History courses at Aspire Sussex are designed to be engaging and informative. If you are interested in people, culture and history, we offer a range of courses from the most popular to the completely unique.
The course will look at how the war impacted on peoples lives and how they responded to the challenges of fighting a global war. This will include looking at such issues as conscription, rationing, changes to industry and farming, and the role of women, and the fate of German and Austrian 'aliens'. It will also consider the affect that restrictions had on individual liberties during the war. Where possible, examples from the experience of Sussex will be discussed.
The course will look at how the war impacted on peoples lives and how they responded to the challenges of fighting a global war. This will include looking at such issues as conscription, rationing, changes to industry and farming, and the role of women, and the fate of German and Austrian 'aliens'. It will also consider the affect that restrictions had on individual liberties during the war. Where possible, examples from the experience of Sussex will be discussed.
This course is about the different ways of interpreting global events and structures. We will discuss the traditional theories of Realism, Liberalism and Marxism as well as their newer versions. We will also consider other approaches such as Feminism.
This course is about the different ways of interpreting important global issues. We will discuss the ways in which the international community has responded to issues such as poverty, inequality, environmental concerns and global terrorism.
The course is about the political parties in the UK. We will consider the historical and theoretical roots of the main political parties in the UK. We will also discuss how the parties have evolved and changed over time and how and why they differ on important political issues.
This 5 week course aims to explore how popular protest movements during the reign of Queen Victoria, such as Chartism, trade unionism and the fight for the rights of women, influenced the political and social development of this country.
The course will cover:
The influence of the Industrial Revolution and French Revolution on political ideas in the early nineteenth century;
The campaign for reform of the electoral system in the 1830s and 1860s.
The Chartist Movement in the 1830s and 1840s;
The development of trades unions in the 1830-1900 period, including the role of industrial unrest in political and social change;
The fight for women's rights during the nineteenth century;
Why change in the UK was brought about without a political revolution.
Examples from the Sussex area will be used wherever possible to illustrate events in the period, for example the causes of the 1884 Salvation Army Riots in Worthing.
This 5 week course will explore how the social and cultural condition of African Americans developed between the age of Reconstruction in the 1860s and the movement for civil rights in the 1960s, including the impact of Martin Luther King. The course will provide a background to current racial tensions in the United States.
The course cover will cover:
Racial prejudice and segregation in the US from 1865 to 1945, including the 'Jim Crow' laws in the South, key examples of racial prejudice, the Harlem Renaissance, and the impact of activists like Booker T Washington;
Impact of World War Two on the fight for civil rights;
Key developments in the 1950s;
The growth of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, especially the role of Martin Luther King;
The situation by the mid-1960s – the white reaction, racial tensions and violent resistance;
Was the civil rights movement a success or failure?
By the end of the course you should be able to:
Explain the causes and nature of racial prejudice in the United States
Describe the growth of the civil rights movement in the early twentieth century;
Give examples of how civil rights leaders fought to secure equality for African Americans ;
Explain the importance of key figures like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X;
How far the condition of African Americans today differs from the 1960’s.
This 5 week course aims to allow you to investigate the various causes of the civil war and to explore the impact of the war on American politics and society in the years of post-war reconstruction, especially on the lives of African Americans. (N.B. The course will not look in detail at the military campaigns of the war).
The course will cover:
The political, social and economic condition of the United States in 1840s and 1850s;
The arguments about the moral, social and economic role of slavery including the role of abolitionism in bringing about war;
The growth of the United States in the mid-nineteenth century, especially the impact of the war with Mexico;
The conflict over the expansion of slavery in new states and territories, including the 'civil war' in Kansas in the 1850s;
The importance of the election of Lincoln to the Presidency;
The outbreak, course and end of the war;
The Reconstruction of the South, especially the impact of military occupation and the changed status of African Americans.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
• Outline the problems faced by the United States by the 1850s.
• Discuss the role of slavery in the lead up to war.
• Explain the principle reasons for the outbreak of war in 1861.
• Explain the role played by Abraham Lincoln between 1860 and 1865.
• Outline the consequences of the war, especially for the South, and discuss the reasons why there was little change after 1877.
In 2010, Neil McGregor curated the successful BBC Radio 4 series, A History of the World in 100 Objects. In this course, we’ll look at an eclectic mix of pieces from the British Museum, chosen for both their beauty and their significance in some aspect of study of the Classical World. We’ll look at statues, pots, wall-paintings, jewellery; items made of gold, silver, marble, glass, earthenware; decorative pieces and ‘useful’ artefacts.
Learners will have an opportunity to participate: presentations on your own favourite pieces are welcome!
This course will explore how the Romans lived, and examine some of the ways in which their culture has influenced our world today. We’ll look at many aspects of life in Rome including daily routine, food and drink, entertainment, and clothing.
The First World stimulated the demand for political and social change across Europe. This course will focus on events in the United Kingdom, Germany and Russia to explore this process in the 1920s.
The course will examine how tensions that existed before the First World War were allowed to express themselves as a result of the changes in politics and society that resulted from the war.
By looking at events in Britain, Germany and Russia, three different responses will be covered, that provide examples of change in the early inter-war period.
By the end of the course you should be able to:
Outline how the period 1918-29 saw both change and continuity in the political, economic and social development of Britain.
Explore changes in party politics in the period, in particular the growth of support for Labour and the decline of the Liberal party.
Analyse the changes in the rights and roles of women in this period.
Discuss how Britain responded to the challenges of socialism and the growth of trades unions.
Discuss how social and cultural change was the result of the experience of war.
