The 1900s

Darum sollten Sie dieses Seminar wählen:

The early 20th century is a fascinating period. The 1900s only cover ten years (1900-1909), but they were a time of great changes with an ardent belief in technology. In Britain, these years are called The Edwardian Age, named after King Edward VII, Queen Victoria’s successor to the

throne (1901 to 1910). King Edward VII was very easy-going and very different from his mother (who stood for the Victorian Era). During his reign motor cars and airplanes became popular, and in 1908, the decision to proceed with the construction of the Titanic was made. Socially and politically, things were changing as well. Women demonstrated for the right to vote (the suffragette movement), important reforms were carried out (e.g. old age pensions were started), women’s clothes changed enormously, and of course, changes also affected manners and morals. In arts and literature, we have the blossoming of modernist movements, Modern Style (art nouveau) or Jugendstil.

Das erwartet Sie inhaltlich:

In this seminar we will look at people’s mindsets, at how they felt in this spirit of change towards a more modern age; at progress (attempts at improving people’s well-being, technological success stories or failures, wonderful or rather dubious inventions...); at changes in manners and morals. If you like, you can also focus on literature and analyze e.g. a novel by an Edwardian author like E.M. Forster, whose novels have also been turned into well-known films (e.g. A Room With a View).

Hinweis:

The course language will be English and German, term papers (Seminararbeiten) should be written in English.You should like working with sources in the English language.

You should be interested in working with English-language sources.