Britain in the Jazz Age
Rhedir gan School of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences
20 Credyd neu 10 Credyd ECTS
Trefnydd: Dr Mari Wiliam
The period from 1900 to 1939 is often defined by the negative in terms of economic depression, crisis and decline. Whilst these elements are at the core of any study of the first half of the 20th century, this module will seek to challenge this traditional interpretation by utilising more recent historiographical trends to examine the modernisation of society and popular culture in Britain, from the Edwardian era up to the outbreak of the Second World War. It goes beyond the world of politics, and will provide students with an understanding of social change and its impact on identity, culture and lifestyle. Jazz was not only a musical genre, but a concept which incorporated debates about sexualisation and morality, and a factor in the emergence of social phenomena such as the ‘flappers’. A special emphasis will be placed on regional case studies, particularly in Wales, in order to contextualise the British experience.
All students will be guided to explore primary sources, including memoirs, articles, literature, popular music, art and film. However, third year students will be expected to make extensive use of primary sources in their assessments. Secondary sources recommended in this module will range from being academic histories to more popular accounts, and all students should make comprehensive use of journal articles.
- War, Empire and Modernisation: The Boer War, WWI and an overview of the period.
- Royalty and national identity: the Edwardian era; 1911 Investiture of the Prince of Wales; the Abdication Crisis.
- Technological modernisation: Electricity, the wireless and motors. Case study of the Wembley Exhibition
- Britain on the Breadline: health, living conditions and depression
- Whippets, fish & chips and gambling: Workers, socialism and leisure
- Nationalism and identity: Wales, Ireland and Scotland.
- Ideology and the prelude to 1939 in Britain. A case study of Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists.
- Women in Love: Gender roles and fashion. A case study of the Mitford sisters
- Bright Young People: Sexuality, aristocracy and decadence
- Popular music: music halls, Jazz and Americanisation.
- From bodyline bowling to mountaineering: Sport and society 1900-1939.
- Workshop: Film and Jazz Age Britain
- 1 day field trip to Manchester: Museum of Science and Industry and the People’s History Museum (including access to the Labour Party Archive)
Good students (B- to B+) will demonstrate a solid level of achievement and depth of knowledge in all the criteria in the C- to C+ range, and will in addition exhibit constructive engagement with different types of historical writing and historiographical interpretation. Ideas will be communicated effectively and written work will include a good range of sources/reading and demonstrate a clear understanding of the issues and of the existing interpretations expressed in a well-structured, relevant, and focused argument. Students at the top end of this band will engage with and critique the ideas that they come across, and synthesise the various interpretations they find to reach their own considered conclusions. Written work will be correctly presented with references and bibliography where appropriate.
Excellent students (A- and above) will show strong achievement across all the criteria combined with particularly impressive depths of knowledge and/or subtlety of analysis. In written work, they will support their arguments with a wealth of relevant detail/examples. They will also demonstrate an acute awareness of the relevant historiography and give an account of why the conclusions reached are important within a particular historical debate. They may show a particularly subtle approach to possible objections, nuancing their argument in the light of counter-examples, or producing an interesting synthesis of various contrasting positions. Overall, the standards of content, argument, and analysis expected will be consistently superior to top upper-second work. Standards of presentation will also be high.
Threshold students (D- and D) will have done only a minimum of reading, and their work will often be based partly on lecture notes and/or basic textbooks. They will demonstrate in their written assessments some knowledge of at least parts of the relevant field, and will make at least partially-successful attempts to frame an argument which engages with historical controversies, but they will fail to discuss some large and vital aspects of a topic; and/or deploy only some relevant material but partly fail to combine it into a coherent whole; and/or deploy some evidence to support individual points but often fail to do so and/or show difficulty weighing evidence (thereby relying on unsuitable or irrelevant evidence when making a point). Alternatively or additionally, the presentation of the work might also be poor, with bad grammar and/or punctuation, careless typos and spelling errors, and a lack of effective and correct referencing.
C- i C+
Students in this band (C- to C+) will demonstrate a satisfactory range of achievement or depth of knowledge of most parts of the module, and will make successful, if occasionally inconsistent, attempts to develop those skills appropriate to the study of History at undergraduate level. In the case of the written assessments, the answers will attempt to focus on the question, although might drift into narrative, and will show some evidence of solid reading and research. The argument might lose direction and might not be adequately clear at the bottom of this category. Written work will be presented reasonably well with only limited errors in grammar, punctuation, and referencing, and not to the extent that they obscure meaning.
Comprehend and validate how the period has been portrayed in specified secondary sources.
Demonstrate a familiarity with a wide range of primary sources and understand their historiographical significance.
To develop and sustain historical arguments and academic debate on particular aspects of the period.
Command comparative perspectives of the historical arguments relating to developments in Britain during this period.
Address the complexity of reconstructing the past, and the problematic and varied nature of studying both national and regional history.
Engage, in depth, with specific concepts and events covered in the period.
Demonstrate a detailed understanding of Britain 1900-1939.
|TRAETHAWD||Primary source analysis essay||
This essay will be founded on a primary source analysis of your choice. You should discuss your choice in advance with the module convenor, who can also assist you in finding a suitable source.
Two essay-style questions to be answered from a selection of options. This is an exam that you do at home, and you will complete it via Blackboard/Turnitin
Strategaeth addysgu a dysgu
1 museum/archival visit c. 8 hours
11x1 hour lectures
11 x 1 hour seminar
- Llythrennedd - Medrusrwydd mewn darllen ac ysgrifennu drwy amrywiaeth o gyfryngau
- Rhifedd - Medrusrwydd wrth ddefnyddio rhifau ar lefelau priodol o gywirdeb
- Defnyddio cyfrifiaduron - Medrusrwydd wrth ddefnyddio ystod o feddalwedd cyfrifiadurol
- Hunanreolaeth - Gallu gweithio mewn ffordd effeithlon, prydlon a threfnus. Gallu edrych ar ganlyniadau tasgau a digwyddiadau, a barnu lefelau o ansawdd a phwysigrwydd
- Archwilio - Gallu ymchwilio ac ystyried dewisiadau eraill
- Adalw gwybodaeth - Gallu mynd at wahanol ac amrywiol ffynonellau gwybodaeth
- Sgiliau Rhyngbersonol - Gallu gofyn cwestiynau, gwrando'n astud ar atebion a'u harchwilio
- Dadansoddi Beirniadol & Datrys Problem - Gallu dadelfennu a dadansoddi problemau neu sefyllfaoedd cymhleth. Gallu canfod atebion i broblemau drwy ddadansoddiadau ac archwilio posibiliadau
- Cyflwyniad - Gallu cyflwyno gwybodaeth ac esboniadau yn glir i gynulleidfa. Trwy gyfryngau ysgrifenedig neu ar lafar yn glir a hyderus.
- Gwaith Tîm - Gallu cydweithio'n adeiladol ag eraill ar dasg gyffredin, ac/neu fod yn rhan o dîm gweithio o ddydd i ddydd
- Rheloaeth - Gallu defnyddio, cydlynu a rheoli adnoddau (dynol, ffisegol ac/neu ariannol)
- Dadl - Gallu cyflwyno, trafod a chyfiawnhau barn neu lwybr gweithredu, naill ai gydag unigolyn neu mewn grwˆp ehangach
- Hunanymwybyddiaeth & Ystyried - Bod yn ymwybodol o'ch cryfderau, gwendidau, nodau ac amcanion eich hun. Gallu adolygu ,cloriannu a myfyrio'n rheolaidd ar eich perfformiad eich hun ac eraill.
Sgiliau pwnc penodol
- problem solving to develop solutions to understand the past
- understanding the complexity of change over time; in specific contexts and chronologies
- being sensitive to the differences, or the "otherness" of the past, and the difficulty to using it as a guide to present or future action
- being sensitive to the role of perceptions of the past in contemporary cultures
- producing logical and structured arguments supported by relevant evidence
- planning, designing, executing and documenting a programme of research, working independently
- marshalling and critically appraising other people's arguments, including listening and questioning
- demonstrating a positive and can-do approach to practical problems
- presenting effective oral presentations for different kinds of audiences, including academic and/or audiences with little knowledge of history
- making effective and appropriate use of relevant information technology
- making critical and effective use of information retrieval skills using paper-based and electronic resources
- critical evaluation of one's own and others' opinions
- engaging with relevant aspects of current agendas such as global perspectives, public engagement, employability, enterprise, and creativity
Rhestrau Darllen Bangor (Talis)http://readinglists.bangor.ac.uk/modules/hth-2150.html
Juliet Gardiner, The Thirties: An Intimate History (2010). Andrew Marr, The Making of Modern Britain (2009). Ross McKibbin, Classes and Cultures: England 1918-1951, (2000). Ross McKibbin, Parties and People : England 1914-1951 (2010). Susan Kent, Aftershocks: Politics and Trauma in Britain, 1918-1931 (2008). Martin Pugh, We Danced All Night: A Social History of Britain Between the Wars (2009). Paul Thompson, The Edwardians (2nd edition 1992). Andrew Thorpe, Britain in the 1930s: the deceptive decade (1992). Chris Wrigley (ed.), A Companion to Early Twentieth Century Britain (2008).
Cyrsiau sy’n cynnwys y modiwl hwn
Gorfodol mewn cyrsiau:
- V100: BA History year 2 (BA/H)
- V10F: BA History [with Foundation Year] year 2 (BA/HF)
- 8B03: BA History (with International Experience) year 2 (BA/HIE)
- V102: MArts History with International Experience year 2 (MARTS/HIE)
- V101: MArts History year 2 (MARTS/HIST)
Opsiynol mewn cyrsiau:
- 3QV1: BA History and English Literature year 2 (BA/ELH)
- P3V1: BA Film Studies and History year 2 (BA/FSH)
- V103: BA History and Archaeology year 2 (BA/HA)
- VV41: BA Herit, Archae & Hist year 2 (BA/HAH)
- VV42: BA Heritage, Archaeology & History with International Exp year 2 (BA/HAHIE)
- V1V9: BA History with Archaeology with International Experience year 2 (BA/HAIE)
- V1V4: BA History with Archaeology year 2 (BA/HAR)
- VW23: BA Hanes Cymru a Cherddoriaeth year 2 (BA/HCAC)
- MVX1: BA History/Criminology year 2 (BA/HCR)
- LV11: BA History/Economics year 2 (BA/HEC)
- RV11: BA History/French year 2 (BA/HFR)
- V1W6: BA History with Film Studies year 2 (BA/HFS)
- V1W7: BA History with Film Studies with International Experience year 2 (BA/HFSIE)
- RV21: BA History/German year 2 (BA/HG)
- RV31: BA History/Italian year 2 (BA/HIT)
- RV32: BA History and Italian (with International Experience) year 2 (BA/HITIE)
- V1P5: BA History with Journalism year 2 (BA/HJ)
- 8S11: BA History with Journalism (with International Experience) year 2 (BA/HJIE)
- VW13: BA History and Music year 2 (BA/HMU)
- VW14: BA History and Music with International Experience year 2 (BA/HMUIE)
- RV41: BA History/Spanish year 2 (BA/HSP)
- V140: BA Modern & Contemporary History year 2 (BA/MCH)
- V130: BA Mediaeval and Early Modern His year 2 (BA/MEMH)
- L200: BA Politics year 2 (BA/POL)
- L202: BA Politics and Economics year 2 (BA/POLEC)
- L20F: BA Politics [with Foundation Year] year 2 (BA/POLF)
- L201: BA Politics with Placement Year year 2 (BA/POLP)
- VVV1: BA Philosophy and Religion and History year 2 (BA/PRH)
- VVV2: BA Philosophy and Religion and Welsh History year 2 (BA/PRWH)
- LV31: BA Sociology/History year 2 (BA/SH)
- LV41: BA Social Policy/History year 2 (BA/SPH)
- LVL1: BA Pol Cymd/Han Cymru year 2 (BA/SPWWH)
- LVH1: BA Cymdeithaseg/Hanes Cymru year 2 (BA/SWWH)
- QV51: BA Cymraeg/History year 2 (BA/WH)
- V104: BA Welsh History and Archaeology year 2 (BA/WHAR)
- VP23: BA Welsh History and Film Studies year 2 (BA/WHFS)
- VV12: BA Welsh History/History year 2 (BA/WHH)
- VW2H: BA Welsh History and Music year 2 (BA/WHMU)
- LVH2: BA Welsh History/Sociology year 2 (BA/WHS)
- QVM2: BA Welsh History/Cymraeg year 2 (BA/WHW)
- M1V1: LLB Law with History year 2 (LLB/LH)
- M1V2: LLB Law with History (International Experience) year 2 (LLB/LHI)