Key facts

Type	Online and Distance Learning
Location	Online
Dates	Mon 1 Oct to Fri 14 Dec 2012
Subject area(s)	Local History
CATS points	10
Fees	From £210.00
Application status	Applications being accepted
Course code	O12P319LHV
Course contact	If you have any questions about this course, please email onlinecourses@conted.ox.ac.uk.

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Overview

In the nineteenth century Britain experienced led the world in the dramatic process of industrialisation but the consequences for British society were far reaching. How were ordinary people affected by these developments? This course aims to investigate the lives of the Victorian people both rich and poor, in order to gain an understanding of the key issues that transformed Britain during this period.

Description

When Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, Britain was already engaged in the complex and dramatic process of industrialisation. This process had unforetold consequences for the British people, challenging the lives of both rural people and those who migrated to the new expanding towns and cities. Death, disease and poverty were just some of the daily hardships encountered. Inventions and entrepreneurial initiatives brought wealth and prosperity to many, but to others just a life of misery and endurance. People’s public and private lives were also affected by distinct Victorian values which shaped attitudes towards religion, philanthropy, the role of women and leisure activities. It was a society of great contrasts, in many respects deeply religious, yet in other ways often seemingly immoral and uncaring.

This course will investigate the key features of Victorian society and will seek to establish the links between economic and social change in order to understand the significant developments which transformed Britain during this period. It will also evaluate and assess the underlying values and attitudes which shaped Victorian society.

Programme details

Introduction

1. The landscape of Victorian Britain
The Great Exhibition
A changing environment
Population trends
Structure of society

2. Victoria: monarch and empire
The Image of a Queen
A modern royal family
Jubilees – celebrating the Empire

3. Victorian family life
Childhood
Marriage
Legal rights of women

4. The workshop of the world
Industrial revolution
Innovations in transport
Urban development

5. Public health
Health epidemics
Housing conditions
Attitudes and solution

6. Poverty and the workhouse
Problems of poverty
The workhouse
Victorian philanthropy

7. Crime and Punishment
The ‘criminal’ classes
Punishment
Treating the insane

8. Religion and education
The established church v nonconformism
Sectarian education
Education for the masses

9. Leisure
Cultural interests
Growth of the seaside resorts
Popular entertainments

10. Retrospect
Strengths and weaknesses of the Victorian age
Final images of Victorian Britain


We strongly recommend that you try to find a little time each week to engage in the online conversations (at times that are convenient to you) as the forums are an integral, and very rewarding, part of the course and the online learning experience.

Staff

Course aims

Course Aim:
Investigate and evaluate the lives of the British people during the Victorian era.

Course Objectives:
This course will enable participants to:
1. Describe and identify the key social and economic features of life in Victorian Britain.
2. Question and analyse the ideals and values of Victorian society with respect to religion, gender, family, class and social responsibility.
3. Develop a range of historical skills through the evaluation of primary sources and historiography.

Certification

This course is accredited and you are expected to take the course for credit. To be awarded credit you must complete written contributions satisfactorily. Successful students will receive credit, awarded by the Board of Studies of Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. The award will take the form of 10 units of transferable credit at FHEQ level 4 of the Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS). A transcript detailing the credit will be issued to successful students.

Assessment methods

Assessment for this course is based on two assignments, placed midway through the course and completed in the 10 weeks of the course (the second assignment due at the end of week 10). Students will have two weeks to complete each assignment. The first piece will be a short exercise designed to demonstrate their understanding of a concept or concepts. Feedback from this will be designed to give them an idea of the progress they have made and of those areas of their work that might need more attention. The later piece of work allows students to demonstrate their learning on the course as a whole.

Recommended reading

To participate in the course you will need to have regular access to the Internet and you will need to buy the following text:

• Royle, E: Modern Britain A Social History 1750 – 1997 (Bloomsbury Academic, London, 1997)

Teaching methods

Guided reading of texts and internet resources.
Research topics with student feedback.
Different discussion formats eg very structured or informal.
Set questions on primary materials as part of ongoing assessment
Questions to be answered in personal folders.
Quizzes

Teaching outcomes

By the end of this course students will be expected to have gained the following skills:
1.The ability to write both critical and balanced analysis in order to evaluate the main social and economic features of life in Victorian Britain.
2.The ability to discuss and interpret the underlying values of Victorian society and to appreciate how issues such as gender and religion affected attitudes.
3.The ability to compare, evaluate and interpret primary sources in order to develop and support historical arguments and to communicate their own ideas successfully to debates about Victorian Britain.

Fee options

Programme Fee

Home/EU Fee: £210.00

Non-EU Fee: £285.00

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