SUMMER 2013 BRITISH CULTURE AND SOCIETY GROUP A Course Code SS1801
MODULE AIMS
i. To provide the opportunity for students to develop an understanding and
appreciation of key aspects of contemporary British culture and society, within an historical context
ii. To introduce students to key cultural and historical sites in England and to encourage students to visit additional sites independently and to view such places in an
informed and critical way.
iii. To encourage students to make informed, critical comparisons between what they observe and learn of British society and culture and their own home societies and cultures
iv. To provide the inspiration and methodologies to pursue an understanding of other cultures, languages and ideas.
LEARNING OUTCOMES On completion of the course students should:
i. Know and understand some of the main historical antecedents of key aspects in British culture and society
ii. be familiar with some of the major social, political, economic and cultural issues in contemporary Britain
iii. be able to compare and contrast their home culture and society with British culture and society.
iv. Research cultural institutions independently and write findings clearly, interestingly and critically, using basic academic referencing
TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES
The course is delivered through a multidisciplinary programme consisting of:
i. Formal lectures/workshop sessions - sometimes integrated with field activities; ii. Excursions/tours led by members of the Kingston Faculty or contracted professionals iii. Self-guided visits to other sites of historic and cultural interest in the London area.
Date Time Place Lecture Lecturer Friday 5 July 1000-1100 1100-1200 JG Building JG Introduction
What is Britain? British National Identity The Monarchy Matthew Cunningham Monday 8 July 0900 1000 1430 1530-1630 Parr Boats Landing Hampton Court Palace JG JG
HAMPTON COURT PALACE Fieldtrip
The Magnificence of the British Monarchy- Henry VIII and his Court
Discussion : The Monarchy- For and Against
The British System of Government Irene Luna MC MC Wed 10 July 0930 1015- 1100 1115-1215 1400 JG JG JG
Discussion: British Political system
Class and Education in Britain The Media- a tabloid society? Independent London Visit (1)
MC MC
Wed. 17 July
0845 Seething Wells OXFORD Fieldtrip
Coach leaves at 0900 MC Friday 19 July 1000 1100-1130- 1330 PM JG JG
Discussion session : Class: Education & the Media Theatre Lecture
Independent London Visit (2)
MC
Patsy Trench
Monday 22 July
0815 Seething Wells STONEHENGE & BATH Fieldtrip
Coach leaves at 0830 MC Wed 24 July AM 1400 1930 Greenwich Visitor Centre Globe Theatre
Independent London visit (3) GREENWICH Fieldtrip Walking tour ‘Henry VI’ MC Wed 31 July 0945 1400 Seething Wells JG SOUTHALL GURDWARA fieldtrip Coach leaves at 1000 Multi-cultural Britain Britain and the World: from Empire to European Union
MC Friday 2 Aug 1000 1130-1300 JG JG
Summary and Revision: Cinema and National Identity
Final test
GENERAL READING
No prior reading is required and there is no recommended up-to-date text for this course. However, texts listed below by McDowall, O’Driscoll and Oakland are suitable for those wanting a general text. The others are better for reference, using particular articles as needed.
Addison, P. & Jones, H., 2005, A Companion to Contemporary Britain Malden, MASS: Blackwell
Carnevali, F & Strange, J-M (ed.), 2007, 20th Century Britain, Economic, Social and Cultural Change, Harlow: Longman
Christopher, D. P., 2006, British Culture: An Introduction, London: Routledge
Higgins, M., et al, 2010, The Cambridge Companion to Modern British Culture, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
McDowall, D., 1999, Britain in Close-Up: An In-depth Study of Contemporary Britain, Harlow: Longman
O’Driscoll, J., 1995, Britain, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Oakland, J., 1998, British Civilization, London: Routledge
FIELDTRIPS
Kingston and Surbiton town centres: Walking tours to familiarise the students with their local environment, amenities and transport system. http://www.kingston.gov.uk/leisure/tourism.htm Hampton Court Palace: One of Henry VIII’s favourite palaces, which clearly demonstrates the magnificence of his reign. http://www.hrp.org.uk/webcode/hampton_home.asp
Oxford: with a walking tour of the ancient heart of the city, giving an introduction to the architecture, history and way of life in Britain’s oldest university. http://www.oxford.gov.uk/
http://www.ox.ac.uk/
Stonehenge & Bath: A visit to Stonehenge, a world heritage site, and then a visit to Bath where the Roman Baths and outstanding Georgian architecture can be seen.
http://exn.ca/mysticplaces/stonehenge.asp http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/
Greenwich: Includes a visit to the Old Royal Observatory, the Royal Naval College and the Queen’s House designed by Christopher Wren and Inigo Jones respectively.
http://www.greenwichwhs.org.uk/places/index.asp
Globe Theatre: A visit to watch a play performed in the round in the replica of Shakespeare’s original theatre. You will be a “groundling”. http://shakespearesglobe.org/navigation/frameset.htm Southall Gurdwara: This fieldtrip allows us to see the largest and newest Sikh temples outside India. It gives a real insight into the religion of one of the most important South Asian communities in Britain. http://www.sgsss.org/
ASSESSMENT
Deadline Assessment Length Weighting
Mon 15 July Mon 22 July Fri 26 July Mon 29 July Fri 2 August Fri 19 July Fri 2 August
Hampton Court Palace fieldtrip essay Oxford fieldtrip essay Stonehenge or Bath Essay Fieldtrip essay Greenwich or Globe Theatre
Southall fieldtrip essay
Independent fieldtrip essay Final test 800 words* 800 words* 800 words* 800 words* 800 words* 1, 500 words 1. MCQ 2. essay 15% 15% 15% 15% 15% 20% 30%
2 x Fieldtrips Papers = 20% each (40% overall) Independent Fieldtrip paper = 30%
Final Test = 30%
The fieldtrip papers and Independent fieldtrip paper should be submitted via Studyspace. In case of emergency, you may email the work to me directly, to arrive on the same day.
ATTENDANCE
You are expected to attend all lecture sessions and group trips. Up to a maximum of 20% will be deducted from the final overall grade for non-excused absences from lectures and fieldtrips. This will be at the rate of 3% for each unexcused absence.
1. TWO FIELDTRIP ESSAYS (20% each, 40% overall) 800 words
A) Write a short essay on how the group visits listed below have increased your knowledge and understanding of British society and national culture.
Due date:
Mon 15 July if you select Hampton Court Palace Mon 22 July if you select Oxford
Wed 26 July if you select Stonehenge or Bath Mon 29 July if you select Greenwich/Globe Fri 2 August if you select Southall
You should write about an aspect of the visit that impressed you and developed your understanding of British life and culture. You are encouraged to be creative in your approach to the essay and its presentation. The article may be illustrated and laid out as you wish, although illustration must take up no more than half the space.
The best articles will blend some personal response with informed insight. You need to do some research for the article, perhaps from guide books, the Library, or the internet. Sources, including internet sources, should be listed in a bibliography at the end, and any direct quotations should also be referenced.
Hopefully you should find the articles a good record of your trips and useful to send back to the States to keep people informed of what you are doing.
You can only write an essay on a visit that you have actually attended. The only exception to this is if you have an absence excused on medical grounds.
2. INDEPENDENT FIELDTRIP PAPER (30%) 800 words due Friday 19 July
Write an essay on somewhere you have visited independently. It must be within the UK and should be somewhere that has contributed to your understanding of British life and culture. This may include museums or galleries but is not confined to them, and may include cultural or sporting events, theatre visits etc. However, this should not be a review of a performance but rather should reflect on what the setting or context told you about British culture. In writing on any topic you should consider its context, you should consider its history, its strengths and weaknesses, its audience, and methods of display. It should be obvious that you have actually been to the place and have engaged with it, i.e. not just a straight factual description. You may write about a theatre, for instance, its history, significance but you may not do a theatre review. Thus, an essay on the National Theatre (its history, place in national culture, sources of funding etc.) based on a visit you made, would be entirely appropriate, but not a review of the actual play you saw. If you are in any doubt, please ask me.
3. FINAL TEST (30%) Friday 2 August, One and a half hours, 2.00-3.30pm This test will consist of two parts:
A: a multiple choice section (10%) covering topics covered in the field-trips and in the lectures.
B: Write short essays (20%) (approx. 2-3 sides A4) on TW0 of the following questions: 1. Is there such a thing as a British national identity?
2. Should the monarchy be abolished if Britain is to modernise itself?
3. Does the British Prime Minister have too much power?
4. Is Britain still a society dominated by class divisions?
5. Is Britain truly multi-cultural?
6. What are the legacies of empire that you see in Britain today?
7. Can Britain be said to have a distinctive cinema of its own today?
8. 'Every nation gets the newspaper industry it deserves'. Is the success of the tabloid press in Britain a reflection of the low standards of popular taste?
9. What are the most distinctive qualities of English theatre today?
1. FRIDAY 5th JULY INTRODUCTION: NATIONAL IDENTITY & THE MONARCHY
An overview of the course format, lecture and fieldtrip schedule and an explanation of how you will be assessed. We will then move on to ask if Britain, which comprises four separate nations, has a united national identity? How has this identity been formed historically, especially in the world wars of the twentieth century, and how has this identity been fractured since 1945? We will finish this session with a discussion of the monarchy and its reception by the British people.
Discussion: What characteristics do you associate with Britain and Britons? Where did your images come from? Do they match up to reality? Is there a united national identity? Discussion: What are the powers of the monarch? What are the arguments for and against the British monarchy?
Suggested Reading:
Calder, A., 1991, The Myth of the Blitz, London: Pimlico (Intro. & Conc.) Colley, L., 1992, Britons. Forging the Nation 1707-1837, New Haven: Yale
Coxall, B. et al, 2003, Contemporary British Politics, Basingstoke: Macmillan 4thedn.
Kumar, K., 2003, The Making of English National Identity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (ch. 1 ‘English or British?’)
Norton, P., 1998, ‘The Crown' in Jones, Bill, et al. ed., Politics in the UK, London: Prentice Hall, 3rd edn O’Driscoll, J., 2009, Britain, Oxford: Oxford University Press. (chapter. 1 ‘ Country and People’)
Richards, J., 1997, Films and British National Identity: From Dickens to Dad’s Army, Manchester: Manchester University Press (ch. 1 ‘National Identity’)
Websites:
royal.gov.uk, the monarchy’s site is excellent and has lots of information
2. MONDAY 8TH JULY BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY
In this session we will address the historical processes by which Britain arrived at its current democratic system. We will question how democratic the present system is in practice, the nature of the main political parties, and pressures for reform.
Discussion: Britain is very proud of its democratic heritage, but does the system need reforming now to make it more modern and more genuinely democratic? In what ways do the two major political parties, New Labour and Conservative differ?
Jones, Bill, et al. ed., Politics UK (London: Prentice Hall, 5th. edn. 2004) Coxall, Bill et al. Contemporary British Politics (Macmillan 4th edn.
Websites:
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/key%20issues/Full%20doc.p df [excellent for information on the new Parliament 2010]
www.parliament.uk/hophome.htm is the site for Parliament and is excellent
www.charter88.org.uk for proposals for a written constitution for Britain Political parties:
www.labour.org.uk The Labour Party website
www.conservative-party.org.uk The Conservative Party website
3. WEDNESDY 10TH JULY CLASS, THE EDUCATION SYSTEM & THE MEDIA
Class has traditionally been an obsession of the British, but are we changing and becoming more egalitarian in our attitudes? We will also look at the structure and evolution of the English education system, with a particular emphasis on the role of class in determining educational opportunity. In the second half of the class we concentrate on the diverse British press and the system of public service broadcasting which has been dominant here since the 1920s and has at its core the renowned BBC. Can this system last?
Discussion: Why is class so important to the British? What are the strengths and weaknesses of its education system?
Discussion: Is the popularity of tabloids like The Sun a sign of dumbing down of British culture? Is British television ‘the least bad television in the world’?
Suggested Reading:
Adonis, A, & Pollard, S. A., 1998, Class Act. The Myth of Britain's Classless Society, London: Penguin (chapter 2)
Barnet, S., 1998, 'Dumbing Down or Reaching Out: Is it Tabloidisation Wot Done It?', in Seaton J. (ed.) Politics and the Media: Harlots and Prerogatives at the Turn of the Millennium, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 75-90
Calvocoressi, P., The British Experience 1945-75, London: Penguin, 1979
Lowe, R, 1997, Schooling and Social Change 1964-1990, London: Routledge (ch.1 'The Power of the Past')
Curran, J. and Seaton, J. Power Without Responsibility. The Press and Broadcasting in Britain (Routledge, 1991)
McDowall, D., 1999, Britain in Close-Up: An In-depth Study of Contemporary Britain, Harlow: Longman (chapter. 11 ‘Educating the Nation’)
McNair, B., 1999, News and journalism in the UK, London: Routledge
Sanderson, M., 'Education and Social Mobility" in Johnson, P. (ed.) 1994, 20th Century Britain, Harlow (chapter 21)
Sparks, C. , 1999, ‘The Press’ in J. Stokes & A. Reading, The Media in Britain, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan
Taylor, S.J., 1991, Shock! Horror! The Tabloids in Action, London: Bantam
Watson, K., ‘Education and opportunity’ in Carnevali, F & Strange, J-M (eds.), 2007, 20th Century Britain, Economic, Social and Cultural Change, Harlow: Longman, 2ndedn (ch. 23) Williams, K., 2009, Get me a Murder a Day. A History of MassCommunications in
Britain, London: Bloomsbury Education Websites:
http://www.jrf.org.uk/JosephRowntree Foundation (on poverty)
www.dfee.gov.ukDepartment of Education and Employment
www.hefce.ac.ukUK higher education system- see ‘The nature of higher education’
www.isis.org.uk on private schools
http://www.britishcouncil.org/usa-education-uk-system.htm an overview Media Websites: www.guardian.co.uk www.the-times.co.uk; www.independent.co.uk; www.telegraph.co.uk www.thesun.co.uk
4. FRIDAY 19TH JULY THE ENGLISH THEATRE
Examines what makes theatre such a distinctive form of the arts. Looks at the different types of theatre in Britain: West End, subsidized and fringe. Traces the development of theatre in Britain, with special emphasis on the Shakespearean period. Provides a background for the play that students will be attending.
Discussion: What makes theatre a special experience? What is special about British theatre?
Suggested Reading:
Billington, M.,2007, State of the Nation. British Theatre since 1945, London: Faber and Faber Brook, P., 1990,The Empty Space, London: Penguin
Edgar D., (ed.) 1999, ‘Playwrights on Playwriting’, State of Play,no. 1 London: Faber and Faber
Kustow, M., 2001,Theatre@risk,London: Methuen
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Guidebook, Spinney Publications
Trussler, S.,1994, The Cambridge History of the British Theatre, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Websites: www.shakespeares-globe.org www.nationaltheatre.org.uk www.whatsonstage.com www.fringetheatre.org.uk www.officiallondontheatre.com
5. WEDNESDAY 31ST JULY MULTICULTURAL BRITAIN & BRITAIN IN THE WORLD
The development of twentieth century Britain through a consideration of the patterns of inward migration, economic change and government policy in the years following the Second World War. We also explore Britain’s changing position in relation to Empire, Commonwealth, Europe and the USA.
Discussion: Is Britain truly multicultural? How do we compare with your own country? Discussion: Do you agree with Dean Acheson that Britain has lost an empire and not yet found a role [in the world]?
Suggested Reading:
Addison, P. & Jones, H., (eds) 2005, A Companion to Contemporary Britain, Oxford: Blackwell (ch. 27 ‘The End of Empire’, ch. 28 ‘The Anglo-American Special Relationship’, ch.29 ‘Britain and Europe’)
Adonis. A & Pollard, S. 1998 A Class Act: the Myth of Britain’s Classless Society, London: Penguin, 1998, (ch. 9 ‘Race’ copies will be given out in class)
Commission for Racial Equality, 1996, Roots of the Future: Ethnic Diversity in the Making of Britain, London, CRE
Marshall, P.J. (ed.) 1996, Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Panayi, P. 2007, ‘Immigration, Multiculturalism and racism’ in Carnevali, F & Strange, J-M (eds.) 20th Century Britain, Economic, Social and Cultural Change, Harlow: Longman, 2ndedn. (ch. 16)
Phillips, T., 1999, Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Cultural Britain, London: HarperCollins
Reynolds, D., 2000, Britannia Overruled: British Policy and World Powers in the 20th Century, Harlow: Longman
Solomos, J., 2003, Race and Racism in Britain, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Fisher, Michael et. Al. A South-Asian History of Britain, chs. 7 & 8
Spencer, I.,1997, British Immigration Policy Since 1939: The Making of Multi-Cultural Britain
Websites:
http://www.ligali.org/statistics.htmOrganization for African equality
www.cre.gov.uk Commission for Racial Equality
6. FRIDAY 2ND AUGUST BRITISH CINEMA, SUMMARY & FINAL TEST SESSION
We examine the British contribution to cinema, focusing especially on the importance of having a national cinema in the face of the global dominance of Hollywood. See section on assessment for details about the final test.
Discussion: Is there a distinctive British cinema? Can it avoid being dominated by Hollywood?
Suggested Reading:
Thompson, K. & Bordwell, D., 1994 Film History, New York: McGraw Hill
Hill, J., 1999, 'Cinema' in Jane Stokes & Anna Reading (eds.) The Media in Britain; current debates and developments, (Macmillan 1999)
Hill, J., ‘British Cinema as National Cinema: Production, Audience and
Representation’ in Turner, G. (ed.) The Film Cultures Reader, London, Routledge: 2002) Street, S., 2009, British National Cinema, London and New York: Routledge
