HIST 343B Oxford: City, University, Nation
This course examines the history of the city and university of Oxford, from Anglo-Saxon times to the twentieth century. It does so by concentrating upon a few selected points of that history, considering that history in relation to the history of the nation: how does Oxford's history mirror English history, and what role has Oxford played in English history? The course combines reading in primary sources, study of historical urban topography, and the insights of English-style local history, with excursions and site visits around the city as an integral part of the course experience. Units will include the historical evolution of the cityscape via digitized versions of old maps, and Oxford in twentieth-century literature from Tolkien and his circle to Inspector Morse.