Undergraduate Course: Living Standards in Victorian and Edwardian Britain (ECSH10089)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Economic and Social History |
Other subject area | History |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course examines working-class living standards in Victorian and Edwardian Britain. During this period, Britain was one of the world¿s richest nations. However, did its working classes benefit from the economic growth they helped to create? To answer this question, students will investigate a variety of topics, including employment, wages, the cost of living, poverty, housing, the urban environment, education, health, and mortality. Measures taken by individuals to cope with and avoid poverty and privation will be explored, from the careful management of household resources, to joining mutual-aid societies, to emigration. Students will also examine efforts by philanthropists and especially the state to improve working-class living standards, focussing particularly on the public health movement, housing policy, and the Liberal welfare reforms. Throughout, careful attention will be paid to change over time, and to differences in experience due to gender, age, status and locality. This course emerges from the course organiser's research on perceptions of emigration among working- and lower-middle-class Britons during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting Students should usually have at least 3 History courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2013/14 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: 26 |
|
Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
13/01/2014 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
200 )
|
| Additional Notes |
|
| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Please contact the School directly for a breakdown of Assessment Methods
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- evaluate working-class living standards in Victorian and Edwardian Britain in terms of the following factors: employment, wages, the cost of living, poverty, housing, the urban environment, education, health and mortality
- explain how and why working-class living standards changed over time
- describe measures taken by individuals to cope with and avoid poverty and privation
- assess the influence of gender, age, status and locality on working-class living standards
- critically and contextually analyse both primary and secondary sources
- find and select primary and secondary sources for use in writing essays
- communicate effectively in discussions
- work collaboratively with others in a small group
|
Assessment Information
Exam: 40% (2 hours)
Essay: 35% (3000 words)
Annotated Bibliography (for the essay): 5%
Book Review: 10% (1000-1500 words)
Participation: 10%
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Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
1. Introduction: Measuring Living Standards
2. Male Employment
3. Female Employment
4. Children: Home, Work and School
5. Wages and the Cost of Living
6. Families and Households: Survival Strategies
7. Poverty: Extent and Causes
8. Self-Help and Mutual Aid
9. Housing and the Urban Environment
10. Health and Mortality
11. Social Welfare: Philanthropy and the State
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| Transferable skills |
Students who take this course will acquire an enhanced ability to:
- conduct research, particularly using ICT
- critically analyse primary and secondary sources
- write essays which are clear, coherent, well-structured, and supported by relevant evidence
- communicate effectively in discussions
- work collaboratively with others in a small group
|
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Living Standards |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Amy Lloyd
Tel: (0131 6)50 4614
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Caroline Cullen
Tel: (0131 6)50 3781
Email: |
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