HR102-4-SP-CO:
Multicultural Britain: A History
PLEASE NOTE: This module is inactive. Visit the Module Directory to view modules and variants offered during the current academic year.
2023/24
Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 4
Inactive
Monday 15 January 2024
Friday 22 March 2024
15
03 January 2020
Requisites for this module
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Britain is a diverse, multicultural society. Yet traditional histories of Britain often ignore the fact that British society has been remade and its culture enriched by people from a wide variety of different cultures, communities and backgrounds.
The module will examine how 'race' became a defining concept for understanding British society, how mass immigration transformed concept of Britishness, and how Black, Asian and other ethnic minorities had to fight in order to exercise their rights as British citizens.
It will also examine the history of Europeans in Britain throughout the twentieth century, from anxieties about Jewish immigration in the 1900s, to uncertain welcome afforded to refugees and migrant workers in the 1930s and 1940s, and finally to contemporary debates about the EU and 'Brexit'.
This is a module that focuses on the agency and experience of the people in Multicultural Britain as much as on their interactions with power, while never downplaying the enormous impact of racism and xenophobia. It highlights the diverse range of cultural experiences which make up the fabric of British history.
Finally, it makes clear that understanding the history of multiculturalism also requires an understanding of its intersections with race, gender, and sexuality. Multiculturalism in Britain has not gone uncontested, but it is made Britain what it is today.
The module aims to:
1. Introduce students to the history of multicultural Britain, highlighting that British history cannot be understood as an exclusively ‘white’ phenomenon
2. Build confidence in understanding concepts of ‘race’, citizenship, and belonging, and how they are used to analyse the past
3. Explore the history of multicultural Britain in ways which emphasis how the concept of ‘race’ intersected with ideas of class, gender, and sexuality
4. Understand that the history of multicultural Britain, and of the people, who have lived in on this island, is as much about agency and achievement as it is about racism and the interactions between people and the power structures governing Britain.
On completing the module, students will:
1. Have an awareness of key issues concerning the history of multicultural Britain.
2. Have grown in confidence concerning the sophisticated use of key concepts in modern British history.
3. To participate in seminar discussion as part of a supportive, inclusive learning environment.
4. Have analysed suitable primary source material in a coherent and well-developed manner.
5. Have gained key discipline-specific skills in preparation for the final year research project.
General reading list:
Bland, L. (2005) ‘White Women and Men of Colour: Miscegenation Fears in Britain after the Great War’, Gender & History, 17(1), pp. 29–61. doi: 10.1111/j.0953-5233.2005.00371.x.
Burrell, K. and Panayi, P. (2006) Histories and memories: migrants and their history in Britain. London: Tauris Academic Studies.
Feldman, D. (1989) ‘The importance of being English: Jewish immigration and the decay of liberal England’, in Metropolis - London: histories and representations since 1800. London: Routledge.
Gilroy, P. (1987) ‘There ain’t no black in the Union Jack’: the cultural politics of race and nation. London: Hutchinson.
Grant, M. (2016) ‘Historicizing Citizenship in Post-War Britain’, Historical Journal., 59(4), pp. 1187–1206. doi: 10.1017/S0018246X16000388.
Kay, D. and Miles, R. (1992) Refugees or migrant workers?: European volunteer workers in Britain, 1946-1951. London: Routledge.
Schwarz, B. (2011a) The white man’s world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Spencer, I. R. G. (1995) ‘World War Two and the Making of Multiracial Britain’, in War culture: social change and changing experience in World War Two Britain. London: Lawrence & Wishart, pp. 209–218.
Webster, W. (1998a) Imagining home: gender, ‘race’ and national identity, 1945-64. London: UCL Press.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
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Coursework weighting |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Alix Green, email: alix.green@essex.ac.uk.
Belinda Waterman, Department of History, 01206 872313
Yes
Yes
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
Of 30 hours, 30 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
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