Contemporary English History and Culture

Recommended Prerequisites

Advanced reading skills in English. Students should be able to read primary and critical texts in English.

Teaching Methods

Some expository classes but more often class discussion of texts, images or films.

Learning Outcomes

The course offers a survey of contemporary Britain in its political, social, cultural and identitary dimensions.

- Students will develop a historical consciousness and an awareness of the interaction between the political, the social and the cultural.

- Students will acquire theoretical tools for a critical reading of social discourses and practices.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

The course provides an overview of Britain since World War II, with an emphasis on the social, political and economic history of the country from 1945 to the present. A variety of texts and films will be used to cover, among others, the following topics: 1. Britain 1945-50: the immediate postwar and the creation of the Welfare State; 2. The 1950s: the affluent society and the British New Deal; 3. The sexual/social revolution of the 1960s; 4. The 1970s: the economic crisis and social unrest; 5. The ‘Thatcher Years’ and the new enterprise culture; 6. New Labour and the ‘Blair Years’; globalization and Devolution; 7. The Brexit process (N.B.: The syllabus may change depending on teaching staff).

Head Lecturer(s)

John Henry Havelda

Assessment Methods

Final Assessment
Exam: 100.0%

Bibliography

Adam, R. G. (2020). Brexit: Causes and Consequences. English text revised by Gill Mertens. Prien: Springer.

Clark, P. (1996). Hope and Glory. Britain 1900-1990. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.  

Hennessey, P. (2007). Having it so Good. Britain in the Fifties. London: Penguin Books.                      

Gourvish, T. & O’Day, A. (Eds) (1991). Britain since 1945. London: Macmillan.                                           

Jenkins, S. (2006). Thatcher & Sons. A Revolution in three Acts. London: Penguin Books.                  

Marwick, A. (1990). British Society since 1945. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. 

Reynolds, D. (2019). Island Stories. Britain and its History in the Age of Brexit. London: William Collins.

Turner, A. W. (2008). Crisis? What Crisis? Britain in the 1970’s. London: Aurum Press Ltd.