Introduction to American Studies 4219-AW051
The course focuses on basic issues of American studies and cultural studies, scientific understanding of the term culture as well as problems of cultural research in the Americas (with an emhasis on the US). The characteristics of cultural and American studies as an academic discipline and the place of cultural sciences in the humanities and social disciplines are presented. The purpose of the course is to familiarize students with basic literature in the field of cultural and American studies, with the most important issues of cultural sciences and to prepare the students for research in cultural studies in the American context.
In the course of the lecture there will be discussed relations between cultures and theories of culture and ways of learning culture. Basic concepts related to different aspects of culture in the dimensions of cultural history (continuity and cultural change, evolution, tradition), cultural instrumentation (needs, functions, values, norms), individual dimension (socialization, internalisation), symbolic dimension (Cultural code, language, myth, religious culture), social dimension (social group, subculture, social bond, national culture, social role) and ideological dimension (ideology, stereotype, customs, lifestyle, fashion) will be introduced.
Classes in the field of cultural studies and their methodology are also covered. The aim of the course is to prepare students for comprehensive resesarch in cultural studies in the American context.
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Term 2023Z:
Preliminary breakdown into individual lectures A brief outline of the history of American Studies The Dynamo and the Virgin Canon wars The linguistic turn in cultural studies The narrative turn in cultural studies Individual and group identity The public sphere The task of the translator Performative speech acts Theories of the subject Classical economic theory and Marxism Distinction / class In what ways Freudian theory matters still? Affect theory Orientalism |
Course coordinators
Type of course
Mode
General: Classroom Remote learning | Term 2023Z: Blended learning |
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course student:
KNOWLEDGE:
- knows the basic terminology most widespread theories, concepts and methods of research, analysis, and interpretation used in American studies and cultural studies,
- has basic knowledge of the American societies and cultures and the relationships between them to allow for the integration of different perspectives of disciplines necessary for cultural studies; recognizes the complexity of American cultures,
- has basic knowledge about the main directions of development and research in cultural achievements of the Americas, with an emphasis on the US,
- knows methods, tools and techniques to examine selected aspects of American culture,
- recognizes causes, consequences and dynamics of cultural change in the United States
SKILLS:
- is able to explain and interpret various phenomena and processes of behavior in American culture based on cultural studies approaches,
SOCIAL COMPETENCE:
- is aware of the important role of culture in the modern world
Assessment criteria
Attendance and participation is mandatory: up to 30% of final grade is awarded for regular attendance (2 points per class).
Students present short written responses to assigned readings (optional): from 50% up to 70% of final grade: 14 answers at 5 points each. Each answer is awarded either 0 points or 5 points. At least 10 answers must be correct for any of the answers to count toward final grade.
Students may work on their answers individually or in groups of 2 or 3. Such groups are declared at the start of the term.
Please note that using AI generated content or resorting to plagiarism will disqualify all the answers given in the course of the term.
The class ends with a written examination: up to 70% of final grade.
Final grade:
very good: more than 90% of maximym score
better than good: more than 85% up to 90%
good: more than 80% up to 85%
better than satisfactory: more than 75% up to 80%
satisfactory: more than 70% up to 75%
Bibliography
Sample readings:
R.W.B. Lewis, The American Adam
Leo Marx, The Machine in the Garden
F.O. Mathiessen, American Renaissance
Sacvan Bercovitch, Rites of Assent; The American Jeremiad
Louis Althusser, Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses
Jacques Ranciere, Chronicles of Consensual Times
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish; History of Sexuality
Walter D. Mignolo, The Geopolitics of Knowledge and the Colonial Difference
Jacques Lacan, The Instance of the Letter in the Unconscious; Seminar on "The Purloined Letter"
Jacques Derrida, The Purveyor of Truth
Ernesto Laclau, Emancipation(s)
Annette Kolodny, The Lay of the Land
Nina Baym, Melodramas of Beset Manhood
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Term 2023Z:
Preliminary reding list: Gloria Anzaluda, Borderlands / La Frontera |
Notes
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Term 2023Z:
Please note that this division into weeks is subject to change depending on overall number of lectures and other circumstances. Other readings may be added. |
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: