Thanks and good luck!

Many thanks for taking the course, I really hope you enjoyed rummaging around in punk’s detritus. It’s been great for me, meeting people like Jordan and Jonh Ingham to hear their memories and opinions first-hand. I hope the combination of materials – from texts to music to moving images – has sparked your imagination and interest. Your comments in the discussion areas, hearing your opinions and watching the zines take shape confirms my belief that work – and learning – is best done collaboratively, where ideas can be shared and knowledge developed in tandem with others.

The course has ended in mid-1978, but the story continues thereafter as punk evolves and disentangles into new sounds and styles. From Oi! to anarcho-punk, through post-punk and new romanticism, via 2-Tone and the emergence of Goth, there is much more to delve into. I hope you’ll continue to read about the people, places, sounds and styles that formulated an exciting moment of cultural history, and think too about how culture relates to broader processes of social and political change.

If you have any final thoughts about the course, please feel free to leave your comments, below. We welcome all feedback as we continually look to improve our courses. We hope to see you again soon!

Professor Matthew Worley

Continuing your learning

We hope you’ve enjoyed the course. Below are ideas for how you can take your learning further.

History at University of Reading

The History Department at the University of Reading offers both undergraduate and postgraduate study. The department’s modules span a vast breadth of history, both geographically – from British, European, and Atlantic to non-Western history – and chronologically, covering the last thousand years from medieval times to the modern day. The extensive options allow you to either pursue your specific interests, or to experience a wide range of history.

If you’re not looking for further study opportunities but are interested in the latest research, visit the Department’s blog.

Matthew’s book, ‘No Future: Punk, Politics and British Youth Culture, 1976–1984’ was published by Cambridge University Press in 2017. You can find further information here.

Other online courses

The University of Reading offers a wide range of online courses on FutureLearn. Take a look at the full list or follow the Online Courses Team on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

You may be particularly interested in our upcoming course ‘Dead Interesting: Uncovering Roman Britain in Old Museum Collections’ which starts on 12 July.