Module HIST1241: REGIONAL AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE BRITISH ISLES 1536-1707

Department: History

HIST1241: REGIONAL AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE BRITISH ISLES 1536-1707

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• To introduce students at level 1 to unfamiliar problems relating to the concepts of regional and national history, to the political-culture approach to history, and to the early modern period, with a view to supporting later learning about these aspects of history.

Content

• This module will introduce students to the concepts of regional and national identity, and will explore the inter-relationship between regionality and nationality in the kingdoms of the Atlantic Archipelago between 1536 (Union between England and Wales) and 1707 (Union between England and Scotland).
• The module will consider the nature of state formation and its relationship to national identity in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
• The strength and scope of regional identity within these 'nations' will be considered, as will the relationship of nationalism and regionalism to colonialism at home and abroad (addressing the contentious issue of 'domestic colonialism' and the dynamic of colonial settlement and trade outside of the Atlantic Archipelago).

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of current historiographical debates about the formation of Britain as a political and cultural entity, in the C16th & C17th.
• Understanding the conceptual issues surrounding historical approaches to nationality and regionality in this period.
• Reflection upon the inter-relationship of region and nation in the Atlantic Archipelago between 1536 and 1707, and the relationship between geographical units of identity and political structures and social class.

• Subject specific skills for this module can be viewed at: http://www.dur.ac.uk/History/ugrads/ModuleProformaMap/

• Key skills for this module can be viewed at: http://www.dur.ac.uk/History/ugrads/ModuleProformaMap/

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• 1 and 2 are taught and tested by two course-work essays that are assessed summatively.
• 3, 4 and 5 are taught by means of seminar discussions and assessed in the termly essays and exam.
• Teaching will consist of lectures, seminars and tutorials.
• Lectures will provide a framework for the study of nationality and regionality in Britain between 1536 and 1707, conveying both conceptual approaches and the political history of the creation of Great Britain and the ways in which this political entity was contested or agreed to by constituent regions.
• Small group seminars will provide students with the opportunity to debate the conceptual and historical issues introduced in the lectures.
• Tutorials will enable discussion between students and tutor on essay topics and provide feedback from the tutor on written work.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

One or more short assignments submitted in writing or delivered orally and discussed either 1:1 or in a group context.