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2016/17 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL3334 Introduction to Psychoanalysis

20 creditsClass Size: 40

School of English

Module manager: Dr Nicholas Ray
Email: n.j.ray@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2016/17

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Objectives

- To gain an understanding of certain key psychoanalytic ideas, and of the evolution of psychoanalytic thought as it relates to art and literature.
- To develop a psychoanalytically-informed critical vocabulary, and the ability to deploy psychoanalytic categories in the reading of a diverse range of cultural texts.

Learning outcomes
Students will have developed:
- the ability to use written and oral communication effectively;
- the capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse;
- the ability to manage quantities of complex information in a structured and systematic way;
- the capacity for independent thought and judgement;
- critical reasoning;
- research skills, including the retrieval of information, the organisation of material and the evaluation of its importance;
- IT skills;
- efficient time management and organisation skills;
- the ability to learn independently.

Skills outcomes
- Skills for effective communication, oral and written.
- Capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse.
- Ability to acquire quantities of complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way.
- Capacity for independent thought and judgement.
- Critical reasoning.
- Research skills, including information retrieval skills, the organisation of material, and the evaluation of its importance.
- IT skills.
- Time management and organisational skills.
- Independent learning.


Syllabus

This module seeks to provide an introduction to some of the key concepts and themes in psychoanalytic theory, and to explore the uses and limits of psychoanalytic approaches to works of literature and film. Focusing primarily on Freud we will consider a number of psychoanalytic ideas, from the basics of repression, desire and the dream-work to the complexities of the super-ego and the postulation of the death drive. We will examine the famous Freudian case history of the Rat Man, and engage closely with a number of classic psychoanalytic texts offering interpretative accounts of works of literature such as Wilhelm Jensen's Gradiva and E.T.A. Hoffmann's 'The Sandman'. In addition, students will be encouraged to bring theoretically and clinically based psychoanalytic material into productive contact with a more diverse range of cultural texts, such as J.G. Ballard's novel Crash, and Martin Scorsese's remake of Cape Fear.

Teaching methods

Delivery typeNumberLength hoursStudent hours
Film Screenings11.001.00
Lectures41.004.00
Tutorial101.0010.00
Private study hours185.00
Total Contact hours15.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)200.00

Private study

Teaching will be through 10 x 1 hour weekly seminars plus 4 x 1 hour lectures and 1 x 1 hour film screening.

Private Study: Reading, seminar preparation and essay writing.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

- Contribution to seminars
- Feedback on unassessed essay

Methods of assessment


Coursework
Assessment typeNotes% of formal assessment
Essay4,000 words including quotations and footnotes100.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)100.00

One unassessed essay of 1700 words is required. This does not form part of the assessment for this module, but is a requirement and MUST be submitted. Students who fail to submit the unassessed essay will be awarded a maximum mark of 40 for the module (a bare Pass).

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 26/04/2016

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