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Description
This course unit is the first of a block of four which introduces students to the study of history. In the television proga?airoe Arthur Marwick, Professor of History, uses visual evidence to illus...trate his theme of the "social necessity" of history. Using news filn, prints and old photographs, Arthur Marwick starts by showing; that many of the violent confrontations that doninate todays headlines are only comprehensible in the light of their historical origins. He also suggests that most elements in our social environment, for example the position of women in the community or the very geography of the cities we live in, can only be fully understood through sone knowledge of history. An animated nap sequence which traces the rise and fall of the world's -Treat civilisations illustrates Arthur Marwick's second point which is that without history we are disorientated - that history is to society as memory is to the individual. Finally, he emphasises the difference between "history" meaning the past and "history" meaning; man's interpretation of the past. In illustrating some of the powerful myths that our interpretations of the past have created, he underlines his conviction that history must be studied scientifically and systematically and this is the theme of the next two television programmes.
This course unit is the first of a block of four which introduces students to the study of history. In the television proga?airoe Arthur Marwick, Professor of History, uses visual evidence to illus...trate his theme of the "social necessity" of history. Using news filn, prints and old photographs, Arthur Marwick starts by showing; that many of the violent confrontations that doninate todays headlines are only comprehensible in the light of their historical origins. He also suggests that most elements in our social environment, for example the position of women in the community or the very geography of the cities we live in, can only be fully understood through sone knowledge of history. An animated nap sequence which traces the rise and fall of the world's -Treat civilisations illustrates Arthur Marwick's second point which is that without history we are disorientated - that history is to society as memory is to the individual. Finally, he emphasises the difference between "history" meaning the past and "history" meaning; man's interpretation of the past. In illustrating some of the powerful myths that our interpretations of the past have created, he underlines his conviction that history must be studied scientifically and systematically and this is the theme of the next two television programmes.
| Module code and title: | A100, Humanities: a foundation course |
|---|---|
| Item code: | A100; 05; 1972 |
| First transmission date: | 02-02-1972 |
| Published: | 1972 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:23 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Paul Kafno |
| Contributor: | Arthur Marwick |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Appeasement; Austrian Tyrol.; Blackshirts.; History; Irish guards; 'Kaiser Bill' |
| Footage description: | Introductory film sequence shows children skipping to a wartime version of 'Underneath the spreading chestnut tree', and East End pub discussion of Mosley's Blackshirts, a radio broadcast and a beer advert on a hoarding. Credits over. Arthur Marwick explains that the programme is to give his reasons for the serious study of history. Short sequence of newsfilm clips of world trouble spots: Cyprus, 1964; Vietnam, 1964; Austrian Tyrol, 1966; Chicago race riots, 1968; Ulster, 1968. Arthur describes the complex background to the the neo-fascist demonstrators in the Tyrol, as an example of the heritage of history. A film sequence shows Arthury&riving from his house in Hampstead to the Denham Film Archives in West London, showing the different types of housing to be seen along the route, in which the history of the development of the city can be seen. He introduces a film of war recruits to the Irish Guards being instructed in the regiment's history, as an example of the necessity for history to institutions. This is followed by a long sequence shot on film in 'hich, using animated maps, he describes the develop ment of world civilisations to the present with the emphasis on Western Europe. Finally he returns to historical myths, showing first a clip from a British propaganda film of the First World War. In cartoon style, it presents 'Kaiser Bill' as author of the war. Extract from Chamberlain's 1938 'appeasement' speech, and as an example of the opposite extreme, a foreign policy speech by John Foster Dulles. Marwick sums up. |
| Master spool number: | 6LT/70431 |
| Production number: | 00521_2352 |
| Videofinder number: | 2363 |
| Available to public: | no |
