19 - 030
Survey of British Culture
Brother Anthony (An Sonjae)
Spring Semester 2000
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10:00

This course is designed to give students a deeper understanding of the historical origins and the development of the nations and cultures that today form the United Kingdom and Eire. The course will focus on the longer patterns of British history and on the cultural heritage which has accumulated over the centuries.
 
 
Mid-term Examination

The syllabus requires students to read a part of the textbook each week (for example for Week 3  you should have read Pages 34 - 65). As you prepare each week's classes by reading carefully these pages, you begin to get a broad view of the evolution of many aspects of British institutions and society, thus culture. Most of the examination topics figure in each chapter. You are expected to know the main contents of the whole textbook up to 1600. 
The exam will begin with 6 questions requiring single-sentence answers. Then you will choose 4 topics out of 8 proposed and write about their evolution before 1600.

Mid-term Report

The Report will cover the development of the topic from the beginnings until 1600. In writing the report, students should begin with a survey of what the textbook tells them, but I expect you to do additional research through the Internet and also in the library, in order to gain an in-depth vision of your topic.

Course method :  Lectures on Mondays and Wednesdays with group discussions and class presentations on Fridays. All lectures and presentations will be in English. A significant work of literature will sometimes be studied, you should read the assignment in advance.

Assignments : Each student will prepare two presentations about some aspects of British cultural history, one on a topic covered before Mid-term exams and one on a more modern topic. These presentations will be given in the small groups. They will each be expanded into two Research Reports with illustrations and text forming a coherent whole. They may be presented as Web Pages and in that case may include musical illustration as well. The text should be in the form of an in-depth report, several pages long, written in the student's own words. Please note that any portions of text downloaded (copied) from the Web must be clearly indicated as such, with the source (URL). The first report will be due at the end of the Mid-term Exams, the second at the end of the 13th week.


Class topics in outline

Week 1  Introduction, Neolithic, Celtic and Roman Britain (no class Wednesday)
Week 2  Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Danes, Normans
Week 3 Chaucer's England
Week 4  European Backgrounds : The Renaissance
Week 5 The Tudors : Renaissance, Reformation and Discovery
Week 6  England in Shakespeare's time (no class Wednesday)
Week 7 Mid-term Exams
Week 8  The start of Modern Britain : the 17th Century Revolutions (no class Good Friday)
Week 9 The start of Modern Britain : Science and technology
Week 10  From the Augustans to the Romantics : society in the 18th century (no class Friday)
Week 11 1770 - 1837 : Rebellion, Revolution, War, Reform
Week 12 (40th Anniversary week) Victorian Britain : Industry, Empire, Progress
Week 13  20th century Britain to 1945
Week 14 The history and culture of Ireland, past and present
Week 15 Britain since 1945
Week 16 Final Exams


The main text books (available from the University Bookstore) will be :

An Illustrated History of Britain by David McDowall (Longman).

(Britain In Close-Up (Longman, 2000) may also be helpful, it is in any case fundamental for all students majoring in British culture, everyone should have a copy).

The Korean translation of K.A. Morgan (editor) The Oxford History of Britain is also a very good guide to British history.

Lots of other resources will be found on the shelves of Loyola Library (go and look in history, British literature, art and music). Otherwise, the Web is there for you. A few useful resources are listed in Brother Anthony's Links to Resources (especially the British Culture links) but there are many others. Click here for a map of Britain, statistics (Basic)(Official UK Government), (USA summary). See also the Norton Topics Online pages.

Grading: The two Reports and the two Exams (midterm and final) will have equal value. Other small assignments may be given and will receive additional points.

If you have questions you may write to Brother Anthony or visit him in his office (X109)


Class topics in more detail, and linked materials

Page numbers refer to "An Illustrated History of Britain"

Week 1 (Pages 1 - 10)
              (Class starts Feb 28) Introduction; Basic Geography (no class Wednesday)
               Neolithic (Stonehenge Photos 1,2,), Celtic, Roman Britain.
Week 2 (Pages 11 - 33)
                Invasions: Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Normans, feudalism
           The Seafarer (fragment), The Wanderer; the Bayeux Tapestry; Magna Carta
                Discussion : the divisions and conflicts in British culture caused by these invasions
Week 3  (Pages 34 - 65)
                Chaucer's England
            Chaucer's  General Prologue (extracts); the 100-years' War in text and pictures;
              Luminarium : Medieval culture sites
                Discussion : The medieval past in the British present
Week 4 European Backgrounds : The Renaissance in Italy and in Northern Europe
              Luminarium : Renaissance culture sites; aspects of the Renaissance
                Discussion : The Renaissance as the birthplace of the present
Week 5  (Pages 67 - 85)  More's Utopia
                The Tudors : Renaissance, Reformation and Discovery
            Royal Portraits; Discoverers; Sir Francis Drake
                Discussion : What was reborn at the Renaissance?
Week 6 England  in Shakespeare's time (no class Wednesday)
            Shakespeare's Globe; Shakespeare's 'This royal throne of kings'
                Hilliard's Youth; Backgrounds to Shakespeare
                Discussion : The mythical appeal of Elizabethan 'Merrie' England
Week 7 Mid-term Exams
Week 8  (Pages 87 - 97)
                The start of Modern Britain : the 17th Century Revolutions (no class Good Friday)
                Luminarium : 17th century culture sites; Civil War;
                Discussion : How right was Milton? Was England becoming democratic?
Week 9  (Pages 98 - 105)
                The start of Modern Britain : Science, philosophy, technology
                Jack Lynch's 18th Century Resources;
                Discussion : What is the value of experimental method?
Week 10 (Pages 107 - 120) (no class Friday)
                From the Augustans to the Romantics : society in the 18th century
             Gray's Elegy; Hogarth : Marriage a la Mode; The Rake's Progress.
               John Constable 1,2;
                Discussion : Did the 18th century invent the modern Family?
Week 11 (Pages 121 - 137)
                1770 - 1837 : Rebellion, Revolution, War, Reform
               Jack Lynch's Romanticism Resources,
               William Blake Archive, William Turner 1,2, 3.
                Discussion : "We are still living in the Romantic Era"
Week 12  (Pages 138 - 157)
                Victorian Britain : Industry, Empire, Progress (40th Anniversary week)
               The Victorian Web
                Discussion : The notion of 'Progress' and the values of Darwinism.
Week 13 (Pages 158 - 167)
                20th century Britain to 1945
                Wilfred Owen: Poems; World War I (the 'Great' War); World War II
                Discussion : Was the 20th century a Century of Progress or of Cruelty?
Week 14 The history and culture of Ireland, past and present
               Lumninarium : Ireland links; Irish myths
                Discussion : What are the main characteristics of Ireland today?
Week 15 (Pages 168 - 184)
                Britain since 1945
                Discussion : The last 12 years are not covered by the text book, what happened?
Week 16 Final Exams