Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

In 1968, in various parts of the globe, seemingly stable governments and regimes were shaken by a wave of protest movements that ostensibly shared more than mere timing. It was a year of seismic social and political change globally. From the anti-Vietnam war and civil rights movements in the United States, student protests and revolutions across Europe, the rise of the New Left, and the emergence of second-wave feminism, the ‘1968 moment’ is central to understanding the second half of the twentieth century. This module will highlight the similarities and differences in the 1968 experience across four key case studies: France, Germany, United States, and Northern Ireland. It will take a thematic approach, intersecting macro- and micro-level analysis and case studies. It will encourage students to consider the ‘1968 years’ as a significant moment between postwar austerity and the Thatcher-Reagan years, and examine whether there is a common 1968 experience or conflicting ideals. By considering the trajectories of activists across the four case studies, including transnational links between them, the module will develop students’ skills in comparative history and their awareness of memory as a historical source.

Outline Of Syllabus

This syllabus may be subject to variation:

*Global 68 an introductory lecture Race and ethnicity
*Martin Luther King’s murder, Black Power and 1968
*Catholics and the Orange State in 1968
*Immigrant workers and student internationalism in the May Events Class
*The American 68: the absence of labour protest?
*Housing, jobs and class demands in the Northern Irish Civil Rights movement
*The May-June strike movement: 10 million workers against 10 years of Gaullism Gender
*The US women’s movement
*Republicanism, civil rights and women’s liberation
*May 68, sexual freedom and the origins of French women’s and gay liberation movements Conclusion
*Did 68 change the world?

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:

- Assess the political, social and economic conditions that led to upheaval in each of the case studies;
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the ways in which 1968 changed culture and politics;
- Summarise and evaluate the key historiographical debates in this field;
- Comprehend the comparisons and differences between the four case studies;
- Display an understanding of the range of primary source materials which can be used when researching this field and be able to critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of these sources;
- Critically evaluate and assess the ongoing debates concerning 1968’s legacy and interpretation.

Intended Skill Outcomes

By the end of this module students will have gained competence in the following key areas:

- Ability to understand and evaluate historical debates;
- Efficiently source, analyse and incorporate reliable materials in an independent analysis in response to a range of exercises;
- Ability to analyse and evaluate primary sources;
- Effective research skills; the ability to locate appropriate primary and secondary source materials and take notes;
- Excellent writing skills, including correct referencing;
- Ability to present research findings visually and verbally;
- Effective time and workload management.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

WORKSHOPS encourage independent study and promote improvements in oral presentation, interpersonal communication, problem-solving skills, research skills and adaptability.

LECTURES enable students to gain a wider sense of historical argument and debate and how such debates operate, which also allows them to develop comparisons between different historiographical debates.

SURGERY TIME: Staff will make themselves available in their offices for four hours over the course of the module to see students individually on issues concerning them, although we expect this will focus on preparation for assessments.

Small group teaching allow in-depth discussion of each of the national case studies.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Work submitted during the delivery of the module forms a means of determining the student’s progress and is feed-forward. Summative assessment tests knowledge outcomes and develops skills in research and reading.


Summative assessment

Written exercise: a global and transnational source
•       students write an analysis of the Global 68 critically using The Courier (the Newcastle University Students' Union newspaper) as source material.

Essay: ‘Connected themes’ essay: a comparative essay structured around the themes and documents of the course, due in the assessment period.

Exchanges



Study-abroad, non-Erasmus exchange and Loyola students spending semester 1 only are required to finish their assessment while in Newcastle. Where an exam is present, an alternative form of assessment will be set and where coursework is present, an alternative deadline will be set. Details of the alternative assessment will be provided by the module leader.

General Notes

N/A