Module HIST2211: HARD TIMES: BRITISH SOCIETY c.1800 - 1901

Department: History

HIST2211: HARD TIMES: BRITISH SOCIETY c.1800 - 1901

Prerequisites

• A pass mark in at least ONE level one module in History.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• to promote an understanding of social and cultural life in nineteenth-century England, and the appropriate concepts for its analysis.
• to place a strong emphasis on examining how contemporaries understood their own life and times.
• to be achieved through 21 lectures, six seminars, one 'business' meetings and two revision seminars.

Content

• The content of this module is designed:
• to examine how the sexes, classes and denominations in the nineteenth century understood and experienced social and cultural change on an unprecedented scale; and why England remained politically stable. It begins with the world of work and the struggles of employers to establish, and of workers to resist, factory discipline. Next, the module explores social identities, and the recent preoccupation with 'language'. It also investigates the physical environment and the culture of the town and the country, institutions such as the monarchy and events such as the Great Exhibition.
• To ensure that several of the seminars are organised around texts by thinkers such as Carlyle, Marx, Engels, Mill and Ruskin.

Learning Outcomes

• an understanding of how the sexes, classes and denominations of nineteenth-century Britain understood and experienced social and cultural change on an unprecedented scale.
• an understanding of the forces shaping the physical environment of nineteenth century Britain.
• an ability to evaluate both recent and older interpretations of these physical and social changes.
• an ability to construct reasoned arguments about the development of nineteenth-century British society, drawing on work by political and economic, as well as social, historians.

• Subject specific skills for this module can be viewed at: http://www.dur.ac.uk/History/ugrads/ModuleProformaMap/;
• In addition students will acquire:
• an ability to evaluate both recent and older interpretations of these physical and social changes;
• an ability to construct reasoned arguments about the development of nineteenth-century British society, drawing on work by political and economic, as well as social, historians.

• 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

• Student learning is facilitated by a combination of the following teaching methods:
• lectures to set the foundations for further study and to provide the basis for the acquisition of subject specific knowledge. Lectures provide a broad framework which defines individual module content, introducing students to themes, debates and interpretations. In this environment, students are given the opportunity to develop skills in listening, selective note-taking and reflection;
• seminars to allow students to present and critically reflect upon the acquired subject-specific knowledge, methodologies and theories, and to identify and debate a range of issues and differing opinions. The seminar is the forum in which students are given the opportunity to communicate ideas, jointly exploring themes and arguments. Seminars are structured to develop understanding and designed to maximise student participation related to prior independent preparation. Seminars give students the opportunity to develop oral communication skills, encourage critical and tolerant approaches to reasoned argument and historical discussion, build the students' ability to marshal historical evidence, and facilitate the development of the ability to summarise historical arguments, think in a rapidly changing environment and communicate in a persuasive and articulate manner, whilst recognising the value of working with others and, occasionally, towards shared goals.
• Assessment:
• Unseen Examinations test students' ability to work under pressure under timed conditions, to prepare for examinations and direct their own programme of revision and learning, and develop key time management skills. The unseen examination gives students the opportunity to develop relevant life skills such as the ability to produce coherent, reasoned and supported arguments under pressure. Students will be examined on subject specific knowledge;
• Summative essays remain a central component of assessment in history, due to the integrative high-order skills they develop. Essays allow students the opportunity to recognise, represent and critically reflect upon ideas, concepts and problems; students can demonstrate awareness of, and the ability to use and evaluate, a diverse range of resources and identify, represent and debate a range of subject-specific issues and opinions. Through the essay, students can synthesise information, adopt critical appraisals and develop reasoned argument based on individual research; they should be able to communicate ideas in writing, with clarity and coherence; and to show the ability to integrate and critically assess material from a wide range of sources.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One or more short assignments submitted in writing or delivered orally in a group seminar context.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University