This module (and its co-requisite Beauty, Blood, Sweat and Tears: The Body in Britain, c1680-1820 (Masters): B) will allow students to study a historical theme or area in great depth, under the guidance of an individual member of staff drawing on both secondary sources (i.e. books and articles) and primary sources (documents, newspapers etc), both published and unpublished. The module will allow students to study an aspect of history in detail and gain a fuller understanding of how different types of source material inform the historical process.
Module Summary: This special subject studies the representations and practices of the body in eighteenth-century Britain. It examines the way that the body was represented in public culture, whether as a subject of beauty or as a symbol for a political community. We consider the varied practices developed to care and manage for the body in sickness and in health, and study the different ways in which people communicated about the body amongst family and friends. The module considers how experiences of the body were affected by economic and social changes including patterns of consumption, empire and the professionalization of medicine. We also consider how changing theories of the relationship between body and mind affected Britons’ understanding of personal identity and emotions.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
analyse and appraise key events and historical processes relevant to the subject under scrutiny;
analyse and evaluate a wide range of relevant primary source material;
critically evaluate the historiographical context and trends of the subject under exploration;
summarise and evaluate the subject material with clarity and confidence, in writing.
