Postgraduate Course: Man-Milliners and Militias: A History of Eighteenth-Century British Masculinity (Online) (PGHC11642)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | From the restrained and polished Polite Man and the sensitive Man of Feeling, to the sartorially extravagant Macaroni and the 'husbands and wives' of Molly Houses, the eighteenth century was host to a wide, and often contradictory, array of masculine ideals, stereotypes and performances. So, what made a man in eighteenth-century Britain? How important were the cultural representations of masculinity, and how did individual men perceive and perform their maleness?
Source-led, this course interrogates these questions in relation to the history of British masculinity across the long eighteenth century, exploring how concepts and experiences of masculinity were, and remain, tightly enmeshed with the social, cultural and political histories of a country, period and social group. |
| Course description |
This course examines the history of masculinity in Britain during the long eighteenth century. Students will be introduced to key concepts and debates within the history of masculinity and gender and will consider the changes and continuities in how masculinity was idealised, critiqued, formed and experienced in eighteenth-century Britain.
Using a wide range of sources, from conduct books, novels and private correspondence to caricatures and clothing, the course is divided into three key themes that will consider: the types and ideals of masculinity within cultural discourses; how performances and concepts of manhood altered throughout men's life cycles; how cultures and experiences of masculinity were shaped by intersecting factors such as social status, race, and sexuality. Throughout the course, we will return to the key question of the degree to which eighteenth-century men, individually and collectively, accepted, rejected or ignored the period's cultural ideals and expectations of what it was to be a man.
Overall, the course will demonstrate how to interrogate primary sources through the lens of gender, and the importance of gender as a category of analysis when investigating the social, cultural and political histories of a country and period.
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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 | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, 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
(
Online Activities 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
80 %,
Practical Exam
20 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework:
3000 word Essay (80%)
Forum Posts (20%) |
| Feedback |
Students will receive 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:
- Demonstrate a detailed and critical command of the body of knowledge concerning the history of masculinity in eighteenth century Britain
- Analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship concerning course, plus a variety of primary source materials
- Develop and sustain original scholarly arguments in oral and written forms by independently formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence considered in the course
- Demonstrate in oral and written form originality and independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers; and a considerable degree of autonomy
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Reading List
Begiato, Joanne. Manliness in Britain, 1760-1900: Bodies, emotion, and material culture. Manchester University Press, 2020.
Carter, Philip. Men and the emergence of polite society, Britain, 1660-1800. Longman Group, 2001.
Cohen, Michèle. Fashioning Masculinity: National identity and language in the eighteenth century. Routledge, 2002.
French, Henry, and Mark Rothery. Man's Estate: Landed Gentry Masculinities, 1660-1900. Oxford University Press, 2012.
Griffin, Ben. 'Hegemonic masculinity as a historical problem'. Gender & History 30:2 (2018): 377-400.
Harvey, Karen and Alexandra Shepard. 'What have historians done with masculinity? Reflections on five centuries of British history, circa 1500-1950'. Journal of British Studies 44.2 (2005): 274-280.
Hitchcock, Tim, and Michèle Cohen (ed.), English Masculinities, 1660-1800. Pearson, 1999.
Norton, Ricto. 'Recovering gay history from the Old Bailey.' London Journal, 30.1 (2005): 39-54.
Whale, John. "Daniel Mendoza's Contests of Identity: Masculinity, Ethnicity and Nation in Georgian Prize-fighting." Romanticism 14.3 (2008): 259-271 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Skills in research and analysis
Oral communication skills (through live seminar participation)
Written communication skills through the writing the 4,000 word essay and weekly discussion posts |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sarah Goldsmith
Tel: (0131 6)50 4620
Email: Sarah.Goldsmith@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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