The Rural Idyll
offered by Oxford University

Public University
1 Campus
Estd. 1096

The Rural Idyll
at
Oxford University
Overview

Explore and be able to evaluate examples of literature, art, music and social activities influenced by the rural idyll

Duration	5 weeks
Total fee	₹10,500
Mode of learning	Online
Course Level	UG Certificate

The Rural Idyll
at
Oxford University
Highlights

Earn a certificate of completion from Oxford university

The Rural Idyll
at
Oxford University
Course details

Skills you will learn

English

What are the course deliverables?

Use recent scholarly debates to contrast the experience in England with other parts of Britain and the world
Undertake a mini-research exercise to explore an aspect of the rural idyll
Understand the nature of the rural idyll in England in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Explain your own viewpoint both informally through discussion and formally through written work

More about this course

The rural idyll, fuelled by the Romantic movement, was in many ways a reaction against the industrialisation and urbanisation of nineteenth-century Britain
In this course we examine how the rural idyll was constructed through literature, art, the preservation and revival of folk music, dance, and traditions, and how the countryside became a place of escape for urban dwellers to live, holiday, or for leisure
We will see how our current appreciation of the countryside is largely a creation of our historical imagination
There will be opportunities to contrast the English experience with developments elsewhere in Britain and the world

The Rural Idyll
at
Oxford University
Curriculum

Week 0

An Introduction to Teams ? Course orientation

Week 1

The rise of the rural idyll - ideal and reality

Week 2

Land and landscape in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature

Week 3

Picturing the countryside

Week 4

Escape to the countryside - residence and recreation

Week 5

Protecting the idyll - the early preservation and conservation movements

The Rural Idyll
at
Oxford University
Faculty details

Dr Frances Richardson

Frances has a doctorate in Local History. Research interests focus on livelihoods, poverty and social change, especially the role of women. Publications include book chapters and journal articles on women farmers, upland enclosure, the Welsh economy, and religious nonconformity.