How was sexual behaviour monitored and controlled in the past? Were the Victorians really as sexually repressed as is commonly assumed? And have we become more sexually liberated over time? By examining the ways in which the state, the medical profession, the church, social commentators and others have responded to sexual change in Britain since 1800, you will explore these important questions. In doing so, you will examine key political, economic, social and medical issues and events that shaped discourse, attitudes and behaviours surrounding sex and health. In untangling public discourse and private behaviour, you will consider: the extent to which the regulation of sex and health has been successful the ways in which attitudes and behaviours changed across the period and varied according to geography, social class, sexual preference, gender and ethnicity and how they affect our attitudes towards sex and health today. Subjects addressed in this module include contraceptive technologies; venereal disease; abortion and infanticide; eugenics; same-sex relationships; and sex crimes.
Lecture/seminar - 64 hours
Main Assessment Methods:
1,000 words Primary source analysis. Assessment Details: Students choose a source from the module to analyse in its historical context (25%).
2,000 words Journal review. Assessment Details: Students choose an academic journal and review the ways in which that journal has covered a relevant topic (25%).
3,000 words Essay. Assessment Details: Students answer one question from a list of 10 (35%).
1,500 words Assessment commentary. Assessment Details: Students mark an assessment provided by the convenor, and provide a reflective commentary on their process of marking (15%).
Reassessment Method: Single Instrument 100% written assessment / essay (5,000 words)
On successfully completing the module, students will be able to:
1) Systematically understand and review the relationship between sex and health in Britain since 1800.
2) Accurately deploy established techniques of analysis to critically assess the extent to which public attitudes towards sex and private behaviour were regulated throughout this period, by drawing on examples of deviant attitudes and practices.
3) Critically evaluate deviant attitudes and behaviours through a series of individual case studies according to geography, class, gender and ethnicity.
4) Individually and collectively review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge with regard to the notion of deviance, drawing on relevant historical and sociological primary and secondary literature.
5) Effectively communicate information, ideas, and interpretations concerning scholarly debates using written and visual primary evidence and to a variety of audiences.
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