2024/25 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL5115M Postcolonial Encounters

30 creditsClass Size: 15

Module manager: Prof Graham Huggan
Email: g.d.m.huggan@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

‘Postcolonial Encounters’ is the team-taught core module for the MA in Postcolonial Literary and Cultural Studies. It provides an updated (re)introduction to the field, paying particular attention to key concepts such as decolonization, social/environmental justice and globalization, and anchoring these in contemporary cultural texts. The module also looks at the intersections between postcolonial studies and other (cross-)disciplinary formations such as ecocriticism, World Literature and Indigenous Studies, and gauges the field’s capacity to perform and support activist work.

Objectives

*To (re)introduce students to the multi/interdisciplinary field of postcolonial studies and the social, political and environmental issues it raises
*To situate these issues within their relevant cultural and historical contexts
*To examine the state of the field today and its relationship to social activism, social/environmental justice movements and the decolonization agenda
*To provide a conceptual grounding that yokes cultural politics to the analysis of literary and other cultural texts

Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Show advanced knowledge of the postcolonial field and understanding of its social, political and environmental relevance;
2. Explain the cultural and historical contexts for key debates within the field that inform its ongoing struggle for social and environmental justice;
3. Apply key concepts within the field to cultural and textual analysis.

Skills Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
4. Evaluate different arguments and perspectives, using supporting evidence with sensitivity and nuance;
5. Engage ethically with complex literary, theoretical and contextual material;
6. Write in a clear, concise, focused and structured manner supported by relevant evidence.

Syllabus

Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Seminar	10	2.00	20.00
Private study hours			280.00
Total Contact hours			20.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			300.00

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Students will receive written tutor feedback on their essay abstract/introduction (and concept-based work) in Week 8; they will also be given the opportunity to share ideas for their essay with each other in class. Spoken tutor feedback on in-class group presentations will be given upon request (Weeks 2 to 10).

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	3000-word research essay (self-chosen topic)	80.00
Critique	Abstract / Critique 1000 words: 750 on a relevant concept and 250 for an abstract	20.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

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: 29/01/2024

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