British Society 1832-1914 3301-ZKBZS004
The course will cover the following themes:
1. the transport revolution: railways and their social impact, urban transport, individual transport: horses, bicycles and motor cars;
2. work: new industries, changing employment structures, trade union activity and the co-operative movement, women's employment;
3. urban development and urban life: housing and lifestyle, sanitary reform and technological innovation, urban pride and facilities;
4. welfare: the Poor Law Reform Act and its consequences, evolution of the workhouse, the People's Budget, medicine;
5. leisure: growth of leisure time, the Great Exhibition, museums and libraries, travel, sports, public houses, the press, music hall;
6. the family and education: universities, public schools, compulsory schooling, women's education;
7. religion, social and political philosophy: religious observance, Chartism, 19th-century Liberalism, Socialism, Feminism.
Classes will be based on discussion of contemporary texts.
Type of course
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
The aim is to provide students with the following learning outcomes:
1. knowledge of:
- differing British experiences in the Victorian period, depending on perspectives dictated by class, race and gender;
2. and the following skills:
1. ability to use varied materials on the basis of which analyses of historical development are constructed;
2. awareness that historical sources present experience from different perspectives and with different motivations;
3. awareness of differing British experiences throughout history depending on perspectives dictated by class, race and gender;
4. ability to draw general conclusions on the basis of patterns constructed by particular events.
Assessment criteria
Essay (1000 words) assessed on the basis of:
1. knowledge in the field of the social, cultural and political history of Britain in the period 1832-1914;
2. ability to present ideas and judgements logically and clearly in speech and writing.
Bibliography
David Thomson, England in the 19th century (1815-1914), Penguin, 1963.
Henryk Zins, Historia Anglii, Ossolineum, 2001.
Krzysztof Marchlewicz, U szczytu potęgi. Wielka Brytania w latach 1815-1914, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, Poznań 2019.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: