HIS-30157 - Module Specification
School of Humanities
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

This module allows students to study one of the most dramatic processes to shape the modern United States: the struggle for African American civil rights. From a nation blighted by white supremacy (and an especially racially oppressive South) to a country where legal equality was achieved but significant racial disparities remained, we will assess the aims and achievements of black leadership, and the contribution of ordinary men and women, black and white, northern and southern, to re-shaping American society through activism. The module also addresses the actions of opponents of racial change.
This module gives students an in-depth familiarity with the struggle for civil rights, with a particular focus on the 1940s through the mid-1960s. The module will be informed by the latest scholarly debates concerning the nature of mass civil rights activism, the length of the civil rights movement, the roles played by women, and the ways violence and foreign relations impacted the struggle for civil rights. Students will consult a range of primary and secondary materials as the basis for seminar discussions.

To introduce students to the role of civil rights conflict in the shaping of contemporary America;
To assess the aims and achievements of black leadership in the Civil Rights Movement;
To document and evaluate the contribution of mainstream protests by ordinary men and women, black and white, Northern and Southern, in re-shaping American society;
To document and evaluate the broader African-American contribution to American society and culture.

Intended Learning Outcomes

recognise and explain the particular issues and debates associated with the struggle for Civil Rights and racial equality in the United States: 1,2
assess the relative merits of conflicting interpretations of significant events and phenomena, recognising the complexity and diversity of historical situations, events and belief systems: 1,2
conduct sophisticated analysis of primary source material with due regard to provenance, content, and interpretation: 1,2
use constructively source materials both in evaluating primary and secondary accounts and in developing original interpretations fostering competence in the handling and analysis of evidence: 1,2

Study hours

11 x 2-hour seminars; 11 x 1-hour workshops; 50 hour seminar preparation; 20 hours short paper preparation; 47 hours long essay preparation.

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment