CORE MODULE FOR SECOND YEAR HUMANITIES STUDENTS

MODULE CODE

CS201-5-FY

 

NAME OF MODULE

The World in Question: Humanities Perspectives on our Current Era


MODULE DIRECTOR

Prof Colin Samson, Sociology

Room :  5A.310

Office hours :  Monday 12-1pm and Wednesday 2-3pm

Extension : 2662

E-mail : samsc

Teaching staff

Carlos Gigoux - email: cgigou  

This module is an interdisciplinary examination of recent and contemporary issues arising from the Enlightenment (CS101) and its 19th century offspring, industrialism and capitalism. We will focus on the specific social, political and existential themes that took new shapes in the 20th and 21st centuries. Employing academic staff from four different faculties, the module will cover three broad themes Empire, The Self and The Environment. Empire comprises the first 6 weeks, and will look at the connections between Enlightenment throught and European expansion, manifest in colonialism and Western cultural domination. We then move on to looking at how new conceptions of The Self were fashioned from sociological, psychoanalytic and economic ideas about the mind. Finally, we consider changing conceptions of nature and The Environment, which have arisen from the imposition of capitalist and industrial ways of life on most of the planet. The emphasis will be both on the forces that have caused so much destruction of nature, and the attempts to maintain and reclaim connections with it. Throughout the module students will be exposed to perspectives from Sociology, History, Literature, Psychoanalysis, Law, Environmental Studies, Drama, Creative Writing and Film. There is also a parallel series of film screenings accompanying several of the lectures, including documentary and feature films.

Further information is available on the module directory.

LECTURE

 Wednesday 12pm in room TC2.12-13

Weeks 2-11, 16-25, 30-32
SEMINAR You will be allocated to a seminar Weeks 2-11, 16-25, 30-32

Students must attend the lecture, one weekly seminar, and the screenings.

ASSESSMENT

Two 2,500 word essay plus 3 hour exam in the summer

ESSAY 1 DEADLINE

OCS deadline: 12pm on Monday 14th January 2013. Watermarked copy to the CISH Office, room 6.130 within 24 hours of the deadline.

ESSAY 2 DEADLINE

OCS deadline: 12pm on Monday 22nd April 2013. Watermarked copy to the CISH Office, room 6.130 within 24 hours of the deadline.

All essays must be typed/word processed and double spaced, with margins that allow for written comments.  They must have a full bibliography and be properly referenced.  A word count should be included at the end of the essay.

Essays for this module should be handed into the CISH Office, Room 6.130, with a completed cover sheet. 

Assignments must be submitted via the On-line Coursework Submission. Further details about OCS are available in the CISH Student Handbook. You will be notified by email when assignments have been marked and are available for collection.

In line with University Policy: A mark of ZERO will be recorded for any piece of coursework submitted after the published deadline.    NO EXTENSIONS WILL BE ALLOWED