HS2O60: Noise Annoys: British Youth Culture, Popular Music and Social Change, 1950s-90s

Module code: HS2O60

Module provider: History; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Professor Matthew Worley, email: m.worley@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module focuses on post-war Britain, exploring how social and political change was reflected in and/or driven by youth culture. The period saw the post-war settlement give way to the post-consensual politics of Thatcherism. It saw dramatic social and economic change, transformative technological advances and the seemingly perennial shadow of Cold War. The course will trace shifts in youth culture and popular music, locating them within their national and international context. We shall ask whether youth cultures represented harbingers of progress or portents of decay; whether pop music provided a historical soundtrack or served as mere cultural gloss. The aim of the module is to use popular music and youth culture as a historical lens.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Identify key sources relevant to the topic in question and trace its historical development;
2. Be aware of differing historiographical interpretations of the pattern and causes of this development;
3. Understand how ideas and events are shaped by their historical contexts;
4. Organise material and articulate arguments effectively in writing (using appropriate bibliographical conventions) and seminar groups;

Module content

The course will work chronologically, tracing youth cultural history from the 1950s through to the 1990s. Subjects covered will include Teddy Boys and rock ‘n’ roll; the gender politics of the counterculture and glam rock; the class politics of mod, skinhead and punk; the relationship between technological change, Thatcherism and 1980s/90s dance culture. Throughout, questions of class, race, gender and sexuality will be considered alongside broader political and cultural concerns. To what extent, we shall ask, can youth culture provide a space for formative and actual social change?

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching is by eleven one-hour and eleven two-hour seminars over one semester. Within these, the teaching and learning methods will include:

• short in-seminar lectures;
• structured group discussion, which may include seminar papers by students;
• discussion of evidence, team-based exercises, and debates;
• text analysis, aural, visual and textual;
• independent study.

Study hours

At least 33 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs