Healing the Feminine and Meeting with the Goddess: Beyond the Archetype of a Man-Made Woman

Dozent/in:

Igor Almeida Ferreira Baldoino

Angaben:

Seminar/Proseminar, 2 SWS, ECTS: 6, Studium Generale

Termine:

Mo, 12:00 - 14:00, U2/00.25

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

1. Module Allocation:
1.1 Seminar
BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft / freie Erweiterung: Seminar 6 ECTS
NOT OPEN for Ergänzungsmodul Ltieraturwissenschaft!

BA Berufliche Bildung: Basis/Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS

LA GS/HS/MS/RS: Basis/Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft (b): Seminar 6 ECTS

LA GY: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS

LA GY (Kombination mit Russisch): Wahlpflichtmodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS

MA WiPäd: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS

2. (De)Registration:
in FlexNow! (except for guest auditors): 08.03.2018 (10:00) - 08.06.2018 (23:59)
guest auditors: please contact lecturer

Inhalt:

In a conversation with Murdock, Campbell affirms that the heroine has no active role in the hero’s journey: “In the whole mythological tradition the woman is there. All she has to do is realise that she’s the place that people are trying to get to. When a woman realises what her wonderful character is, she’s not going to get messed up with the notion of being pseudo-male”.

Although rather misogynistic, this might have been true regarding ancient myths, but modern and contemporary literature show female characters actively pursuing their heroic paths. For instance, Alcott’s Jo March in Little Women, a 15-year-old girl who struggles with and defies society's expectations of how women in the 19th century should behave; or Hardy’s Bathsheba Everdene in Far from the Madding Crowd who is considered as one of the foremothers of great women in literature.

The perspective and plot has also switched angles, portraying fully realised female characters and their complex path of healing and achieving their goals. Take as an example the drastic plot change in Walt Disney’s princess movies. The protagonists are no longer damsels in distress in desperate need of rescue such as Cinderella, Aurora, or Snow White. Instead, it focuses on their growth and maturing, their intimate relationship with the feminine and a mother figure, and the healing (or support) provided by other women. Elsa and Anna, Moana and Merida are just a few examples of Disney’s new angle on their princesses.

This class will focus on Campbell and Murdock’s models and attempt to find common ground, reshape or merge the positive aspects within both. It will also pay special attention to two stages of the heroine’s journey: Meeting with the Goddess and Healing the Mother-Daughter Split.

Empfohlene Literatur:

To read prior to the beginning of the semester:
Thomas Hardy. Far from the Madding Crowd
Louisa May Alcott. Little Women

To watch during the semester:
Walt Disney. Brave
Walt Disney. Frozen
Walt Disney. Moana

More material to be added in class.

In the Light of What Came Later – Reading Kazuo Ishiguro

Dozent/in:

Lisa Schädlich

Angaben:

Seminar/Proseminar, 2 SWS, ECTS: 6, Studium Generale

Termine:

Do, 16:00 - 18:00, MG2/01.02, U2/00.26

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

1. Module Allocation:
BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft / Ergänzungsmodul Englische Literaturwissenschaft / freie Erweiterung: Seminar 6 ECTS

BA Berufliche Bildung: Basis/Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS

LA GS/HS/MS/RS: Basis/Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft (b): Seminar 6 ECTS

LA GY: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS

LA GY (Kombination mit Russisch): Wahlpflichtmodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS

2. (De)Registration: in FlexNow! (except for guest auditors): 08.03.2018 (10:00) - 08.06.2018 (23:59)
guest auditors: please contact lecturer

Inhalt:

It was a Thursday when Kazuo Ishiguro accepted his Nobel Prize for literature. In his speech, he recounts how he became an author, how his childhood in Japan formed his identity as a writer and how important it is to always keep an open mind. The board of the committee deigned Ishiguro to be a writer "who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world". Indeed, the novels of Kazuo Ishiguro are filled to be the brim with issues of identity, and the question what is right and what is wrong.
This seminar serves as an introduction to Ishiguro s works and the resulting issues. The participants are expected to have read at the beginning of the semester:
A Pale View of Hills (1982)
Never Let Me Go (2005)
The Buried Giant (2015)
Excerpts from other novels/short stories will be available on the VC at the beginning of the semester.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Obligatory reading
A Pale View of Hills (1982)
Never Let Me Go (2005)
The Buried Giant (2015)
Excerpts from other novels/short stories will be available on the VC at the beginning of the semester.

Of Graves, Churchyards and Epitaphs

Dozent/in:

Chiara Manghi

Angaben:

Seminar/Proseminar, 2 SWS, ECTS: 6, Studium Generale, Erweiterungsbereich

Termine:

Do, 14:00 - 16:00, U9/01.11
Einzeltermin am 4.6.2018, 16:00 - 18:00, U2/00.26

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

1. Module Allocation:

BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft / Ergänzungsmodul Englische Literaturwissenschaft / freie Erweiterung: Seminar 6 ECTS
BA Berufliche Bildung: Basis/Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS
LA GS/HS/MS/RS: Basis/Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft (b): Seminar 6 ECTS
LA GY: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS
LA GY (Kombination mit Russisch): Wahlpflichtmodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS

2. (De)Registration:

in FlexNow! (except for guest auditors): 08.03.2018 (10:00) - 08.06.2018 (23:59)
guest auditors: please contact lecturer

Inhalt:

Graveyards in literature have a variety of functions and can be the location of quite unexpected activities. Apart from (quite customary and obvious) reflections on the ephemeral nature of life, mortality and death, while reading the texts for this class, we might come across the occasional close encounter with ghosts (such as in Dickens A Christmas Carol), but it is usually the living who tend to do really messy things in cemeteries.
From making out on a former lover s tomb, to an unlikely fight between scholars on a writer s grave, we will encounter a wide range of quite unforgettable literary moments. Cemeteries and tombs can be the place of separation, but adjacent tombs can also lead to unforeseen friendship, as is the case in Tracy Chevalier s Falling Angels. Some cemeteries have more stories to tell than others, like the churchyard of St. Pancras Old Church with Thomas Hardy s tree; Edinburgh s Greyfriars Kirkyard with its many familiar names, legends and mortsafes, and the Victorian Highgate Cemetery in London, featured in Audrey Niffenegger s Her Fearful Symmetry and Tracy Chevalier s Falling Angels.
In this class we will explore some classics of Graveyard Poetry, such as Robert Blair s The Grave, Edward Young s Night-Thoughts (also in William Blake s illustrated version), Thomas Gray s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, as well as a selection of Thomas Hardy s poetry on epitaphs, graveyards and death. Moreover, we will read one contemporary novel (from the selection below) that revolves on graveyard scenes, and excerpts from the remaining two.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol

Excerpts from:
Robert Blair The Grave
Edward Young The Complaint: or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality
Thomas Gray Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
Thomas Hardy (selection of poems)
E. L. Masters Spoon River Anthology

One novel + excerpts from the remaining two:
A.S. Byatt Possession
Tracy Chevalier Falling Angels
Audrey Niffenegger Her Fearful Symmetry

Spotlights on English Drama, part I

Dozent/in:

Kerstin-Anja Münderlein

Angaben:

Übung, 2 SWS, ECTS: 4, Studium Generale, Erweiterungsbereich

Termine:

Mo, 14:15 - 15:45, U9/01.11

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

1. Module Allocation:

all modules including an obligatory/optional reading tutorial (Übung) in

• LA GS/HS/MS/RS/GY

• BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik

• MA English and American Studies

• MA Berufliche Bildung

• Erweiterungsbereich English and American Studies

This course can also be taken as a seminar for the Ergänzungsmodul (BA Haupt- und Nebenfach)

2. (De)Registration:

in FlexNow! (except for guest auditors): 08.03.2018 (10:00) - 08.06.2018 (23:59)
guest auditors: please contact lecturer

Inhalt:

This course will present a foray through English theatre history from the Elizabethan Age until the 18th century. We will start out with basic drama theory, but the main body of the course is dedicated to actually reading, situating, interpreting and discussing plays as representatives of their time.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Plays in reading order:
Christopher Marlowe. Tamburlaine, part I. (1587)
William Shakespeare. Much Ado About Nothing. (c. 1598/99)
John Ford. 'Tis Pity She's A Whore. (1631)
Aphra Behn. The Rover, part I. (1677)
George Lillo. The London Merchant, or The History of George Barnwell. (1731)
R.B. Sheridan. The School for Scandal. (1777)

In the Spotlight: A Survey of US-American Literary History (e-learning course)

Dozent/in:

Nicole K. Konopka

Angaben:

Seminar/Proseminar, ECTS: 6, Dies ist ein reines Online-Seminar. Anmeldung erfolgt über die VHB!

Termine:

Der Kurs findet ausschließlich virtuell statt. Er steht über die virtuelle Hochschule Bayern Studierenden aller bayerischen Universitäten bzw. Hochschulen zur Verfügung.

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

1. Modulzuordnung und Zugangsvoraussetzung / Part of modules resp. courses of study:

• BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik (Hauptfach und Nebenfach): Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS; Zugangsvoraussetzung: Basismodul Literaturwissenschaft
• Lehramt GY: Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft: Seminar 6 ECTS; Zugangsvoraussetzung: Basismodul Literaturwissenschaft

2. Voraussetzungen für Punktevergabe / Prerequisites for obtaining credit points:

• active participation (individual tasks and group work)
• term paper in English (following the Style Sheet )

3. An- und Abmeldung / Enrollment:

• via Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern (vhb) and FlexNow
• An-/Abmeldung zur Lehrveranstaltung (participation): March 15 - April 15 (vhb)
• An-/Abmeldung zur Prüfung (registration for exam): June 4 - July 4 / June 4 - August 31 (FlexNow)

Die Lehrveranstaltung ist als Online-Kurs konzipiert. Studierende an bayerischen Hochschulen können diesen vhb-Kurs nach der einmaligen und kostenfreien Anmeldung bei der vhb nutzen. Studierende aus Bamberg benötigen dafür ausschließlich ihre BA-Kennung.

• Informationen zur einmaligen und kostenfreien Registrierung: FAQ
• frei zugängliche Vorschau auf dem Virtuellen Campus (ab 1. März): Kursdemo

Bei Fragen kontaktieren Sie bitte die Kursleiterin per Email! / Please contact the instructor if you have any questions about this course!

Inhalt:

This seminar is an internet-based survey course that offers students in the “Aufbaumodul Literaturwissenschaft” an overview of the main developments in US-American literary history. The class will help students to understand the links between literary periods, their central ideas, and important stylistic features. The course provides participants with detailed information about the complexities that underlie and connect each literary work and period. The course’s other main goal is to familiarize students with key texts and key discourses of US-American literature, such as race, class, and gender. The texts were chosen because they either represent crucial aspects of their respective literary periods, or because they address topics and concepts that were controversial at this particular point in history.

Despite being an E-Learning course, this is a discussion-based class, so active participation is crucial. Participants are required to contribute to class discussions by posting at least two quality responses per forum. Your learning process will be enabled through your active involvement in the different assignments, which are designed to allow you as much creative freedom as possible while assisting you in your reading and understanding of the poems, short stories, novels, and plays.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Most readings will be made available via the Learning Management System (VC/Moodle). Two texts, however, need to be acquired by each participant individually:

• Kate Chopin, The Awakening (1899)
• Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children’s Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death (1969)