Inhalt
In this course, we shall take a closer look at the representation and the significance of animals in selected literary texts. Whereas animals frequently feature in literature either as anthropomorphized stand-ins for human beings, or as their nostalgic or dangerous others, more recent critical approaches such as animal studies or animal ethics have come to reveal and challenge the speciesist attitudes of such representations. Considering this theoretical background, our seminar is going to look into an array of literary texts featuring animal protagonists, investigating their implications about the relationship between humans and animals.
In the weeks of November and December, our focus will be on the genre of the fable, as well as on novels with horse protagonists. For the weeks in 2021, students will be expected to present the results of individual or small-group projects on texts of your own choice, either in the form of videos, posters or - for students in the teacher study programmes - material for online teaching.
A list of suggested texts will be made available in October. Students who wish to participate in this course are welcome to send me mails with their own suggestions.
Zwingende Voraussetzungen
Please note that only students who will have fully completed their B.A. by 31 December can obtain credit points in this course. (Due to the expansion of the deadline, we can, unfortunately, only take that decision that late)
Students who are still enrolled in the B.A. by the time of their registration will be put on the waiting list and are asked to attend the first session of the course. Depending on availability of places and on their progress with the B.A. they may still obtain a place in the course. The previous paragraph, regulating whether one can obtain credit points in this course, applies to them, as well.
Depending on the availability of places, ANY student who is interested in the course because of the topic, is welcome to participate as a GUEST - i.e. irrespective of course requirements and WITHOUT OBTAINING CREDIT POINTS; in that case, please send a mail to the course instructor (subject: Animals)
Zu erbringende Studienleistung
regular active participation and successful completion of assignments
Workload information concerning Studienleistung:
Since 1 LP generally equals a workload of 30 hours, a "Studienleistung" of 3 LP implies you have invested a workload of 90 hours for this course during the term.
"Reading Animals" is a 4-hour course, with which you will complete an entire module. Therefore, you are doing 2 "Studienleistungen" here and one "Prüfungsleistung". In terms of workload, this means 180 hours workload for both "Studienleistungen" and another 90 for the Prüfungsleistung. (If you need other combinations, your workload will be adapted accordingly)
These 180 hours of workload for "Studienleistungen" will be filled as follows:
c. 60 hours for reading the required primary texts (quick browsing, so that you know the contents)
This leaves c. 120 hours; which means that, in this winter term, with its lecture period of 14 weeks, you should calculate with about 8,5 hous workload per week for this course.
If we manage a contact time (live or virtual) of 3 hours per week, you ought to prepare to leave 5,5 hours per week for self study. In the very likely case that the pandemic situation requires a reduction of the contact time (although I would like to have at least 1,5 hours of virtual contact per week), the amount of self-study time will amount to c. 7 hours workload per week. Please prepare your weekly schedule accordingly
I will try to adapt the self-study assignments so that they match the above calculations, and would like to ask you for feedback, if the assigments need considerably more or less time. As for their exact nature, I'm afraid I can only tell you in the first session of our class, as I can only know then, who is going to participate, what your facilities are like and, thus, which options we have.
(btw: Even if this may sound a lot: This rough calculation of the workload for a seminar in literary studies is what the PO of your study programme regularly expects; it is by no means specific for pandemic times.)
Zu erbringende Prüfungsleistung
Students of Lehramt study programmes: Modulabschlussprüfung (see your PO for further regulations)
Students of MA LiWi: depending on your module, either completion of a project assignment (this will presumably be the standard requirement), or written academic term paper of 4500-6000 words, to be submitted by 14 March 2021
As a "Prüfungsleistung" is endowed with 3 LP, this means that you ought to invest a workload of c. 90 hours. If you obtain less LP, the workload is reduced accordingly.
To those who have to write a term paper: Writing usually takes the least part of the time when preparing a term paper. A rule of thumb may be to take 20% of your time for researching your sources, 40% for reading and note-taking, 20% for setting up your concept and 20% for writing up everything.
Lehrmethoden
In view of the yet uncertain development of the pandemic, this course is currently being planned in a format combining contact hours and distance teaching through assignments as well as phases of monitored self-study. Since this course is project-oriented, a considerable part of this course will include monitored self-study, either individually or in small groups, as well as the presentation and discussion of project results.
Hopefully, more concrete details about the exact format can be given by the beginning of the winter term.
Literatur
During the weeks of November and December, we are going to read selected Poems from Gordon Meade's collections Les Animots and The Private Zoo, as well as some selected fables. These texts will be made available on the moodle page for this course from mid-October on.
In addition, participants are asked to have bought and read the following two novels by 23 November the latest:
- Anna Sewell, Black Beauty, Penguin Popular Classics (If this edition is not available, please make sure you buy an edition of the full original version of the novel. Neither an abridged or simplified version for children or school, nor some obscure rewrite based on one of the movies will do)
- Michael Morpurgo, War Horse, Egmont 2017 (2nd edition).
(again, please do not buy an abridged version for smaller children or for school, nor a book to Spielberg's movie, nor the play - although the latter at least is really impressive)
A list with prospective texts for the students' projects will be made available in October; suggestions are welcome.
- Dozent/in: Anja Müller