2024/25 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

HIST3685 Georgians at War

40 creditsClass Size: 16

Module manager: Dr Kevin Linch
Email: k.b.linch@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

Georgians had a complex relationship with war. During the 75 years between 1740 and 1815 Britons suffered defeats and invasion, military victories and lucky escapes, mass mobilisation and demobilisation. Britain’s armed forces served across the globe, and the Army and Navy drew in people from across the world. Furthermore, social and cultural attitudes oscillated wildly, championing some soldiers and sailors as heroes whilst others were lampooned or despised. This module explores the impact of war on the lived experience of service personnel and takes a broad perspective of the period by encompassing society, politics, culture, and gender to explore the multi-faceted interactions between the military and society. The course embraces the experience of the ‘elite’ and ordinary men and women who were affected by war. The sources that will be consulted will include parliamentary debates, newspapers, digitised archival material, material culture, private letters, and individual testimony.

Objectives

On completion of this module, students should be able to:

- Appreciate and comment on primary and secondary sources that they have studied;
- Understand the range of source material available to study the period and evaluate their usefulness to historians;
- Identify and engage with the historiographical and methodological debates relating to Britain’s experience of war in the eighteenth century.

Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students should have acquired:
1. A detailed knowledge of the impact of war on British society and culture in the period c.1740-1815
2. A grasp of the complex interactions between the military and society in the period
3. A sophisticated understanding of attitudes towards the military and the impact military service had on the identity of those involved

Skills outcomes
In addition, students will develop their skills in:

Reading eighteenth century script
Quantitative analysis

Syllabus

Students will study themes ranging across the period 1740-1815, covering the Seven Years War, American War of Independence, French Revolutionary, and Napoleonic Wars. The module encompasses both the Army and the Navy, and examines all the people involved in Britain’s armed forces including, for example, British and Irishmen, women who accompanied soldiers, enslaved Africans, South Asian soldiers, the First Nations of North America, and European transnational soldiers. Themes will include:

- War and peace
- Mobilisation
- War, culture, and society
- Attitudes, experience and identities

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Workshop	4	1.00	4.00
Seminar	22	2.00	44.00
Private study hours			352.00
Total Contact hours			48.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			400.00

Private study

Reading to prepare for seminars (120 hours)
Further self-directed reading (66 hours)
Preparing and researching for the essay, including formative elements (80 hours)
Preparing and researching for the portfolio, including formative elements (80 hours)
Reflection on feedback (6 hours).

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Students will be participating in a variety of tasks throughout the module where they explore themes, issues, and approaches to develop their critical appreciation of the topic. These include set reading (both primary and secondary material), which feed into analysis, discussion, and summaries within the seminars. These provide opportunities to self-identify and reflect upon their knowledge. Informal feedback from the tutor within the seminar discussions will also provide ways of students gauging their progress.

Students will receive formative support and guidance for the essay through an essay plan and the follow-up one-to-one meetings before the submission of their essay. They will then receive feedback on their essay after it is marked and submitted, with the opportunity for a one-to-one meeting.

The portfolio provides specific opportunities for formative feedback opportunities within the module. Each component for the portfolio will have appropriate briefings for the tasks, which will be followed by feedback that students can then use in subsequent components of their portfolio.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	4000 words	50.00
Portfolio	Presentation; gobbet answers; and a choice from a 1,500-word blog post, literature review, or film /art /exhibition /play review	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

The format of resits for the presentations will be an equivalent written exercise.

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 18/10/2024

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