Explore the remarkable history of women’s rights
6th February 2018 will mark the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, the change in the law that gave (some) women the right to vote in Westminster elections for the first time.
On this course you will travel back to the nineteenth century to explore the legal, social and economic frameworks that limited women’s rights prior to the vote and discover the pioneering women campaigning for change. You will learn the story of how and why the vote was extended to women in 1918, the movements behind this change and how the struggle for equality continued throughout the twentieth century.
What topics will you cover?
Guided by Claire Kennan from Royal Holloway, University of London, you will examine:
- The myth and reality of women’s experience of the nineteenth century through literature, art, work and the law;
- Four pioneering women whose campaigns for issues other than the vote laid the foundation for the women’s suffrage campaign;
- The movements and milestones in campaigning for votes for women;
- The impact of the First World War and the passage of the 1918 Representation of the People Act;
- The campaign for equality after 1918 and the impact of the first women MPs;
- The relationship between protest and political change and how Suffragette militancy would be regarded today.
| Royal Holloway University of London | |
| FutureLearn | |
| 2-4 hours (per week) | |
| English | |
| English | |
| Social Justice | |
| 3 Weeks |
