SFE11220 British Culture (Autumn 2020)

Mandatory course in the one-year English programme.

May be taken in the optional 60 ECTS part of the Bachelor's Programme in Society, Language and Culture (this applies for students who started 2018 or earlier).

One-year programme in English: 1st semester (autumn).

Bachelor's Programme in Society, Language and Culture: 5th semester (autumn).

The course focuses on critical thinking in relation to texts, close reading skills, and analytical work on different non-literary texts (British history, culture and society).

The course is a wide-ranging review of British history and culture from the Middle Ages to the present, with a main focus on the twentieth century. Topics covered include feudalism, the Tudors, the British Empire, the Industrial Revolution, and the modern era, including British government and politics. We will discuss the relationships between the various countries within the United Kingdom, the landscape itself, nationalism and identity, gender, race and class. The textbook will be supplemented by newspaper articles and other cultural texts. We will also spend time developing skills in research, analysis and essay writing.

Knowledge

The student has:

• knowledge and understanding of British history, culture and society 
• knowledge of the intellectual investigation processes practised in the humanities 
• knowledge of academic conventions of essay writing in English

Skills

The student is capable of:

• has analytical and critical skills in his or her encounters with historical and cultural texts
• is capaple of studying cultural texts in the context of their history 
• seeing the relationship between overriding and subordinate ideas and identifying the patterns in which the arguments are structured
• has improved his og her skills in written argumentation and oral discussion in English
• using effective methods for understanding academic material
• using the MLA  style of referencing

General competence

The student is capable of

• is capable of independent and critical thinking in the analysis of British cultural and social phenomena
• masters research techniques for searching, evaluating and using secondary literature on the internet and in the university college's library
• performing a more critical analysis of written material to understand both direct and underlying content in written texts

• An individual written assignment (3-4 pages)

Required coursework must be approved before the student can sit the exam.

Individual written exam (5 hours)

Permitted aids: English dictionary.

Grade scale A-F.

Feedback from our students is vital in order for us to be able to offer the best possible courses and study programmes. The course is evaluated every semester.

The results are considered by/in teacher groups, the head of studies and the local programme committee.

The reading list is updated 05.06.2020.

McCormick, John. Contemporary Britain. 4th ed. Palgrave, 2018

MLA Handbook 8th ed., MLA, 2016.

Morgan, Kenneth O. (Ed.) The Oxford History of Britain, revised edition. Oxford University Press, 2010.