552.336 (21S) Issues in Culture: Blues in Context(s)
Overview
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- Lecturer
- Course title german Issues in Culture: Blues in Context(s)
- Type Seminar (continuous assessment course )
- Course model Online course
- Hours per Week 2.0
- ECTS credits 6.0
- Registrations 10 (25 max.)
- Organisational unit
- Language of instruction English
- possible language(s) of the assessment English
- Course begins on 05.03.2021
- eLearning Go to Moodle course
- Seniorstudium Liberale Yes
Time and place
Course Information
Intended learning outcomes
Students will practice critical thinking skills in weighing and evaluating different perspectives on selected cultural and musical/literary phenomena. They will gain sensitivity to performer-audience relationships within a variety of cultural and historical contexts. They will become acquainted with certain fundamental aspects of the experience of African Americans and their cultural production over the last 100 years. Finally, students will have ample opportunity to elaborate and present their own analyses and perspectives within the context of a peer-based environment.
Teaching methodology including the use of eLearning tools
Lessons will be conducted online. Students will be expected to complete regular homework assignments, individually, in pairs or in groups. Participation in class is considered an essential component of the course.
Course content
The course investigates the evolution of the blues as a musical genre from a variety of perspectives, stretching temporally and geographically from the early 20th-c Mississippi Delta to developments in Chicago in the 50s and 60s, and ranging historically and culturally from the Jim Crow reality of the Deep South to the multifaceted relationship between black musicians and white entrepreneurs in the North. Selected “heroes” will be showcased, like Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, but attention will be paid also to lesser-known musicians and genres, like field hollers and work songs. Occasional leaps into the 21st-c music scene will serve to draw attention to the continuity between roots and branches as perceived among contemporary artists.
Prior knowledge expected
None
Literature
The course content, like the subject itself, is intrinsically multimodal. In addition to music and lyrics, input will include films, documentaries, photographs, commercial ads and videos. Print material ranges from accounts of field recordings, to blogs to scholarly articles. Materials will be made available on Moodle.
Examination information
Examination methodology
Final essay and short term paper
Examination topic(s)
The essay serves to test students’ ability to develop selected themes of the course.
The term paper offers students the opportunity to elaborate their own research into and reflections on a topic related to the course.
Assessment criteria / Standards of assessment for examinations
Assessment will be based on written work. Students’ formal performance will be evaluated on the basis of their ability to produce texts which are linguistically well-formed, structured, well-argued and academically appropriate. In terms of content, papers should exhibit an adequate command of the topic and pertinent substantiation of positions advanced. In the case of the term paper, the range and quality of references will also be taken into consideration.
Grading scheme
Grade / Grade grading schemePosition in the curriculum
- Teacher training programme English (Secondary School Teacher Accreditation)
(SKZ: 344, Version: 04W.7)
-
Stage two
-
Subject: Advanced Culture Studies
(Compulsory subject)
-
Topics in British Culture Studies (
2.0h SE / 4.0 ECTS)
- 552.336 Issues in Culture: Blues in Context(s) (2.0h SE / 6.0 ECTS)
-
Topics in British Culture Studies (
2.0h SE / 4.0 ECTS)
-
Subject: Advanced Culture Studies
(Compulsory subject)
-
Stage two
- Teacher training programme English (Secondary School Teacher Accreditation)
(SKZ: 344, Version: 04W.7)
-
Stage two
-
Subject: Advanced Culture Studies
(Compulsory subject)
-
Topics in American Culture Studies (
2.0h SE / 5.0 ECTS)
- 552.336 Issues in Culture: Blues in Context(s) (2.0h SE / 6.0 ECTS)
-
Topics in American Culture Studies (
2.0h SE / 5.0 ECTS)
-
Subject: Advanced Culture Studies
(Compulsory subject)
-
Stage two
- Bachelor's degree programme English and American Studies
(SKZ: 612, Version: 15W.3)
-
Subject: Literatur- und kulturwissenschaftlich ausgerichtetes Wahlfach
(Compulsory elective)
-
9.2 Issues in Culture (
0.0h SE / 6.0 ECTS)
- 552.336 Issues in Culture: Blues in Context(s) (2.0h SE / 6.0 ECTS) Absolvierung im 4., 5. Semester empfohlen
-
9.2 Issues in Culture (
0.0h SE / 6.0 ECTS)
-
Subject: Literatur- und kulturwissenschaftlich ausgerichtetes Wahlfach
(Compulsory elective)
- Bachelor's degree programme English and American Studies
(SKZ: 612, Version: 15W.3)
-
Subject: Freie Kombination
(Compulsory elective)
-
10.1 Freie Kombination (
0.0h SE / 12.0 ECTS)
- 552.336 Issues in Culture: Blues in Context(s) (2.0h SE / 6.0 ECTS) Absolvierung im 5., 6. Semester empfohlen
-
10.1 Freie Kombination (
0.0h SE / 12.0 ECTS)
-
Subject: Freie Kombination
(Compulsory elective)