230168 Introduction to the History of England I (S) (WiSe 2004/2005)

You can attend this course if you are an MA student, if you are studying to be a teacher under the old system, and if you are a B.A. student doing part of Profile Module 3 (provided you have completed Basic Modules 1 and 4). This is a 4-hour course, so you can take two parts of the module here and can get 6 credit points, or 9 if you write a term paper.
The course will attempt to provide you with a survey of some of the decisive developments in the history of England, and to supply a historical and social context for your literary and linguistic studies. You would need to have an interest in history, and the time to prepare for two weekly classes, which will mean studying fairly challenging texts.
We will begin with a review of Britain today, looking at significant features of British economic, political and social life, the development and history of which we will then study from Anglo-Saxon times. Our themes will be:
The economic life: the land, manufacturing and trade; the impact of Empire
The administration of England: the crown, parliament, and the law
The relationship between the social classes and the growth of democracy
The development of scientific knowledge and the history of ideas
If you wish to attend this course, please get yourselves a general overview of the history of England durimg the break. The course reader will contain historical documents from each period, which we will discuss in class. A careful reading of these texts is essential: to make sense of them, you will need a general context.

TO KEEP YOUR PLACE YOU MUST BE PRESENT AT THE FIRST SESSION.

Requirements for participation, required level

PLEASE REGISTER FOR THIS CLASS: You subscribe to the Department's Newsletter on the website, which explains the process (www.uni-bielefeld.de/bielefelder-modell/newsletter/index.html)

Bibliography

Books recommended:
A.L.Morton, A People's History of England, London 1938/80 (up to 1920)
E.J. Hobsbawm, Industry and Empire, Penguin 1999
Arthur Marwick, British Society since 1945, Penguin 1990