Unit information: Rewriting Modern Britain in 2020/21

Unit name	Rewriting Modern Britain
Unit code	HISTM0079
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Charnock
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	N
Co-requisites	N
School/department	Department of History (Historical Studies)
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

Many of the narratives previously used to tell the history of modern Britain have been called into question by a decade of political and social turbulence. At the same time, a wave of new approaches, sources, and methodologies has begun to push the field in new directions. The result is that many areas of Modern British history are once again being ‘rewritten’.

In this unit, we will explore two aspects of this move to ‘rewrite’ Britain’s recent past. Firstly, we will consider how intellectual, social, political, economic, and cultural developments have shed new light on classic debates such as the rise of social democracy and the existence or otherwise of a ‘sexual revolution’. How credible do some of the best-known narratives of modern Britain look today, and how might recent work change our understanding of them further?

Secondly, we will investigate how fresh approaches, methods, and sources, including those used to study other periods and disciplines, are enabling us to tell new stories about Modern Britain. We will explore emerging sub-fields, such as histories of emotion, enterprise, rhetoric and activism, and ask what these approaches tell us about what it means to be a historian working in the field today.

The unit therefore aims to:

1. Give students a grounding in long-standing debates that have shaped research in this area, and help them understand how and why these evolved.

1. Give students a broad awareness of the latest developments in the field.

1. Introduce students to the sources, methods, and concepts that have underpinned new approaches.

1. Prepare students for undertaking independent advanced-level research in the field.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Identify and analyse key historiographical debates and developments.
2. Judge the extent to which historical narratives are a product of shifting socio-political contexts.
3. Assess how new methodologies, sources, and concepts have transformed the writing of Modern British history.
4. Evaluate how historical narratives are influenced by other disciplines and historical specialisms.
5. Compose a persuasive historiographical argument appropriate to level M.

Teaching Information

Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, including group seminar-style discussion and self-directed exercises.

Assessment Information

One summative essay of 5000 words (100%). [ILOs 1-5]

Reading and References

James Vernon, Modern Britain': 1750 to the present (2017).

David Edgerton, The 'Rise and F'all of the British 'N'ation (2018).

Lesley Hall, Sex, Gender and Social Change in Britain since 1880 (2013).

Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, Class, Politics, and the Decline of D'eference in England, 1968-2000 (2018).

Judith Walkowitz, Nights out': Life in C'osmopolitan London (2012).