British Rulers and the British Ruled (Class and the History of the British People since 1700)

Presentations of Final Paper Projects (Powerpoint)

• 2007
  • Premodern Visions of Social Class
• The effects of social relations and patriarchy on Quaker Women in the 17th Century (Krystal) and the effects of class (biases?) on early 19th century murder trails (Jim) are examined in two projects.
• The material world differed, well, materially to different classes (Leah). (Food for thought for those that insist like David Cannadine that it is all in the mind!)
• Social Class and in Dickens's Hard Times
  • This subject is examined (as it was last year) but from a new perspective (Matt).
• Social Class in George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London
  • One project examines Orwell's viewpoint from perspective of social geography (Eric) another from that of social responses to poverty (Cole)
• Social Class and the Classless Society
  • Did the Brits all pull together and do "our bit" during World War II, or was class replicated in the black market? (Michelle)
• 2006

• Social Class and the Industrial Revolution in Charles Dickens's Hard Times
  • Several projects looked at Hard Times in the context of its era (Megan), its relation to Utilitarianism (Ben), the geospatial view of poverty (Krystal), and its relation to Persuasion, Ironbridge, and even Crystal Palace (Ashley).
• Social Class and Marriage among the Elite in Jane Austen's Persuasion
  • An examination of the marriage market of Regency England, of course, relates to our experience in Bath (Kristi).
• Social Class of East End London in George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London
  • Orwell's London is, of course, about poverty in the early-twentieth century metropolis (Cassie).
• Social Class and Prosopography (Group Biography): Three Studies
  • An examination of courtiers and court officers at the time of Queen Anne suggests the royal court is a microcosm of society (Amanda).
  • 18th- and early 19th-century antiquarians of modest means focused on the remains in their localities in part because (a) they didn't have the monies for a Grand Tour, and (b) they believed in the value and the identity of their personal county communities; but they began the basis for modern archaeology, nevertheless (Carrie).
  • Is studying parliamentary history a focus on the electorate or those elected (the MPs)?; this study does both focusing on Harlaxton's neighbor, Grantham, as well as Lincoln, Nottingham, and Newark (Ray).

last updated on August 7, 2007