HIST3004 The Fall of Britannia's Empire and the Postcolonial Experience

2020

4.5

1 x 50-minute lecture weekly
1 x 50-minute tutorial weekly
1 x 2-hour film screening monthly

4.5 units of Second Level HIST topics

As a third-level topic in the History major sequence, this topic assumes a familiarity with the kind of knowledge, conceptual understanding and skills that would be acquired by the completion of at least 9 units of second-level topics from the History major sequence.

Associated major: History

In January 1960, in Accre in West Africa, the British Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan stated in a speech that 'the wind of change is blowing through this continent. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact'. With these words Macmillan ushered in the second phase of British decolonisation of its Empire, after the first phase initiated by Labour government from 1945-51. This topic deals with the rise of opposition to British rule and independence movements in the British Empire, the decolonisation of the British Empire, the formation of the Commonwealth and the experiences of the colonised during the decolonisation process and after during their postcolonial independence period. The topic places particular emphasis on comparison and obscure cases. The topic engages with various textual and visual sources, from historical writing and film (both documentaries and fiction), to documents, including images.

This topic aims to:

• Provide a critical insight into British responses to colonial opposition, decolonisation, and postcolonial development;
• Provide a comparative insight into British responses to colonial opposition, decolonisation, and postcolonial development;
• Provide a critical insight into colonial experiences of decolonisation and postcolonial development;
• Provide a comparative insight into colonial experiences of decolonisation and postcolonial development;
• Help students understandthe key themes in British decolonisation history;
• Help students understand the key themes of colonial experiences of decolonisation;
• Further students' experience with a variety of historical sources and develop their skills of evaluating these sources to form arguments;
• Develop further students' communication skills (written and oral; informal and formal);
• Foster an atmosphere of mutual respect and cooperation that encourages students to develop independent and critical thinking and as collaborative learners

On successful completion of this topic students should have:

• obtained a critical and comparative insight into British responses to colonial opposition to British rule, decolonisation and postcolonial development;
• obtained a critical and comparative insight into colonial attitudes of opposition to British rule, decolonisation and postcolonial development;
• analysed a range of secondary reading, assessing the value of this material in terms of argument and research;
• analysed a wide range of primary sources and determine their contexts;
• developed the ability to use their knowledge to plan, analyse, think critically, reflect upon and evaluate ideas, options and decisions;
• become aware of ethical issues related to the field of history generally and to the issues of this topic;
• gained effective oral and written communication skills so as to write/present properly structured, clearly argued, fluently expressed essays and oral presentations;
• exchanged and debate ideas with other members of the class and with the tutor with the utmost integrity and respect;
• worked regularly, independently and collaboratively to meet the prescribed deadlines and activities