University sets out to prove it's not grim in the North of England
Rugby league, brass bands and coal mining are in. But whippets and cloth caps are out as topics to be studied for a university degree in northernness.
The degree in Northern Studies, the first of its kind, is being offered as a one-year Master of Arts course at Leeds Metropolitan University from October.
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Brass bands will feature as a positive image in the degree in Northern Studies
It will involve a link-up with the famous Black Dyke Band, lectures on the social history of sport as well as focusing on artistic and literary figures from the region who include Alan Bennett, John Braine, Henry Moore and David Hockney.
Dr Marie Stinson, 57, a Yorkshirewoman who founded the campus's Institute of Northern Studies, said: "We want to look at what northernness is, at the identity of the North and to promote its place in British society.
"There is a sense amongst northern people - for instance in the recent media coverage of the floods - that they are far from the epicentre of power, a forgotten area whose real potential has not been recognised.
"But Northern Studies will not perpetuate that perceived chip on the shoulder. It is one way of getting over it.
"It says that, in the modern world, we don't need to be seen as less significant or important than the South."
Lecturer Tony Collins added: "We are keen to get away from stereotypes of whippets and cloth caps. They do not match the reality."
