Undergraduate Course: Youth and Modernity, c.1880-1970 (ECSH10070)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| 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 examines the ways in which youth and shifting concepts associated with it (such as childhood, adolescence and the phenomenon of the teenager) has been interpreted and experienced in the twentieth century. The course focuses primarily on Britain but also explores the wider global contexts of empire and decolonisation, migration, war in Europe and americanisation; the British experience is compared and contrasted with that of other locations. |
| Course description |
Although a significant proportion of the western population has consisted of those under 21, the study of childhood and youth has often been regarded as a marginal area of social history. Over the last 20 years, however, historians have produced a wealth of research which demonstrates that the idea of childhood was crucial to the development of modern welfare states and to modern concepts of identity, sexuality and selfhood. Furthermore, children and young people have been reclaimed as historical actors and even agents of change. The twentieth century has been labelled 'the century of the child' in that recognition of children's specific needs, rights and developments has been a central component of both official and unofficial discourse. However, a preoccupation with the 'adolescent' or 'teenager' as an object of social concern, anxiety and moral panic has also been apparent. As well as examining and unpacking this anxiety, we will consider debates relating to youth culture, resistance and agency. We will consider, throughout, the ways in which ideas about class, gender, 'race' and age have structured adult interventions and youthful experience. The role of the law, medicine, religion and education will be explored at various points. We will also assess the problem of 'finding' the 'real' child in the archive because his/her traces are so often transitory. Extensive use will be made of a wide variety of primary sources (visual and textual) including film and other visual images, official reports and files, newspapers, magazines and personal testimonies. Topics covered include the discovery of adolescence; health, welfare and psychology; leisure and popular culture; evacuation and the disruption of wartime; juvenile delinquency, the teenager and youth subculture.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | A pass or passes in 40 credits of first level historical courses or equivalent and a pass or passes in 40 credits of second level historical courses or equivalent.
Before enrolling students on this course, PTs are asked to contact the History Honours Administrator to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 503780). |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students must have 3 History courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. Enrolments for this course are managed by the CAHSS Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department. All enquiries to enrol must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces.
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 22 |
| 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
75 %,
Coursework
25 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework: One assessed assignment (25%)
Exam: 2 hour paper (75%) |
| Feedback |
Students will receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. |
| 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:
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, command of the body of knowledge considered in the course.
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship.
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material.
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence.
- Demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
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Reading List
Cox, P. (2003) Gender, Justice and Welfare: Bad Girls in Britain, 1900-1950. Macmillan.
Fowler, D. (1995) The first Teenagers: the Lifestyles of Young Wage-Earners in Inter-war Britain. Taylor & Francis.
Gardner, J. (2005) The Children's War. Imperial War museum.
Hendrick, H. (1997) Children, Childhood and English Society 1880-1990. Cambridge University Press.
Jackson, L.A. (2014) 'Reform' in Policing Youth: Britain 1945-1970. Manchester UP.
Jenks, C. (1996) Childhood. Routledge.
Maynes, M.J, B. Soland and C. Benninghaus (eds) (2005), Secret Gardens, Satanic Mills. Placing Girls in European History, 1750-1960. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Osgerby, B. (1998) Youth in Britain since 1945. Oxford University Press.
Springhall, J. (1977) Youth, Empire and Society: British Youth Movements 1883-1940. Croom Helm.
S. Todd (2005) Young Women, Work and Family in England 1918-1950. Oxford UP. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Youth and Modernity 1880 |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Louise Jackson
Tel: (0131 6)50 3837
Email: Louise.Jackson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Lorna Berridge
Tel:
Email: Lorna.Berridge@ed.ac.uk |
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