Students search for real Yorkshire

Spice girl Mel B may feature on the course

A university is launching a unique course on the county of Yorkshire, examining cultural identity from the Bronte sisters to Leeds-born Spice Girl Mel B.

It is thought to be the first time a course has been devoted to the study of one county's culture, history and tradition.

Twelve students at the University of Hull are to study on the course in Scarborough next year.

Course tutor Michael Paraskos said the course would be very broad-ranging, covering Yorkshire art and literature, history, music and theatre.

Cultural icon: Painter David Hockney

"The general theme will be to try to determine what is Yorkshire identity or whether such a thing exists, and the significance of symbols, such as the white rose, the Yorkshire pudding, and the Yorkshire accent."

In 1998 the New Oxford Dictionary of English caused uproar by describing Yorkshire as "a former county of Northern England".

The decision was defended because Yorkshire did not have a local government and the dictionary defined a county as "the chief unit of local administration".

Back to roots

But Mr Paraskos is sure that Yorkshire studies still has a currency and is not too narrowly defined.

"This is not like doing a degree in surfing. It is a very academic subject," he said.

The idea for the course came from calls for English devolution and a Yorkshire parliament, he said.

As well as whippets and flat caps, other icons to be studied on the course include Henry Moore's sculptures, Delius's music and David Hockney's paintings.

Rachel Terry, curator of the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth, welcomed the move.

She said: "There is a value in looking at the [Bronte] novels in the Yorkshire context since they take from the landscape and their characters are rooted here."