Examines Twentieth Century Britain through the lens of popular culture: both how popular culture reflected and was shaped by larger political and social events, from two world wars to sexual revolution, from Britain's peak of colonial power to its continuing "decline" in the age ofBrexi t. What role does film, TV, music, fashion, and literature play ingiving a voice to working class and youth culture? We'll also incorporate 21st century pop culture (for example, costume dramas like "Downton Abbey" and "Peaky Blinders") to "look back" at this history and how we romanticize the past. How do programs like "The Great British Bake-Off" and Roy alevents from weddings, births, and funerals keep nostalgia for the monarchy alive, while also recognizing the nation's evolution as a multiracial, democratic society? How does British popular culture address notions of identity and what it means to be "British" in the 20th-21st centuries?