This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
The aim of this course will be to show how far the Great War has infiltrated into modern culture and to test the validity of Paul Fussell's thesis that the Great War created Britain's modern cultural atmosphere. Fussell contends that modern society is marked by a love of irony, paradox and contradiction formed by the experience of the Western Front. Against this theory we will set the ideas of Samuel Hynes and Martin Stephen, as argued in their works, A War Imagined and The Price of Pity. This course will explore how the Great War has influenced our lives and why we have certain images of it. Why, for example, do most people associate the Great War with words such as 'waste', 'futility' and 'disillusion'? Why does the morality of the Great War seem so tarnished, while the Second World War is conceived as a just war? The course will be based upon literature (high and popular), poetry, art, architecture and film. We will therefore be 'reading' a 'primary text' each week. The course will serve to highlight many of themes of the 19th and 20th century British survey courses and will further contextualise the course on Britain and the Home Front in the Second World War.
Total contact hours: 60
Private study hours: 540
Total study hours: 600
Please note that this module is only available to single-honours and joint-honours students on the BA History and BA War Studies/Military History programmes. It is not available as a Wild module, nor is it available to short-credit students.
Main assessment methods:
Essay 3000 words 8%
Essay 3000 words 8%
Essay 3000 words 8%
Thematic Timed Essay 1000 words 8%
Presentation 15 minutes 8%
Examination 2 hours 30%
Examination 2 hours 30%
Reassessment methods:
Reassessment Instrument: 100% coursework
The University is committed to ensuring that core reading materials are in accessible electronic format in line with the Kent Inclusive Practices.
The most up to date reading list for each module can be found on the university's reading list pages (https://kent.rl.talis.com/index.html).
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will have:
1. Acquire a firm grasp of the military and cultural history of Great War and of shifts in the representation of the conflict from 1914 to the present.
2. Demonstrate a broad conceptual command of the course, and a thorough and systematic understanding of the latest research.
3. Demonstrate their capacity to assess and critically engage with a wide range of primary sources, both visual and written.
4. Demonstrate independent learning skills by being able to make use of a wide range of high-level resources, including up-to-date research in peer-reviewed journals, information technology, relevant subject bibliographies and other primary and secondary sources.
5. Acquire the ability to analyse key texts and other materials critically at a high level.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will have:
1. Enhance their ability to express complex ideas and arguments orally and in writing, skills which can be transferred to other areas of study and employment.
2. Enhance communication, presentational skills and information technology skills demonstrating the acquisition of an independent learning style.
3. Analyse, discuss, deconstruct and demonstrate cogent understanding of central texts and, subsequently, assemble and present arguments based on this analysis.
4. Approach problem solving creatively, and formed critical and evaluative judgments about the appropriateness of these approaches.
University of Kent makes every effort to ensure that module information is accurate for the relevant academic session and to provide educational services as described. However, courses, services and other matters may be subject to change. Please read our full disclaimer.
