BA Seminar: Body, Power, and Representation in the US Culture 4219-ZS019
The focus of this BA seminar is representation of bodies in American culture and literature. I welcome students interested in thinking about what constitutes norms, power, and representation and their links with body. We will discuss the nexus of gender, race, disability and sexuality in culture and literature and the changing images of body in the U.S. culture. My primary research areas are disability studies, mad studies, gender studies, queer theory and environmental studies.
We will start the semester with discussions of some examples of critical analysis of texts of culture with a focus on body, performativity, and power. Over the course of the semester students will be expected to plan their BA paper, find and evaluate potential sources, prepare a detailed outline, present their theses and findings, and write a BA paper.
Type of course
obligatory courses
Learning outcomes
Knowledge:
- Students have a knowledge of selected theoretical approaches to literary studies and cultural studies, especially in the field of body studies.
- Students have in-depth knowledge of selected aspects of American culture, specifically those related to representation of body and gender.
- Students have in-depth knowledge in the field of their individual research.
Skills:
- Students can plan and conduct research necessary to prepare a BA paper.
- Students can formulate their theses and findings in writing.
- Students are able to evaluate the quality and relevance of sources and document their work.
Competences:
- Students can present their work to their peers.
- Students can offer constructive and polite feedback on the work of others.
- Students can answer questions about their research projects, evaluate feedback they received, and apply relevant commentary to their work.
Assessment criteria
Pass or fail, based on the timely submission of a BA paper.
Bibliography
Texts may be subject to change
- Hershini Bhana Young, Illegible Will: Coercive Spectacles of Labor in South Africa and Diaspora (selection)
- Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (selection)
- Margo de Mello, “Introduction to Body Studies”
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: