Anglophone Culture and Communication

Course code:ANGKULT

Course type:ACC100

Credits: 30 

Duration: one semester

Offered in semester: Autumn and Spring

Study

The course is located in Sydney, Australia.

Admittance requirements

Higher Education Entrance Qualification.

Recommended qualification

Good competence in oral and written English.

Expected learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course the student will have the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge and Comprehension

Students will be able to:

• demonstrate an acceptable proficiency in those elements of the English language needed to communicate effectively

• acquire an expanded knowledge of Anglophone literature and culture
• learn to analyze and interpret literary texts using common tools of critical analysis (e.g. plot, character, narrator, symbolism, and setting)

• develop a broader understanding of various literary genres
• discribe and explain selected aspects of British and American history
• understand the importance of immigration in the foundation of modern day America, Britain and Australia
• complete assignments in academic writing and become conversant with the structures of academic papers, cogent argumentation, research, and the proper citation of sources

Skills

Students will be able to:

• develop their communicative competence in both written and spoken English
• engage critically with current and historical issues in American and British civilization
• demonstrate an ability to write in a well-organized and coherent fashion
• be able to use critical approaches for the analysis of literary works (and other authentic texts of various genres)

Competence

Students will be able to:

• demonstrate an increased competency in the language, communication, culture and literature of selected English speaking countries
• analyze, evaluate and reflect on their own optimal learning approaches
• develop an ability to think critically and familiarize themselves with critical skills such as interpretation, evaluation, observation, analysis, deduction and explanation

Course content

In this course we will examine literary and cultural production in English in the light of its relation to imperialism, colonialism and postcolonialism. We thus acknowlegde that studying Anglophone literature and culture in Australia means taking into account the relation between Europe and the rest of the world during modernity, a period in which Europe has dominated the world. Beginning with Shakespeare in the early modern period, we move through to the present day, reading novels, poems, plays and theoretical texts that enable us to understand more of what it means for European colonialism - and British colonialism in particular - to have shaped the globalized world in which we live. We will focus on issues such as travel, conquest, immigration, exile, multiculturalism, knowledge of the other, representation of the other, and the tension between cultural relativism and universalism.

Practice teaching

No

Teaching methods

A variety of work forms are used, such as lectures, presentations, group work and individual studies. Teaching and course work will be entirely in English.

Student participation work distribution

There is obligatory attendance in teaching- and group sessions in addition to individual research.

Lectures                                   150 hours
Group work                                 90 hours
Oral presentation                        20 hours
Written assignment 1                  60 hours
Written assignment 2                  40 hours
Written assignment 3                  40 hours
Syllabus                                   350 hours
Exam                                          6 hours
Miscellaneous                             24 hours
Total                                        780 hours

Requirements to take exam

The following work requirements must be successfully completed to sit the exam:

• 1 written assignment (with a focus on civilization) of approximately 8,000 words
• 1 written assignment (with a focus on literature) of approximately 2,000 words
• 1 written assignment (with a focus on migration) of approximately 2,000 words
• 1 oral presentation

Exam

Course exam consists of one 6-hour written exam.

Grading: A-F

Available as individual course

Yes

Available for students not following course

No

Credit reduction

No

Department affiliation

Department for cultural and social studies

Date accepted

July 18, 2011, Dean for Department of Cultural and Social Studies