HS1004: Doomsday Dystopias: Nuclear Disaster in the Cold War Imagination

Module code: HS1004

Module provider: History; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: Level 1 (Certificate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Professor Patrick Major, email: p.major@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The module compares nuclear crisis management in the real world with the Cold War imaginary.

The aims of the module are to:

• Introduce students to twentieth-century concepts of nuclear strategy and civil defence
• Introduce students to visual and literary dystopias of nuclear warfare
• Encourage students to reflect critically upon the historical basis of contemporary ideas about human-made self-destruction

Module learning outcomes

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

1. understand how ideas and events are shaped by their historical contexts
2. be aware of differing historiographical interpretations
3. organise material and articulate arguments effectively in writing
4. demonstrate familiarity with bibliographical conventions and mastery of library skills

Module content

This module examines four real Cold War nuclear episodes – the 1945 Hiroshima/Nagasaki A-bombings which ushered in civil defence in 1950s America; 1962’s Cuban Missile Crisis; 1983’s ‘Able Archer’ NATO exercise that almost triggered war, and 1986’s Chernobyl disaster in the USSR. It also explores the early fallout shelter plans of the Civil Defence establishment and the protests against such planning by the anti-nuclear movement. It then uses this real-world context to explore the science fiction imagination of disaster, including Kramer’s On the Beach (1959), Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove (1964), Watkins’ The War Game (1965), and Jackson’s Threads (1984). It also considers how the Cold War imaginary shaped the ‘silver age’ superhero comic book culture of the 1960s, as well as the ‘dark’ science fiction of Philip K. Dick and J.G. Ballard, and the absurdist writings of Stanislaw Lem. It concludes with the 21st-century nuclear nostalgia in the gaming universe, from 1988’s PC pioneer, Wasteland, to its spiritual successors, Half-Life, Fallout and Metro 2033.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching is by eleven weekly two-hour seminars, supplemented by online activities as directed and independent study. 

Fortnightly workshop sessions will give practical advice on working towards the assessment and practice time for skills related to the module.

Study hours

At least 27 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Staff will devise formative assessment appropriate to the module content. 

Reassessment

Additional costs