The University Women's Club of Winnipeg
presents
LEISURE AND POPULAR CULTURE IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND
28 August 2005
Just as they revolutionized industrial production and patterns of work, so, too, did the Victorians transform leisure, play and consumption. This four-week course describes and analyzes the major influences which created the modern world of leisure that we have inherited. It focuses on key elements that defined the Victorian era and the cultural implications that still echo today.
Week 1, November 4
'Merrie England', folk pleasures and the traditional good time in the early Victorian period. 'Rational recreation', the new industrial towns and the campaign for leisure reform.
Week 2, November 18
Drink and the modernized pub: the gin palace and its enemies. The invention of the barmaid and the glamorization of consumption. The rise of the music hall as the prototype of the modern entertainment industry.
Week 3, November 25
Adventures by train: excursions and the trip to the seaside. 'Play up, and play the game!': the new athleticism. Bicycling and the New Woman.
Week 4, December 2
The making of the West End: shopping and theatre in the fin de siècle. From the good time to the good life: ideas and images of the new leisure world in the popular press.
Instructor PETER BAILEY is a Professor in the History Department at the University of Manitoba, specializing in cultural studies and the social history of modern Britain. A graduate of Oxford, Manchester, and UBC, he is the author of Music Hall: the Business of Pleasure and Popular Culture and Performance in the Victorian City, among other titles. Together with awards for teaching excellence, he was nominated the first Faculty of Arts Professor of the Year in 2001.
Course Dates: Four Tuesday mornings, November 4, 18, 25 and Dec.2, 9:30-11:15 a.m.
Cost: $50 for UWC members; $60 non-members
Registration: Phone 954-7880 or email cfuw@uwc-wpg.mb.ca. Cheques should be made payable to the University Women's Club. Registration deadline is Friday, October 31.
