AMERICAN CULTURAL STUDIES MOD.2

Academic year
2018/2019 Syllabus of previous years
Official course title
AMERICAN CULTURAL STUDIES MOD. 2
Course code
LMJ040 (AF:277254 AR:157020)
Modality
On campus classes
ECTS credits
6 out of 12 of AMERICAN CULTURAL STUDIES
Degree level
Master's Degree Programme (DM270)
Educational sector code
L-LIN/11
Period
2nd Semester
Course year
1
Where
VENEZIA
Moodle
Go to Moodle page
The learning outcomes of the course are: 1. advanced knowledge and understanding concerning the dynamics of race and resistance in the years preceding the Civil War; 2. the skill to apply this knowledge and understanding to texts not included in the syllabus; 3. the development of advanced communication skills in English; 4. autonomous formulation of judgements in analyzing primary and secondary texts; 5. ability to work synergically with other students.
Advanced knowledge of the English language, written and spoken (≥ C1).
Good knowledge of key theoretical concepts in American Cultural Studies.
Title: “Race and Resistance in the Antebellum United States: Creating an online Archive through Collaboration”
The themes of race and resistance to slavery lie at the very heart of antebellum America, from the country’s very republican foundations to the present. In this course module we will work at interpreting a few antebellum texts on these two themes by building an online archive dealing necessarily with interdisciplinary, multidiscursive, and multimedial sources (including prominently a number of contemporary films). The aim of the course is to develop collaborative skills by contributing to a common online project. Students will also learn to appreciate the critical process of defining and building an archival site around a single cultural problem. Again, the course will encourage interdisciplinary expertise and a broadening of our understanding of the themes of race and Black resistance in antebellum US culture.
Attendance and participation are expected and will be a factor in student evaluation.
Non-attending students will be provided with further required bibliography.
The required essays and texts will be made available as pdf files at the beginning of the course. Further bibliography will be given from time to time as students prepare presentations and a final research paper (15 pages).
ATTENDING STUDENTS:
Final research paper (50%), individual oral presentations (30%), assignments (20%).
NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS:
Final research paper (70%), assignments (30%).
The short story analysis and the assignments should be handed at least 15 days before the exam.
.
Seminar-style course with in-class discussion
English
This programme is provisional and there could still be changes in its contents.
Last update of the programme: 28/03/2019