Exploring English Identity (20 cr)
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| HIST4019 | History | 4 | 20 | Spring UK |
- Code
- HIST4019
- School
- History
- Level
- 4
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Spring UK
Summary
Recent debates surrounding the Brexit vote and its aftermath have refocused attention on what it means to be English, but what exactly is ‘Englishness’ and how should we understand it historically?
What has it meant to feel or be English?
What has been the relationship of this to Britishness and how has that dual relationship played out in practice?
Is English identity fundamentally rooted in empire and its legacies, and if so how?
Could English nationalism be a positive, progressive force, or must it be divisive and backward-looking?
Where historically has Englishness been located?: in a language?; in a monarchy?; in a set of ideas?; in a territory?; in a set of preferences or tastes?
Recent historians have been conscious of English identity not as a stable phenomenon ready to be described, but as a historical construct subject to regular change, revision and contestation. This module aims to consider ‘English identity’ as a historical phenomenon, exploring the creation of an assumed English national identity that has both developed over time and been imposed retrospectively on an idea of the past. Whichever period of history that you have studied, the historians whom you have read have carried with them assumptions about English national identity which have (often unconsciously) shaped what they have written. Among the themes that we will consider in the course are the role of religion, the relationship between Britishness and Englishness, the effect of England’s Protestant religion, the role of empire, the importance of popular culture, and the ways in which the promotion of national identity has depended upon ideas of inclusion and exclusion. This course is very broad in its chronological coverage. It does not assume prior knowledge of any particular period and it is likely students may have more familiarity with one particular time period.
Target Students
Available to MA History and Politics and Contemporary History
Classes
- One 2-hour seminar each week for 11 weeks
Assessment
- 75% Coursework 1: 1 x 3000 word essay
- 25% Coursework 2: 1000 word source analysis/reflective review/ historical review
Assessed by end of spring semester
Educational Aims
The aim of the module is to provide students with a foundation for the study of British History. This is done by exploring the shifts and continuities in what were taken to be defining features of Engish identity over the centuries. Students are also encouraged to consider how modern historians have themselves been influenced by ideas of English/British identity and how they have used such notions in their own work.Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding:
- A1 identify key ideas and problems associated with notions of English and British identity
- A3 understand in general the manner in which ideas and concepts underpin and shape historical analysis and in particular the way this applies to political and cultural identity.
Intellectual Skills:
- B1 identify and evaluate the issues and problems which arise from an examination of cultural identity.
- B4 use the information gained in the module to reflect critically upon the discipline of ‘British’ history.
Professional And Practical Skills:
- C1 articulate their views on concepts of English and British identity;
- C3 plan an original and coherent piece of research;
- C4 develop individual analyses and interpretations of contemporary texts.
Transferable skills:
- D3 communicate their findings clearly and coherently in the advanced theoretical framework provided by debates over English identity.