552.285 (21S) Topics in American Cultural Studies: The Early Republic: Founders, Ideas, Documents

Sommersemester 2021

Registration deadline has expired.

First course session
01.03.2021 14:00 - 16:00 online Off Campus
... no further dates known

Overview

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be necessary to make changes to courses and examinations at short notice (e.g. cancellation of attendance-based courses and switching to online examinations).

For further information regarding teaching on campus, please visit: https://www.aau.at/en/corona.
Lecturer
LV Nummer Südostverbund ENM03001UL
Course title german Topics in American Cultural Studies: The Early Republic: Founders, Ideas, Documents
Type Proseminar (continuous assessment course )
Course model Blended learning course
Online proportion 50%
Hours per Week 2.0
ECTS credits 3.0
Registrations 24 (25 max.)
Organisational unit
Language of instruction English
possible language(s) of the assessment English
Course begins on 01.03.2021
eLearning Go to Moodle course

Time and place

Please note that the currently displayed dates may be subject to change due to COVID-19 measures.
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Course Information

Intended learning outcomes

Students will gain a basic familiarity with major debates and issues of early U.S. culture. They will be able to think critically about the early republic and to link meanings of individual works to the period’s broader questions and discourses. Students will improve their research, analytical, and writing skills, and advance their competence in interpreting texts within their specific socio-cultural and historical contexts from a perspective that problematizes race, class, and gender.

Teaching methodology including the use of eLearning tools

This course is designed to emphasize in-class student participation. Teaching methods include short input lectures, short oral presentations on selected topics by students, in-class discussion of assigned texts through close textual analysis, and group discussion. Online meetings will take place via Moodle (BBB).

Course content

Rarely a day in U.S. politics (and certainly no Inauguration Day) goes by without evocations of the foundational narratives of the country and, often through references to its founding documents, of its democratic values and status as a republic. This seminar takes a closer look at the origins of such discourse by turning to formative texts, debates, thinkers, and ideas of the early years of the United States. We will approach the period of the early republic (lasting roughly from the American Revolution to the Age of Jackson) through a broad cultural studies lens. On the one hand, we will closely read passages from classic documents like the Declaration of Independence (1776) or the Constitution (1787) to examine some of their ideas first hand. On the other hand, we will link these readings to wider historical and cultural contexts. While considering some of those figures commonly designated the “founding fathers” and reading Benjamin Franklin’s famous Autobiography (1771-1790), we will also turn to other voices to explore the period, e.g. those of Anne Bradstreet, Mary Rowlandson, Hector St. Jean de Crèvecoeur, Phillis Wheatley, Washington Irving, or David Walker. Including a broad variety of material ranging from essays and scientific texts to travel writing, pamphlets, and paintings, and taking into consideration issues like the westward expansion, slavery, or religious awakenings, helps gain a better understanding not only of the period’s cultural narratives, but also of their continuing influence on how Americans think about themselves today.

Literature

Required texts (please purchase!)

Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism. Edited by Joyce E. Chaplin. Norton, 2012.

All other texts will be made available by the instructor.

Examination information

Im Fall von online durchgeführten Prüfungen sind die Standards zu beachten, die die technischen Geräte der Studierenden erfüllen müssen, um an diesen Prüfungen teilnehmen zu können.

Grading scheme

Grade / Grade grading scheme

Position in the curriculum

  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Englisch (SKZ: 407, Version: 17W.2)
    • Subject: Anglophone Cultural History and Theory (Compulsory subject)
      • ENM.003 Topics in American Cultural Studies ( 2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.285 Topics in American Cultural Studies: The Early Republic: Founders, Ideas, Documents (2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 4., 5., 6. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Englisch (SKZ: 407, Version: 15W.2)
    • Subject: Anglophone Cultural History and Theory (Compulsory subject)
      • ENM.003 Topics in American Cultural Studies ( 2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.285 Topics in American Cultural Studies: The Early Republic: Founders, Ideas, Documents (2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 4., 5., 6. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor-Lehramtsstudium Bachelor Unterrichtsfach Englisch (SKZ: 407, Version: 19W.2)
    • Subject: Anglophone Cultural History and Theory (Compulsory subject)
      • ENM.003 Topics in American Cultural Studies ( 2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.285 Topics in American Cultural Studies: The Early Republic: Founders, Ideas, Documents (2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 4., 5., 6. Semester empfohlen
  • Bachelor's degree programme English and American Studies (SKZ: 612, Version: 15W.3)
    • Subject: Fachliches Grundstudium Culture (Compulsory subject)
      • 6.2 Topics in American Cultural Studies ( 0.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
        • 552.285 Topics in American Cultural Studies: The Early Republic: Founders, Ideas, Documents (2.0h PS / 3.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 3. Semester empfohlen

Equivalent courses for counting the examination attempts

There is no equivalent course for the purpose of counting examination attempts.