British History from Regency to Radicalism

About

On this programme, you’ll develop an overview of what’s changed (and what hasn’t) in British society and culture since the early nineteenth century.

We’ll use historical debates to provide a context to questions which remain highly important in Britain today:

why does Britain, uniquely in Europe, still have a monarchy?
why is social class still such an important aspect of how the British see themselves?
why have statues of nineteenth-century imperial figures become a source of such violent controversy since the emergence of the BLM?
In what ways has ‘Brexit’ revealed Britain’s difficulty to confront its national decline over the last hundred years?
how might movements for racial and social justice in contemporary Britain work within a specific British radical paradigm?
We’ll answer these questions by looking at the last two centuries of British history, confronting the longer-term patterns of continuity and change which are still playing out in a nation which struggles to confront both its past and its present.

Topics covered include:

- aristocracy and monarchy since 1800
- nineteenth and twentieth century movements for social change
- advocates and critics of the British empire
- explanations for British ‘decline’ in the twentieth century
- gender and sexuality, 1800-1914
- youth and popular culture since the 1930s

Course aim

1. To understand methods of historical study as a disciplinary approach

2. To understand the role of the British imaginary in historical forces since the 19th Century

3. To investigate the influence of events across historical periods

4. To develop powers of analysis, comprehension, and articulation commensurate with the study of society and the humanities

Fee info

The full cost of one 3-week Undergraduate Summer School session will be £2,645. Early applications will receive a 20% reduction on tuition fees, making the overall cost of one 3-week Undergraduate Summer School session £2320. If you wish to study for both sessions, we welcome you to do so. This is made up of Tuition fees of £1,625 per session including all teaching and assessment for one module of study. Where field trips or course excursions are required then the cost of this is included in the tuition fee, however travel costs may be required. A minimum of 150 study hours, with a minimum of 40 hours class/teaching contact hours. Modules formally approved for 15 Sussex credits, equivalent to 7.5 ECTS or 3 – 4 US credits. You will receive a transcript of studies upon successful completion of the module (including meeting all attendance and assessment requirements). The accommodation and student life programme fee of £1,020 per session includes your own bedroom in on-campus student village. These are a mixture of en-suite flats and standard flats with shared facilities. You will receive a bedding pack of duvet and duvet cover, sheet, towel, pillow, and pillowcase, as well as a kitchen pack containing everything you need for self-catering. The fee includes a programme of campus social events and activities throughout each session. Excursions and social programme trips will also be provided on Fridays.