Contemporary British History

Module code: 7YYH0015
Credit level: 7

This course provides training in and experience of historical analysis of issues of importance for the understanding of contemporary Britain. It focuses upon the study of British history over the past century, but assumes that British history must be understood in relation to other countries and regions, in particular the Empire/ Commonwealth, Europe and North America. The programme defines history broadly to include economic, social, cultural, political and diplomatic history. It is designed to provide all students with a common core course which surveys the main features of, and issues in, this range of approaches to British history since c.1900.

Asssessment: 2 x 5,000 word essays.

Module code: 7YYH0016
Credit level: 7

The course explores the ‘history of history’ and its key developments and methodologies. Students will be learn about the historiographical framework and the main historiographical debates related to each of the topics taught, which include political history, gender history, legal history, visual sources, oral history, economic history, social history and cultural history.

Assessment: 1 x 5,000 word essay, 1 x presentation, 1 x 3,000 word sources project report.

Module code: 7YYH0001
Credit level: 7
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 5,000 word essay

This course will examine the ways in which the Cold War affected the UK’s foreign, military and domestic policymaking in the broader European context. It will be the aim of this course to demonstrate that the Cold War was not simply a conflict between the two superpowers, with lesser powers like the UK simply acting as their agents, but that in UK’s case the response was based upon the long history of Anglo-Russian and subsequently Anglo-Soviet relations; on the challenges that Britain faced as European power with a declining global Imperial presence; on her position in Europe after the World War II; on her military strength (or weakness); and her determination to remain on the ‘top table’ of world affairs.

Module code: 7YYH0002
Credit level: 7
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 5,000 word essay

The course will examine the ways in which the Cold War affected the UK’s foreign, military and domestic policymaking in the extra-European world. It will be the aim of this course to demonstrate that the Cold War was not simply a conflict between the two superpowers, with lesser powers like the UK simply acting as their agents, but that in UK’s case the response was based upon the long history of Anglo-Russian and subsequently Anglo-Soviet relations; on the challenges that Britain faced as European power with a declining global Imperial presence; on her position in Europe after the World War II; on her military strength (or weakness); and her determination to remain on the ‘top table’ of world affairs.

Module code: 7YYH0012
Credit level: 7
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 5,000 word essay

This module will consider the history of social policy and welfare in British society up to the end of the Second World War. It will consider this in the context of earlier social policy developments, including Poor Law reform. In particular it will look at issues around housing, employment and unemployment, women and gender, old age and pensions, children, central/local government relations and public finance. It will examine the Liberal governments of 1906-1914 and the extent to which they pioneered a new relationship between the state and the poor, the effects of the First World War on state social and welfare policy, the expansion of state social expenditure in the interwar period and the Beveridge Report of 1942.

Module code: 7YYH0013
Credit level: 7
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 5,000 word essay

This module will examine the history of the welfare state and social policy in British society after 1945. It will consider post-war reform, the extent to which it was a new departure and its effects on poverty. It will examine the impact of the Cold War on social policy and consider the relationship between the welfare state and the state of the economy. It will also cover such issues as ageing and welfare, demographic change and child welfare. It will consider comparative perspectives on these issues and the debates both among historians and policy-makers about social policy and welfare.

Module code: 7YYH0004
Credit level: 7
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 5,000 word essay

This course covers some of the principal types of financial crisis of the previous three centuries. It considers two thematic strands: banking crises, such as the US banking crises of the 1930s, the collapse of Austria's Credit Anstalt in 1931, the Nordic banking crisis of the 1990s, and the demise of Northern Rock; asset price crashes, for instance the South Sea Bubble of 1719, the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the Technology stock crash of 2000.

Module code: 7YYH0003
Credit level: 7
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 5,000 word essay

This course covers some of the principal types of financial crisis of the previous three centuries. It begins with an introductory overview and conceptual framework. This is followed by thematic case studies drawn principally, but by no means exclusively, from British and US experience. The episodes will be examined comparatively both with each other and with recent financial experience. The course has two thematic strands: public debt crises, such as the sovereign debt crises of the 1930s, the Third World debt crisis of the 1980s and the defaults by US states in the 1840s; and exchange rate crises, for instance Britain's sterling crises of 1931 and 1967, the breakdown of the international Breton Woods System in 1971-73, and the East Asia Crisis of 1997-98.

Module code: 7YYH0006
Credit level: 7
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 5,000 word essay

This course examines various aspects of the history of gender in the UK in the first half of the 20th Century, when women gained the vote and were able to take an increasing part in public life. The topics covered include the impact of the First World War on gender relations, whether the women’s movement declined in inter-war Britain, and whether there were significant changes in British women’s life experiences in the 1920s and 30s? It will consider comparative perspectives on the history of gender, particularly in other western European countries, and examine other topics such as sexuality, work, politics and consumption.

Module code: 7YYH0007
Credit level: 7
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 5,000 word essay

This module will examine the history of gender in the UK in the second half of the 20th century. In particular it will consider how women’s lives changed in the 1940s and 1950s, and the extent of the impact of the Second World War. It will ask what happened to the women’s movement in post-war Britain and consider ‘Second Wave’ feminism. It will examine comparative perspectives on the history of gender. Other topics will include the history of gender and work, for example the impact of equal opportunities legislation in the UK and Europe, sexuality, consumption and politics, considered at both a national and local level.

Module code: 7YYH0009
Credit level: 7
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 5,000 word essay

This module, taken either on its own or together with ‘History and Policy: Policymaking under Pressure’, will be of interest to anyone seeking a history MA with a unique and contemporary twist that is clearly relevant and applicable to the present. It is designed both for people who have worked in a policy or media-related field and want to pursue their historical studies in a format relevant to their career and for those looking to go on to doctoral research and be able to demonstrate the impacts of their research in the public sphere. It will consider how policy is made, how history can contribute to the policy-making process, and how it has been used to inform policy decisions.

Module code: 7YYH0008
Credit level: 7
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 5,000 word essay

This module, taken either on its own or together with ‘History and Policy: Long-term Policy Problems’, will be of interest to anyone seeking a history MA with a unique and contemporary twist that is clearly relevant and applicable to the present. It is designed both for people who have worked in a policy or media-related field and want to pursue their historical studies in a format relevant to their career and for those looking to go on to doctoral research and be able to demonstrate the impacts of their research in the public sphere. It will consider how policy is made, how history can contribute to the policy-making process, and how it has been used to inform policy decisions.

Module code: 7YYH0005
Credit level: 7
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 5,000 word essay

This course deals with both the theoretical issues relating to oral history and constructing and undertaking an oral history/interviewing project. Topics covered will include:

• The nature and history of oral history
• The problem of memory
• Memory and evidence
• Theories and methods of interviewing
• Ethics and law
• Advocacy and empowerment.

Module code: 7YYH0010
Credit level: 7
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 5,000 word essay

This module will examine the political culture of the UK in the first half of the 20th century. It will consider the ways in which parties have developed and have adapted to change for example with the expansion of the popular vote and the development of mass communication. It will also consider the impact of the two World Wars on party politics.

Key topics will include: political communication, the decline of the Liberal Party, the rise of the Labour Party, the impact of mass suffrage, the General Strike, the formation of the National Government, the recovery of the Conservative Party after 1922 and its hidden dominance from the mid-1930s, and party political structures during the Second World War.

Module code: 7YYH0011
Credit level: 7
Assessment:  coursework 
1 x 5,000 word essay

This module will examine the political culture of the UK in the second half of the 20th century. It will consider how the political parties adapted to a mature mass electorate and major changes in mass communication. It will examine how European integration and the decline of Empire have shaped developments in British politics. It considers the patterns of political involvement in both parties and non-party organisations such as CND, and how these have shifted since the end of the Second World War.

Key topics will include: the Second World War and party organisation, the impact of the welfare state on the political parties and voters, political communication, the long periods of Conservative dominance, Labour and permissive legislation, the political crises of the 1970s, the rise of Thatcherism and that of New Labour.