Introduction to British Civilization
BBLAN 00300 CV
Examination procedure and topics
Tamás Karáth PhD
Spring 2013
INTRODUCTION TO BRITISH CIVILIZATION (BBLAN 00300) CV
EXAMINATION PROCEDURE AND TOPICS
Lecturer: Karáth Tamás PhD (kartauzi@gmx.de)
This is an only exam (CV) course on British civilization. Only students who have acquired a
signature in a previous semester may register for this exam.
EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS
The content of the exam is based on Introduction to Britain edited by Károly Pintér (2nd
revised edition, 2007/2010). The exam consists of a written part (fact questions and an outline
map) and an oral part. Both the written entry test and the oral exam are based on the course
book and the assigned home readings (indicated in the course schedule and also listed below).
Obligatory Readings for the Exam:
I. Pintér Károly, Intoduction to Britain. 2nd revised edition. PPKE, 2010
II. Articles and studies as assigned home readings:
(1) Nigel Morris: The Big Question: Why doesn’t the UK have a written constitution, and
does it matter? The Independent (18 Feb 2008)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-big-question-why-doesnt-the-uk-have-awritten-constitution-and-does-it-matter-781975.html
(2) “A New Parliament and Scotland’s Future”
http://www.institute-of-governance.org/publications/working_papers
/a_new_parliament_and_scotlands_future
(3) “Mixed fortunes for language” (BBC Wales)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/2771695.stm
(4) Joanne Hughes, “Attitudes to community relations in Northern Ireland: grounds for
optimism”
http://ark.incore.ulst.ac.uk/publications/updates/update20.pdf
(5) F. Bechhofer - D. McCrone, “Being British: A Crisis of Identity?”
http://www.institute-of-governance.org/publications/working_papers/beingbritish_a_crisis_of_identity
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Introduction to British Civilization
BBLAN 00300 CV
Examination procedure and topics
Tamás Karáth PhD
Spring 2013
(6) Tariq Modood: Post-Immigration ’difference’ and integration: The case of Muslims in
Western Europe
http://www.ed.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.82423!/fileManager/Triq%20Modood.pdf
(7) Jonathan Wynne-Jones, “Britain has become a ‘Catholic country’?”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1573452/Britain-has-become-a-‘Catholiccountry’.html
(8) Stephen Bates, “Church of England: Beset by liberals, hounded by conservatives,
Williams needs a miracle to keep church intact”
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/15/anglicanism.religion
(9) Sean Coughlan, BBC News, “Education, education, education,” (14-05-2007)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/education/6564933.stm
(10) Csizmadia Sándor, “A brit multikulturalizmus paradoxonja: Elkülönült együttélés”
http://www.publikon.hu/application/essay/486_1.pdf
Optional materials to update information:

The on-line publication of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about recent data
concerning the UK: http://www.fco.gov.uk, http://www.informationfrombritain.com

The Northern Ireland Office website: http://www.nio.gov.uk

The Scottish Office website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk

The Scottish Parliament website: http://www.scottish-devolution.org.uk

The Welsh Office website: http://www.wales.gov.uk
♣♣♣
EXAMINATION PROCEDURE
The exam will consist of two parts. In the first 15 minutes you will sit for a written entry test
containing an outline map exercise (in which 15 places have to be identified) as well as a
series of 15 questions requiring a one-word or a one-sentence answer. You have to score at
least 50% in both parts of the entry test. Failure of this test means the automatic failure of the
exam.
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Introduction to British Civilization
BBLAN 00300 CV
Examination procedure and topics
Tamás Karáth PhD
Spring 2013
1. Entry Test
A) Outline map exercise
In the outline map exercise, you have to be able to identify the following regions and places
on an outline map:
England:
1. The South (and its subdivisions: Southeast, East Anglia, West Country): London, Oxford,
Cambridge, Bristol, Brighton, Southampton, Canterbury, Norwich, Plymouth
2. The Midlands: Birmingham, Nottingham, Coventry
3. The North Country: Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, Newcastle-uponTyne, York
Scotland:
1. Lowlands: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen
2. Highlands and Islands: Inverness
Wales:
Swansea, Cardiff, Newport
Northern Ireland:
Belfast
B) Fact questions
You will have to complete the missing information in 15 sentences. This gap-filling type of
exercise will enquire about the key concepts listed at the end of each chapter in Pintér
Károly’s Introduction to Britain.
For your information, you may consult the following sample fact question sheet:
SCREENING TEST: CIVILIZATION OF THE UK
Good luck.
1. The capital of Northern Ireland is …………………………
2. The largest city of the Midlands is ........................................
3-4. The three pillars of the Scottish national identity, conserved after the Act of Union of 1707, were: (1)
............................, (2) ...................................... and (3) ..........................................
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Introduction to British Civilization
BBLAN 00300 CV
Examination procedure and topics
Tamás Karáth PhD
Spring 2013
5. The Good Friday Agreement declared about the status of Northern Ireland that the province
……………………………………………. as long as this is the wish of the majority of the Northern Irish
population.
6. The last step of a bill’s becoming law is called ….................................................................................................
7. Caribbean immigrants have found jobs typically in .............................................................................................
8. At the end of the sixth form, pupils take the …................................... exam.
9. Today the Church of England has to face the ever most serious tension between two wings: the conservative
………………………. and the more liberal ……………………………
10. The 1999 House of Lords Reform Act abolished ……………………………………………………………….
11. Great Britain is made up of the following countries: ……………………………….………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
12. The 19th-century foundations of higher educational institutions are called ...........................................
universities.
13. As a result of the Welsh Bilingual Act .................................................................................………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
14-15. The Church of England is called an established church, because ……………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. The Colloquy (The Oral Part of the Exam). Here, you will have to interpret a very brief
passage of an article or study (from the list above) and to present one of the following topics
in depth:
1. Divisions within the UK: Regional identities
2. Devolution in Wales
3. Devolution in Scotland
4. Devolution in Northern Ireland: The Good Friday Agreement and Its Implementation
5. Ethnic Relations in Present-Day Britain. The Muslim Community
6. The Separation of Powers: Recent Constitutional Reforms in Britain
7. The British Two-Party System and Elections in Britain; Criticism of the First-past-thePost System
8. The British Monarchy: The Role of the Monarch in the Government
9. Characteristics of the English Legal System; Legal Professions
10. Immigration to Britain: Changing Immigration Policies since the 1960s
11. Established Churches in Britain: The Church of England and the Kirk
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Introduction to British Civilization
BBLAN 00300 CV
Examination procedure and topics
Tamás Karáth PhD
Spring 2013
12. Religious Non-Conformism and Non-Christian Churches
13. Elementary and Secondary Education in England and Wales
14. Higher Education in Britain
I wish you a successful preparation for the exam!
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