PdF:AJB_AAE African American Experience - Course Information

AJB_AAE African American Experience

Extent and Intensity

0/1/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).

Teacher(s)

Michael George, M.A. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Jiří Šalamoun, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)

Guaranteed by

Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D.
Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Contact Person: Jana Popelková
Supplier department: Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education

Timetable of Seminar Groups

AJB_AAE/01: Fri 2. 10. 8:00–13:00 učebna 59, Mon 21. 12. 8:00–13:00 učebna 59, M. George, J. Šalamoun

Prerequisites

none

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/30

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

• Teacher Training in Foreign Languages - English Language (programme PdF, B-SPE)
• Lower Secondary School and Language School Teacher Training in English Language (eng.) (programme PdF, N-ZS)
• Lower Secondary School and Language School Teacher Training in English Language (programme PdF, N-ZS)

Course objectives

THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Co-taught by Jiří Šalamoun and Michael George This block option will be a journey into the complexity of the African American experience as reflected by Toni Morrison, Ice-T and Barak Obama among others. We will deal with the themes of destruction of identity, black womanhood and manhood, black and white beauty myths, theories of whiteness and black stereotypes, etc. But the class will go beyond simply close reading and literary analysis to give time and attention to the historical and cultural realities that came together to create this unique situation - human slavery (and later segregation) within the context of a modern democracy. Integration and inquiry are the themes of this course; integrating the literary with the cultural and historical from which it sprung, and inquiring into the connection between art and real life. At the end of the course students should be able to more deeply examine the role of African Americans within the scope of American history and literature and explain the part that history played in their literature, identifying and distinguishing cause from effect

Syllabus

• Initial class: read Beloved + assigned questions for discussion Discussion of novel, background (documentary videos, short group readings, etc) Mid semester fortnightly moodle assignments A – African slavery and the global economy – readings and forum responses B – Slavery and democracy – readings, forum responses C – Aparthid – Jim Crow and segregation in America – readings, response D – Homework for last class: The Bluest Eye + assigned questions for discussion or response paper LAST CLASS: discussion of novel, modern realities (rap, oj, etc)

Literature

required literature
• MORRISON, Toni. The bluest eye. New York: Plume, 1994, 215 s. ISBN 0-452-27305-6. info
• MORRISON, Toni. Beloved. London: Picador, 1988, 273 s. ISBN 0-330-30471-2. info

Teaching methods

This course is organized as a block option seminar, meaning that the class meets as a discussion group for 6 hours at the beginning of the semester, then remains in contact throughout the semester as students post their comments on the assigned readings. The semester then ends with another 6 hour discussion. Both class meetings are organized as traditional "round table" discussion seminars in which students come to class having read the assigned texts and discuss it in open conversation around the seminar table. The key to the discussions is to identify, explain and evaluate the connections between the given piece of literature and its cultural and historical context.

Assessment methods

Preparation (including reading 2 novels), attendance and full voluntary participation of all 6 hours of both workshops, completion of three sets of mid-semester readings and their discussion in the on-line forum.

Language of instruction

English

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
General note: kulturní seminář.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 12 hodin ve 2 blocích.

• Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2015, recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/autumn/AJB_AAE