Great Britain in the 20th Century

Objectives

a) To acquire and to master a good knowledge of British society and foreign policy between World War 2 and the Millennium.
b) To select and to discuss texts and themes regarding Britain in the 20th century, both in internal and foreign affairs.
c) To identify continuities and changes in relation to Britain in the 21st century.

General characterization

Code

711121052

Credits

6

Responsible teacher

Available soon

Hours

Weekly - 4

Total - Available soon

Teaching language

Portuguese-English

Prerequisites

None.

Bibliography

- Marwick, A. (2003). British Society since 1945 (New Edition). London: Penguin.
- More, C. [2007] (2014). Britain in the Twentieth Century. London and New York: Routledge.
- Morgan, K. O. [2000] (2005). Twentieth-Century Britain: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Oakland, J. (2011). British Civilization: An Introduction (7th ed.). London and New York: Routledge.
- Oakland, J. (2001). Contemporary Britain: A Survey with Texts. London and New York: Routledge.

Teaching method

Presentation of the topics of the course syllabus by the lecturer; interactive methodology, based on audiovisual resources and support texts, and contributions by the students based on the reading of primary sources and contemporary analyses for oral presentation and/or group discussion; tutorial supervision of the critical readings and the thematic and bibliographical research tasks; to do a test in the form of a short essay on the course syllabus.

Evaluation method

short critical readings and/or thematic and bibliographical research tasks for oral presentation in class (40%); a written test / critical essay (60%).

Subject matter

1. British society in the 2nd half of the 20th century.
2. Political ideologies: liberalism, conservatism and labourism.
3. Popular culture: Englishness, heritage industry and counter-culture.
4. The British Empire and the Commonwealth.
5. The “special relation” with the USA.
6. A reluctant partner: Britain in the European Union.
7. Continuities and changes in the 21st century.