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2018/19 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

HIST3724 Caribbean Identity, Society and Decolonisation

20 creditsClass Size: 28

Module manager: Bethan Fisk
Email: b.fisk@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2018/19

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

The twentieth century brought dramatic changes to the Caribbean. Labour riots in the 1930s occurred within a context of growing nationalist sentiment and Pan-Africanist debate. Decades later, revolutionary politics in Cuba and subsequently in Grenada shaped regional and international alliances. Economically, the influence of the United States over the region increased even as islands sought independence from European imperial powers. In this module, students will explore revolutionary and labour politics, transnational and national identities, and the cultures of decolonisation in the Caribbean.As a 'Power and Conflict' discovery module, this course will provide students with an insight into how the era of colonialism produced profound inequalities in Caribbean societies and the legacies of this history in the twentieth century. We will examine struggles for greater equality in the region through a focus on grassroots social protests (such as workers' activism) and anti-colonial politics. The course will allow students to consider power and conflict from a social perspective but will also explore songs, writing and other cultural products from the Caribbean and the Caribbean diaspora as sites of protest and resistance. Students with an interest in social justice, social activism and global development might be interested to take this module, alongside students with interests in questions of race, identity and diaspora.

Objectives

On the successful completion of this module, students should:
- Have an understanding of the relationship between transnational political movements and twentieth-century Caribbean politics
- Be able to critically engage with the process of decolonisation in the Caribbean
- Be able to express their ideas and arguments effectively in group discussions
- Have further developed their essay writing skills
- Have gained further experience of working with a range of visual material and written sources

Learning outcomes
On the successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Analyse anti-colonial movements in the Caribbean
- Critically discuss processes of decolonisation in the Caribbean
- Compare processes of decolonisation in different Caribbean islands
- Evaluate twentieth-century social dynamics in the Caribbean


Syllabus

Course themes will include:
Challenging colonialism
1) Pan-Africanism
2) Garveyism
3) America in the Caribbean
4) 1930s labour protests and social unrest
Caribbean independence
5) Independence politics
6) Cultures of decolonisation
The revolutionary Caribbean
7) Cuba
8) Grenada
Migration and Caribbean identities
9) Atlantic identities
10) The Windrush generation
11) Caribbean economies and development

Teaching methods

Delivery typeNumberLength hoursStudent hours
Seminar112.0022.00
Private study hours178.00
Total Contact hours22.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)200.00

Private study

Students will complete set reading, undertake self-directed study around the topic, and will research and prepare material for the assessed coursework and end of module examination.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Progress will be monitored via individual contributions to class discussions, a verbal presentation worth 10% of the overall module mark and an assessed essay worth 30% of the overall module mark.

Methods of assessment


Coursework
Assessment typeNotes% of formal assessment
Essay1 x 2,000-word essay, due by 12 noon Monday of teaching week 930.00
PresentationVerbal presentation10.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)40.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated


Exams
Exam typeExam duration% of formal assessment
Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc)2 hr 00 mins60.00
Total percentage (Assessment Exams)60.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 03/09/2018

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