This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
This module will provide students with a detailed study of the evolution and work of the IWGC during the first period of its existence. The module curriculum will consider the following issues:
The way in which the mass casualties of the war caused people, as individuals, as families, and as groups across the Empire, as well as the imperial authorities, to consider the issue of suitable commemoration of those who had given their lives in the service of the Empire.
The competing demands and visions of the various 'stakeholders' throughout the period 1914-1939 including the post-war resistance to the IWGC and the continuation of alternative solutions provided by independent pressure groups.
The establishment and evolution of the authorities responsible for burial and graves registration in France and Belgium and the gradual expansion of powers and influence.
The creation of the IWGC, its immediate tasks, the debates over its authority, reach and role, and its eventual triumph as the crucial agency.
The issue of suitable commemoration of the missing.
The role and visions of the architects both at the consulting level and on the ground.
The process of constructing, making permanent and maintaining the cemeteries and memorials across the globe.
The experiences of visitors to the sites and the role of the IWGC as a mediator of that experience and the Commission's interactions with other bodies.
The IWGC as a simultaneous medium for the harnessing of a central imperial message and distinctive statements about the component parts of the Empire.
As a conclusion to consider the importance of the IWGC in influence conceptions of the conflict into the present.
Total contact hours: 60
Private study hours: 240
Total study hours: 300
There may be some costs associated with visits.
Main assessment methods:
Essay 5,000 words 70%
Individual Presentation 1,000 words 10%
Joint Presentation 20%
Reassessment methods:
Reassessment Instrument: 100% coursework
The University is committed to ensuring that core reading materials are in accessible electronic format in line with the Kent Inclusive Practices. The most up to date reading list for each module can be found on the university's reading list pages: https://kent.rl.talis.com/index.html
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Demonstrate a complex conceptual understanding surrounding the complex issues of death, burial and commemoration in the British Empire during and in the wake of the First World War.
2 Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of historiographical techniques and other methodologies.
3 Deploy a systematic understanding of knowledge underpinned by knowledge of research at the forefront of the discipline of History in the form of debates about war, death and memorialisation.
4 Demonstrate the ability to read a landscape as a source demonstrating originality in the application of knowledge.
5 Demonstrate comprehensively originality in the application of knowledge to different kinds of outputs based upon a comprehensive understanding of techniques and understanding of core material.
6 Demonstrate, through study of materials, conceptual understanding of methodologies and methods of critique leading to new ideas and hypotheses
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Show mental flexibility by making judgements systematically and creatively.
2 Sustain concentration and aim and think originally demonstrating self-direction and planning skills.
3 Construct coherent written and oral arguments.
4 Research different source types.
5 Produce a variety of robust outputs.
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