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  2. NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities
  3. Bachelor in Languages, Literatures and Cultures
  4. English and French Studies (Language 1 English; Language 2 French)
  5. Britain in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Britain in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Objectives

a) To acquire and to master a good knowledge of Britain from the end of World War II to the present;

b) To develop a specific knowledge of relevant topics for the study of Britain in the 20th and 21st centuries, both in domestic policy and foreign affairs;

c) To identify Britain's influence on the 20th century and post-millennial events;

d) To develop research and problematisation skills in the area of cultural studies, specially in social, economic and political aspects;

e) To produce a short essay on the subject matter.

General characterization

Code

01106887

Credits

6.0

Responsible teacher

Iolanda Cristina de Freitas Ramos

Hours

Weekly - 4

Total - 168

Teaching language

English

Prerequisites

N/A

Bibliography

  • Black, J. (2017). A History of Britain: 1945 to Brexit. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  • Cawood, I. (2004). Britain in the Twentieth Century. London and New York: Routledge.
  • Clapson, M. (2009). The Routledge Companion to Britain in the Twentieth Century. London and New York: Routledge.
  • Oakland, J. (2019). British Civilization: An Introduction (9th ed). London and New York: Routledge.
  • Wright, T. (2020). British Politics: A Very Short Introduction (3rd ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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; students' preparation to do a written test in the form of a short essay on the course syllabus.

Evaluation method

Continuous Assessment - Short critical readings and/or thematic and bibliographical research tasks for oral presentation in class(40%), Written test/critical essay(60%)

Subject matter

1. British society from the second half of the 20th century to the present.


1.1. Historical and cultural introduction.

1.2. The development of the Welfare State.

2. Political parties and ideological paradigms.

2.1. The Eighties: Thatcher's Britain.

2.2. The Nineties: Blair's Cool Britannia.

3. The British Empire's legacy and the Commonwealth.


3.1. The Commonwealth of Nations.

3.2. The Irish Question.

4. The special relation with the USA.


4.1. The Suez crisis.

4.2. Conflicts and wars.

5. Britain in the European Union.


 5.1. The cooperation with the EU.

5.2. The path to Brexit.

6. Continuities and changes in the 21st century.

6.1. Post-millenium Britain.

6.2. Consensus, continuity and change.