Delivered at:: School of Foreign Languages

Course type:: Elective course

When:: 1 year, 1, 2 module

Instructor

Тарасова Наталья Сергеевна

Full Syllabus Ask Question

Abstract

The course encourages students to develop lifelong knowledge and skills, including but not limited to a balanced understanding of the heritage and history of countries which constitute the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (that is, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland), their cultural settings, geography, society, political system, holidays, and everyday life in general. The course combines various activities, including discussions, presentations, quizzes, etc. It also envisages various research projects conducted in small groups on a wide range of topics related to its subject matter. This syllabus sets minimal requirements for the knowledge and skills of students and determines the contents of the course.

Learning Objectives

Among the main learning objectives of the «History and Culture of Great Britain» are: - knowledge and understanding of the British culture in the context of historical, political and cultural shifts and influences; - understanding of contemporary historic, cultural, political and social trends and aspects of life in the UK.

Expected Learning Outcomes

The knowledge of main British political, historical and cultural figures and their role in the history of the UK. The ability to trace cause-and-effect relationships between historical events.
The knowledge of physical and political geography of the UK, as well as contemporary British politics. The ability to analyse causes and consequences of political events in contemporary Britain.
The knowledge of basic facts of contemporary British social life. The ability to analyse cultural phenomena of the UK in the contemporary social and political context.

Course Contents

Unit 1. History of Great Britain.
Unit 2. British geography and politics.
Unit 3. Contemporary British ways of life.

Assessment Elements

Экзамен
Essay Описание: Interim assessment takes place in the format of a written examination, an essay in English. The essay is an answer to the questions on the materials covered over the semester. The questions are determined by the lecturer and sent to students before the examination. At the examination, each student receives a card with a question and 80 minutes to complete the essay in accordance with the question received. The course does not presuppose any blocking elements of assessment.
Самостоятельная работа
Presentations Описание: Independent work takes place in the form of group presentations in English on the topics allocated to the groups by the lecturer (each student should participate in 1 group presentation per semester). Group presentations take place during seminars according to the schedule provided by the lecturer during the first week of the course. The number of classes devoted to the presentations is determined by the lecturer in accordance with the number of students and is communicated to the students during the 2nd or 3rd class of the course. After that, students divide into groups of 5 or, occasionally, 4-6 people and inform the lecturer on the chosen topic and provide the lecturer with the list of group members. Each presentation is to take up to 20 minutes. Each group member should take equal part in the composition and speaking during the presentation. If a member or several members of the group are unable to participate in the presentation (with a valid reason), said group should arrange a substitution with another group or inform the lecturer who can arrange the substitution beforehand. Each group member is assessed individually. The lecturer sets the order and topics of presentations.
Контрольные работы
Written test Описание: Written tests take place during 3 seminars over the course of the semester. The schedule for the tests as well as the content of the knowledge tested are provided by the lecturer at the beginning of the course. A written test comprises 5 open-ended or closed questions on the materials from the previous lectures and seminars. Closed questions are multiple choice questions with 3-4 answer options or matching questions or choosing the odd option questions. The recommended time of the test is 5-7 minutes, but is subject to change if found necessary by the lecturer. The lecturer announces the time limits before the test begins. The written test takes place at the beginning of the class and cannot be done at any other time. If the student, for any reason, is late for the test and does not have enough time to write the test with the rest of the group, s/he gets 0 points for the test. No re-tests are allowed.
Работа на семинарах
Работа на семинарах включает в себя выполнение домашних заданий к семинарам в различных формах, включая конспекты, контурные карты, подготовку ответов на вопросы дома и на занятии и т.п.

Interim Assessment

2025/2026 2nd module
0.2 * Контрольные работы + 0.2 * Работа на семинарах + 0.2 * Самостоятельная работа + 0.4 * Экзамен

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Oakland, J. (2003). British Civilization : A Student’s Dictionary (Vol. Second edition). London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=658663

Recommended Additional Bibliography

История, литература и культура Великобритании [Электронный ресурс] : учебник / Рос. гос. гуманитарн. ун-т. — 3-е изд. (эл.). - 978-5-7281-2235-7 - Ковалевская Т. В., Вагизова Ф. А., Семенюк Е. В. - 2019 - Москва: Российский государственный гуманитарный университет - https://ibooks.ru/bookshelf/362647 - 362647 - iBOOKS

Authors

Tarasova Natalia Sergeevna
Барклянская Надежда Владимировна

Bachelor’s Programme 'Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication in Business'

History and Culture of Great Britain