Course Objectives

This is an interdisciplinary course that fuses history, sociology, media studies and politics. It seeks to draw on the students' previous educational/life experiences of elite, popular and ethnic cultures and social, religious and political movements. It will compare British and American experiences in the modern era, the differences, similarities and cross-influences between the two nations. The course will make use of London as a primary source, from its special collections and sites of historic interest, to its everyday spaces of work and leisure.

At the end of the course students should:
• Acquire a broad knowledge of key historical developments in Britain since the Second World War.
• Have a clear understanding of the sociological phenomena that have shaped contemporary Britain and the identity of its peoples.
• Gain a fresh perspective on contemporary America by comparing it with Britain.

Course Comments

"Professor Weight is a friendly person and an academically stimulating professor. His class opens students' minds to the similar and different aspects of British and American culture." Leah Kuhlmann, Fall 2009

"Professor Weight is not only brilliant but extremely intellectually stimulating. This class was honestly the most informative, useful class I have ever taken. Not only was the class completely relevant to the city we are living in, but it was useful in examining my cultural heritage as an American." Samantha Melendez, Fall 2009

"Professor Weight is so knowledgeable and wants his students to be as enthusiastic as he is. Everyone should take this class." Anon., Fall 2009

"This was probably the best class that we could have taken while being abroad in London. It was a nice blend of current events and British history, and kept providing conversation material while socializing with locals. Dr Weight is charismatic, enthusiastic and well-informed. The class was thought provoking and really helped to bring 40 Americans out of the self-absorbed box." Caitlin Fairfield, Fall 2008

Faculty Information

Dr Richard Weight is a social historian and broadcaster and the author of several books, including Patriots: National Identity in Britain 1940-2000 (Macmillan, 2002) and The A-Z Guide to Modern Britain (Random House, 2003). He writes and presents documentaries for the BBC, is a contributor to The Times, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and of the Royal Society of Arts. He lectures in Europe and Africa for the British Council and acts as a consultant to several organisations, including the Institute for Public Policy Research. He is currently writing a history of British youth culture, to be published in Britain and America by Random House.

Course Syllabus and Materials

Hyperlinked articles:

Brooks, D. (2010) "The power elite", The New York Times.  19 February, 2010.  Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/opinion/19brooks.html

Glover, J. (2007) "Riven by class and no social mobilty : Britain in 2007", The Guardian. 20 October, 2007.  Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/oct/20/britishidentity.socialexclusion 

Klein, J. (2002) "Neither here nor there", The Guardian. 3rd July, 2002.  Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/jul/03/eu.britishidentity

Stone, J. & Lusas, H. (1998) "Immigration and ethnic relations in Britain and America", Blackstone, T., Parekh, B. & Sanders, P. (eds) Race relations in Britain : a developing agenda.  Routledge.  Available at: http://tinyurl.com/37fvxcz

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