Society and Politics in Victorian Britain Part 2

Module overview

Whereas in part 1 of the module you focused on metropolitan Britain, in part 2 we turn our attention to Britain's role in the wider world, placing a particular emphasis on British foreign policy and Britain’s relationship with empire. The module will explore how the British empire was built, negotiated and resisted in the Victorian period, always in ways that were shaped by gender, race and class. Students will be encouraged to think about how identities, meanings and practices were transmitted across different colonial spaces, also paying attention to the locally specific ways these were both understood and contested. Taken as a whole, the module will interrogate how the British empire was made and remade, while students will also be encouraged to reflect on the ways the legacies of this history continue to shape the world we live in today.

Linked modules

HIST3240

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Identify and examine the roles of conflict and diplomacy in the foreign policy of Victorian Britain.
Understand the context of documentation and how it might be located.
Understand the foundations for Britain's perception of the world and perceptions of Britain from other powers.
Weigh different categories of evidence and the different approaches of historians and other scholars.
Explain the contentious topic of Britain's maintenance of its global Empire in the Victorian period.

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

Key historiographical and conceptual approaches to examining Victorian Britain's place in the world.
Using primary sources from the Archives and Special Collections at the Hartley Library for examining foreign policies in Victorian Britain.
The concept of nationalism in a British context.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Develop time management skills.
Research and write effectively in order to produce essays.
Analyse primary sources.
Work effectively to locate sources and literature.

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include: presentations by students on secondary reading and primary sources; small and large group discussions; structured in-depth reading and analysis of the module texts

Learning activities include: preparatory reading, individual research and study prior to each class; preparing and delivering short presentations relating to aspects of the module, as directed by the tutor; close study of primary sources; participation in small and large group discussion

Study time
Type	Hours
Guided independent study	252
Seminar	48
Total study time	300

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

S. Mahajan (2002). British Foreign Policy 1874-1914.

S. MacKenzie (2001). The Victorian Vision: Inventing New Britain.

William Mulligan and Brendan Simms (eds) (2010). The Primacy of Foreign Policy in British History 1660-2000 How Strategic Concerns Shaped Modern Britain.

J. Aldred (2004). British Imperial and Foreign Policy 1846-1980.

W. Baumgart (1998). The Crimean War. Arnold.

L. James (1994). The Rise and Fall of the British Empire.

Assessment

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Essay	50%
Written assignment	50%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Assessment tasks	100%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Written assignment	50%
Essay	50%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External