Undergraduate Course: Cities and Modernity: Urban Britain since c.1850 (ECSH10102)
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 urban history course explores the making of the modern British city, taking a thematic approach and using a diverse range of primary and secondary sources. Weekly themes include: structures and the built environment; movement and everyday life; power, governance and management; knowledge and mapping; health, reform and inequality; danger, crime and anxiety; sexuality and liberation; cities of empire and the global context; and the urban history of emotions. |
| Course description |
We live in an increasingly urban world. Understanding the forces and structures that have shaped cities over the last 200 years offers a critical lens on life in modern Britain since c.1850. Cities matter, whether from an economic, social, personal or global perspective. An urban setting might promise opportunity, excitement and liberation, but could also represent danger, disarray and inequality.
This course engages with the images and reality of the city, from the Victorian period and into the modern day, to offer a deep understanding of the urban environment. It takes a thematic approach, introducing the work of key writers such as Henri Lefebvre and Michel de Certeau before exploring issues such as power, knowledge, health, danger, sexuality and emotions through an urban lens. Each week, case studies of a particular city or cities allow students to build up a broad understanding of modern urban Britain. By the end of the course, students will be comfortable engaging in theoretical and methodological discussions about the nature of urban history, as well as obtaining a critical understanding of experiences of living in the modern British city.
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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 should have at least 3 History courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the CAHSS Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
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 history of urban Britain since c.1850;
- 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
Dennis, R. Cities in Modernity: Representations and Productions of Metropolitan Space, 1840-1930. (Cambridge, 2008).
De Certeau, M. The Practice of Everyday Life. (Berkeley and LA, 1984).
Dyos, H.J. and Wolff, M. The Victorian City: Images and Realities. (London, 1973).
Ewen, S. What is Urban History? (Cambridge, 2016).
Guldi, J. ¿What is the spatial turn?¿. Scholars¿ Lab, University of Virginia Library, 2011. [http://spatial.scholarslab.org/spatial-turn]
Houlbrook, M. Queer London: Perils and Pleasures of the Sexual Metropolis, 1918-1957. (London, 2005).
Lefebvre, H. Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time and Everyday Life. (London and New York, 2004).
Lynch, K. The Image of the City. (Cambridge, MA, 1960).
Joyce, P. The Rule of Freedom: Liberalism and the Modern City. (London, 2003). |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Joe Curran
Tel:
Email: jcurran4@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Katherine Perry
Tel:
Email: kperry2@ed.ac.uk |
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