Module manager: Dr Claudia Sternberg
Email: c.sternberg@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2019/20
This module is approved as a discovery module
This is a first year introductory module suitable as a discovery module. Please see the module outline below.
This module maps out some of the social and cultural formations underscoring the history of the West since the period known as the Enlightenment. Students interrogate some of the ideological and political assumptions informing modernity. They consider how race, ethnicity, class, gender and sexuality have been figured and represented since the Enlightenment, using a variety of texts in different contexts. The texts that students encounter range from philosophical, legal and sociological writings to autobiographies, short fiction, poems, photography and films. The contexts in which these will be explored include Enlightenment philosophy, the 'Age of Revolutions', slavery and colonialism, 20th century war and the modern city. The contemporary legacies of the Enlightenment age will also be examined in relation to cultural memory, postmodernism and post-humanism.
In addition, this module provides first year students with a solid grounding in research, writing and information literacy skills which will be instrumental in their studies up to the independent final-year project.
Upon completion of this module, students will have:
- engaged with history from a cultural perspective
- read a wide range of texts relating to the historical formations introduced and discussed in the module
- developed a 'sense of history'
- been introduced to key thinkers and ideas relevant to Cultural and Media Studies and the study and analysis of culture
- been introduced to core academic reading, research, writing, referencing and information literacy skills
- be aware of skills provision, library and electronic resources at the University of Leeds.
- Engagement with various text types and complex historical and theoretical material
- Participation in discussions
- Using libraries, bibliographies and databases
- Familiarity with style guidelines and other academic conventions.
Lectures, seminars and film screenings will cover:
- Culture and Society: History
- Revolution, Enlightenment and the Dream of Reason
- The Human Sciences and The Wild Boy of Aveyon
- Slavery, Colonialism and Race
- CITY I: Class and the Topographical Imagination
- CITY II: Urbanity and Velocity
- Desire and Discourse from Freud to Foucault
- Cultural Memory and War
- Posthumanism and Cyberculture
- Postmodernity and the End of History?
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Film Screenings | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| Visit | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Lecture | 10 | 2 | 20 |
| Seminar | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Private study hours | 159 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 41 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Private study time is dedicated to the course readings, research and information literacy skills exercises (as specified in detailed worksheets), weekly MCQ tests and exam revision.
- Attendance is monitored. Weekly assignments ensure that students keep up with the readings.
- Teaching assistants report back to the lecturers about questions arising in the seminars.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| In-course MCQ | 10 weekly tests | 60 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 60 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
| Exam type | Exam duration | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc) | 2.0 Hrs Mins | 40 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Exams) | 40 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
There is no reading list for this module
Last updated: 9/21/2018
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team