and word-processing for essay writing purposes. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Through furthering understanding of the discipline of history and the opportunities for research that it offers. |
| Problem solving | By understanding how historians employ a variety of different methodological approaches towards understanding problems within their field. |
| Research skills | By learning how to identify appropriate primary and secondary sources and utilising that material in their work. |
| Subject Specific Skills | By enhancing methodological understanding of modern British history and an awareness of key sources and approaches. |
| Team work | Such skills will be developed through seminar work. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7