Course syllabus spring 2013
Course syllabus spring 2013
Title
English III, Literary option
Swedish title
English III, Literary option
Course code
EN103A
Credits
30 credits
Grading scale
UA / Excellent (A), Very Good (B), Good (C), Satisfactory (D), Pass (E) or Fail (U)
Language of instruction
English
Decision-making body
Faculty of Culture and Society
Syllabus approval date
2012-02-24
Syllabus valid from
2012-09-03
Entry requirements
Prerequisite courses for this course are: [EN101E English I (passed) and EN102E English II (passed)] or [EN101A English I (passed) and EN102A English II (passed)]
Level
Basic level
Main field
English
Progression level
G2E
Course contents
English III, Literary option, consists of two 7.5 credit modules and a 15 credit research paper.
• Contemporary Cultural Theory (7.5 credits)
• Postcolonialism (7.5 credits)
• Bachelor Research Paper (15 credits)
Module 1, Contemporary Cultural Theory, is an introduction to important contemporary cultural theories. Through a selection of seminal texts, the course explores how concepts and issues such as text, author, discourse, value, culture, gender and sexuality can be theorised within the field of literary and cultural studies. This module is entirely group work and seminar driven.
Module 2, Postcolonialism, is an introduction to postcolonialism and the study of literature and culture from a postcolonial perspective. In a series of lectures, key issues will be presented. In follow-up seminars, a range of literary texts will be studied closely and discussed from a postcolonial perspective.
Module 3, Bachelor Research Paper, entails independent research into an issue, chosen and formulated in collaboration with the supervisor. The research performed is independent, but the student will receive feedback from a supervisor at various stages during the research process. The course will result in a research paper, defended in an academic seminar.
Learning outcomes
Module 1: Contemporary Cultural Theory (7.5 credits)
Knowledge and understanding
After finishing module 1, the student:
- understands a range of theoretical concepts employed in literary and cultural studies;
- has knowledge of major theoretical approaches and thinkers, and
Skills and ability
After finishing module 1, the student:
- can carry out theoretically informed literary and cultural analysis;
- has a fair command of the skills required to approach theoretical texts;
- can analyse and discuss theoretical texts, and
Critical skills and approach
After finishing module 1, the student:
- can reflect on the theoretical underpinnings of cultural systems, institutions, and norms, and
- can link cultural practices to larger theoretical frameworks
Module 2: Postcolonialism (7.5 credits)
Knowledge and understanding
After finishing module 2, the student:
- has knowledge of central themes, concepts and issues in postcolonial theory;
- has knowledge of how colonialism, imperialism, decolonisation and globalisation interact with representations of race, ethnicity, nation, class and gender in cultural texts (particularly literature), and
Skills and ability
After finishing module 2, the student:
- can perform basic analyses of literary and cultural texts from a postcolonial perspective;
- can summarize some of the key critical concepts involved in the field, and
Critical skills and approach
After finishing module 2, the student:
- can reflect on how ideological and social processes affect our view of the world, and
- can reflect on the significance of postcolonial discourse as a way of thinking about cultural production.
Module 3: Bachelor Research Paper (15 credits)
The aim of module 3 is to allow the student to focus on a research topic within the field of English Studies, perform an independent, supervised research into the topic, present it in writing, and defend it in an academic seminar.
Knowledge and understanding
After finishing module 3, the student:
- understands and can show knowledge of what independent academic work entails;
- can show knowledge of theories and methods pertaining to the study of language, literature, or culture, and
Skills and ability
After finishing module 3, the student:
- can formulate a research issue in the field of English studies;
- is able to link the research issue productively to a relevant theory or theories;
- can search, select, evaluate, read, and refer to primary and secondary material/literature/
- can engage with relevant methods and methodological problems;
- can perform a literary, or cultural analysis and draw conclusions from the analysis;
- can present the research in a paper which follows pertinent conventions of presentation and language;
- can, recognising their own competence, finish the research within the agreed time frame;
- can critically and constructively respond to another student’s paper in an academic seminar, and
Critical skills and approach
After finishing module 3, the student:
- can reflect on their knowledge academically.
Learning activities
English III, Literary option, consists of two 7.5 credit modules and a 15 credit research paper.
• Contemporary Cultural Theory (7.5 credits)
• Postcolonialism (7.5 credits)
• Bachelor Research Paper (15 credits)
Module 1, Contemporary Cultural Theory, is an introduction to important contemporary cultural theories. Through a selection of seminal texts, the course explores how concepts and issues such as text, author, discourse, value, culture, gender and sexuality can be theorised within the field of literary and cultural studies. This module is entirely group work and seminar driven.
Module 2, Postcolonialism, is an introduction to postcolonialism and the study of literature and culture from a postcolonial perspective. In a series of lectures, key issues will be presented. In follow-up seminars, a range of literary texts will be studied closely and discussed from a postcolonial perspective.
Module 3, Bachelor Research Paper, entails independent research into an issue, chosen and formulated in collaboration with the supervisor. The research performed is independent, but the student will receive feedback from a supervisor at various stages during the research process. The course will result in a research paper, defended in an academic seminar.
Assessment
Module 1: Contemporary Cultural Theory (7.5 credits)
Module 1 is examined through two course papers and a final paper. The course papers are worth 20% each and the final paper is worth 60% of the total grade. In the course papers and the final paper, students perform analytical tasks and theoretical reflections.
Module 2: Postcolonialism (7.5 credits)
Module 2 is examined through written exams.
Students who do not pass the regular course exams have the minimum of two re-sit opportunities. Re-sits follow the same form as the original exams, apart from re-sits for group work, which take the form of individual written assignments.
Module 3: Bachelor Research Paper (15 credits)
Module 3 is examined through an independently produced Bachelor Research Paper, which is defended in an academic seminar. The student also has to oppose another student’s paper in a seminar.
The right to re-examination
A student who has failed an exam is given two more opportunities to be re-examined on the same course content. After this, a student also has the right to be examined on the same course content when the course is run the next time. Exams and re-exams take place as specified in the timetable for the course. It is the student’s responsibility to find out when and how exams and re-exams take place, and to sign up for re-exams when that is required.
Course literature and other study material
Module 1: Contemporary Cultural Theory
Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York & London: Norton, 2001. ISBN 0393974294
Additional material may be introduced in the course, but no more than 100 pages.
Module 2: Postcolonialism
Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0192839659
Fraser, Nancy. Justice Interruptus. New York and London: Routledge, 1997. pp. 1−8. (copies will be provided)
Loomba, Ania. Colonialism/Postcolonialism. London: Routledge, 2005. ISBN 0415350646
McLeod, John. Beginning Postcolonialism. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o. A Grain of Wheat. London: Penguin, 2002. ISBN 0141186992
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. London: Penguin, 2000. ISBN 0141182857
Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism. London: Vintage, 1994. pp. xi-xiv, xxii-xxxi (copies will be provided)
--- Orientalism. London: Penguin, 2003. pp 1−28, 284−328.
Additional material may be introduced in the course, but no more than 100 pages.
Module 3: Bachelor Research Paper
Ramage, John D., John C. Bean and June Johnson. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing. 5th ed. New York: Pearson and Longman.
Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. 2010. They Say/I Say - The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing.New York: Ww Norton & Co.
Primary and secondary reading for the research paper is selected in cooperation with the supervisor.
Course evaluation
The course is concluded with an individual course evaluation focusing on the goals of the course. The evaluations are summarized and made available to the students at the completion of the course.