Overall objectives:

1. - Expand the students' general understanding of British Culture and Society and its role in forming discursive practices in Europe and the World.
2. - Help the students become aware of twenty-century Britain's social, economic, political and cultural developments and current 21st-century tendencies.
3. - Develop a historical consciousness and an awareness of the students' political, social and cultural interaction.
4. - Encourage the students to utilise fact-based input from lectures and their learning/cultural experience in practical, cultural activities.
5. - Ask the students to engage in cross-cultural comparisons to build their self-awareness and greater realisation of their own culture.

Syllabus:

1 - A selection of topics from the adopted Course Book Contemporary Britain (5th ed.) by John McCormick will be covered, namely: Land and People
1.1 - Nationalism and Regionalism
1.2 - Immigration and race
2 - Government
2.1 - Understanding the British government
3 - Economy
3.1 - The economic implications of Brexit
4 - Culture and Lifestyle
4.1 - The changing national identity of Britain
5. - Britain in the World
5.1 - The Commonwealth
5.2 - The Atlantic Alliance
5.3 - Britain and Europe

Literature/Sources:

Alford, B.W.E , 1996 , Britain in the World Economy since 1880 , Lognman
Bassnett, Susan , 2003 , Studying British Cultures: An Introduction , Routledge
Betts, Gordon G , 2001 , The Twilight of Britain: Cultural Nationalism, Multi-Culturalism, and the Politics of Toleration , Transaction Pub
Black, Jeremy , 2003 , A History of the British Isles , Palgrave MacCmillan
Briggs, Asa , 1987 , A Social History of England , Penguin Books
Bruce, Maurice (ed.), , 1973 , The Rise of the Welfare State: English Social Policy, 1601-1971 , Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Buller, Jim , 2001 , National Statecraft and European Integration 1979-1997 , University of York
Castle, H.G., , 1982 , Fire over England: the German air raids in World War I , Secker & Warburg
Childs, David , 2001 , Britain since 1939: Progress and Decline , MacMillan
Childs, David , 2001 , Britain since 1945: A Political Edition , Routledge
Daunton, Martin & B. Rieger (eds.), , 2001 , Meanings of Modernity: Britain from Late-Victorian Era to World War II , Berg
Frith, Simon (ed.), , 2001 , The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock , Cambridge
Grant, R.G et all , 2011 , History of Britain and Ireland: The Definitive Visual Guide , DK
Harvey, J., & L. Bather , 1974 , The British Constitution , MacMillan
Higgins, Michael; Smith, Clarissa; and Storey, John (eds), , 2010 , The Cambridge Companion to Modern British Culture , Cambridge
Hill, Jeffrey , 2002 , Sport, Leisure and Culture in 20th-Century Britain , MacMillan
Hobsbawm, Eric J. , 1992 , Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, myth, reality , Cambridge
Hobsbawm, Eric. J., , 1999 , Industry and Empire: From 1750 to the Present Day , Penguin
Ingle, Stephen , 1999 , The British Party System , University of Sterling
Kumar, Krishan , 2003 , The Making of English National Identity , Cambridge
May, Alex , 2001 , Britain, the Commonwealth and Europe: The Commonwealth and Britain's Application to Join the European Communities , Palgrave
Oakland, John , 2003 , British Civilisation: An Introduction , Routledge
Oakland, John , 2005 , Contemporary Britain: A Survey with Texts , Routledge
Storry, Mike, and P , 2000 , British Cultural Identities , Routle
Young, John W. , 2000 , Britain and European Unity, 1945-1999 , MacMillan

Assesssment methods and criteria:

Classification Type: Quantitativa (0-20)

Evaluation Methodology:
Reading and discussion of compulsory reading material: Coursebook McCormick, John, Contemporary Britain (London, New York, Dublin: Bloomsbury Academic, 5th ed., 2023) and a selection of other complementary primary and secondary source texts and handouts provided by the lecturer or suggested by the students. Final grading will include: Short group presentations/seminar discussions 40%, online class/home Assignments 10% and a written exam 50%