| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 11 hours |
| Seminars / Tutorials | 9 hours |
| Workload Breakdown | Formal tuition: 20 hours; preparation specifically for classes: 40 hours; assessment (preparation and writing): 80 hours; private study: 160 hours. |
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Continuous Assessment Written: 1 x 4,000 word essay | 75% |
| Semester Assessment | Continuous Assessment Oral: 2 x oral presentations (20 mins.) on topics of students' choice | 25% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Written: Essay on a different topic (=75%), and / or, if C/A is failed because of failure of oral component only, a piece of written work (1500 words) to be submitted in lieu of oral work (=25%). |
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of key political events in German 20th century history and their depiction in different media (journalism, arts);
2. Analyse the complexity of the relationship between arts and politics and its extreme forms in 20th century Germany;
3. Engage critically with the content and style of a wide range of literary and journalistic texts as well as films;
4. Engage critically different theoretical approaches to the study of culture, relate general theoretical issues to particular case studies in a critical fashion, discuss and evaluate critically the pros and cons of various approaches and frameworks used to study culture and be able to articulate their own stance on these debates;
5. Express themselves clearly, coherently and in a logical fashion, orally and in writing.
This module is designed to be an optional module in the new MA in Modern European Culture scheme. It explores the much-discussed relationship between politics and the arts. The module focuses on analyzing a variety of texts, including literature, newspapers and magazines, as well as films. It will investigate how political events have been 'staged' by politicians, and the main reasons for, as well as the consequences of, this aesthetization of politics. The module will also scrutinise the correlation between fascism and political aesthetics that Walter Benjamin claimed to be unique, and identify hidden and not-so-hidden aesthetic 'persuaders' (Vance Packard) that are used to shape people's perceptions of political events. Moreover, artistic discussions seeking to define a 'political aestheticism' and consider the consequences of such an approach for art will be explored.
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | n/a |
| Communication | Participating in seminars, delivering an oral presentation, and writing of essay will require student to express their ideas clearly, cogently and coherently. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Independent preparation for essay and seminars, independent research for essay and seminars. |
| Information Technology | Students will be required to access bibliographical information and to submit word processed essays. (indirectly assessed) |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Student will be expected to show an ability to manage their own time effectively and to engage in independent lines of research in preparing their essays. (indirectly assessed) |
| Problem solving | Selection of reading material, answering questions posed by written assessment, seminar work. |
| Research skills | By relating literary texts to historical, cultural and theoretical contexts and by synthesising information in an evaluative argument. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Developed by engaging both in English and German with historical, political, literary and cultural issues encountered in a range of German cultural productions of the twentieth century. |
| Team work | This will apply in the seminars. |
This module is at CQFW Level 7