Module Information

Module Identifier
HYM3720
Module Title
The Georgian Spa and Seaside Resort
Academic Year
2017/2018
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Other Staff

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Seminar 10 x 2 Hour Seminars
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Essay 1  2,500/3,000 word essay  50%
Semester Assessment Essay 2  2,500/3,000 word essay  50%
Supplementary Assessment Essay 2  2,500/3,000 word essay  50%
Supplementary Assessment Essay 1  2,500/3,000 word essay  50%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Demonstrate a critical understanding of relevant themes and approaches in the history of the spa and seaside resort.

Evaluate differing ways of analysing developments during this period.

Marshal and understand the use of appropriate evidence in formulating historical arguments regarding eighteenth-century history.

Demonstrate through written work an ability to integrate methodological themes into their own research.

Brief description

The module is introduced by placing the development of the spa and seaside resort within the broad context of social change and urbanization in the long eighteenth century. The sessions in the module are then organized on a thematic basis; the built environment (which has been the subject of a good deal of research by planning and architectural historians), health and leisure, society, gender, and culture and nature. In exploring these themes there will be an emphasis upon the polarities and tensions in spa and seaside life, and the way that this offers a window on the character of Georgian society as a whole. The module ends with an examination of how watering-places were represented, both at the time and subsequently, in a range of literary and visual texts. The nature and variety of the source material deployed in the module will allow an interdisciplinary approach to study.

Aims

During the long eighteenth century Britain was undergoing rapid economic and urban growth. Rising levels of wealth generated demands for novel fashionable health treatments and forms of leisure, and this in its turn gave rise to what were effectively new types of urban settlement, the spa and seaside resort. Both were innovatory forms and provided models of urban planning and culture that were to spread throughout Europe and the world. The interrelationship between the spa and seaside resort, and the role of the watering-place in the process of urbanization, will be particular features of this module, and will locate students at the cutting edge of research in this field.

Content

Introductory Seminar: Health, Leisure and Urban Change
1. The Built Environment
2. Recuperation and Recreation
3. Society
4. Politeness, Impoliteness and Gender
5. Culture and Nature
6. Representations and Images
Individual tutorials for pre-essay preparation and feedback

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number Through discussion of applicability of statistical data to understanding aspects of the history of the spa and seaside resort.
Communication Through seminar discussion and essay writing. Latter only 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 single and inter-disciplinary approaches to the history of the spa and seaside resort, and the opportunity this offers for research and history related careers.
Problem solving By understanding how historians of eighteenth-century urban, leisure and social history 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 eighteenth-century urban, social and leisure history and an awareness of key texts and approaches.
Team work Through seminar work.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7