This module explores the nature of the disorienting social, economic and political changes which affected Welsh society between 1939 and 2000. It examines the impact of the sexual revolution, the Americanization of popular culture, the rebirth of political nationalism and the foundation of the welfare state against the backdrop of a rapidly-changing economy. Through photographs, films, oral testimonies, literature and newspapers, the module questions the historical reality behind popular perceptions of a period that continues to be fiercely debated. Was Welsh society swinging in the sixties? Was Thatcherism ultimately beneficial for Wales? What was the impact of post-war immigration? Did women gain equality? Were ‘family values’ undermined? Did devolution reflect a growth in nationalist feelings? This module will address such questions through key themes including identity, class and gender, and will place the experience of Wales within a broader British and international context.

 On completion of the module a student should be able to

• analyse key themes and events in the history of modern Wales, 1939-2000
• discuss, with reference to modern historical scholarship, selected topics in the social and economic history of Wales, 1939-2000
• asses the wider social, economic, cultural and political impact of the decline of the staple industries within modern Wales
• critically evaluate the transformation of social attitudes within Welsh society in the period 1939-2000
• demonstrate a critical understanding of the potentialities and problems of researching and writing contemporary history

Knowledge and Understanding:

Upon the completion of the option the typical student will be able to:

• demonstrate a broad and systematic knowledge of the history of modern Wales, 1939-2000
• critically identify different trends in the social and economic history of Wales throughout the period
• demonstrate an in-depth and critical understanding of concepts of gender, class, protest, nationalism and identity and how these concepts have been deployed in historical and historiographical writing on post-Second World War Welsh society
• analyse key themes and issues in the social and economic history of Welsh society in the light of these ideas, contexts and frameworks.

Intellectual Skills:

Upon the completion of the option the typical student will be able to:

• identify the nature and scope of the issues raised by the social history of Wales 1939-2000
• discuss in a critical and informed manner the social, economic and political history of Wales during this period
• summarise and critically evaluate the relative merits and demerits of alternative views and interpretations of the post-1939 history of Wales and evaluate their significance
• identify problems, assess evidence, and reach independent conclusions on the social and economic history of contemporary Wales
• devise and sustain arguments about the nature of societal change and its wider impact within modern Wales
• Present accurately, succinctly and lucidly, and in written or oral form their arguments in accordance with appropriate scholarly conventions

Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:

Upon the completion of the option the typical student will be able to:

• Express their ideas on and assessments of a changing economic base, growth of political nationalism and a transforming social attitudes within modern Welsh society
• Discuss in a critical and informed manner the social, economic and cultural history of Wales, 1939-2000
• Identify strengths, weaknesses, problems, and/or peculiarities of alternative historical/historiographical interpretations
• Demonstrate an awareness of a range of relevant primary sources and an appreciation of how historians have approached them

Transferable Skills:

Upon the completion of the option the typical student will be able to:

• Communicate ideas and arguments effectively, whether in speech or in writing in an accurate, succinct and lucid manner.
• Formulate and justify their own arguments and conclusions about a range of issues.
• Demonstrate an ability to modify as well as to defend their own positions.
• Possess a range of information technology resources to assist with information retrieval.
• Organise their own study methods and workload.
• Work is part of the team in seminar and/or tutorial discussions.
• Independently organise their own study methods and workload.

A programme of lectures which will introduce students to the main factual and conceptual issues to be discussed and analyse during the module.

 Seminars related to lectures, in which key issues and topics are analysed and discussed further.

Students will be assessed by means of a combination of one 1000 word assessed essay [15%], one 2000 word assessed essay [35%] and one two-hour unseen written examination paper in which the student will answer two questions [50%].

Course assignments:

1. Assessed Essay 1will contribute 15% of the final mark for the module. It is designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to review evidence, draw appropriate conclusions from it and employ the formal conventions of scholarly presentation. It must be no longer than 1,000 words (excluding empirical appendices and references).
2. Assessed Essay 2will contribute 35% of the final mark for the module. It is designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to review evidence, draw appropriate conclusions from it and employ the formal conventions of scholarly presentation. It must be no longer than 2,000 words (excluding empirical appendices and references).
3. The Examination will take place during the second assessment period [May/June] and will consist of an unseen two hour paper that will contribute the remaining 50% of the final mark for this module. Students must write 2 answers in total. .

 Topics to be covered include:

1.  Historians and contemporary Wales
2. Walesand the Second World War
3. From the cradle to the grave: post-war reconstruction
4. Pit heads and the factory floor: Working Wales in the 1950s
5. The Labour Party and Wales
6. Cofiwch Dryweryn: Nationalism in the 1960s
7. The Welsh language movement in the 1960s
8. Sexual revolution, women’s rights and family
9. Post-war popular culture
10. A tolerant nation?: Immigration in Post-War Wales
11. Devolution and Referendum 1979
12. The 1984-5 miners’ strike
13. Women and Wales in the 1980s
14. Rebirth of a nation? Devolution and the Welsh Assembly
15. Cool Cymru: Welsh society in the 1990s

Jane Aaron, Teresa Rees, Sandra Betts and Moira Vincentelli (eds), Our Sisters’ Land: The Changing Identities of Women in Wales (1994)