Masters degree on meat pies and mining aims to prove it's anything but grim up north
Thursday, 12 July 2007
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Brass bands will never be the same again. Nor will rugby league, coal mines or meat pies. After decades of being taken for granted as bulwarks of northern culture, they are about to be lined up alongside astrophysics and acupuncture as subjects worthy of a degree.
In a move likely to draw nods of approval across the Pennines - and envy among rootless southerners - the first institution dedicated to the study of the north of England has been unveiled.
The Institute of Northern Studies at Leeds Metropolitan University will offer a masters degree in the culture, history and significance of the region in an effort to prove once and for all that it is anything but grim "oop" north.
Academics said the institute was an attempt to push out northern England from beneath the shadow of the South and investigate the contributions of the region to the culture and success of the nation.
From the creation of monasteries in Yorkshire to the history of coal mining in Durham to the cultural significance of traditional foods such as Lancashire hotpot, students will be asked to dedicate themselves to a northern topic of their choosing.
Marie Stinson, the co-founder of the institute, which already has a number of PhD students and will start its MA course later this year, said: "There has been little or recognition of the distinctiveness of life and culture in the north of England.
"For too long there has been a readiness to consider the North as somehow always catching up with the South, somehow less amenable and inhospitable.
"We want to replace some of the focus on London and the South and redress the balance by looking at what makes northernness. Something as distinctive as brass bands can be a subject all of themselves as an important part of our culture and history but also we can use them as part of the study of music or social development."
The institute aims to be hub for wider dissemination of "northernness" by holding talks and lectures on its areas of study for the public across the region.
A summer school this month will offer subjects including northern socialism in the late 19th century, the North from 1950 onwards and the relevance of the arms trade to the North.
Full-time students on the MA course will be expected to complete a "core module" in history, culture and economy of the region as well as writing a dissertation on one aspect of northern life. The institute will be led by Tony Collins, who is the university's professor of the social history of sport and became the first academic to study rugby league in northern life.
Leeds Metropolitan is the latest university to see potential in the regionalisation of academia. The University of Exeter has a long-established course in Cornish studies while Cardiff University recently unveiled a department dedicated to the study of Welsh culture and history in the Americas.
But those expecting to emerge from the Institute of Northern Studies with a degree in clichés about the region's headwear and sporting dogs should think again. Dr Stinson said: "We are not about flat caps and whippets. In and of themselves, they are fine. But what we are saying is the North makes up one third of England and we have a lot to contribute to contemporary English society.
"We are northern and proud of it. We are talking about regional identity and promoting that is a very important thing for a university to do."
Area of study
Rugby League
Ever since 21 clubs met in the George Hotel in Huddersfield in August 1895 to form the breakaway Northern Rugby League in protest at the gentleman amateurs of union rugby, the professional code has been rooted in the North. Students may wish to consider its significance in the class struggle.
Brass Bands
With their embroidered tunics and serried ranks of tubas, the bands of northern cities and towns are a core part of the region's culture, albeit reduced by the demise of mining. Best known beyond the collieries for the film Brassed Off and the soundtrack for the Hovis television advertisement.
John Godber
The son of a West Yorkshire miner, Godber is renowned for his observational comedies on northern life. He is best known for Up 'n' Under, a play about an incompetent rugby league team which triumphs over pies and adversity. A comparative study with The Full Monty may be in order.
Whippet Racing
Like greyhound racing, only presumably with more flat caps. The British Whippet Racing Association stipulates that no whippet should weigh more than 32lbs and must be "whippet like in appearance and recognisable as a whippet".
Alan Bleasdale
He provided the nation with the catchphrase "gissa job" when writing The Boys from the Blackstuff, his defining work about a gang of Scouse asphalt layers. Students could consider a comparison between The Boys from the Blackstuff and another of his works, The Monocled Mutineer.
Arctic Monkeys
The indie boys from Sheffield are working hard to shoulder the burden of northern pop heritage from the Beatles to Oasis. Leaving aside Gordon Brown's declared interest, probably best suited to contemplation in the student bar.
