Reading Cultures 3700-AL-RC-QHU
The course examines the ways in which diverse reading modes and technologies have contributed to the redefinition of cultural and communal practices. It approaches the subject from a historical perspective, tracing how reading technologies have evolved alongside shifting cultural landscapes: from orality to literacy, through manuscript and print cultures, coffee house culture, serialisation, avant-garde magazines, and institutional and commercial forms of reading, to contemporary digital environments.
The course explores key developments in reading practices, from oral and print cultures to modern, multimodal and haptic forms of reading. It considers a range of reading communities and contexts, including coffee house culture, book clubs, therapeutic and shared reading practices, as well as aesthetic formations such as “cosy” or hygge reading. Attention is also given to different reading approaches, including slow reading, fragmented and platform-based reading, and the role of technologies in shaping attention, interpretation, and participation.
A central aim of the course is to help students identify patterns across historical and contemporary reading cultures in order to better understand present-day practices. Is reading primarily solitary or communal? To what extent is it shaped by technology, by cultural expectations, or by the pressures of modern life? What can we learn from past reading practices, and how might they inform our own? Conversely, what might readers of the past recognise, or fail to recognise, in our current reading habits?
Students will engage in regular reading of assigned texts, produce occasional press-style reviews, and complete a continuous Reading Practice Portfolio (notebook or scrapbook), documenting and reflecting on their own reading practices across the semester. The course thus combines critical engagement with reflective writing, encouraging students not only to analyse reading cultures, but also to situate themselves within them.
Course coordinators
Type of course
Learning outcomes
Knowledge: the graduate student knows and understands:
K_W02
at an advanced level, selected terminology and methodologies for the study of reading practices, print culture, and textual/media environments.
P6S_WG
K_W04
at an advanced level, selected phenomena and processes in the history of reading cultures, including the transition from orality to literacy and the development of reading forms and technologies.
P6S_WG
K_W06
at an advanced level, selected tools and methods for analysing cultural texts and reading practices across different historical and media contexts.
P6S_WG
K_W17
the impact of selected ideas and theories in the humanities (e.g. media theory, reader-response theory, history of reading) on the shaping of cultural practices.
P6S_WK
K_W18
the complex conditions shaping contemporary reading practices, with particular attention to digitalisation, social media, changing attention patterns, and new forms of reading communities.
P6S_WK
Skills: the graduate student is able to:
K_U03
analyse and interpret cultural texts and reading practices using appropriate theoretical tools and cultural contexts.
P6S_UW
K_U06
select and critically evaluate source materials and examples of reading practices across different media and social contexts.
P6S_UW
K_U08
produce written and oral work using appropriate terminology related to reading cultures, media, and interpretative practices.
P6S_UK
K_U09
actively participate in discussions on reading practices and their social and cultural conditions, formulating arguments and engaging with differing viewpoints.
P6S_UK
K_U10
communicate effectively in English at B2 level in both spoken and written forms.
P6S_UK
K_U11
plan and carry out independent work on a long-term project (Reading Practice Portfolio), documenting and analysing one’s own reading practices.
P6S_UO
Social Competences: the graduate is ready to:
K_K01
critically reflect on their own reading practices and on the functioning of cultural texts in various social contexts.
P6S_KK
K_K02
recognise the value of interdisciplinary approaches to the study of reading and remain open to diverse forms of cultural participation.
P6S_KK
K_K06
engage in social and intercultural dialogue about reading practices, with respect for their diversity (including differences shaped by access, technology, and lived experience).
P6S_KR
Assessment criteria
Assessment is based primarily on a Reading Practice Portfolio (75%), completed in one of two formats: a Reflective Notebook (writing-based), or a Curated Scrapbook / E-scrapbook (visual and associative), or a combination of the two. Throughout the semester, students engage in regular reading of assigned texts, which form the basis for portfolio entries. Students produce ongoing entries analysing how reading happens, its material forms, social contexts, temporal rhythms, and transformations, rather than simply summarising content. As part of the portfolio, students also complete a set of short press-style reviews, offering concise, critically informed reflections on selected texts in a public-facing mode that engages with the cultures of reception discussed in the course. The portfolio is selective and cumulative, and is submitted with a final reflective synthesis articulating how the student’s reading practices have evolved in relation to course concepts. The remaining assessment consists of in-class performance (25%), evaluating active participation in discussions, workshops (including the two Reading Notebook sessions), and the ability to engage critically with peers’ contributions.
The final grade is based on two components: regular reading of assigned texts and the Reading Practice Portfolio (75%) and in-class performance (25%). Successful completion of the course requires the timely submission of a complete portfolio (notebook/scrapbook/e-scrapbook), including all required elements and the final reflective synthesis. Students are allowed 2 absences without penalty. The 3rd and 4th absences must be made up in a form agreed with the instructor (reading assignment for discussion). 5 or more absences result in a failing grade for the course.
Bibliography
Students will be asked to read selected chapters from the following book publications. The course will also include selected articles and essays to complete students’ press review assignments.
Allen, Roland. 2023. The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper. London: Profile Books.
Chambers, Matthew. 2020. London and the Modernist Bookshop. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Conboy, Martin, and John Steel, eds. 2015. The Routledge Companion to British Media History. London and New York: Routledge.
Cowan, Brian. 2005. The Social Life of Coffee: The Emergence of the British Coffeehouse. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Hughes, Linda K., and Michael Lund. 1991. The Victorian Serial. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Hynes, Arleen McCarty, and Mary Hynes-Berry. 2012. Biblio/Poetry Therapy: The Interactive Process: A Handbook. 3rd ed. Saint Cloud, MN: North Star Press.
Jones, Rodney H. 2026. Innovations and Challenges in Digital Literacies: Literacies of Repair. London and New York: Routledge.
Kleege, Georgina. 1999. Sight Unseen. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Moss, Adam. 2024. The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing. New York: Penguin Press.
Ong, Walter J. 2002. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. London and New York: Routledge. (Originally published 1982.)
Pearson, David. 2011. Books as History: The Importance of Books beyond Their Texts. Rev. ed. London: The British Library; New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press.
Shah, Bijal. 2024. Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading. London: Piatkus.