Undergraduate Course: The Swinging Sixties? Exploring Culture and Society in Britain, c. 1956-1974 (SCHI10074)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course explores the history of that iconic era, the 1960s. It examines the myths and stereotypes of the ¿swinging sixties¿ and seeks to understand how and why it became ¿ and remains ¿ such a mythologised, celebrated and contested era. The course covers a range of topics, including affluence, permissiveness, secularisation, class, race and immigration, and the growing significance of youth in society. A number of key social, cultural, economic, and political shifts are identified and explored in order to assess both continuity and change during the ¿long sixties¿ (c. 1956-1974). Throughout the course, students will reflect on the dominant narratives and images found in the historiography of the sixties and evaluate these against evidence, examples and key case studies from around Britain. Did permissiveness reach Scotland, for example? Were youths in working-class communities as affluent as commentators believed? Did Britain ¿swing¿? The course will also explore how the 1960s were (and continue to be) represented in the media, film and wider popular culture and thus will draw upon film and television footage, photographic material and newspaper clippings alongside other historical sources in order to critically analyse the ¿swinging sixties¿. |
| Course description |
1. Introducing ¿the Sixties¿: Images, Myths and Controversies
2. White Heat: Affluence and Modernity
3. Youthquake! The Rise of Youth in Society
4. From Profumo to the Pill: The New Morality and Permissiveness
5. The Death of Christian Britain? Challenges to Religion
6. Classless Society? Exploring Class and the New Meritocracy
7. Cultural Revolution: Theatre, TV, Film and Music
8. Counter-Culture: Creating an Alternative Society?
9. Rivers of Blood: Race and Immigration
10. End of an Era? Crisis, Reaction and the Conservative Backlash
11. The ¿Swinging Sixties?¿ Assessing the Evidence
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 3 History courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 26 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
10 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Components of Assessment, ¿Parent¿ course * 2 hour exam: 50% 3000 word essay: 40% Non-written skills (seminar participation/contribution): 10% Students will receive a grade for their performance in seminars, which will make up 10% of their overall mark. The mark will be awarded on the basis of the common marking scale with the following factors taken into consideration when calculating the mark: attendance, preparation, willingness to contribute to the discussion, quality of contribution, and co-operation with other group members. A Seminar Participation Assessment Sheet will be completed for each student at the end of all seminars, and each student will receive a copy (a blank copy will also be provided for students at the beginning of the course, with time during the first seminar for discussion/questions). Copies of the Assessment Sheets will be made available for the External Examiner. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- On successful completion of the course it is expected that the student will have demonstrated the following by way of coursework essay, examination, and class preparation and participation:
Develop a nuanced and detailed understanding of the history and historiography of the ¿swinging sixties¿ and be able to critically assess the dominant narratives, myths and images associated with this era. - Be able to describe and analyse key changes associated with the 1960s and identify, through evidence and examples, areas of continuity and change.
- Be able to critically evaluate and interpret a wide range of sources, including documentary and fictional film, newspapers, photographs, and oral testimony, and be able to integrate these with the findings of secondary scholarship to produce analyses of their own.
- Be able to communicate and evaluate complex ideas and arguments both verbally and in writing, engage in discussion and debate with peers in seminar settings, and further develop their historical writing skills.
- Develop analytical writing skills, and the ability to produce relevant, articulate and informed essays and other written assessments.
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Reading List
Bell, E. & L. Gunn (eds.), The Scottish Sixties: Reading, Rebellion, Revolution? (Rodopi: Amsterdam, 2013). Brown, C. G., Religion and Society in Twentieth-Century Britain (Harlow: Longman, 2006). Collins, M., The Permissive Society and its Enemies: Sixties British Culture (London: Rivers Oram, 2007).
Donnelly, M., Sixties Britain: Culture, Society and Politics (Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2005). Green, J., All Dressed Up: The Sixties and the Counterculture (London: Pimlico, 1999). Lewis, J., Women in Britain since 1945: women, family, work and the state in the post-war years (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992). McLeod, H., The Religious Crisis of the 1960s (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007). Marwick, A., The Sixties: Cultural Revolution in Britain, France, Italy and the United States, c. 1958-c. 1974 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998). Moore-Gilbert, B. & Seed, J. (eds.), Cultural Revolution? The Challenge of the Arts in the 1960s (London: Routledge, 1992). Sandbrook, D., White Heat: A History of Britain in the Swinging Sixties (London: Abacus, 2007). |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | The Swinging Sixties |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Angela Bartie
Tel: 0131 650 3768
Email: angela.bartie@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Caroline Cullen
Tel: (0131 6)50 3781
Email: caroline.cullen@ed.ac.uk |
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