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Semester 1

The White Man's Burden: Race, Gender and the Victorian Empire (HIST10383)

Subject

History

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed 3 History courses at grade B or above, and please note that we will only consider courses with a specific focus on History (not including History of Art) towards these pre-requisites. We will only consider University/College level courses. **Please see Additional Restrictions below**

Course Summary

This course focuses on the development of the British empire between Siraj ud Daulas 1756 storming of Calcutta and the establishment of the Kenya Colony in 1920. The course pays particular attention to the roles played by race, gender and ethnicity in constructions of British imperialism.

Course Description

This course will introduce students to the key themes, events, and personalities of the Victorian Empire. British imperial power came in many forms and drew on a variety of strategies for rule, including but not limited to: military conquest and subjugation, collaboration with indigenous elites, cultural subversion, and technological hegemony. This course will investigate each of these strategies while also considering the full spectrum of colonial responses which they provoked. However, the course pays particular attention to the ways in which 19th century gender and racial thought shaped the imperial project. Recent years have seen an increasing divide develop between scholars who locate imperial power primarily in the sphere of economics and those who emphasise instead the overwhelming importance of social and cultural phenomena, such as perceived racial differences, gender hierarchies and conflicting interpretations of British nationality. By integrating these increasingly disparate approaches to British imperialism, this module will allow students to develop a multi-faceted understanding of empire which encompasses both metropolitan and indigenous, male and female perspectives. The domestic impact of imperial expansion was massive, and this course will therefore also consider the formative role played by imperialism in the construction of British culture, identity, and economic policy.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

Unless you are nominated on a History or HCA exchange agreement, visiting students are only permitted to enrol in two 3rd year History courses each, per semester, before the start of the relevant semester’s welcome period – and spaces on each course are limited so cannot be guaranteed for any student. This includes courses in Economic History and Scottish History. Enrolment in a third course from this group will depend on whether there are still spaces available in the September Welcome Period, and cannot be guaranteed. It is NOT appropriate for students to contact staff within this subject area to ask for an exception to be made; all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. This is due to the limited number of spaces available in this very popular subject area.

view the timetable and further details for this course