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2008/09 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

CULT1002 Cultural History

20 creditsClass Size: 52

Module manager: Prof Griselda Pollock
Email: g.f.s.pollock@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2008/09

This module is approved as an Elective

Module summary

What does it mean to study history through culture, and culture in a historical perspective? This module offers an introduction to some of the key forces, institutions and formations that have shaped the cultural history of the western world from the Enlightenment to the contemporary postmodern moment, including reason, rights and democracy; slavery; the city; war; class; gender; sexuality; colonialism and the representation of race. These themes will be examined from the perspective of cultural history as a non-linear 'map' of texts, narratives and concepts, in which the writings of such thinkers as Kant, Marx and Freud will be studied alongside works of contemporary fiction (eg Toni Morrison's Beloved), films (eg Ridley Scott's Blade Runner) and other visual material.

Objectives

At the end of this module students:
- should have an introductory knowledge of the concept of cultural history and of key moments and themes in the historical formation of modernity;
- should have been introduced by both a study of historical texts and examples of new cultural history to important themes in the historical development of modern and postmodern cultures: rights and revolution, reason and Enlightenment, slavery, class, urbanization, colonialism and the representation of race, sexuality, postmodernity, war and cultural memory;
- will have been introduced to key texts that constitute the foundation of a specifically cultural studies approach to the study of culture and society in historical perspective.

Skills outcomes
- Engagement with various text types and complex historical and theoretical material;
- Verbal and written fluency in constructing a logical and coherent argument;
- Participation in discussions;
- Using libraries, bibliographies and databases;
- Familiarity with style guidelines and other academic conventions.


Syllabus

This module offers an introduction to some of the key themes in cultural history of the modern western world from the Enlightenment to the contemporary postmodern period. Situating a new kind of historical approach to culture and cultural approach to history that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s (Raymond Williams, Robert Darnton, E.P. Thompson) that would constitute the historical strand within Cultural Studies, this module uses selected texts to introduce issues such as slavery and its abolition, enlightenment and reason, revolution, class, the colonial imaginary and the representation of race, the invention of childhood and new theories of sexuality and memory.

Students will study these themes using historical texts as well as those written in the period when Cultural Studies was formed as a new approach to history and a new way of understanding the historical role and effect of cultural practices and cultural formations.

Key thinkers who will be studied include Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and Raymond Williams in addition to novelists such as Joseph Conrad and Toni Morrison.

The module will also include films and other visual materials for study.

Teaching methods

Delivery typeNumberLength hoursStudent hours
Film Screenings112.0022.00
Lecture111.0011.00
Tutorial111.0011.00
Private study hours156.00
Total Contact hours44.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)200.00

Private study

156 hours reading, assignment and exam preparation.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

- Record of attendance kept
- Participation in tutorial discussions
- Formative feedback is provided during term time if students submit their first written assignments (see Assessment below) before Reading Week. No marks are given at this stage. Students can improve their work on the basis of this feedback for the final submission of all ten assignments at the end of term.

Methods of assessment


Coursework
Assessment typeNotes% of formal assessment
Assignment10 x weekly written assignments relating to the readings and lecture topics. All assignments contain a text or film-related mini-essay question (c.300 words) and cover practical aspects such as referencing and the use of libraries and bibliographies. The assignments will be submitted together at the end of term.60.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)60.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated


Exams
Exam typeExam duration% of formal assessment
Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc)2 hr 40.00
Total percentage (Assessment Exams)40.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 15/04/2010

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