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 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 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 in order to critically analyse the 'swinging sixties'. |
| Course description |
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'.
Content note: The study of History inevitably involves the study of difficult topics that we encourage students to approach in a respectful, scholarly, and sensitive manner. Nevertheless, we remain conscious that some students may wish to prepare themselves for the discussion of difficult topics. In particular, the course organiser has outlined that the following topics may be discussed in this course, whether in class or through required or recommended primary and secondary sources: social inequality and social change, sex and sexuality including contraception, race and racism, feminism and sexism. While this list indicates sensitive topics students are likely to encounter, it is not exhaustive because course organisers cannot entirely predict the directions discussions may take in tutorials or seminars, or through the wider reading that students may conduct for the course.
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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.
Students should only be enrolled on this course with approval from the History Honours Programme Administrator.
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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. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework:
1,000 word Source Analysis (30%)
3,000 word Essay (70%)
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| 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. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate command of the body of knowledge considered in the course including an ability to describe and analyse key changes associated with the 1960s and to identify, through evidence and examples, areas of continuity and change;
- read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship;
- evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material, 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;
- 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
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).
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
- Developed skills in research development and analysis
- Improved oral communication skills through participation in class discussions and group work
- Improved written communication skills through written assessment
- Acquired experience of group working and problem solving team work |
| Keywords | The Swinging Sixties |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Valerie Wright
Tel:
Email: Valerie.Wright@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Katherine Perry
Tel:
Email: kperry2@ed.ac.uk |
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