- Department: History
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. Richard Brown
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: C
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
After the horrors of the First World War many people questioned the benefits of modern science and technology. Was science a major force for progress in Britain, that could help to create new industry or cure disease, or was it mainly something to be feared as it provided the means for one nation to annihilate another? The increasing pace of developments in science and technology caused some people to wonder if the modern world was one without morality. Science offered the means to maintain Britain’s status as a world power by providing the tools for economic prosperity and for breeding a fitter race. Did the unchecked rise of science mean, however, that Britain was becoming a nation which only valued efficiency and productivity? The period between 1914 and 1965 saw much public debate about the place of science in national life in Britain. Scientists, politicians, novelists and religious figures produced a wealth of material, including speeches, articles, surveys, fiction and non-fiction books and radio broadcasts. This course will examine these sources and consider how the arguments they contain relate to wider anxieties about British society, politics, the economy and international affairs during this period. It will also examine the ways in which the political commitments of individual scientists informed their visions of the way in which science could help form a new society.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Spring Term 2022-23 |
The aims of this module are:
Students who complete this module successfully will:
Acquire an insight into an unfamiliar period and/or approach to history through intensive study of an aspect of the period and/or an approach to it;
Gain experience of analysing primary source materials;
Be able to evaluate an historical explanation;
Have further developed work undertaken in the Autumn Term lecture courses and skills portfolios, including historical analysis, note-taking, using primary sources, presenting to groups, and leading discussions in seminars;
Be able to construct a coherent historical argument in oral and written forms
Teaching Programme:
Teaching will be in weekly 2-hour seminars taught over nine weeks, plus an overview and revision session in Week 2 of Summer Term. Each week students will do reading and preparation in order to be able to contribute to discussion.
Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:
The neglect of science debate
Science and war
Eugenics in Britain
Science and politics
Science, the Future and Fiction
Scientific internationalism
‘Two cultures’
‘White heat’
Britain and decline
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled) Open Exam - Killing Machines and Designer Babies |
8 hours | 100 |
None
Formative work:
During the Spring Term students will prepare a presentation in pairs or small groups. Tutors will determine the formative work for the course: all groups will present on a primary source. Formative work will be completed in one or more sessions at the tutor’s discretion.
Summative assessment:
An open exam in the Common Assessment Period, comprising one essay question chosen from five options
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled) Open Exam - Killing Machines and Designer Babies |
8 hours | 100 |
Following their formative assessment task, students will typically receive written feedback that will include comments and a mark within 10 working days of submission.
Work will be returned to students in their discussion groups and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss the feedback on their procedural work with their tutor (or module convenor) during student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.
For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 20 working days of the submission deadline. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.
For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading:
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. London, Chatto & Windus, 1932.
Kevles, Daniel J. In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995.