2008/09 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

HIST2101 Victorian England: Aristocracy and Democracy, 1865-1901

20 creditsClass Size: 28

Module manager: Dr SJD Green
Email: s.j.d.green@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2008/09

This module is approved as an Elective

Module summary

This course studies the workings of democracy during the high Victorian age. The political emphasis is on the combination of stability and progress that gave old deferences a longer lease of life than anyone had expected. The course covers the aristocracy's political and social ideals, the business and professional classes, working class culture, sectarian tensions, religion, imperial expansion, diplomacy and other aspects of later 19th-century England (and Britain).

Objectives

To promote a better understanding of the problems of continuity and change over time. To explore the relationship between political and economic change, and the role of religion in later Victorian society. To develop an understanding of the interplay between internal and external factors in political and economic life of later Victorian England.

Skills outcomes
Enhances Common Skills listed below:

High-level skills in oral and written communication of complex ideas.
Independence of mind and self-discipline and self-direction to work effectively under own initiative.
Ability to locate, handle and synthesize large amounts of information.
Capacity to employ analytical and problem-solving abilities.
Ability to engage constructively with the ideas of their peers, tutors and published sources.
Empathy and active engagement with alternative cultural contexts.

Syllabus

This module may be taken in conjunction with HIST2100 Victorian England 1837-1865 to form two modules covering the whole Victorian period. It studies the workings of democracy in a mature industrial society during the high Victorian age. The political emphasis is on the combination of stability and progress that gave old deferences a longer lease of life than anyone had expected. What J S Mill had called an 'open aristocracy' was gently declining but displayed a remarkable ability to adjust to change in its many forms. The aristocracy's political and social ideals were largely shared by business and professional men, now partners rather than clients or rivals of the landed interest. The same ideals were respected in the distinctive working class culture that grew up in industrial England. Rising living standards isolated the substantial minority condemned to extreme poverty. Despite sectarian tensions, religion was on the whole a unifying and not a divisive force. Imperial expansion and prudent diplomacy added to national self-esteem and prosperity. Above all, this was a free society, able to tolerate the presence of harsh critics in Marx, Engels and others from abroad. These and other aspects of later 19th century England (and Britain) are covered in a module that seeks to explain the country's envied position in the world then.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	11	1.00	11.00
Tutorial	6	1.00	6.00
Private study hours			183.00
Total Contact hours			17.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Exam preparation; researching, preparing, and writing assignments; undertaking set reading; and self-directed reading around the topic. 183 hours.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Contributions to class discussions, an assessed exercise or exercises worth 10% of module marks, an assessed essay.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	1 x 2,000 word assessed essay to be delivered Friday of Week 7	30.00
Oral Presentation	Oral contribution in class, can be resat with 'an equivalent written exercise'	10.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		40.00

10% oral presentations are redone with 'an equivalent written exercise'

Exams

Exam type	Exam duration	% of formal assessment
Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc)	2 hr 00 mins	60.00
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: 03/04/2009

Disclaimer

Browse Other Catalogues

• Undergraduate module catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate module catalogue
• Undergraduate programme catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate programme catalogue

Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team.PROD