ANG 301 Introduction to Linguistics, Course A (Introductory course, English)
Lecture type:
Introductory course
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
- Know the basics of synchronic linguistics
- Practise linguistic analyses in the areas of sounds, words, and sentences
- Find out what is interesting to you in linguistics
- Learn to work with English textbooks
- Learn to accumulate and aggregate information from different sources
Literature:
Radford, A., Atkinson, M., Britain, D., Clahsen, H., & Spencer, A. (2009). Linguistics: An introduction (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
A list of further readings will be provided in class.
Examination achievement:
Final 90 min. exam.
Instructor(s):
Dieter Thoma
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
08:30 - 10:00 |
EW 242 Otto Mann Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
This course is designed to introduce students to the central terms and topics in current (English) linguistics. Topics to be dealt with include phonetics, phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and major (syntactic) contrasts between English and German. We will also have a brief look at how these topics relate to language acquisition, language storage and processing in the human brain, and language variation over time and society.
ANG 301 Introduction to Linguistics, Course B (Introductory course, English)
Lecture type:
Introductory course
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
- Know the basics of synchronic linguistics
- Practise linguistic analyses in the areas of sounds, words, and sentences
- Find out what is interesting to you in linguistics
- Learn to work with English textbooks
- Learn to accumulate and aggregate information from different sources
Literature:
Radford, A., Atkinson, M., Britain, D., Clahsen, H., & Spencer, A. (2009). Linguistics: An introduction (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
A list of further readings will be provided in class.
Examination achievement:
Final 90 min. exam.
Instructor(s):
Agnieszka Ewa Krautz
| Wednesday
(weekly)
|
04.09.2019 - 04.12.2019 |
08:30 - 10:00 |
EW 145 Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
This course is designed to introduce students to the central terms and topics in current (English) linguistics. Topics to be dealt with include phonetics, phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and major (syntactic) contrasts between English and German. We will also have a brief look at how these topics relate to language acquisition, language storage and processing in the human brain, and language variation over time and society.
ANG 301 Introduction to Linguistics, Course C (Introductory course, English)
Lecture type:
Introductory course
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
- Know the basics of synchronic linguistics
- Practise linguistic analyses in the areas of sounds, words, and sentences
- Find out what is interesting to you in linguistics
- Learn to work with English textbooks
- Learn to accumulate and aggregate information from different sources
Literature:
Radford, A., Atkinson, M., Britain, D., Clahsen, H., & Spencer, A. (2009). Linguistics: An introduction (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
A list of further readings will be provided in class.
Examination achievement:
Final 90 min. exam.
Instructor(s):
Agnieszka Ewa Krautz
| Wednesday
(weekly)
|
04.09.2019 - 04.12.2019 |
13:45 - 15:15 |
EW 145 Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
This course is designed to introduce students to the central terms and topics in current (English) linguistics. Topics to be dealt with include phonetics, phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and major (syntactic) contrasts between English and German. We will also have a brief look at how these topics relate to language acquisition, language storage and processing in the human brain, and language variation over time and society.
ANG 303 Texts from a Linguistic Perspective (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
In this course you have a chance to
- revise and deepen your knowledge in linguistics core areas, sounds, words, and sentences.
- learn about what keeps sentences together so that they form texts.
- develop your own project and thus practice to formulate research questions, hypotheses, design a small-scale study, present the results in class.
- Analyse data.
- practice your skills in critical thinking, academic reading, writing, presenting and teamwork.
Examination achievement:
Term paper or oral exam (50%)
Note that participation in the first session is obligatory, missing the session without giving notive might result in losing your chance to participate.
Instructor(s):
Ira Gawlitzek
| Monday
(weekly)
|
02.09.2019 - 06.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
EW 169 Seminarraum C.A.Reichling; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
Why can “For sale: baby shoes, never worn” (E. Hemingway) be interpreted as a novel (cf. Wainwright, August (2013, May 9). While the sequence of the following sentences “Cream is a popular colour for paint. Famous painters include Michelangelo.” does not really make sense and it is thus doubtful whether this is a text at all.
In this class, we will deal with chunks of language larger than an individual sentence and try to answer the following questions:
- What is a text?
- What is it that turns a sequence of sentences into a text?
- What role do sounds, words, and sentences play in a text? Do communicative principles apply to texts and how?
- ...
ANG 303 Idioms and Collocations (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
- Revise and deepen your knowledge of linguistic core concepts concerning the lexicon, syntax and semantics
- Develop an understanding of idiomaticity as an all-pervasive element of human language
- Learn to apply appropriate terminology and theories to describe and explore the phenomenon of idiomaticity in exercises and individual research projects
- Practice your skills in critical thinking and academic reading and writing.
Literature:
Textbook:
Fiedler, Sabine (2007). English Phraseology: A Coursebook. Tübingen: Narr.
- Please bring your own copy -
Examination achievement:
written exam (90 mins) or term paper (12-15 pages of text)
Instructor(s):
Mareike Keller
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
13:45 - 15:15 |
EW 151 Elfriede Höhn Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
In this course we will examine recurrent word combinations like idioms (e.g. at the drop of a hat, to burn the midnight oil, a lame duck), collocations (e.g. to set the table, blissfully unaware, key issue) and set phrases (e.g. You are welcome, I see, Never mind). Such lexicalized multi-word items constitute a considerable part of any natural language and pose a particular challenge for the linguist as well as for the language learner. You will learn about phraseology as an independent field of linguistic inquiry and about basic questions and theoretical approaches to idioms and idiomaticity. Among topics to be discussed are questions of classification, pragmatic and stylistic aspects, and also psycholinguistic aspects of formulaic language.
ANG 303 Psycholinguistics (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
- You will revise and deepen your knowledge of linguistic core concepts in the areas of sounds, words and sentences.
- You will develop a basic understanding of how human language is organized, how knowledge of language is acquired, and how knowledge of language is put to use, in the production and comprehension of words, sentences, and pieces of discourse by monolinguals and bilinguals as well as healthy and impaired language users.
- You will become familiar with a variety of empirical (observational and experimental) tools used by psycholinguists to study language acquisition and language performance.
- You will compare modern approaches in psycholinguistics in terms of their power to account for the psychological processes.
- You will practice your skills in critical thinking, academic reading, writing, presenting and teamwork.
Literature:
Harley, T. A. (2010). Talking the talk. New York: Psychology Press. (please buy or check for e-book at the library)
References to research articles (presentation assignments) will be provided in class.
Examination achievement:
Term paper or oral exam.
The term paper (Hausarbeit) takes the form of an online take-home exam (3000 words).
Instructor(s):
Dieter Thoma
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
15:30 - 17:00 |
EW 159 Seminarraum Landesbank; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
How do we learn and use language, and how come we communicate so efficiently? This course provides you with an overview of the major topics and areas of psycholinguistics. We will look at differences between animal communication and human language, how children acquire language, what happens when we learn a second language (and why this is often so hard), how words shape our thinking and how we understand and produce sentences.
ANG 303 The Mental Lexicon (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
Gain extensive knowledge about the mental lexicon
Practise linguistic analyses in the area of words
Learn to work with research papers
Learn to accumulate and evaluate inforamtion from different sources
Literature:
Aitchison, J. (2012). Words in the mind: An introduction to the mental lexicon. John Wiley & Sons.
Altmann, G. T. (1998). The ascent of Babel: An exploration of language, mind, and understanding. OUP Oxford.
The Mental Lexicon journal - http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/18711375/7/1
Examination achievement:
Written exam - 90min.
Alternatively, a research proposal, if such is required by your examination regulations (Prüfungsordnung)
Instructor(s):
Agnieszka Ewa Krautz
| Thursday
(weekly)
|
05.09.2019 - 05.12.2019 |
13:45 - 15:15 |
EW 163 Seminarraum; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
During this course, we will focus on the mental lexicon, which metaphorically can be understood as a dictionary or a database of all words stored in the mind of a language user (Dijkstra, 2005). We will explore the way in which we activate and access information in the lexicon by considering different word recognition models. Also, we will address the nature of information stored in the lexicon as well as the organization of lexico-semantic structures in monolingual and bilingual speakers. Furthermore, we will discuss the way in which children acquire words, the representation of lexical information in atypical populations such as dyslexics or aphasic patients, and we will explore what happens with the mental lexicon as we age.
ANG 308 Historical Linguistics (for CELLS), Course B (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
- Apply basic knowledge of linguistic levels of description to diachronic linguistics
- Develop a basic understanding of the dynamics of language change
- Learn to apply appropriate terminology and theories to describe the phenomenon of language change
- Learn to understand how diachronic texts are constructed linguistically
- Enhance your skills in critical reflection and academic reading, presenting, writing and analyzing
- Enhance your skills in orally expressing your own opinion in English
Literature:
Burridge, Kate & Bergs, Alexander Bergs. 2017. Understanding language change. London: Routledge
online resources:
http://www.oed.com/
https://sites.google.com/site/dfgbasics/output/resources
http://terrano.philosophie.uni-stuttgart.de/BASICStoolkit/
Additional reading materials will be made available on the online platform Ilias.
Examination achievement:
Assessment:
- Small study of verb argument structure, successful participation in a debate (6 ECTS credits)
Grading:
- Practising of orally expressing yourself on the basis of weekly assignments, completion and timely submission of homework assignments, preparation for and presentation of your small study, (grade average: 40% of the final grade)
- Small study of verb argument structure (30% of the final grade)
- Successful participation in a debate (30% of the final grade)
Instructor(s):
Wiebke Juliane Elter
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
|
English is spoken by around 350 million people worldwide, and as a second language by over a billion more. So one could think that English is pretty easy and simple. In fact, English is super weird and complex and this is due to its stormy history. We know that the British Isles have been very attractive for many different peoples and with each new wave of invasion came a new language and mingled with whatever people were speaking before. So if we want to understand the nature of Present-Day English and how it developed into the powerhouse language it is today, we need to take a look back in time and see what it was like when it was more Germanic (Old English) and how it became more and more different from other Germanic languages, for example under the influence of French and Latin (Middle English).
Changes can be quickly identified if we compare a Present-Day English sentence with an Old English sentence like
(1) The cruel man cut a page from the book.
Se sliþene mann slat an tramet fram thære bec.
We see right away that most of the Old English grammatical system has withered away. Further, many many words and structures of Romance origin came to English instigated by the Norman Conquest in 1066. So for example, people in Middle English times had new French verbs available they could use if they wanted to express that they like something:
(2) The flour pleses/appleses/delites/payes/apayes/agrees/emplesses me.
`I like the flower'.
This course provides an introduction to diachronic linguistics, which will also include an overview of the history of the English language. The course will be primarily concerned with language change on all levels of linguistic survey, and it will put key concepts which are familiar from the “Introduction to Linguistics” into a diachronic perspective. Accordingly, we will discuss changes on all levels of language, but a focus will be on grammatical change and contact-induced change. All phenomena will be illustrated by examples taken from the English language history which spans almost sixteen centuries: Old English (450-1100), Middle English (1100-1500), Early Modern English (1500-1750) and Modern English (from 1750 onwards).
ANG 308 Historical Linguistics (for CELLS), Course A (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
- Apply basic knowledge of linguistic levels of description to diachronic linguistics
- Develop a basic understanding of the dynamics of language change
- Learn to apply appropriate terminology and theories to describe the phenomenon of language change
- Learn to understand how diachronic texts are constructed linguistically
- Enhance your skills in critical reflection and academic reading, presenting, writing and analyzing
- Enhance your skills in orally expressing your own opinion in English
Literature:
Burridge, Kate & Bergs, Alexander Bergs. 2017. Understanding language change. London: Routledge
online resources:
http://www.oed.com/
https://sites.google.com/site/dfgbasics/output/resources
http://terrano.philosophie.uni-stuttgart.de/BASICStoolkit/
Additional reading materials will be made available on the online platform Ilias.
Examination achievement:
Assessment:
- Small study of verb argument structure, successful participation in a debate (6 ECTS credits)
Grading:
- Practising of orally expressing yourself on the basis of weekly assignments, completion and timely submission of homework assignments, preparation for and presentation of your small study, (grade average: 40% of the final grade)
- Small study of verb argument structure (30% of the final grade)
- Successful participation in a debate (30% of the final grade)
Instructor(s):
Carola Trips
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
310 Seminarraum; B 6, 30-32 Bauteil E-F |
| Wednesday
(single date)
|
25.09.2019 |
15:30 - 17:00 |
030 Besprechungsraum; B 6, 30-32 Bauteil E-F |
| Thursday
(single date)
|
26.09.2019 |
15:30 - 17:00 |
030 Besprechungsraum; B 6, 30-32 Bauteil E-F |
English is spoken by around 350 million people worldwide, and as a second language by over a billion more. So one could think that English is pretty easy and simple. In fact, English is super weird and complex and this is due to its stormy history. We know that the British Isles have been very attractive for many different peoples and with each new wave of invasion came a new language and mingled with whatever people were speaking before. So if we want to understand the nature of Present-Day English and how it developed into the powerhouse language it is today, we need to take a look back in time and see what it was like when it was more Germanic (Old English) and how it became more and more different from other Germanic languages, for example under the influence of French and Latin (Middle English).
Changes can be quickly identified if we compare a Present-Day English sentence with an Old English sentence like
(1) The cruel man cut a page from the book.
Se sliþene mann slat an tramet fram thære bec.
We see right away that most of the Old English grammatical system has withered away. Further, many many words and structures of Romance origin came to English instigated by the Norman Conquest in 1066. So for example, people in Middle English times had new French verbs available they could use if they wanted to express that they like something:
(2) The flour pleses/appleses/delites/payes/apayes/agrees/emplesses me.
`I like the flower'.
This course provides an introduction to diachronic linguistics, which will also include an overview of the history of the English language. The course will be primarily concerned with language change on all levels of linguistic survey, and it will put key concepts which are familiar from the “Introduction to Linguistics” into a diachronic perspective. Accordingly, we will discuss changes on all levels of language, but a focus will be on grammatical change and contact-induced change. All phenomena will be illustrated by examples taken from the English language history which spans almost sixteen centuries: Old English (450-1100), Middle English (1100-1500), Early Modern English (1500-1750) and Modern English (from 1750 onwards).
ANG 310 Introduction to Literary Studies, Course C (Introductory course, English)
Lecture type:
Introductory course
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Instructor(s):
Corinna Assmann
| Wednesday
(weekly)
|
04.09.2019 - 04.12.2019 |
15:30 - 17:00 |
EW 151 Elfriede Höhn Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
ANG 310 Introduction to Literary Studies, Course B (Introductory course, English)
Lecture type:
Introductory course
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
In the course of the semester you will
think about what literature and what literary studies are and what roles they play in society,
familiarize yourself with the basics of formal literary analysis,
get an overview of some of the main critical approaches,
read a number of texts from English speaking countries,
apply formal and critical analysis to texts written in different genres and historical periods, and
begin to see how a critical reading differs from an ‘everyday reading’.
Instructor(s):
Regina Schober
| Wednesday
(weekly)
|
04.09.2019 - 04.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
EW 151 Elfriede Höhn Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” (Oscar Wilde)
Oscar Wilde never travelled without his diary. We never travel without Heart of Darkness, Harry Potter or Mrs Dalloway. What books do you take on a train ride? Which literature do you find fascinating? And what is literature anyway? What do we love about it? Its form, its language, its stories, its topics? And how can we analyse literature, critically think about it and thereby enrich and enhance our understanding of it, going even beyond our initial love of books?
This course, which is designed to introduce beginners to central approaches to the study of British and American literature, will tackle issues like these. It will start by answering the question what literature and the study of literature actually are and then provide an introduction to the three main genres of literature written in English (prose, drama and poetry). In discussing these genres, we will have a closer look at key theoretical concepts and tools for the analysis of literary texts. Besides, we will also identify important periods in the history of British and American literature.
The course will be taught in English and will partly take the form of an inverted class room (see requirements), which will allow you to make the best of the time spent in class practicing literary analysis.
ANG 310 Introduction to Literary Studies, Course A (Introductory course, English)
Lecture type:
Introductory course
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
In the course of the semester you will
think about what literature and what literary studies are and what roles they play in society,
familiarize yourself with the basics of formal literary analysis,
get an overview of some of the main critical approaches,
read a number of texts from English speaking countries,
apply formal and critical analysis to texts written in different genres and historical periods, and
begin to see how a critical reading differs from an ‘everyday reading’.
Literature:
We will read a selection of literary text excerpts that we will make available on ILIAS. You will have to buy two longer works of literature: Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (Oxford World's Classic Edition) and David Henry Hwang's M Butterfly.
Examination achievement:
Written exam (90 mins)
Instructor(s):
Regina Schober
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
13:45 - 15:15 |
EW 145 Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” (Oscar Wilde)
Oscar Wilde never travelled without his diary. We never travel without Heart of Darkness, Harry Potter or Mrs Dalloway. What books do you take on a train ride? Which literature do you find fascinating? And what is literature anyway? What do we love about it? Its form, its language, its stories, its topics? And how can we analyse literature, critically think about it and thereby enrich and enhance our understanding of it, going even beyond our initial love of books?
This course, which is designed to introduce beginners to central approaches to the study of British and American literature, will tackle issues like these. It will start by answering the question what literature and the study of literature actually are and then provide an introduction to the three main genres of literature written in English (prose, drama and poetry). In discussing these genres, we will have a closer look at key theoretical concepts and tools for the analysis of literary texts. Besides, we will also identify important periods in the history of British and American literature.
The course will be taught in English and will partly take the form of an inverted class room (see requirements), which will allow you to make the best of the time spent in class practicing literary analysis.
ANG 310 Introduction to Literary Studies, Course D (fällt aus, bitte zu Parallelkurs A-C wechseln) (Introductory course, English)
Lecture type:
Introductory course
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
In the course of the semester you will
think about what literature and what literary studies are and what roles they play in society,
familiarize yourself with the basics of formal literary analysis,
get an overview of some of the main critical approaches,
read a number of texts from English speaking countries,
apply formal and critical analysis to texts written in different genres and historical periods, and
begin to see how a critical reading differs from an ‘everyday reading’.
| Thursday
(weekly)
|
05.09.2019 - 05.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
|
“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” (Oscar Wilde)
Oscar Wilde never travelled without his diary. We never travel without Heart of Darkness, Harry Potter or Mrs Dalloway. What books do you take on a train ride? Which literature do you find fascinating? And what is literature anyway? What do we love about it? Its form, its language, its stories, its topics? And how can we analyse literature, critically think about it and thereby enrich and enhance our understanding of it, going even beyond our initial love of books?
This course, which is designed to introduce beginners to central approaches to the study of British and American literature, will tackle issues like these. It will start by answering the question what literature and the study of literature actually are and then provide an introduction to the three main genres of literature written in English (prose, drama and poetry). In discussing these genres, we will have a closer look at key theoretical concepts and tools for the analysis of literary texts. Besides, we will also identify important periods in the history of British and American literature.
The course will be taught in English and will partly take the form of an inverted class room (see requirements), which will allow you to make the best of the time spent in class practicing literary analysis.
ANG 312 The Modernist Short Story (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Literature:
Please buy the 2000 Penguin Modern Classics edition of James Joyce’s Dubliners. All other texts will be provided on Ilias.
Examination achievement:
Term paper, writen exam or oral exam
Instructor(s):
Lisa Schwander
| Wednesday
(weekly)
|
04.09.2019 - 04.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
EW 167 Seminarraum Dr.Hajo Treutler; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
Engaging with the radically altered experience of human life under the conditions of modernity, modernist writing is famous for its innovations in literary form as much as content. The short story, in particular, became immensely popular amongst modernist writers who took the ‘art of writing short’ to new heights. In this seminar, reading a variety of short stories will introduce students to key features of modernist writing. As we are looking at a number of different authors and texts, we will get an overview of social, political and cultural concerns that modernist writing reflected upon. At the same time, we will discuss what literary techniques writers developed to grapple with the condition of modernity.
ANG 312 Oscar Wilde (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
In this seminar students will:
- review some of the most famous works of Oscar Wilde
- familiarize themselves with the Victorian period & Fin de Siècle literature
- learn how to structure and lead a discussion about highly controversial topics
- familiarise themselves with basic concepts and important approaches necessary for the analysis of fiction, drama, and poetry
- apply relevant terms and concepts dealing with the analysis and interpretation of primary and secondary texts
- practice close reading
- practice/apply theoretical concepts to literary texts
- learn how to read, structure, and evaluate relevant secondary texts
- learn how to develop a research question/thesis for future term papers and oral exams
Literature:
Please make sure to buy the Norton Critical Editions/Penguin Classics Edition!
- Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. Norton, 2006.
- Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Norton, 2006.
- Wilde, Oscar. Complete Short Fiction. Penguin Classics, 2003.
Examination achievement:
- Term Paper (+ Study Skills Tutorials)
- or Written Exam
- or Oral Exam
Please check your Prüfungsordnung.
Instructor(s):
Annika Gonnermann
| Wednesday
(single date)
|
04.09.2019 |
17:00 - 17:45 |
EO 154 Seminarraum; Schloss Ehrenhof Ost |
| Saturday
(single date)
|
14.09.2019 |
09:00 - 17:00 |
EW 165 FUM Seminarraum; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
| Sunday
(single date)
|
15.09.2019 |
09:00 - 17:00 |
EW 165 FUM Seminarraum; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
| Saturday
(single date)
|
28.09.2019 |
09:00 - 17:00 |
EW 165 FUM Seminarraum; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
| Sunday
(single date)
|
29.09.2019 |
09:00 - 17:00 |
EW 165 FUM Seminarraum; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
Famous for his witticisms and aphorisms, as well as his plays, short stories, poetry and the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, the Irish-born author Oscar Wilde surely belongs to the former category of people: he is still “being talked about”. Wilde has defined our understanding of the Victorian period like no other, capturing the absurdities and Janus-faced nature of a time long gone. His texts are not only a very funny, entertaining read, they also hold up a mirror to his contemporaries, criticising imperialism, the British class system, and gender roles alike.
This block-seminar will centre around two of his most famous texts, his play “The Importance of Being Earnest” and his novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. Additionally, we will have a look at some of his lesser known works, such as short stories, poetry, and prison letters, as well as his writing on literature and art.
ANG 312 Black Britain (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
Having attended the seminar, students are able to ...
... analyse and interpret literary texts by means of text-based (i.e. close reading), context-based, as well as theoretical approaches (mainly from British cultural studies).
... reproduce, explain, and discuss scholarly theses.
... develop, articulate, and defend individual academic theses (orally and in written form).
Literature:
Please purchase the following three novels (please select the editions below):
- Levy, Andrea. Small Island. Tinder Press, 2017.
- Smith, Zadie. Swing Time. Hamish Hamilton (Penguin Books), 2016.
- Gunaratne, Guy. In Our Mad and Furious City. Tinder Press, 2018.
All other texts will be provided on Ilias.
Examination achievement:
- term paper (please note: the study skills tutorials are obligatory)
- OR oral exam
- OR written exam,
depending on your course of study. Please consult your
Prüfungsordnung.
Instructor(s):
Sina Nathalie Schuhmaier
| Thursday
(weekly)
|
05.09.2019 - 05.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
509 Seminarraum; L 9, 7 |
A famous 1987 study on racism and nationalism in Britain is titled There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack. By choosing this title, the author Paul Gilroy does not aim to align with those who coined it as a racist slogan. Instead, he draws attention to the fact that the existence of black Britons – in many cases a result of migration from former British colonies and thus inextricably linked with the ‘mother country’ – is often omitted from dominant discourses about Britain and Britishness. This extends to ideas about Britain’s history. In Black and British: A Forgotten History (2016), David Olusoga writes that “[t]he parts of British history in which black people were active participants, as well as those in which they were exploited victims, have been erased and the story of the black presence in Britain remains obscure and even disputed” (10). Challenging this conspicuous absence, this seminar aims to trace a history of black Britain as integrated into the history of Britain, all the while considering the wider connections of the African diaspora. We will read three novels set at different points in time during the post-war period in Britain, but harking back to the experience of imperialism and slavery each in their own way: Andrea Levy’s Small Island (2004), Zadie Smith’s Swing Time (2016), and Guy Gunaratne’s In Our Mad and Furious City (2018). In each novel, questions of identity feature prominently. Thus, we will study conceptions of (black British) identity as well as interrogating the very categories ‘black’ and ‘British.’ To underpin our discussion, we will approach issues of ‘race’ and racism, as well as the history of race relations in Britain. Besides our reading of selected theoretical texts, room will also be given to explore dub and grime music: its sound, politics, and the particular form of the song lyric.
ANG 313 The Development of the Detective Story (taught by Kenneth van Dover) (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Learning target:
Participants will be able to describe the significant stages in the development of the detective story over the course of a century and a half, with reference to 1. the evolution of the formal structure of a prescriptive genre of popular literature, and 2. the social implications of the evolving British and American depictions of crime, criminals, and detectives within that genre.
Paticipants will demonstrate the skills of literary analysis as applied to texts (novels and short stories) from the 1840s to the 1980s.
Participants will develop their skill in expressing themselves, orally and in writing, in academically correct English.
Examination achievement:
One term paper or an oral exam (to be determined at the first meeting of the seminar)
| Thursday
(single date)
|
05.09.2019 |
13:45 - 15:15 |
005 Seminarraum; L 9, 6 |
| Friday
(single date)
|
06.09.2019 |
13:15 - 18:15 |
SO 115 Seminarraum; Schloss Schneckenhof Ost |
| Thursday
(single date)
|
12.09.2019 |
13:45 - 15:15 |
005 Seminarraum; L 9, 6 |
| Friday
(single date)
|
13.09.2019 |
13:15 - 18:15 |
SO 115 Seminarraum; Schloss Schneckenhof Ost |
| Friday
(single date)
|
27.09.2019 |
13:15 - 18:15 |
SO 115 Seminarraum; Schloss Schneckenhof Ost |
| Friday
(single date)
|
04.10.2019 |
13:15 - 18:15 |
SO 115 Seminarraum; Schloss Schneckenhof Ost |
Detective fiction is a genre of popular literature that originated in a series of short stories published by Edgar Allan Poe in the 1840s. It is today a worldwide phenomenon, and a lens through which writers with various agendas can critique issues of social justice. This seminar will look at the genre's origins in Poe's M. Dupin; its apotheosis in Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, its “Classical” form in Christie's Great Detective, Hercule Poirot; its “Hard-boiled” form in the private eye fiction of Hammett and Chandler, and its emergence as a vehicle for new perspectives in the Kinsey Millhone novels of Sue Grafton. We will read three novels - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Maltese Falcon, and “A” is for Alibi (plus 2/3s of A Study in Scarlet) - and at least three short stories. We will consider the formal evolution of the genre's narrative structure, but will concentrate upon those social issues: the source of authority (gray cells? toughness?), masculinity (including homosexual and homosocial relations), female disempowerment/empowerment, racial and ethnic others, the power of money and class, and other issues.
ANG 313 American Literature since 1945 (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Learning target:
A further and important aim of the seminar is to practice the interpretation of literary and other cultural texts. What questions can be posed, what is an interesting reading that does not just repeat what the text already says, and how can you present the results of your reading to a public?
The seminar, which might also be helpful for preparing final oral exams, will make students familiar with a wide range of literary US-American texts since 1945, will introduce them to and practice procedures of interpretation, and allow them to present their theses in class.
Literature:
By the beginning of the semester, students are supposed to have acquired and read Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar.
Examination achievement:
Presentation in class, seminar paper (15 pages in English) or oral exam before the Christmas break.
Instructor(s):
Ulfried Reichardt
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
12:00 - 13:30 |
EW 145 Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
In this seminar we will read and discuss mostly literary and some other US-American cultural texts since 1945. We will discuss novels, poems, and films that can be seen as representative of their historical period.
ANG 313 Introduction to Literature Theory (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Examination achievement:
Oral Exam or Seminar Paper
Instructor(s):
Juliane Strätz
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
12:00 - 13:30 |
406 Seminarraum; B 6, 30-32 Bauteil E-F |
This class investigates several theoretical approaches to literature of the 20th and 21st century. By reading theoretical key texts, we will identify and investigate the questions that have animated critical discussions among literary critics in the past century. The topics will include but are not limited to structuralism, poststructuralism, critical race theory, critical feminist theory, gender theory, Marxist theory, etc. To consolidate the new knowledge, we will apply the theories to a selected literary text.
ANG 313 Detroit (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Learning target:
Over the course of the semester, students...
- ...will learn how to read literature, music, art, and film as seismographs for socio-economic and socio-political phenomena and developments.
- ...will receive instructions on how to formulate research questions for their term papers.
Literature:
Students are required to purchase Jeffrey Eugenides's novel Middlesex (ISBN-13: 978-0312991739). All other primary and secondary sources will be provided on Ilias.
Examination achievement:
oral exam OR term paper
Instructor(s):
Stefan Benz
| Wednesday
(weekly)
|
04.09.2019 - 04.12.2019 |
15:30 - 17:00 |
EW 165 FUM Seminarraum; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
The city of Detroit has become known as many things: as the center of the US-American automobile industry (Motor City), as the home of Motown, Eminem, and Techno, and as the city that has experienced a socio-economic ascent and decline unprecedented among US-American cities. Through the lenses of literature, music, art, and film, this seminar investigates the enormous economic, social, and cultural changes Detroit has undergone in the last century, and how it has nevertheless or precisely for this reason left a significant mark on US-American culture as a whole.
We therefore focus on Jeffrey Eugenides’s novel Middlesex, selected short stories and poems, selected essays on music from the volume Heaven was Detroit – From Jazz to Hip-Hop and Beyond (ed. M.L. Liebler), the murals of Diego Rivera, the famous art installation known as “The Heidelberg Project,” and Kathryn Bigelow’s movie “Detroit” (2017). will also spend one session discussing the work of two local poets, Molli Spalter and Isaac Pickell, who will co-teach via Skype.
ANG 313 The New Sincerity: The Case of David Foster Wallace (Seminar (Intermediate Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Intermediate Level)
ECTS:
6.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Learning target:
By immersing themselves in the work of primarily one author students will be able to practice different methods of analysing and interpreting literary texts (we will e.g. practice close readings, feminist critiques, genetic criticism [looking into excerpts from Wallace's personal library], and discuss intertextuality and literary history).
Since Wallace is a highly philosophical author, students will also be confronted with philosophical ideas from Wittgenstein's Ordinary Language Philosophy to the basics of Lacanian psychoanalysis, poststructuralism, and postmodernism.
In addition, students will practice their analytic and interpretative skills by comparing Wallace's texts to those of other New Sincerity authors and Wallace's postmodernist forebearers.
Students will also get the chance to discuss Wallace with leading figures of the scholarly International David Foster Wallace Society.
Examination achievement:
seminar paper (~15 pages in English) or oral exam before the Christmas break.
Instructor(s):
Dominik Matthias Steinhilber
| Thursday
(weekly)
|
05.09.2019 - 05.12.2019 |
17:15 - 18:45 |
406 Seminarraum; B 6, 30-32 Bauteil E-F |
In 1993, David Foster Wallace called for a new generation of sincere literary rebels who would be “willing to risk the yawn, the rolled eyes, the cool smile, the nudged ribs, the parody of gifted ironists, the ‘How banal’.” If the logical conclusion of postmodern irony had been apathy and solipsism, Wallace argued, writers now had to find different ways of self-expression. This revaluation of sincerity struck a nerve. Its repercussions were not just limited to the domain of literature, however. In varying forms, sincerity has also become a trending aesthetics in music, film, and visual art. This cultural movement has come to be called the New Sincerity. It is characterized by a yearning for interpersonal connection, affect, trust, and belief. Despite poststructural proclamations of the “Death of the Author,” the New Sincerity reframes the artwork as a medium of communication between artists and their audiences.
This course will introduce students to the most recent movement in literature and culture. Students will be familiarized with the changes and consistencies in the oeuvre of one of its forerunners, David Foster Wallace, as well as selected texts by other authors of the New Sincerity. Although he is most famous for his 1079p encyclopedic novel Infinite Jest (students are more than welcome to read it and discuss it with me), this class will be concerned with Wallace’s short stories and nonfiction. Reading Wallace’s short prose oeuvre, we will approach Wallace’s texts from a variety of critical perspectives and philosophical backgrounds. We will also look at selected postmodernist literature (such as Barth’s Lost in The Funhouse) and key poststructuralist texts in order to more fully understand what exactly the New Sincerity is reacting against.
Students who want to prepare for this class are invited to buy (and read) David Foster Wallace’s three short story collections (Girl with Curious Hair, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, Oblivion).
ANG 404 Linguistic Analysis of Child Literature (Seminar (Advanced Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Advanced Level)
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
In this course you have a chance to …
- learn about language acquisition, discourse analysis, and literacy.
- practice the analysis of literary texts from a linguistic point of view.
- apply knowledge and skills from earlier linguistic classes to the linguistic analysis of texts.
- gain deeper understanding of how texts differ from spoken discourse.
- understand how literature contributes to language acquisition and literacy.
- practice your skills in critical thinking, academic reading, writing, presenting and teamwork.
You have a chance to
- improve your presentation skills through group presentations and feedback and
- your writing skills through writing a term paper.
Examination achievement:
Term paper or oral exam
Note that participation in the first session is obligatory, missing the session without giving notive might result in losing your chance to participate.
Instructor(s):
Ira Gawlitzek
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
EW 169 Seminarraum C.A.Reichling; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
Why would a linguist be interested in child literature? Well, because there is great child literature that plays with language and is fun to read. Child literature is one of the important factors of children’s language acquisition and them becoming literate. There is ample of evidence that stresses how important being read to is for children’s development.
In this course we take child literature as a starting and focal point to think about and discuss
- discourse structur
- how (child) literature differs from spoken discourse and
- supports language acquisition and development.
In other words, this course brings together the fields of discourse analysis, language acquisition, and literacy.
Participants are expected to pursue their own (group) project and in this project you might also analyse other types of literature from a linguistic point of view.
ANG 404 The English Verb (Seminar (Advanced Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Advanced Level)
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
At the end of the semester you should be …
- able to classify English verbs morphologically, syntactically and semantically
- aware of different verb classes and types and can explain what the consequences for their syntactic development are
- ...
Examination achievement:
Term paper or oral exam
Note that participation in the first session is obligatory, missing the session without giving notive might result in losing your chance to participate.
Instructor(s):
Ira Gawlitzek
| Wednesday
(weekly)
|
04.09.2019 - 04.12.2019 |
08:30 - 10:00 |
EW 169 Seminarraum C.A.Reichling; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
The verb is the heart of a sentence as it determines, how many arguments will be needed for a well-formed sentence. In this course we will take a closer look at the morphological differences of different verb classes, investigate syntactic differences between different verb types and look at interrelations between verb semantics and syntactic structures.
In other words: Among other questions we will investigate what may contributes to the meaning of (1) and (2) and why (3) is ungrammatical. We will discuss why (4) is grammatical without the complement and (5) is not and why the expletive there can be the subject of seem but not of see.
(1) Jean may write her article this afternoon.
(2) May Jean write her article this afternoon?
(3) *Write Jean her article this afternoon.
(4) She ate (a pizza) on the run.
(5) She devoured *(the pizza) on the run.
(6) There seems to be an accident down the road.
(7) *There see an accident down the road.
ANG 404 Morphological Processing (Seminar (Advanced Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Advanced Level)
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
The course gives you an overview of theoretical accounts of morphological processing. In addition to work on prototypical native speakers, we will also discuss morphological processing in other groups, such as second-language learners or bilingual heritage speakers.
You will also get an introduction to experimental psycholinguistic techniques such as eye-tracking or EEG.
Finally, the course allows you to practice reading scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals. This can initially be quite tedious, but will definitely come in handy in the later stages of your studies, such as for Bachelor and Master theses.
Literature:
Please take into account that we will mainly work with scientific articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals.
Instructor(s):
Gunnar Jacob
| Thursday
(weekly)
|
05.09.2019 - 05.12.2019 |
12:00 - 13:30 |
EW 163 Seminarraum; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
One of the fiercest debates in experimental psycholinguistic research revolves around the issue of how morphologically complex words are represented in our mind and brain. Are words such as ‘walked’, ‘player’, ‘bookshelf’, or even ‘Brexit’ simply words, and therefore represented in the Human Mental Lexicon in essentially the same way as simplex words such as ‘cat’ or ‘chair’, or does the fact that complex words possess a word-internal grammatical structure have any consequences for how we recognize, produce, and acquire such words? It is this question which constitutes the starting point of our seminar.
The processing of individual words in humans is typically an extremely fast, automatic, and (at least in native speakers) largely effortless process. As a result, the study of morphological processing requires the use of sophisticated experimental paradigms, which are able to tap into such an extremely fast process. The seminar thus also constitutes a good opportunity to get a basic introduction to experimental techniques which can be used to study human language processing and production in the lab, such as eye-tracking, EEG, fMRI, or fNIRS.
ANG 404 Language Change in the History of English (Seminar (Advanced Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Advanced Level)
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
- Revise and deepen your knowledge of diachronic linguistics
- Develop a basic understanding of the dynamics of language change
- Learn to apply appropriate terminology and theories to describe and explore the phenomenon of language change
- Improve your skills in reading/understanding Old and Middle English texts
- Enhance your skills in critical reflection and academic reading, writing and discussion
Literature:
Textbook:
van Gelderen, Elly (2014). A History of the English Language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
- please bring your own copy -
Examination achievement:
Written exam (90 minutes) or term paper (12-15 pages)
Instructor(s):
Mareike Keller
| Thursday
(weekly)
|
05.09.2019 - 05.12.2019 |
13:45 - 15:15 |
406 Seminarraum; B 6, 30-32 Bauteil E-F |
Based on the book A History of the English Language (details see below) we will review the basic terms and concepts used in the field of diachronic linguistics. You will enhance your skills in reading Old and Middle English texts in order to see the changes we talk about for yourself. We will move from concrete examples to the more general trends and begin to explore the factors that promote or inhibit language change: Who or what makes a language change? Can language change be encouraged? Can it be prevented? Can its direction be predicted? Which components of a language are more stable and which are changed easily? And why? Many different answers to these questions have been brought forward in the course of time, and still there plenty we do not fully understand. This course is not for those who need clear answers that can be learned by heart. However, if you are curious enough to put up
with contradictions and question marks and you are comfortable making up your own mind, you are welcome to join the search party!
ANG 409 Morphology (Lecture, English)
Lecture type:
Lecture
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
In the course of the lecture, participants will
- build on and, in short discussions, practise the descriptive and theoretical expertise acquired in previous linguistics classes (e.g. Introduction to English linguistics, Introduction to diachronic linguistics, etc.)
- improve their understanding of English morphology, especially in contrast to German
- learn more about dealing with language theoretically and how we can benefit from it
- enhance their analytical skills in dealing with linguistic data, both synchronic and diachronic
Literature:
Aronoff, Mark; Fudeman, Kirsten (2005): What is Morphology? Oxford: Blackwell.
Bauer, Laurie, Lieber, Rochelle; Plag, Ingo (12013): The Oxford reference guide to English morphology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Haspelmath, Martin (2002): Understanding Morphology. London: Arnold.
Katamba, Francis (1993): Morphology. Palgrave.
König, Ekkehard; Gast, Volker (2008): Understanding English-German Contrasts. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag.
Marchand, Hans (21969): The Categories and Types of Present-Day EnglishWord-Formation. München: C. H. Beck.
Plag, Ingo (2003): Word-Formation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Radford, Andrew et al. (1999): Linguistics. An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Additional reading materials will be made available on the online platform Ilias.
Examination achievement:
Assessment:
- 5 graded and passed homework assignments, passing of written final test (2 ECTS credits)
Grading:
- 5 graded and passed homework assignments (graded average: 40%)
- Passing of a written final test (60%)
Instructor(s):
Carola Trips
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
13:45 - 15:15 |
C 012 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil C |
This lecture provides an overview of the field of morphology, i.e. the study of the internal structure of words. We will start by refreshing your knowledge from the lecture Introduction to Linguistics, which includes classifying morphological phenomena in terms of word-formation and inflection, defining terms like morph, morpheme and allomorph, and drawing structures of words. We will then deal with the form and function of a number of these phenomena in more detail like derivation (e.g. kingdom), inflection (I go vs. he goes), compounding (e.g. love letter, the “I love you” glance), conversion (e.g. the butter => to butter) and how they can be analysed in different morphological models. Moreover,
we will examine psycholinguistic aspects like the processing and acquisition of words, instances of morphological change (e.g. the borrowing of suffixes like -able), and the peculiarities of texting (the Gr8 Db8).
ANG 414 From the Poisonous Muse to Toxic Masculinity: Toxicity in Anglophone Literature and Culture (Seminar (Advanced Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Advanced Level)
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
From “toxic masculinity” to “toxic gamers” - metaphors of poison and contagion are omnipresent in current political, social, and media discourses. Toxic discourse has undergone interesting shifts in the past centuries. While once restricted to medical and, later, ecological discussions, the word “toxic” has now increasingly entered the social realm. All the while, connotations of toxicity have been infused with concepts of gender, community, and knowledge - semantic constellations that have been reflected and shaped by literary and cultural negotiations of toxicity. In this seminar, we will discuss some literary, audiovisual, and artistic engagements with toxicity in Anglophone culture from the 19th century until the present day. We will discuss the continuing and shifting cultural implications of the 'toxic imaginary', while discussing the impact that this concept has on current political and cultural debates.
Literature:
We will read a selection of shorter texts that will be made available on ILIAS or can be accessed in the library. Please buy Don DeLillo's novel White Noise and Sophie Mackintosh's novel The Water Cure.
Examination achievement:
Oral exam or term paper (15-20 pages)
Instructor(s):
Regina Schober
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
EW 167 Seminarraum Dr.Hajo Treutler; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
| Thursday
(single date)
|
10.10.2019 |
12:00 - 15:30 |
B 243 Hörsaal; A 5, 6 Bauteil B |
ANG 414 Charles Dickens (Seminar (Advanced Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Advanced Level)
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Literature:
Texts:
Please make sure to buy the following Penguin Classics editions: Great Expectations (Charlotte Mitchell [ed.]) and Little Dorrit (Stephen Wall & Helen Small [eds.]).
Secondary literature:
Have a look at Cambridge Books Online which you can access via ‘UB Datenbanken’ and which provides a wealth of information on Dickens, Victorian Literature, and related topics.
Examination achievement:
Hausarbeit (15-page research paper; 8 ECTS), Klausur (90-minutes written exam; 7 ECTS), or oral exam (20 minutes; 7 ECTS), depending on the requirements of your course of study. Students will also be expected to take part in group work, presentations etc. (Studienleistungen) as a mandatory requirement for taking the final exam. The Studienleistungen will be specified at the beginning of term.
Instructor(s):
Stefan Glomb
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
12:00 - 13:30 |
EW 163 Seminarraum; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
Charles Dickens is clearly the most widely read Victorian author, both in terms of his contemporary audience and today. His popularity results from a unique mix of humorous and serious elements, of sheer reading fun and food for thought. The funny side is immediately obvious in his creation of quirky and sometimes almost surreal characters, some of whom have attained a life of their own beyond the page as part of British cultural heritage, known even to those who have never read the novels. The serious side emerges in his social criticism, which became ever more scathing in the course of his writing career. Dickens’ novels provide suspense and entertainment as well as valuable insights into the complexities and downside of Victorian culture and society. In this seminar, we will discuss two of his masterpieces, Little Dorrit (1855-57) and Great Expectations (1860-61), both written during the late phase of his career. The two novels represent the two predominant novelistic sub-genres in Dickens’ work: Little Dorrit is a society panorama featuring a large cast of characters and spanning the whole gamut of society; Great Expectations is a fictional autobiography-cum-Bildungsroman, focusing on the development of one central character. Our approach to these novels will combine close reading and the discussion of secondary texts and theoretical aspects. For convenience’s sake, we will read the novels in reverse order, staring with Great Expectations (which is considerably shorter than Little Dorrit).
ANG 414 It's Cool to Consume: Visual Cultures of Neoliberalism (Seminar (Advanced Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Advanced Level)
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
In this seminar, students will acquire tools to read and critique visual texts / visual cultural phenomena. They will also hone their debate skills by leading class discussion as discussant or respondent in select sessions. Moreover, they will enhance their skills in engaging with and responding to academic texts. Specifically, students will familiarize themselves with Neo-Marxist, Affect Theory and Critical Digital Studies approaches. At the end of the term, students will have acquired a firm grasp of what distinguishes neoliberalism from earlier iterations of capitalism, a critical awareness of the social and cultural ramifications of the neoliberal economic order, and a deeper understanding of (visual) culture's simultaneous potential to abet conformitiy and to rouse dissent.
Literature:
Please acquire access to the following films / TV series:
Wall Street I (dir. Oliver Stone), 1987 [note that we will discuss the 1987 film, not the 2010 sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps]
99 Francs (dir. Jan Kounen), 2007 [be sure to acquire a version with English subtitles; an optional evening session will be sceduled where students can watch this hard-to-obtain film]
The Social Network (dir. David Fincher), 2010
Season 1 of the TV series The Wire (dir. David Simon), 2002
Examination achievement:
term paper (15 pages) or oral exam
Instructor(s):
Katharina Marie Motyl
| Thursday
(weekly)
|
05.09.2019 - 05.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
|
| Wednesday
(single date)
|
16.10.2019 |
18:00 - 20:30 |
405 Seminarraum; B 6, 30-32 Bauteil E-F |
| Thursday
(single date)
|
07.11.2019 |
15:30 - 17:00 |
405 Seminarraum; B 6, 30-32 Bauteil E-F |
The ascent of neoliberalism, broadly understood as increasing market deregulation coupled with decreasing government spending on social welfare programs, has been intimately entwined with visual culture. On the one hand, advertising agencies have recognized that the visual holds unique propensities to appeal to consumers' emotions, and the success of companies such as Facebook or Instagram presupposes the image-laden medium of the internet. On the other hand, the sociocultural impact of the neoliberal economic order has visual manifestations, as well; this becomes amply clear when one considers the ways in which neoliberalism has reshaped the city (gentrification, gated communities, etc.) At the same time, activist / artistic resistance to neoliberalism, expressed in such practices as graffiti or adbusting, has also heavily relied on visual strategies. Focusing on three topics in which neoliberalism and visual culture intersect in powerful ways - commodity fetishism; the neoliberal transformation of the city; digital capitalism - we will critically analyze an array of visual media, from film and TV series to advertisements and Instagram posts, to understand the complex ideological work that visual culture can perform with view to neoliberalism. We will also assess the potential of some visual strategies of resistance to the neoliberal order.
ANG 414 Shakespeare's Romans (Seminar (Advanced Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Advanced Level)
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Literature:
Texts:
Please make sure to buy the 3rd Arden editions of Titus Andronicus (Jonathan Bate [ed.]), Julius Caesar (David Daniell [ed.]), Antony and Cleopatra (John Wilders [ed.]); and Coriolanus (Peter Holland [ed.]).
Secondary Literature:
Have a look at Cambridge Books Online which you can access via ‘UB Datenbanken’ and which provides a wealth of information on different aspects of Shakespeare studies.
Examination achievement:
Hausarbeit (15-page research paper; 8 ECTS), Klausur (90-minutes written exam; 7 ECTS), or oral exam (20 minutes; 7 ECTS), depending on the requirements of your course of study. Students will also be expected to take part in group work, presentations etc. (Studienleistungen) as a mandatory requirement for taking the final exam. The Studienleistungen will be specified at the beginning of term.
Instructor(s):
Stefan Glomb
| Thursday
(weekly)
|
05.09.2019 - 05.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
EW 163 Seminarraum; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
The fact that Shakespeare devoted six of his works to the topic testifies to his (and his age’s) interest in ancient Rome. To list them in the order of historical chronology, The Rape of Lucrece, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Titus Andronicus, and Cymbeline cover the timespan from the fifth century BC to the fourth century AD and relate to some of the most important moments in Roman history. But don’t worry, you don’t have to be an expert in that field to be able to make sense of Shakespeare’s plays, and we will not go beyond the necessary historical basics because the aim of this seminar is not testing the accuracy of Shakespeare’s presentation of history but to discuss aspects of the plays which are significant in the context of the relation between ancient Rome and Elizabethan/ Jacobean England as well as the relation between both of them and our present age. To Shakespeare’s contemporaries, Rome (and especially the Rome presented in his works) was alien and familiar in almost equal measure, and the same is probably true to the way we encounter these texts. In order to catch a glimpse of Shakespeare’s development as a playwright, we will not stick to the chronology of historic events but to the order in which he wrote his plays, i.e. Titus Andronicus (1589-92), Julius Caesar (1599), Antony and Cleopatra (1606-7), and Coriolanus (1608).
ANG 414 Poetry From Puritanism To Rap (Seminar (Advanced Level), English)
Lecture type:
Seminar (Advanced Level)
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
Students will get to know all periods of US-American literary history with respect to poetry, learn how to interpret poems, and will also have the opportunity to write creatively about music and lyrics they like.
Examination achievement:
Presentation in class, three seminar papers of about 5 pages in English, or oral exam before the Christmas break.
Instructor(s):
Ulfried Reichardt
| Thursday
(weekly)
|
05.09.2019 - 05.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
EW 151 Elfriede Höhn Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
| Saturday
(single date)
|
09.11.2019 |
09:00 - 16:00 |
EW 167 Seminarraum Dr.Hajo Treutler; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
In this seminar we will read and discuss poetry from the early times of Puritanism to Romanticism and Modernism. The contemporary period will be represented by song lyrics from various musical genres. You will get to know a wide range of lyrical expression from very different periods.
ANG 416 Irish Literature and Culture (Lecture, English)
Lecture type:
Lecture
ECTS:
4.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Instructor(s):
Caroline Lusin
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
12:00 - 13:30 |
EW 242 Otto Mann Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
As the proverbial ‘emerald isle’, Ireland with its beautiful natural scenery has long held a particular fascination for travellers from the continent, including Germany. Recently, however, it has chiefly made the news due to the conflicted negotiations centred on the question of the so-called Irish ‘backstop’ included in the proposed Brexit deal. But why is the question of the backstop so particularly fraught with tension, and what it is all about? How and when did the split between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland originate, and why is the border between North and South such a touchstone for different Irish identities? And finally, and most importantly, in what ways do Irish and Northern Irish literature and culture reflect the evolvement of these identities?
In this lecture series, we will explore Irish (and Northern Irish) history, culture and literature from their beginnings up to the 21st century and the looming threat of Brexit. After a short survey of Irish history, we will investigate into Irish fiction, drama and poetry with a particular focus on the 20th and 21st centuries, paying special attention to the complex interplay of literature and cultural identities.
ANG 421 London - An Excursion (April 2020, nur Bekanntgabe, Anmeldung siehe Kommentar) (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Instructor(s):
Philip Griffiths
Excursion dates: April 14 - April 18, 2020 (Easter Break)
Sign up for the course in EW 280 from September 16-19 and 23-26.
Students only have to pay 20% of the travel costs!
Note: You can only join the course if you still need credits for ANG 421
Place allocation: lottery (NOT first come first served)
ANG 421 British History for Beginners (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Instructor(s):
Philip Griffiths
| Wednesday
(weekly)
|
04.09.2019 - 04.12.2019 |
13:45 - 15:15 |
EW 167 Seminarraum Dr.Hajo Treutler; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
The nature of Britishness and of British history in general is far easier to proclaim than to define. Nevertheless, this course will attempt to charter the chequered history of the Isles, paying close attention to the socio-political currents that shaped present-day Britain. This gargantuan task may sound daunting at first, but the course is designed specifically to offer and overview rather than an in-depth analysis of historical contexts. Since prior knowledge of historical events is not a prerequisite, history illiterates are more than welcome to join the course!
Course requirements: regular participation in class, weekly quizzes and a final exam.
ANG 421 An Introduction to British Politics (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
In this course, you will learn how Britain's system of government has developed over many years. You will get to know the institutions that form a part of this system and how they function today. You will gain an insight into the various policies of britain's post-(second-world) war governments and learn how divided all political camps are today after the recent “Brexit” referendum.
Instructor(s):
Ian Bailey
| Thursday
(weekly)
|
05.09.2019 - 05.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
EW 165 FUM Seminarraum; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
This course is divided into three sections: the development of the British system of government, the British system of government today, and contemporary British poilitics.
The first section deals with British history with particular emphasis on events relating to the development of the system of government.
The second section looks into the role of Britain's political institutions as they are today. The functions of both houses of parliament are examined, as are the roles played by institutions such as the monarch, government and cabinet. Electoral procedure is also analysed.
The third section looks into the political parties of the UK and their manifestoes. The policies of various post-war governments are examined and important political issues of the day are discussed. Particular emphasis will be given to current developments after the recent referendum on the UK's future outside the EU.
ANG 421 An Introduction to Ireland (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
In this course, you will gain basic knowledge of Irish history. You will understand how Ireland became part of the United Kingdom and then how the South broke away to become independent. You will understand why there has always been a conflict of interest among the inhabitants in the island's northern province. You will also gain basic knowledge in areas of Irish culture such as music, literature and sport.
Instructor(s):
Ian Bailey
| Friday
(weekly)
|
06.09.2019 - 06.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
EW 167 Seminarraum Dr.Hajo Treutler; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
This course is an introduction to Ireland and is divided into two parts. The first part looks at the history of Ireland concentrating on the background to the Troubles. The second part deals with Irish culture and society today. Participants are expected to chose subjects for this part; which they will present to the class. The history of Ireland is presented in a reader, which will be distributed at the beginning of the term.
ANG 421 British Humour (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Instructor(s):
Philip Griffiths
| Friday
(weekly)
|
06.09.2019 - 06.12.2019 |
12:00 - 13:30 |
A 305 Seminarraum; B 6, 23-25 Bauteil A |
British (or dare I say English) humour is revered around the world as a unique reflection of the quirkiness and inconsistencies of the British (or possibly the English?) character. In the course, we will treat British/English humour as a culture-specific artifact that can help analyse and situate British (English?) identity and history. (At this point, let me apologise for the British/English divide, but let me stress that it is a necessary step that will, I hope, be explained to your satisfaction in the course). We will begin by dealing with theories of humour (the superiority theory, the incongruity theory, the release theory etc.) before moving on to a short history of British/English humour and a comparison between said humour (to avoid another British/English divide!) and German humour. The final part of the course will be taken up by an analysis of stand-out B/E comedy: Monty Python’s Life of Brian, Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, The Office, Four Weddings and a Funeral and more.
(P.S. I also apologise for the many brackets I used in this course description)
Course requirements will be discussed in class. A reader will be supplied in the first week of term.
ANG 422 The American Political Tradition (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Literature:
The text for the course is: Critchlow, Donald T. American Political History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, Oxford UP.
Other short texts will be made available on the Ilias site for the course.
Examination achievement:
1 take-home midterm essay
1 final exam
Instructor(s):
John Miller Jones
| Monday
(weekly)
|
02.09.2019 - 06.12.2019 |
13:45 - 15:15 |
EW 161 Seminarraum; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
This seminar traces the course of American political philosophy and practice from the colonial era to the present and examines the contemporary political scene concerning major issues, political parties, and the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, among other topics, in order to understand the roots of American political ideas as well as how particular political ideologies and policies are faring in the current context.
ANG 422 Wasteland, USA (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
- to attain a basic knowledge of the idea of waste from its origins in the USA up until today
- including a spatial and visual orientation to use approaches from cultural and media studies to analyze media coverage of garbage and trashed landscapes
- to use approaches from cultural and media studies to analyze examples from US entertainment media and news coverage to understand how wastelands are presented
- to apply this historical information and different approaches to current events / situations affecting the US today (such as the extremely high incarceration rate or the opioid epidemic)
- to develop an understanding about what is particularly American about wastelands and ascertain the strengths, weaknesses and possible future outcomes of such places
Literature:
A syllabus will be provided on ILIAS which will include theoretical and analyical topics such as:
- THROWAWAY NATION: The Ugly Truth about American Garbage by Jeff Dondero 2019
- The Literature of Waste Material Ecopoetics and Ethical Matter by Susan Signe Morrison 2015
- as well as theories about purity and hygiene by Mary Douglas, post-modern concerns about decomposition by Zygmunt Baumann and newer theories of material culture and eco-criticism
Examination achievement:
Students are expected to act as a discussion leader and present one of the weekly topics for the class in a small group. In addition, you will be asked to write a 3-5 page mid-term and an in-class final exam. Regular attendance and participation in class are also required.
Instructor(s):
Susan Montoya
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
12:00 - 13:30 |
EW 159 Seminarraum Landesbank; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
Wasteland, USA
Forlorn empty spaces, abandoned factories in the Rust Belt, nuclear waste dumps on reservations, impoverished ghettos, waste people, wasted opioid users, cells full of the forgotten and unwanted rejects, garbage dumps and junk yards, landscapes that have been fracked, marginalized groups left by the wayside, homeless communities of veterans, gooped-up gutters and polluted waterways...the USA is full of lots of emptiness. There is even an annual Wasteland Festival in California celebrating the apocalyptic conditions of the new millenium replete with Mad Max regalia. How did these spaces, places, people and communities come to be regarded as the bottom of the barrel and is there anyway out of the trash heap? This course will investigate the underbelly of American society and take a deep look at what is considered to be expendable in order to assess what is at stake here. What values are being held up high and who is looking down on who? Can a wasteland spawn new growth and possibilities or does it just represent the end of the road? Through considering existing wastelands and medial representations in films like American Honey, The Florida Project, Leave No Trace, Trash, etc. we will try to define trash as a set of relationships between the land and its inhabitants, the material and ideal, or the desired and no longer needed. By applying theories about landscape, power relations and hyperreality, we might even develop other ways of dealing with the stink of a throw-away society. This scatological digging into the fabric and dirt of US society may reveal some real gems - wear your old clothes and get ready to get your theoretical hands dirty!
ANG 422 Telling Stories: American Folktales, Myths, and Urban Legends (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
6
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
- becoming competent story tellers by learning how stories work and practicing their delivery
- gaining awareness of traditional methods of story analysis from the psycho-analytic and archetypal to the performative and semiotic
- applying theory to stories in order to get at some deeper levels of meaning
- relating local and regional tales to a larger context
- working with different media to tell your own stories
Literature:
a syllabus will be uploaded on ILIAS
students can contribute found and original stories to ILIAS as well
Examination achievement:
Students will choose a myth, folktale, or urban legend and explore it from its history, intermediality and reception.
In a second phase, you will present your results to the class and write a short analysis of the story and its cultural significance.
Instructor(s):
Susan Montoya
| Wednesday
(weekly)
|
04.09.2019 - 04.12.2019 |
12:00 - 13:30 |
EW 163 Seminarraum; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
The whole country is rife with demons, tricksters, giants and talking animals! Many American folk tales seemed to have sprouted up from the land itself (Paul Bunyon and his blue ox, Babe) other tales tell of hybrid cultures such as the African-American trickster figure Brer Rabbit or the Latin-American wailing visage, La Llorona, and still others come from Native American lore or even songs (John Henry). That these figures still populate the imagination is evident in the way they are still incorporated in the media today – TV shows like Grimm and American Horror Story translate these traditional tales into today’s vernacular. Urban legends still persist in maintaining that some places are haunted by devil babies, serial killers and even Elvis.
This class will introduce these popular tales and myths so that we can encounter them in the US culture today. We will also work on techniques and theories to help us analyze these tales from the fields of social sciences and literature.
ANG 601 Case Studies in Bilingual Speech and Language Acquisition (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
- Participants will obtain an increased understanding of acquisition tasks specific to various linguistic levels (i.e. phonology/prosody, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics) and their interfaces;
- … familiarize themselves with developmental processes and gain insights into determinants (age/duration/intensity/quality of exposure, cognitive resources, relative complexity, etc.) and the dynamics of language acquisition;
- … understand how abstract linguistic and psycholinguistic theories inform and can be tested by acquisition research;
- … increase their methodological expertise in data elicitation, learn how to transcribe, annotate, and analyze natural speech, learn how to use software tools such as PRAAT, EXMARaLDA, AntConc;
- … practice their ability of critically reading academic texts;
- … increase their own writing and presentation skills as well as their ability to engage in and organize teamwork;
- gain experience in classroom discussion and in providing feedback on presentations.
Literature:
A syllabus and a bibliography will be available at the first class meeting.
Examination achievement:
2 options:
8 ECTS for term paper (20 pages) to be handed in by January 31st, 2019,
6 ECTS for oral exams (15-20 min) based on class readings and own data.
Instructor(s):
Rosemarie Tracy
| Monday
(weekly)
|
02.09.2019 - 06.12.2019 |
13:45 - 15:15 |
EW 167 Seminarraum Dr.Hajo Treutler; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
| Monday
(single date)
|
04.11.2019 |
18:00 - 20:00 |
EW 154 Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
Even though acquisition research has gained significant insights into similarities and differences between learner types, a lot remains to be discovered, including the reasons for individual differences between learners belonging to the very same acquisition “type” and exposed to the same target language. This seminar focuses on the linguistic competence, the performance and the acquisition paths of L1 learners, of learners of two or more simultaneous first languages (2L1), of L2 learners of different ages, as well as of learners of heritage languages. We will discuss individual longitudinal case studies but also briefly discuss cross-sectional experimental approaches to production and comprehension. Depending on the spectrum of languages spoken by class participants, we will include languages other than English.
ANG 601 Words and their acquisition (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
At the end of the semester, you will have had a chance to
- revise and deepen your morphological, lexical and psycholinguistic knowledge.
- Discuss theoretical challenges in these areas and suggested solutions and you should be able to critically evaluate these.
- develop your own project and thus practice to formulate research questions, investigating it, and presenting the results in class.
- analyse data.
- practice your skills in critical thinking, academic reading, writing, presenting and teamwork.
-
Literature:
Will be announced in the first session.
Most literature will be avialable online.
Examination achievement:
Term paper or oral exam.
Note that participation in the first session is obligatory, missing the session without giving notive might result in losing your chance to participate.
Instructor(s):
Ira Gawlitzek
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
08:30 - 10:00 |
EW 169 Seminarraum C.A.Reichling; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
What does it mean to know a word? How do we learn words? Do you know the word “strategery”? If not, does it help you interpret it when you know that it is related to George W. Bush? How come “Saturday Night Live” may function as one word?
In this class, we address these and other questions by looking at words from different perspectives: their morpho-syntax, their semantics, their place in the mental lexicon, their acquisition (L1 and L2), and how listeners/readers interpret new or previously unencountered words with the help of contextual information.
ANG 601 Corpus Linguistics (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Literature:
Gries, Stefan Th. 2010. Corpus linguistics and theoretical linguistics: a love-hate relationship? Not necessarily... International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 15(3). 327-343.
Hoffmann, Sebastian et al. 2008. Corpus Linguistics with BNCweb - a Practical Guide, 6. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Lemnitzer, Lothar and Heike Zinsmeister. 2006. Korpuslinguistik. Eine Einführung. Tübingen: Narr.
McEnery, Tony; Richard Xiao and Yukio Tono. 2006. Corpus-based language studies. An advanced resource book. London: Routledge.
Plag, Ingo. 2003. Word-Formation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Examination achievement:
Writing a term paper (ca. 20 pages)
Instructor(s):
Tabea Harris
| Wednesday
(weekly)
|
04.09.2019 - 04.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
406 Seminarraum; B 6, 30-32 Bauteil E-F |
This seminar is a methods course which brings together the two notions of corpora and linguistics. A corpus is a large collection of 'texts', which is searchable for several linguistic phenomena via a number of tools. With the methodology of corpus linguistics we study language based on examples of authentic language use.
Recent and ongoing advances in computer technology have led to an increased interest in language studies which make use of large text corpora, including samples of both written and spoken language, to investigate linguistic phenomena in a comprehensive and representative way.
The course will introduce the notion of corpora, which types there are and what they can be used for. You will then be able to get hands-on experience in working with a small number of recent and large English corpora, thereby developing an idea of what the merits and pitfalls of working with corpora are. Based on the knowledge acquired in this course, you will then be able to write up your term paper with a focus on one (or two, in comparison-based studies) of the corpora we have worked with in the course of this seminar.
Please note: The attendance of the first session of this course is compulsory.
Please register at the BYU platform to be able to use the corpora (by Sept, 3rd): https://corpus.byu.edu/profile_new.asp
ANG 602 Possible Worlds in Literature and Theory (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
Students will get to know some models of world-making and main texts about possible worlds since antiquity, yet with a focus on the present. Artificial intelligence as well as the attempt to think beyond antropomorphic limitations (in the sense of posthumanism) will be probed, and participants will also practice presenting the results of their investigations in class.
Literature:
By the beginning of the semester, Richard Power's Galatea 2.2 (Picador edition) should have been read.
Examination achievement:
Presentation in class, seminar paper (20 pages in English) or oral exam.
Instructor(s):
Ulfried Reichardt
| Tuesday
(weekly)
|
03.09.2019 - 03.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
EW 145 Hörsaal; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
At a time when artificial intelligence, intelligent machines and the internet of things no longer belong to the realm of science fiction, it seems to be urgent to investigate virtual reality and how possible worlds have been imagined by writers and thinkers. As has been argued, a large amount of what science has discovered and technology has developed had already been imagined before. Thus, science fiction and other “literary” forms of imaginative inquiry into what is possible are important resources for thinking about what our future might look like.
We will read some texts from the tradition of cosmology to get to know pre-scientific ways of world-making, a text by Jorge Luis Borges about how the world might look like if completely different premises were in force, read a novel by Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2 in which he fictionally tests how a neural network might get to know the world through literature, and discuss some science fiction stories analyzed in Steven Shapiro's Discognition (2015) which probes questions such as “Thinking Like an Avatar,” “Thinking like an Alien,” and “Thinking like a Slime Mold.” We will also discuss films such as Ex Machina and/or Her. In addition, we will read theoretical texts.
ANG 602 Indigenous Literatures and Cultures of North America (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
7.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Learning target:
By reading the primary texts, students will not only develop their literary criticism skills, but also learn about the historical experiences of Indigenous communities as well as key aspects of Indigenous philosophies and value systems such as the relational conception of the self (“all my relations”). In particular, students will gain an appreciation of the role storytelling and writing literature have played in Indigenous communities' struggle to preserve their cultural customs and sovereignty. Engaging with academic texts will train students in the art of academic argumentation as well as help them acquire key concepts from Indigenous Studies such as settler colonialism, survivance, and the trickster figure, and thematically relevant concepts from Cultural Legal Studies. Students will also hone their oral presentation as well as their debate skills.
Literature:
Please acquire copies of these texts, preferably the editions indicated here:
- Mourning Dove. Cogewea, The Half-Blood: A Depiction of the Great Montana Cattle Range. Intro. Dexter Fisher. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1981 [1927].
- Leslie Marmon Silko. Ceremony. London: Penguin, 1986 [1977].
- Sherman Alexie. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Foreword Markus Zusak. London: Andersen Press, 2015 [2007].
These editions are available at the Bücher Bender campus shop in the Mensa building.
Instructor(s):
Katharina Marie Motyl
| Wednesday
(weekly)
|
04.09.2019 - 04.12.2019 |
12:00 - 13:30 |
|
Before European contact, the North American continent was inhabited by various Indigenous tribes with distict languages, cultural customs, and belief systems. Importantly, Indigenous cultures were oral cultures that transmitted their knowledges and cultural myths via storytelling. The advent of settler colonialism not only displaced the tribes from the land they considered sacred (e.g. Indian Removal Act of 1830) and decimated them due to wars, the liquor trade, and diseases 'imported' from Europe while confining the surviving Indigenous populations on reservations; the discourses accompanying settler colonialism also rendered vastly diverse Indigenous populations into 'Indians' in need of civilization and Christianity, which resulted in Indigenous children being isolated from their communities in boarding schools designed to assimilate them to Euro-American culture. Importantly, oral storytelling and later, writing literature have assumed crucial roles of first nations' endeavors to resist the settler-colonial logic of elimination and preserve their knowledge / cultural customs. To learn about the historical experiences and cultural practices of Indigenous communities, we will analyze three novels by writers of different tribal backgrounds and historical contexts (the 1927 novel Cogewea by Okanogan writer Mourning Dove; the 1977 novel Ceremony by Laguna Pueblo author Leslie Marmon Silko; the 2007 young-adult novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Spokane-Coeur d'Alene writer Sherman Alexie) in addition to historical sources such as Indigenous myths and tribal elders' political speeches. We will pay particular attention to how these writers combine aesthetics derived from Indigenous cultures with the Euro-American conventions of the (young-adult) novel, and which politics their texts thus perform. We will supplement these reading with academic texts from Indigenous Studies and Cultural Legal Studies.
ANG 602 Contemporary Irish and Northern Irish Fiction (Seminar, English)
Lecture type:
Seminar
ECTS:
8.0
Course suitable for:
Language of instruction:
English
Registration procedure:
REGISTRATION: All incoming exchange students at the School of Humanities need to register for their courses via the Registration Form which will be emailed to them before the start of the semester. For further information please contact: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de ANMELDUNG: Alle Austauschstudierenden der Philosophischen Fakultät müssen sich über ein Anmeldeformular für ihre Kurse anmelden, das ihnen vor Beginn des Semesters per Email zugeschickt wird. Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: incoming@phil.uni-mannheim.de
Literature:
Anne Enright, The Gathering (2007)
Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture (2008)
Anna Burns, Milkman (2018)
Jan Carson, The Fire Starters (2019)
Instructor(s):
Caroline Lusin
| Thursday
(weekly)
|
05.09.2019 - 05.12.2019 |
10:15 - 11:45 |
EW 167 Seminarraum Dr.Hajo Treutler; Schloss Ehrenhof West |
If the contemporary novel in English is a particularly flourishing genre, authors from the Republic of Ireland as well as Northern Ireland have made an especially rich and successful contribution to it in recent years. In fact, a look at literary history reveals that some of the literary giants of the English literary canon were born in Ireland – think only of Jonathan Swift, Laurence Sterne, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, and Samuel Beckett. In this class, we will read four critically acclaimed contemporary Irish and Northern Irish novels that epitomize the qualities of the literature from Ireland, which has long been unjustly marginalized as the so-called ‘island behind the island’: Anne Enright’s The Gathering (2007), Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture (2008), Anna Burns’ Milkman (2018) and Jan Carson’s The Fire Starters (2019). In what ways do these novels negotiate typical Irish and Northern Irish concerns? How and to what effect do they reference key events and periods in Irish and Northern Irish history? What do they reveal concerning the interplay of individual and collective identities? And finally, to what extent do they reflect more general tendencies in recent fiction written in English?
