POLI20532 Course Outline 1112 - School of Social Sciences

POLI20532: Course Guide 2011-12
READING GUIDANCE AND GENERAL TEXTS
A. STRUCTURE AND INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS
There is a vast literature on British politics and society since 1940. Reading guidance is
organised in the form of a weekly ‘Tutorial and reading guide’ as follows.
1. Questions
To be read at the outset as indicating key issues to be addressed through reading and class
discussion.
2. Essential readings
Required readings for tutorial discussion unless your tutor specifies alternatives.
3. General texts and alternative readings
Further items directly supporting the lecture that except as stated should be readily
accessible. Where applicable references are also given to the recommended course textbooks
by Morgan and Childs (see further details below).
4. Supplementary reading
The course recommends a wide variety of readings, from polemical articles to extensively
documented monographs. These need using with discrimination: one of the course objectives
is to develop skills of using rigorously, critically and effectively the different types of source
from which build up our understanding of politics. These skills may be particularly important
for students writing dissertations in their final year. For this reason we do not specify a
particular number of items that should be consulted, cited or listed in essay bibliographies. It
is clearly important to familiarise yourself with alternative arguments and interpretations.
Though you are not restricted to these, is also important that your reading is centrally based
on the literatures recommended in the course guide and discussed in lectures and tutorials.
Beyond this, you are encouraged to use insight and discretion as to how you follow up the
different themes and lines of argument you encounter and credit for this will be given in
formal assessment.
5. Essay/exam preparation
Except where this is clearly indicated, the course does not have a prescriptive approach as to
specific texts or arguments to be cited in assessed essays or exam scripts. You are therefore
encouraged to engage imaginatively with a variety of reading and show initiative in how you
present your own understanding of the issues discussed. There are, however, core issues
which it would be unwise to overlook and general parameters within which an effective
*answer will need to be constructed. Appropriate guidance is therefore provided in each case.
B. CONTEMPORARY SOURCES
A vast range of contemporary sources in diverse media are easily accessed via the internet.
These can give a vivid sense of how political debates were constructed at the time, which is
one of the key themes of the course, and can enhance both understanding and enjoyment of
the issues discussed. Some suggestions for each topic will be made available on Blackboard 9
at the same time as the relevant lecture slides. Recommendations are highly selective and just
tip of the iceberg. Consultation isn’t a course requirement unless directed by your tutor as a
form of class preparation.
Another way of exploring some of the themes of the course is through the galleries of
Manchester People’s History Museum. This is one of the country’s leading museums of
social and political history and includes a wonderful collection of materials relating to the
period covered in the course. Admission is free and the museum is well worth a visit (see
7