Programme/Approved Electives for 2020/21
None
Available as a Free Standing Elective
Yes
The history of British India comprised a series of encounters between white Europeans and a diverse range of Indian people. Western ideals -- political, religious, economic and cultural -- were trialled across the Indian subcontinent. For many Britons, the 'east' became a career. Missionaries and medics, soldiers and civil servants, engineers and architects all found opportunities in India denied at home. But cultural contact was not all one-way traffic. Indian ways of life and Indian people shaped British identity and policy in the east in almost every aspect of the encounter. This module focuses on those formative moments that shaped the making and, eventually, the breaking, of the culture of the Raj.
Aims
To examine the experience of Indian and British people during the consolidation of British rule; to calibrate the responses of Indian people to British administration, justice, and military action; to characterise the range of British interventions in India, in political, social, economic and cultural terms; to evaluate the scope for meaningful contact between communities of British and Indian people.
Talis Aspire Reading ListAny reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/his-20090/lists
Intended Learning Outcomes
recognise and account for the different levels of relationships between Indians and the British in nineteenth century India: 1,2explain the different forms of cultural production at work in the Raj and their varied nature (on a spectrum from collaborative/affectionate to conflicting/violent): 1,2read critically and identify key issues for seminar discussion and essay writing: 1,2deploy effective and relevant arguments in written and oral forms: 1,2analyze different kinds primary evidence that relate to the history of nineteenth century India: 1,2demonstrate sound knowledge of key concepts and historical debates on colonial India: 1,2
10 hours = lectures10 hours = seminars/workshops8 hours = timed, unseen exam42 hours = seminar preparation 40 hours = portfolio commentary research, writing and preparation40 hours = examination revision
Description of Module Assessment
1: Portfolio weighted 50%Two 1000-word commentaries, one on a primary source and one on a colonial biography.Two 1000-word commentaries. The first will be on a reading of a primary source on the imperial encounter and the second a biography of `an imperial subject', Indian or British. These portfolio commentaries, combined with the exam, will give students the opportunity to read and analyse primary, secondary and biographical literature. Students will also be given the choice of whether to submit the encounter or biography first so that they can tackle each item at their own pace.
2: Unseen Exam weighted 50%8-hour unseen examAn eight-hour take home examination where students are invited to tackle two essay questions from a list of eight.