CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, STANISLAUS
Turlock, California

Hist. 4360 British Culture Since 1603
T, Th; 12:55-2:22 p.m. Prof. VanderMolen
P164 667-3153
Autumn, 1999 vander@toto.csustan.edu


"Modern Britain" covers the British experience from James VI & Iís accession, by which England gained a common ruler with Scotland, to Prime Minister Blair, who shaped his election campaign on the earlier strategies of William Clinton. Along the way we will be examining the cultural and political changes which have shaped much of Western Culture. Please read the assigned material in The English Heritage (third edition) before you come to class, so we can all discuss the issues at hand with reasonable insight.

Please note the entries below for papers and tests in order to get an idea of what will be expected. Your grade will be figured as follows: 1/3 tests; 1/3 papers or research paper; 1/3 final comprehensive exam. Tests will be mainly essay, with a few possible identification items; papers should be analyses rather than simply summaries. Fractional grading will be used.

We will mix lectures with discussions and the past with the present. That is, please come to class with questions and ideas; and familiarize yourself with current British affairs. Periodic glances at a British newspaper will help.

Sept. 2 (Th) Introduction; Course Requirements
Major changes in Modern Britain

Sept. 7 (T) Queen Elizabeth (ch. 6)
Was Queen Elizabeth a success?

Sept. 9 (Th) King James I (pp. 125-130)
How did religion become critical for the English constitution?

Sept. 14 (T) King Charles I (pp. 130-139)
Why did King Charles I fail?

Sept. 16 (Th) No Class ó Library work on papers

Sept. 21 (T) Cromwell (pp. 139-164)
How did Cromwell shape Englandís future?

Sept. 23 (Th) King Charles II (pp. 147-164)
Define Restoration culture.

Sept. 28 (T) King James II (pp. 164-169)
Why didnít the religious issue disappear?

Sept. 30 (Th) King William and Queen Mary (pp. 171-178)
Was the revolution of 1688 a "glorious" one?

Oct. 5 (T) Queen Anne (pp. 178-193)
How did England become a world power?

Oct. 7 (Th) Reports on Reading and Research (present a 4-6 page paper on a book or five academic articles dealing with topics through Oct. 5; or discuss your progress on a research topic) (the research paper should be a 12-page examination of some topic which can be surveyed over the span of "Modern Britain," such as Parliament or the monarchy)

Oct. 12 (T) No Classes

Oct. 14 (Th) TEST on material through Oct. 7

Oct. 19 (T) King George I; King George II (ch. 10)
Capitalism or Imperialism?

Oct. 21 (Th) Augustan values
Ancients vs. moderns

Oct. 26 (T) Empire and Society (ch. 11)
Britainís great empire

Oct. 28 (Th) King George III (ch. 12)
Why did the monarchy fail?

Nov. 2 (T) Conservatism circa 1820 (pp. 299-312)
Why did Britain escape the democratic Revolution?

Nov. 4 (Th) Reform (pp. 312-327)
Whig or Tory?

Nov. 9 (T) Defining Victorian Britain (ch. 14)
Define it.

Nov. 11 (Th) No Classes

Nov. 16 (T) Reform and Empire (ch. 15)
Disraeli or Gladstone? Britain or Greater Britain?

Nov. 18 (Th) Reports on Reading and Research

Nov. 23 (T) TEST on material from Oct. 19 through Nov. 16

Nov. 30 (T) Britain and the Great War (pp. 385-405)
Liberalism to Socialism; the Lost Generation

Dec. 2 (Th) Britain and the Greater War (pp. 405-419)
Appeasers and heroes

Dec. 7 (T) New Britain (ch. 17)
Socialism to Conservatism

Dec. 9 (Th) Thatcher to Blair (ch. 18)
Should Britain be re-defined?

Final Exam: Dec. 16, 11:15-1:15 p.m.
Select FOUR individuals who in your view best exemplify the development of Modern Britain from 1603 to the present. Describe what these people did; defend each choice in terms of the personís accomplishments as opposed to contemporaries. The exam will be written during the exam period, and you may use any notes or books that you wish; but you are not to reproduce a previously written essay.