Module manager: Dr Dhanveer Singh Brar
Email: D.S.Brar@Leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2024/25
This module is not approved as an Elective
Cultural expression has been central to the history of the black diaspora since its inception. As such, the question of what black culture means in its totality, of what it constitutes as an idea, has been a source of ongoing debate amongst black intellectuals. Using the Idea of Black Culture as a framework, in this module students will be introduced to these debates in the form of extended case studies of a particular cultural form, region, historical period or topic.
The aim of this module is to explore a set of historical and ongoing debates on the idea of black culture in the diaspora; examine and discuss the writing of black intellectuals on the question of culture; understand and engage with the idea of black culture within the historical context of the black diaspora; to develop knowledge on the range of debates and approaches to black diasporic culture as an idea.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Critically analyse and contexualise a range of intellectual debates on the idea of Black culture
2. Understand and track intellectual debates in relation to a set of historical contexts
3. Engage with and evaluate a series of intellectual materials as part of the developmeny of core historical skills
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4. Engage with and evaluate academic literature from the field of Black Studies.
5. Discuss in written and oral form the relationships between different examples of intellectual production in a range of historical contexts
6. Apply fundamental standards and practices of historical study for research, discussion, and assessed work.
Indicative topics on this module may include: Race, aesthetics & politics; black diaspora and its key debates such as Changing Same; form & content; experimentalism & popular culture; black feminism; black queer studies; race & dialectics; race & post-structuralism.
The module will normally be taught through extended case studies: e.g. on a particular region (The Idea of Black Culture in the Caribbean)’; on a particular intellectual who was attuned to the topic (The Idea of Black Culture according to W.E.B DuBois); on a particular cultural form (The Idea of the Blues); or related to particular political concerns (for example, The Idea of Black Culture and Policing).
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seminars | 11 | 2 | 22 |
| Private study hours | 278 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 22 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 300 | ||
For 20 minute oral presentation: submit 1500 word primary source analysis.
There will be one formative assignment for this module. In order to help students prepare for the 20-minute presentation, they will receive written feedback on a short primary source analysis relating to the content of the presentation. The source work and presentation will aid student preparation for the 4,000 word essay by building their understanding of the wider histroical and scholarly context and by embedding skills of critical analysis and comminication
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Presentation | 20-minute oral presentation | 50 |
| Essay | 4,000-word essay | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 10/18/2024
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team