HIST6221 Consumerism and its Critics, Britain 1714-1846

Offered By	School of Social Sciences
Academic Career	Graduate Coursework
Course Subject	History
Offered in	Second Semester, 2009 and Second Semester, 2010
Unit Value	6 units
Course Description	Participants in this course will study the process by which many British people came to believe, over the course of the eighteenth century, that they were living in a fundamentally new kind of society - a ‘commercial society' - and they will investigate a range of early responses to that belief. They will study the development of new forms of consumer culture, and they will examine a range of contemporary and modern theories seeking to link these developments to broader transformations in society - from the rise of the British Empire, to industrialization, cultural evolution and political change. The course will offer participants the opportunity to develop an informed and critical perspective on the history of a range of 21st-century concerns: from globalisation and market philosophy to models of social development, theories of the modern state and anxieties about ecological sustainability.
Learning Outcomes	As a consequence of the course of study followed in the course, students can expect to develop their skills in the following areas: research technique (location of historical sources, use of electronic and paper resources) document and image analysis (techniques for analysing texts and images with a view to understanding their meaning, significance and utility for scholarly argument) critical thinking argument formation narrative and analytical writing oral presentation
Workload	The course will consist of 13 one-hour tutorials and 13 1.5 hour lectures over the course of the semester.
Areas of Interest	History
Requisite Statement	Completion of two courses (12 units) in History at first-year level or with permission of the convenor
Preliminary Reading	Introductions to issues addressed in the course: Brewer, J., McKendrick, N. & Plumb, J.H. (eds.), The Birth of a Consumer Society: The Commercialization of Eighteenth-century England (London: Europa, 1982). Langford, P., A Polite and Commercial People: England 1727-1783 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989).
Academic Contact	Alexander Cook

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