Module manager: Prof Andrea Major
Email: A.Major@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2020/21
| HIST3100 | Colonial Bodies: Life and Death in British India, 1757-1900 |
This module is not approved as a discovery module
How did the establishment of colonial society impact on everyday life in British India? The subcontinent represented a site of both opportunity and peril for eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britons. Large fortunes, military reputations and political careers could all be made there, but only if you survived the long sea voyage, enervating climate and deadly tropical diseases of the subcontinent. Meanwhile, the establishment of colonial rule had far-reaching impacts on Indian social, cultural and domestic life. This module explores the emergence, development and functioning of British colonial society in India during the period of imperial expansion and consolidation, and how this was experienced by both Europeans and Indians. It focuses on everyday encounters and the physical experiences of empire: places and spaces, social and sexual intimacies, climate, environment, disease, violence and death. Drawing heavily on colonial accounts, memoirs, travel narratives and other primary sources, it analyses both official policy and public perception in order to assess the various ways in which social, ideological and political imperatives of empire were reflected in spatial ordering, physical experiences and personal encounters in a colonial setting.
The objectives of this module are:
1. To explore the nature and functioning of British colonial society in India through a focus on the physical experiences of empire.
2. To examine how Britons and Indians experienced, understood and represented physical and metaphorical spaces, social relationships and sexual intimacies, climactic and environmental conditions, and illness and death in the colonial context.
3. To understand how attitudes to these issues intersected with wider debates about race, gender, empire and identity.
On completion of this module, students will demonstrate:
1. An understanding of the physical challenges and experiences of empire in India, and the ways in which colonial society was structured to deal with them.
2. A nuanced appreciation of British experiences of and attitudes to India, especially as they relate to wider issues of race, gender and identity in colonial society.
3. A close critical familiarity with some key primary texts relating to these issues.
4. A sophisticated knowledge of the relevant historiography, including the most recent developments in the field.
- in-depth study and interpretation of primary sources
- thorough understanding of historiographical debate
- development and substantiation of own arguments
- historical comparison
This thematically arranged module will cover a range of issues relating to the physical experience of life and death in colonial India. These may include: the nature of British colonial society; public spaces and the colonial city; gender and the colonial home; the environment and climate; famine; disease and medicine; death; religious practices; experiences of violence, conflict and captivity.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 11 | 1 | 11 |
| Tutorial | 9 | 1 | 9 |
| Private study hours | 180 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Preparatory reading for lectures and seminars
Preparing presentations
Essay
Exam revision
Preparation for and participation in seminars,performance in the essay and blog postings.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Essay | 2,500 word essay due by 12noon in exam week 1 | 50 |
| Assignment | 3 x 750 word blog postings | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 8/10/2020
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team