History and Culture of the English Speaking Countries

The main objective of the subject is to provide students with a detailed and complete vision not only of the most important historical events of the various periods that correspond to the history of the British Isles, the British Commonwealth and the USA from their origins to the present time, but also of the most relevant sociocultural characteristics in each of them. The purpose is to enhance the students’ humanistic development and construct an identification to the culture of the British Isles, of the USA and of the British Commonwealth.
A second objective is the students’ correct and adequate assimilation of the contents that can be found in the next section.

The subject consists of an overall vision of the history of the British Isles from the Prehistoric period until contemporary events, considering also the economic, social and cultural characteristics that made it possible for the British culture to become one of the most important and influential of the world. Besides, the subject will provide the students with an overview of the history of the United States of America from the pre-colonial period to the most prominent events of 21st century, focusing on those aspects which laid the foundations of what we nowadays call the culture of the USA. An overview of the history of the British Commonwealth will be also offered.
UNITS

1.- Prehistory: an overview. Celts and Romans
2.- Saxons, Danes and Normans
3.- The Middle Ages
4.- The Renaissance
5.- The Eighteenth Century
6.- The Industrial Revolution and the British Empire
7.- The Twentieth Century in Britain and Ireland. Twenty-first century Perspectives
8.- Pre-colonial and Colonial North America. The American Revolution
9.- The Nineteenth Century: The Conquest of the West and the North and South Conflict
10.- The Twentieth Century in USA. Twenty-first-century Perspectives
11.- The British Commonwealth

For the contents of units 4 to 7, the students will have to answer some questions on worksheets provided by the lecturers. This task will be also assessed in the final exam.

This bibliographic list is intended as a general guide. Specific bibliography for each of the units will be provided in class.
The British Isles: Basic bibliography:

Arnold-Baker, Charles. The Companion to British History. (Routledge, London & New York, 2001).
Cannon, J. & Griffiths. The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1988).
Cannon, J. The Oxford Companion to British History. (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002).
Fry, S. & Plantagenet, P. A History of Ireland. (Routledge, London & New York, 1993).
Gardiner, J. ed. Who's Who in British History. (Collins & Brown, London, 2000).
Lang, S. 2011. British History for Dummies. Wiley (John Wiley & Sons Ltd Publication).
Morgan, K.O. ed. The Young Oxford History of Britain and Ireland. (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996).
Morgan, K.O. ed. The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain. (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997, 2009).
Norman, E. A History of Modern Ireland. (Penguin, Suffolk, 1971).
Oakland, J. British Civilization. (Routledge, London, 1991).
Pounds, N. J. G. The Culture of the English People. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994).
Valdés Miyares, J.R. & Tazón Salce, J.E. A Sourcebook of British Civilization. (Universidad de Oviedo, Servicio de Publicaciones, 1996).
Complementary bibliography:

Black, J. A. A History of the British Isles. (MacMillan Press Ltd., London, 1996).
Black, J. A. A New History of England. (Sutton Publishing, Reading, Berkshire, 2000).
Bradshaw, B & Roberts, P. British Consciousness and Indentity. (Routledge, 1998).
Briggs, A. A Social History of England. (Penguin Books, 1991).
Cunliffe, B. Facing the Ocean. The Atlantic and its People (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001).
Gusdorf, F. & John Wisdom. 2008. Anglofun Great Britain. Ellipses.
Kearny, H. The British Isles. A History of Four Nations. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995).
Kramer, J. Britain and Ireland. A Concise History. (Routledge, London & New York, 2007).
Lindop, C. and Fisher, D. Discover Britain. A Practical Guide to the Language, Country and People. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,1986).
Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture. (Longman, 1993).
MacDowall, D. Britain in Close-up. (Longman, Essex, 1997).
Marshall, P. J. ed. The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996).
Miles, D. The Tribes of Britain (Phoenix, London, 2006).
Morgan, D. A Short History of the British People. (Verlag Enzyclopädie, Leipzig, 1989).
O' Hegarty, P.S. A History of Ireland under the Union. (Methuen, London, 1952).
Pryor, F. Britain B.C. Life in Britain and Ireland before the Romans. (Harper Perennial, London, 2004)
Ranelagh, J. O´Beirne. A Short History of Ireland. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994).
Seymour, J. The Countryside Explained. (Penguin Books, 1979).
Speck, W.A. Historia de Gran Bretaña. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996).
Stamp, L.D. The British Isles: A Geographic and Economic Survey. (Ekos & Stanley H. Beaver, 1963).
Trevelyan, G.M. A Shortened History of England. (Penguin, London, 1987).
Turner, G. British Cultural Studies: an Introduction. (Unwin Hyman, Boston, 1990).
Wales, Prince of. A Vision of Britain. (Doubleday, London, 1989).
Wood, E. S. Historical Britain. (The Harvill Press, London, 1997

The following web links may also be of great help and interest for the student:

General:

www.britannia.com
www.royal.gov.uk
http://www.bbc
www.wikipedia.org
http://horrible-histories.co.uk/

Specific:

The Celts: http://www.historyworld.net/
Roman Britain: http://www.roman-britain.org/
The Anglo-Saxons in England:
http://www.britainexpress.com/History/dark_ages_index.htm and
http://www.regia.org/history/history.htm
The Vikings in England: http://www.viking.no/e/england/index.html
The Bayeaux Tapestry: http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/
Richard I and the Crusades: http://www.templarhistory.com/richard.html
England and the Crusades: http://crusades.boisestate.edu/Europe/england/
Economy and society in medieval towns:
http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/townint7.html
Economy and society in medieval England:
http://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/123/123%2013%20Society.htm
England in the Middle Ages:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/england_medieval.htm
The Wars of the Roses and Richard III: www.richardiii.net
The Victorian Age: http://www.victorianweb.org/
The Commonwealth: http://www.thecommonwealth.org/
Oliver Cromwell: www.olivercromwell.org
Civil War in the Stuart Period: www.british-civil-wars.co.uk
The Church of England: www.cofe.anglican.org
Historical events and sociocultural characteristics of Great Britain from the Middle Ages until now: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/

USA and Commonwealth
Basic bibliography

Brogan, Hugh. Longman History of the United States. Nueva York: Longman, 1985.
Brogan, Hugh. The Penguin History of the United States of America. Londres: Penguin, 1985.
Cook, Chris. Longman Handbook of Modern American History 1763-1996. Londres: Longman, 1994.
Crothers, George. American History. Nueva Cork: Holt, Rinehart and Wnston, 1964.
Fawcet, Edmund and Tony Thomas. America, Americans. Londres: Collins, 1983.
Johnson, Paul. A History of the American People. Londres: Phoenix Press, 1997.
Johnson, Thomas H. The Oxford Companion to American History. Nueva York: Oxford UP, 1966.
Jones, Maldwyn A. The Limits of Liberty. American History 1607-1992. Nueva York: Oxford UP, 1995.
Nevins, Allan. A History of the American People from 1492. Londres: Oxford UP, 1970.
Purvis, Thomas. A Dictionary of American History. Cambridge, Ma: Blackwell, 1997.
Silverman, Jason. American History Before 1877. Nueva York: McGraw-Hill, 1989.
Zeuske, Max. A Short History of the United States of America. Leipzig: Verlag, 1989.

Complementary bibliography

Boorstin, Daniel Jr. (ed) Estados Unidos. Una civilización. Barcelona: Labor, 1974.
Burns, M. John et al. The National Experience. A History of the United States of America. Nueva York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1963.
Caughney, John W. and Ernest R. Man. A History of the United States of America. Chicago: McNally, 1964.
Forner E and J. A. Garraty (eds). The Reader’s Companion to American History. Boston: Houghton/Mifflin, 1991.
Morrison, Samuel Eliot. The Oxford History of the American People. Nueva York: Oxford UP, 1965.

Pre-requisites:

Students are required to possess an intermediate-advanced level of the English language in addition to Spanish and Galician languages. They must also have a certain basis of general historical knowledge acquired from their secondary education.

The following competences, skills and abilities are to be developed by the student:

CG2 - Competence in the critical analysis of the socio-cultural reality in general and more specifically of that of the English-speaking nations.
CG3 - Logical competence: ability to interpret and express data and arguments clearly and accurately. Implementation of reasoning processes that may lead to the solution of problems or to the achievement of information.
CG4 - Social and civil competence: students become multilingual individuals with an intercultural consciousness which allows them to understand other languages and to be open to new cultural experiences. Ability to develop a global civil feeling compatible with one’s local identity.
CG5 - Cultural and artistic competence: development of creative skills through the knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon literature, culture and civilization. Ability to appreciate creative and cultural events, and to understand, evaluate and appreciate the historical dimension of the different cultural and artistic manifestations in English.
CG6 - Competence in personal and autonomous initiative: ability to imagine, undertake, develop and assess individual or collective projects with creativity, confidence, responsibility and critical sense.
CG7 - Competence in learning to learn: awareness, management and control of one’s own skills and knowledge through a conviction of one’s personal efficiency. Development of strategic skills and of the capacity to cooperate, to assess oneself and to manage a series of resources and techniques of intellectual work. Acquisition of learning techniques.
CG8 - Competence in the processing of information in a second language, as well as in the treatment of its culture and literature.
CG9 - Competence in the use of the new technologies: ability to search for, get, process and communicate information and transform it into knowledge using the new technologies as an essential tool.
CE11 – Knowledge of the historical and cultural events which have conditioned and still condition the development of the English language and the literary production in English.
CB1, CB2, CB3, CB4, CB5 (Verified memory of the degree).

The participation of the student, which will be fostered with diverse activities, illustrations and practical explanations, is the basis for the teaching method to be used in class.
Although it is true that the contents of the subject are susceptible to a more theoretical explanation, we will try to combine the theory with a much more practical approach. Therefore, illustrative materials such as maps, photocopies, copies of historical documents, screenings of scenes from historical films, TV shows and/or documentaries, portraits and biographies of relevant historical characters, articles, etc. will support the contents of each unit.
In general, we have taken our didactic strategy from the model of Baker and Westrup known as PPP: three consecutive phases of presentation, practice and production. In the presentation phase (2 theory hours per week), the lecturer offers an essentially theoretical approach to the contents (always with the support of the aforementioned illustrative materials). For the practice phase (1 hour per week), the students will do some activities related to the theoretical content of each unit. Finally, for the production phase, the student will be required to produce autonomous activities such as tests, participation in debates, presentations, which will have an impact on the continuous evaluation of the subject.

All activities will be taken into account for the continuous evaluation of each student. As such, responsibility competence is fostered by which the student participates in the process of the continuous evaluation and shows responsibility by completing assignments throughout the year.

Moreover, prior to the explanation of each unit, the student will have to read the corresponding section in Lang, S. 2011. British History for Dummies. Wiley (John Wiley & Sons Ltd Publication) and other photocopies provided by the lecturer. No textbook is recommended but reading the chapters of this book and the photocopies will enable the student to have a general view of the contents of the unit. In this way, s/he will be able to assimilate the contents more easily and will approach them with a critical mind. Besides, participation is encouraged with these readings because the student will have acquired the necessary knowledge to make comments or questions about those issues s/he has not understood. For each unit, other more specific bibliography will be recommended.
On top of the activities scheduled for the continuous evaluation, there might be seminars and/or lectures specialised in one historical and/or cultural topic. Attendance is compulsory and will also be taken into account for the continuous evaluation.

The activities of the continuous evaluation must be completed by the due date determined by the lecturer. Otherwise, the task will not be considered for the continuous evaluation.

Students will have to do the activities designed by the lecturers for the continuous evaluation and take the final exam in the first and/or second opportunities.

The mark of the continuous evaluation counts as 40% of the final mark of the subject and the final exam counts as 60%. IMPORTANT: It is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO SCORE 3 MINIMUM (out of 6) in the final exam for the mark of the continuous evaluation to be taken into account. If you fail to score this minimum, then you fail the subject.
For students who are officially exempt from attending lectures the exam will count as 100% of the final mark of the subject in both opportunities.
Also in both opportunities, those students whose schedule of the subject coincides partially or totally with that of another subject (proof must be presented, e.g. scanned copy of the registration) and/or repeaters may CHOOSE one of the following assessment systems:

a) just the final exam: 100% of the final mark of the subject.
b) the standard assessment: the mark of the continuous evaluation (40% of the final mark of the subject) and the final exam (60% of the final mark of the subject).
c) Only those students re-taking the subject: the mark of the continuous evaluation of the previous academic year (40% of the final mark of the subject) and the final exam (60% of the final mark of the subject).

Additionally, these students MUST communicate their decision to the coordinator of the subject before Sunday, October, 6th. Otherwise, they will be assessed considering the standard assessment system: the mark of the continuous evaluation (40% of the final mark of the subject) and the final exam (60% of the final mark of the subject).

The mark of the continuous evaluation will be kept for the second opportunity.

The assessment system will be the same in both opportunities.

The exams and assignments must be written in English. Correct language use will be taken into account when marking these activities.

IMPORTANT: the repetition of basic grammatical mistakes in the final exam will result in a direct fail in the exam.

For cases of fraudulent conduct over exercises or tests, what is included in the "Normativa de avaliación do rendemento académico dos estudantes e de revisión de cualificacións" will apply: " Fraudulent exams, tests or tasks required for the evaluation of a subject will imply a fail in the corresponding opportunity, regardless of the disciplinary process that may be opened against the offending student. Among others, plagiarised works or those obtained from sources accessible to the public without reworking or reinterpretation and without quotation to authors and sources will also be considered fraudulent". Therefore, the detection of the smallest plagiarism will mean a zero in the subject and the established disciplinary measures will be taken.

The subject comprises 15 weeks:

Week 1: Unit 1
Week 2: Unit 1
Week 3: Unit 1
Week 4: Unit 2
Week 5: Unit 2
Week 6: Unit 2
Week 7: Unit 3
Week 8: Unit3
Week 9: Unit3
Week 10: Unit 3
Week 11: Unit 3
Week 12: Unit 3
Week 13: UNit 8*
Week 14: Unit 9
Week 15: Units 10 y 11

Since this is an ECTS subject, the student will need 150 hours (lectures and autonomous work included) to pass the subject.

*As mentioned before, for the contents of units 4 to 7, the students will have to answer some questions on worksheets provided by the lecturers and this task will be also assessed in the final exam.

Attending class is strongly recommended, as well as complementing the classes by reading and reviewing the aforementioned and recommended bibliography, and doing all the activities designed for the subject. In this way, the student will benefit from having two marks (the continuous evaluation and the final exam) instead of having to rely upon just one mark in one or both opportunities.
The students are also encouraged to attend any type of extra-curricular activity that may bring them in contact with historical, social and cultural aspects of the history of Great Britain and Ireland and USA and Commonwealth, such as attending plays or historical films shown at the cinema. Besides, the lecturer may suggest fiction books portraying British, Irish or American historical characters or narrating historical events of a certain period. Such examples include The Pillars of the Earth and World without End by Ken Follet, which is about England in the Middle Ages, or The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Penman about the Wars of the Roses. More titles may be provided at the student’s request.


In addition to the web pages recommended in the bibliography section of this program, the following service is highly recommended:

EzProxy service (remote access to 12000 magazine titles, more than 51000 e-book titles and 42 databases, all accessible through reBUSCa and Portico):https://www.usc.gal/gl/servizos/biblioteca/utilidades/ezproxy.html

The subject will be taught preferably in English, but otherwise in Spanish and/or Galician.
Neither plagiarism of activities, nor copy and paste from the Internet will be tolerated under any circumstance.

IMPORTANT:

Basic rules in the classroom:

1- The use of electronic devices (mobile phones, tablets, computers, etc.) is not authorized in the lectures and seminars except when expressly authorized by the lecturer.
2- Students must not arrive to class later than 10 minutes after the lecture has started or s/he will not be allowed to enter the classroom.
3- The student must address the lecturer either by her full first name or in any other way the lecturer would consider appropriate.

IMPORTANT: Emails that do not come from the student's corporate address (USC address) will not be answered.

The USC has additional tutorial support service to help diversity (students with specific needs). https://www.usc.gal/gl/servizos/area/inclusion-participacion-social. E-mail: sepiu.santiago@usc.es.