THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2023/2024

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Centre for Open Learning : History, Classics and Archaeology

Undergraduate Course: Introduction to Scottish Social History (LLLE07044)

Course Outline
SchoolCentre for Open Learning CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 7 (Year 1 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryAn introduction to the social history of Scotland from 1830 to the present. This course explores the structures and institutions that have influenced the lives of ordinary people over the past two centuries, such as family, work, housing, health and leisure. Changes and developments in people¿s lives in Scotland will be examined through analysing historical texts, autobiographies, visual material and oral history.
Course description This course introduces students to the study of social history. Focusing on Scotland since 1830, and using a wide range of sources, students will consider events, trends and characteristics of life in the past two centuries for ordinary men, women and children. The course will consider issues of class, gender and ethnicity; it will examine experiences over time across the diverse geographical spread of Scotland, from cities, coasts and lowlands to Highlands and Islands; and it will assess the impact of influences such as World War I and II, the welfare state and women's suffrage.

The course will be taught using a combination of lecture and seminar-style teaching (illustrated by visual material) with discussion time. Group discussion will be based on specific questions relating to assigned readings provided in advance.

By the end of this course students will be able to evaluate, critically discuss and interpret a range of primary and secondary sources. They will have developed skills of historical analysis and equipped themselves to think critically about social change in people's lives.

The course will cover themes including:
Family life: the changing meaning of the family.
Housing: examining Scotland's housing crisis and the responses to it.
Working life: the experiences of work for men and women.
Women's Lives: attitudes to women, women's suffrage.
WW1 And WW2: the effect of war on society and the changes this brings on the home front, especially for women.
Health & Welfare: the rise of the temperance movement in the nineteenth century and the welfare state in the twentieth century.
Leisure and Popular Culture: the opportunity to display wealth, commercialisation of leisure, holidays/sports.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2023/24, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  16
Course Start Lifelong Learning - Session 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 98 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) The assessment (2,000-word essay worth 100% of the final mark) will be due after the end of the taught course. The formative assessment (essay plan) will be due mid-way through the course.
Feedback Students will receive written feedback for their formative assessment (essay plan), submitted mid-way through the course. They may discuss this with the tutor; students may contact the tutor for an informal discussion of progress at any time in the term. Students will receive written feedback on their coursework and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser by appointment.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. demonstrate, by way of coursework as required, an awareness of social developments in Scotland in the period, and an awareness of their context beyond Scotland
  2. demonstrate, by way of coursework as required, an ability to think critically about social change and the importance of class, gender and religion in historical trends
  3. demonstrate, by way of coursework as required, an ability to handle primary sources critically
Reading List
Essential
Smout, T.C., 1968. A Century of the Scottish People. London: Collins.
Thompson, F.M.L., 1992. The Cambridge Social History of Britain 1750-1950. Vol. II, People and Environment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Recommended
Dickson, A. & Treble, J. H., eds., 1992. People and Society in Scotland, Vol III, 1914-1990. Edinburgh: John Donald.
Fraser, W.H. & Morris, R. J., eds., 1990. People and Society in Scotland, Vol. II, 1830-1914. Edinburgh: John Donald.
Knox, W.W., 1999. Industrial Nation: Work, Culture and Society in Scotland, 1800-Present. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Written and oral analytical skills.
Handling a range of historical sources.
Confidence in contributing to group discussion.
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Sally Crumplin
Tel:
Email: Sally.Crumplin@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr John Ethcuit
Tel: (0131 6)50 3409
Email: jethcuit@exseed.ed.ac.uk
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