HST2000: The First Thatcher Government, 1979-83
20 credits (semester 1)
Module Leader:
| Pre-requisites |
Pass in at least two of the Level One modules offered by the Department of History.
| Module Summary |
The first Thatcher government was one of the most significant and controversial administrations of modern British history. Margaret Thatcher, the first female Prime Minister, came to power promising to tear apart the post-war consensus and change the direction of British politics. This module will explore the key political and social issues of this turbulent period through the close study of a wide range of primary sources, including transcripts of Thatcher's speeches, party manifestos, newspaper and television coverage, official reports, and contemporary polemical literature. Lectures and seminars will focus on developing the skills of source analysis and interpretation.
| Module Aims |
This module aims to:
- Provide students with an in-depth understanding of the impact of the political and social policies of the first Thatcher Government.
- Introduce students to a range of source criticism skills.
- Introduce students to a variety of historiographical approaches to contemporary British political and social history.
- Develop students' understanding of the issues facing the historian of such a recent period.
- Promote students' ability to write informed and cogent essays in clear, structured and grammatical prose.
- Promote collaborative learning among students and develop team-work skills.
- Encourage students to develop their confidence and competence in presenting their ideas orally.
| Teaching |
The module will be taught through a series of weekly lecture workshops and seminars. The lecture workshops will introduce students to the basic historical and historiographical context and prime students on pertinent issues and sources. They are an efficient way of providing information, encouraging ideas and guiding students' private study. Seminars will provide opportunities for students to present their ideas and interpretations to the wider group. They will be based on systematic study of primary sources prepared in advance and will involve student-led discussions and presentations in order to enhance team-working, presentational and interpretative skills, while involving students in intensive engagement with practices of source criticism.
| Assessment |
The module is assessed by:
- A formative essay of detailed source analysis (33%), which will allow students to advance their understanding of certain thematic aspects of the module through an exercise of independent source criticism, thus helping students to develop skills of analysis and argument, and to improve their writing skills.
- An unseen written examination (50%) will require candidates to demonstrate that they have absorbed and understood the material and that they are able to compose a structured argument and analyse primary sources in clear prose under pressure of time.
- Oral presentations and participation in seminars (17%), in which students will demonstrate their team-working and analytical skills and their ability to analyse different types of primary source material in their historical context.
| Selected Reading |
- John Campbell, Margaret Thatcher. Vol. 2: Iron Lady (London, 2004)
- Brendan Evans, Thatcherism and British Politics, 1975-1999 (Stroud, 1999)
- Eric Evans, Thatcher and Thatcherism (2nd edn., London, 2004)
- A. Gamble, The Free Economy and the Strong State: The Politics of Thatcherism (Basingstoke, 1988)
- E.H.H Green, Thatcher (London, 2006)
- David Kavanagh, Thatcherism and British Politics. The end of consensus (2nd edn., Oxford, 1990)
| Intended Learning Outcomes |
By the end of the module, a candidate will be able to demonstrate:
- An advanced knowledge and understanding of the impact of Thatcher's first government and the ability to identify and engage with major historical debates and issues.
- The ability to recognise, evaluate and analyse a wide variety of primary source materials and to apply these skills and knowledge in writing commentaries on source materials under pressure of time.
- The ability to use a critical knowledge of primary sources to engage with current historiography and to formulate independent conclusions, both orally and in well-written, grammatical prose.
- A wider experience of working co-operatively with others.
- Ability and experience in presenting material orally in seminars, exchanging views with the tutor and other students
- A familiarity with a wide variety of historiographical approaches