BA Seminar: Ethnicity and Migration in Culture and Literature 4219-ZS039
“We are all migrants,” the writer Moshin Hamid declared in his award-winning novel Exit West. However controversial statement this may me, it points to the centrality of migration and borders to our lives and to global futures. This seminar explores the questions of migration, exile, refugee status in the US across cultural representations, as well as the questions of ethnicity and race, gender and sexuality, closely connected with migration regimes and in dialogue with other students, write subsequent parts of the bachelor's thesis and prepare for its defense.
The class itself operates on a tight, carefully crafted schedule to make sure the students will complete students complete the subsequent stages of writing a bachelor's thesis on time and write their bachelor's thesis on time. For this reason, a large part of the classes is of a workshop nature: preparing a poster representing the next chapter, a feedback session, a workshop for developing the introduction, or a coaching workshop - preparing for the defense.
Type of course
obligatory courses
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
KNOWLEDGE:
The student knows and understands:
- The global body of knowledge, including theoretical foundations, general issues, and selected specific issues relevant to cultural and literary studies on ethnicity and migration in the USA, as well as their research methodologies.
- The principles of public ownership of the results of scientific activity, including the principles of intellectual property protection.
- The principles of constructing a bachelor's thesis.
SKILLS
The student is able to:
Utilize knowledge from cultural and literary studies on migrations and ethnicity in the USA to creatively identify, formulate, and innovatively solve complex problems or carry out research-oriented tasks, particularly:
- Define the purpose and subject of scientific research and formulate a research hypothesis.
- Develop methods, techniques, and research tools, and apply them creatively.
- Draw conclusions based on scientific research results.
- Communicate on specialist topics to the extent that allows active participation in the international scientific community.
- Participate in scientific discourse.
- Plan work on a long-term project.
- Construct a chapter of a bachelor's thesis.
SOCIAL COMPETENCES
The student is able to:
- Formulate their own critical opinions on issues related to cultural and literary studies on migrations and ethnicity in the USA.
- Utilize the acquired interdisciplinary knowledge of US culture and literature to formulate their own opinions.
- Work in a group, including providing feedback with sensitivity to the emotional needs of others.
Assessment criteria
Attendance (2 unexcused absences are permitted)
active participation - 10%
completion of the BA thesis according to the plan- 90%*
Grading scale:
0-59 –no pass
60--100 - Pass
Bibliography
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The craft of research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Burgett, Bruce, and Glenn Hendler, ed. Keywords for American Cultural Studies. New York: NYU Press, 2020.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: