HS1BCB-Birth Control in modern Britain: an intellectual history

Module Provider: History
Number of credits: 10 [5 ECTS credits]
Level:4
Terms in which taught: Autumn term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2021/2

Module Convenor: Prof David Stack
Email: d.a.stack@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module studies the history of the idea of birth control in modern Britain, from the publication of Thomas Malthus’s Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) through to the decision in 1974 to make contraceptive advice and prescriptions available to all on the NHS, regardless of age or marital status. The module focuses on how arguments for and against the use of contraception related to broader intellectual movements - including those in religion, science, economics, and women’s rights - and how these arguments changed over time.

Aims:

The aim of the module is to demonstrate how an apparent problem of medical knowledge - the practicalities of contraception - can only be fully understood within a broader framework of cultural of intellectual ideas about birth control.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the module it is expected that students will be able to:

• identify the sources of the topic in question


• trace its historical development


• be aware of differing historiographical interpretations of the pattern and causes of this development


• understand how ideas and events are shaped by their historical contexts


• organise material and articulate arguments effectively in writing, both unde r timed conditions and in assessed coursework


• demonstrate familiarity with bibliographical conventions and mastery of library skills.

Additional outcomes:

The module also aims:

• to encourage students to think independentlyÌý


• to help students develop good oral and written communication skillsÌý


• to develop the effectiveness of students in group situationsÌý


• to develop IT skills through the use of relevant resources.Ìý

Outline content:

Starting from the publication of Thomas Malthus’s Essay on the Principle of Population (1798), this module traces the history of the idea of birth control in modern Britain through to the introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1961, the legalisation of abortion in 1967, and the 1974 decision to make contraceptive advice and prescriptions available to all on the NHS, regardless of age or marital status. The module is primarily concerned with how an understanding of birth control chang ed over time and how medical knowledge about contraception related to broader intellectual and cultural movements, in religion, science, economics, women’s rights, and attitudes to marriage. To explore these we will undertake a series of detailed case studies, including: Francis Place’s birth control handbills of 1823 (the first birth control propaganda produced anywhere in the world); the 1877 trial of Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh for promoting knowledge of contraception; the arguments and impact of Marie Stopes’s Married Love (1918); how attitudes to abortion changed from the late-eighteenth through to the mid-twentieth century; and the arguments that surrounded the introduction of the contraceptive pill.Ìý

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Teaching is by eight two-hour seminars over one term. Students are reminded to email their tutors for help and advice whenever needed and to note office hours.