Undergraduate 

History MA/MA(SocSci)

The Making of Britain? Scotland and Ireland, 1707-c.1815 HIST4258

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: School of Humanities
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

This course assesses the place of Scotland and Ireland within the emerging British state, economy, society and empire from 1707 to c.1815. Using a comparative approach, the course explores Jacobite proclamations and poems, 'enlightenment' texts, religious pamphlets and political caricature. The key objective is to consider how Scotland and Ireland offer telling insights into the considerable strengths and enduring weaknesses that marked out the formation in 1707 and, in 1801, the seeming realization of a united British-Irish Isles.

Timetable

12x1hr lectures;3x1hr workshops; 5x1hr seminars over ten weeks as scheduled in MyCampus. This is one of the honours options in History and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

Essay (3,500 words) - 60%

Word Source review (1,500 words) - 30%

Presentation with PowerPoint (8 Minutes) - 10%

Main Assessment In: April/May

Are reassessment opportunities available for all summative assessments? Not applicable for Honours courses

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

Course Aims

This course will provide the opportunity to:

■ Identify, develop and utilise intellectual and analytical skills in History

■ Evaluate comparative history (including a critical awareness of the pros and cons of such an approach) to better understand the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century histories of Scotland and Ireland

■ Assess and formulate debates and analyses of Scotland and Ireland's interactions with the British state, empire, economy and society between 1707 and c.1815

■ Utilise the ability to identify, differentiate and assess primary sources, and relate these critically to concepts and arguments in the secondary literature

■ Reflect upon and practice key skills in structuring written work and delivering oral presentations

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Develop a broad knowledge of eighteenth-century Scottish and Irish history

■ Evaluate interpretations relating to the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

■ Explain the pros and cons of comparative histories through the examples of eighteenth-century Scotland and Ireland

■ Select, assess, compare and inter-relate relevant secondary literature and primary sources and materials

■ Develop and utilize transferable skills in critical analyses and the structuring and presentation of written and oral work.

■ Draw wider conclusions regarding the nature of the British and British-Irish unions.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.