Module HIST30K3: Sexual Revolutions: The Politics of Gender and Sexuality in Britain and Beyond, 1920s to 1970s

Department: History

HIST30K3: Sexual Revolutions: The Politics of Gender and Sexuality in Britain and Beyond, 1920s to 1970s

Prerequisites

• A pass mark in at least TWO level two modules in History.

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To foster an advanced understanding of social and cultural movements grounded in the politics of gender and sexuality during Britain’s short Twentieth Century;
• To open up critical questions about what “sexual politics” encompassed historically and its changing implications over time;
• To encourage interdisciplinary analysis of sources that may provide affective as well as material insights about the past and that include manifestos, state documents, newspaper articles, correspondence, photographs, films, and fiction;
• To contribute towards meeting the generic aims of Level 3 study in History.

Content

• In the half-century between the 1920s and the 1970s, the terrain of what we might call “sexual politics” in Britain transformed. This course enables students to explore how and why by focusing on reformist, radical, and reactionary movements that contested the regulation of gender and sexuality during this time. Framed by female suffrage at the beginning of the Twentieth Century and the advent of the AIDS crisis at its end, the period on which we’ll concentrate saw fierce battles over such issues as the provision of contraception, the legal status of abortion and homosexuality, the efficacy of eugenics and interracial relationships, the possible grounds for divorce, the cultural codes of obscenity, the potential to change sex, and the legitimacy of women who worked. Our central lines of enquiry will be guided by the forms, dynamics, interests, effects, and ideologies of the social movements, activists, and cultural producers themselves. Along the way, we will ask how their pursuit of sexual politics related to broader concerns that included the imagination of socialist utopias, liberal visions of individual privacy, moralistic investments in nationhood, and internationalist commitments to human rights. While the course grounds itself in Britain, its central actors often looked beyond the nation’s borders and we will follow their gaze through the tools of transnational and comparative analysis to consider the contexts of empire, hot and cold wars, Americanization, and postcolonial migration. By the end, we will be able more precisely to articulate not only what transformed during the “sexual revolutions” we’ve studied, but also what seems cyclical, enduring, and perhaps awaiting further change.

Learning Outcomes

• A detailed knowledge of the history of feminist and queer activism, in particular, and of the landscapes of British sexual politics more generally;
• Familiarity with varied approaches to studying the history of gender and sexuality, and an understanding of associated conceptual and historiographic debates;
• Confidence and skill in analyzing a wide range of primary source material relating to the sexual politics of the past.

• 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

• Student learning is facilitated by a combination of the following teaching methods:
• 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;
• tutorials either individually or in groups to discuss topics arising from prepared work, allowing students the opportunity to reflect upon their personal learning with the tutor.
• Assessment:
• 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;
• Assessment of Primary Source Handling Students are assessed on their understanding of original primary sources. Usually in print, their character varying according to the nature of the subject, and the students' ability to bring that knowledge to bear on 'cutting edge' research-based monographs and articles. Students are given the opportunity to discuss and articulate an understanding of changing interpretations and approaches to historical problems, drawing evidence from a body of primary source materials. Students are required to demonstrate skills associated with the evaluation of a variety of primary source materials, using documentary analysis for a critical assessment of existing historical interpretations.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One formative essay of not more than 2500 words (not including footnotes and bibliography); preparation to participate in seminar and tutorials; at least one oral presentation, and practice source/gobbet work.

■ 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