Aims

Did you get enough sleep last night?

We spend a third of our lives sleeping – and yet sleep has not been a serious area of study for historians until recently. While we may think of sleeping as an absence of action, whether we get enough sleep has enormous impacts on how we feel, how we work, and how we view the world. Who can sleep, when, and how much can reveal societal attitudes towards power, efficiency, class, race, sexuality, community and more. In this module, we will dive into the history of sleep by focusing on the problem of sleep (and not sleeping) from the 1750s to the present day.

Through this module, students will be introduced to key issues in the historiography of sleep in the modern period right up to our contemporary moment. We will work with medical and scientific approaches to sleep as well as cultural and environmental perspectives. We will focus particularly on cultural and scientific attitudes towards sleep in America, Britain and the British Empire. We will ask what sleep is, what role it plays in our lives, and whose sleep matters. Students will obtain a close understanding of this exciting area of historical research as well as its closely connected areas like the history of eating, labour history, and imperial history. We will also get out of the classroom to visit a heritage site in order to think more about sleep in its environmental contexts.

This module aims to:
-       Consider sleep as a cultural and biological phenomenon
-       Introduce students to sleep as an exciting area of historical enquiry through the study of its historiography and key debates
-       Provide students with critical approaches for analysing sleep including scientific, postcolonial, cultural, anthropological and environmental approaches.
-       Investigate in depth case studies and to acquire a general knowledge of the subject by reading primary and secondary sources
-       Improve the student's capacity for independent study.

Outline Of Syllabus

Outline syllabus, intended as a guide only; week-by-week topics may be slightly different to the following:

-       What is sleep? Introducing sleep as a historical and cultural phenomenon
-       Early to Bed, Early to Rise – Benjamin Franklin, the Protestant Ethic and Early Rising in the 18th century
-       ‘Two Sleeps’ - Biphasic sleeping and controversies in sleep historiography
-       Neurasthenia and Cerebral Hyperaemia – Medical theories of sleep and sleepless in the 19th century
-       Of Mansions and Lodging Houses – Class and sleeping arrangements in the Victorian city
-       The ‘Lazy’ Natives – Rest and the time management of colonized bodies in the British Empire
-       The Swing Shift – Shift work, scientific management and the World Wars in Britain and America
-       Into the Bunker – The invention of sleep science between the US and Germany
-       Sleep apnoea and Pickwickian syndrome: The pathologisation of sleep in the 20th century
-       ‘Biological’ sleep: Can we ever know the sleep of the past?

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The combination of in-person lectures, seminars, and workshops are designed to encourage an active and student-led approach to learning. Lectures provide a foundational knowledge of core themes. Workshops provide students with the skills to analyse and locate primary sources and delve into complex historiographical debates. Seminars allow for the discussion of relevant historiographical interpretations, encourages independent study, and promotes improvement in oral presentation, interpersonal communication, problem-solving skills, and adaptability. Preparation for seminars and workshops requires students to read and critically analyse a wide range of primary sources and secondary literature. The fieldtrip will develop students’ ability to interpret the history of sleep in relation with urbanisation, labour, and the environment.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The assessments have been designed to support students in writing their final essay.
The 25% assessment will be based on primary source materials which will provide an opportunity to engage with historical and scientific accounts of sleep and sleep loss. Students will be provided with a number of sources to choose from, including the chance to analyze a historical sleep environment.
The 75% essay will give the opportunity to work with primary source materials, engage with historiography and develop their own arguments related to historical materials. The essay will assess the students’ ability to make a clear and compelling argument, write clearly and critically, and synthesize different interpretations.
The formative essay plan will allow students to receive feedback on their ideas early on in the module to support their success in the summative assessment.