2023/24 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

ARTF5110M Cultural History

30 creditsClass Size: 20

Module manager: Dr Barbara Engh
Email: b.engh@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2023/24

Pre-requisite qualifications

A good BA degree or equivalent

Co-requisites

ARTF5020M

Cultural Theory

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

The module unfolds in two parts. We will begin with an exploration of the Enlightenment and the emergence of cultural criticism in the 18th c. and trace it through to the analysis of the ‘dialectic of Enlightenment’ as formulated by Horkheimer and Adorno. In the second part we move to a postcolonial perspective on this history, and through an indicative case study explore problems of representation in historiography through a comparative reading of historical, theoretical, literary and filmic texts.

Objectives

On completion of this module, students should be able to trace the genealogy of critical and cultural theory from the Enlightenment through to the critiques of the Frankfurt School and poststructuralism. The Eurocentric limits of these debates will be explored through a case study situated in a postcolonial context.

The course will engage students in the analysis of a range of theoretical texts and cultural artefacts that grapple with problems of how history can be told. The module will draw upon filmic and fictional texts which will be set against theoretical considerations of historical origins and historical consciousness in order to understand the urgency of historical narrative in western culture and that narrative's dependence upon a non-western other.

Learning outcomes
1. Skills necessary to undertake higher research degree and/or for employment in a higher capacity in an area of professional practice.
2. Evaluating own achievement and that of others.
3. Self-direction and effective decision-making.
4. Independent learning.
5. Use of methodologies and theoretical resources.

Syllabus

The module develops chronologically from Enlightenment considerations of the origins of society and of inequality and the nature of the human, and proceeds to postcolonial and post-psychoanalytic discussions of history as a particular representation of a Western episteme, drawing on texts from thinkers such as Rousseau, Kant, Nietzsche, Freud, Benjamin, Horkheimer and Adorno, Spivak, Kristeva, Bhabha, et.al..

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Film Screenings	10	2.00	20.00
Seminar	10	3.00	30.00
Private study hours			250.00
Total Contact hours			50.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			300.00

Private study

- Seminar preparation: 58 hours
- Reading: 130 hours
- Writing: 82 hours.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Students make tutorial appointments during which individual essay topics are developed. These discussions provide formative feedback individually, and further discussions are pursued in seminars in workshop formats.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	5500-6000 words, not including footnotes and bibliography	100.00
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: 04/09/2023

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