Course Catalogue

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The relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States-sometimes turbulent, sometimes close-has arguably been one of the most important international pairings in modern history. Coined in the latter stages of the Second World War, the term "special relationship" has been in use ever since to describe the British-American relationship. The course will examine the history of this relationship since the beginning of the twentieth century, and may include an exploration of its political, diplomatic, economic, cultural, imperial, and intelligence dimensions. It will consider Britain's loss of international dominance amid the rise of the United States, the complexities of the British-American relationship as this happened, as well as the realities of this relationship since the putative formation of the "special relationship" amid the Second World War.

10 x 1 hour lectures and 5 x 2 hour flipped seminars. 

This is one of the Honours options in History and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into History, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

None

None

Essay- 3,000 words - 60%

Reports - four of up to 300 words each, completed ahead of seminars - 10% each = 40% total

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course aims to:

■ Explore how the United States supplanted Britain as the world's foremost international power in the twentieth century

■ Examine the formation of the "special relationship" during the Second World War and its aftermath

■ Explore the linguistic importance of the term "special relationship" to each country and its effect on the relationship between them

■ Compare the idealization of the "special relationship" to its realities across multiple dimensions

■ Consider alternative ways of conceptualizing the relationship

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Analyse the causes of U.S. ascendency amid Britain's relative decline

■ Critically evaluate the term "special relationship" and its usefulness in describing the British-American relationship since the Second World War

■ Assess the most important aspects of the relationship between Britain and the United States since c. 1900

■ Develop a conceptualization of the relationship between the two countries

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.