Britain and the World: Interaction and Empire Course Descriptor

Course Overview

This course introduces students to the history of Britain and its interaction with the world. The course follows British history from the Roman Empire to the present-day. The aim is to examine Britain’s relationships with other countries and cultures, exploring social, economic, and cultural developments, as well as political and diplomatic ones. As well as understanding these developments discretely, students will also be encouraged to see how they affect one another.

Course Aims

This course aims to:

• Introduce students to long range developments in British history.
• Enable students to place British history in a global context.
• Enable students to develop key skills of historical research.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subjects Specific Skills

Transferable and Professional/Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning 

Teaching and learning strategies for this course will include: 

A minimum of 40 contact hours, typically to include interactive group teaching, co-curriculars, individual meetings, and in-class presentations.

Course information and supplementary materials are available on the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

Students will receive individualised developmental feedback on their work for this course.

Students are required to attend and participate in all the formal and timetabled sessions for this course. Students are also expected to manage their directed learning and independent study in support of the course.

Assessment

Formative

Students will be formatively assessed in class through class activities, and during office hours. Formative assessments are ones that do not count towards the final grade but will provide students with developmental feedback.

Summative

Feedback

Students will receive feedback in a variety of ways: written (including via email correspondence); oral (within office hours or on an ad hoc basis) and indirectly through class discussion.

Feedback is provided on summative assessment and is made available to the student either via email, the VLE or another appropriate method.

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is used as part of the approval/modification process only.

Books

Mattingly, D. (2006), An Imperial Possession. Britain in the Roman Empire. London: Penguin. Seeley, J (1883), The Expansion of England. London: Macmillan.

Journals

Lynd S. and D. Waldstreicher (2011), ‘Free Trade, Sovereignty, and Slavery: Toward an Economic Interpretation of American Independence’, William and Mary Quarterly, 68: 597-630.

Electronics Resources

Mapping Black London in World War II (2021). Available on: https://dcrn.northeastern.edu/home/mapping-black-london-in-world-war-ii/ 

Indicative Topics

Students will typically study the following topics: 

• Roman Britain
• The Renaissance
• Imperialism at home and abroad
• Thatcherism