Course Catalogue

View Specification Document | Reading List

A PG-level introduction to the practice of Comparative Literature, this course is one of two which is mandatory for students on the MLitt in Comparative Literature. This course provides hands-on experience in doing comparative work, and builds therefore on the theoretical work of the Semester 1 Course called 'Introduction to Comparative Literature'.

Weekly 2-hour seminar for 11 weeks.

Mandatory Entry Requirements

Standard entry to Masters at College level

Recommended Entry Requirements

It is recommended to have a good reading knowledge in one or more foreign languages.

It is highly recommended that students take Introduction to Comparative Literature in Semester 1, but this course is open to students who have not taken this course upon consultation with the Course Convener.

None

None

Assessment for the core consists of the following:

■ Annotated Bibliography: (2,000 words; due early April) 20%

■ Presentations: a 15-minute Powerpoint presentation on the proposed Dissertation topic (weeks 10 and 11) 20%

■ Writing Assignment: Project Application, including an abstract, rationale for the study, research questions, proposed title, contexts/methods/sources, and KE potential (2,500 words + 500-word Reflective Appendix; due late April 2017) 60%

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

The Project Application and the Annotated Bibliography may be resubmitted (as newly-written pieces) at the end of the 6th week after the Spring Break.

The presentations may NOT be reassessed.

The aims of this course are to provide:

■ A solid background in the real-life intercultural and interdisciplinary encounters, including Literary (Cultural) Reception History, and Intermedial, Interdisciplinary and Intercultural analysis, based on the work of staff and research students in the SMLC as well as students' own forays into the current scholarship;

■ A forum for developing, in discussion with staff and other students, viable research questions, and setting about the research decided upon;

■ Skills training specific to student's own emerging project in finding resources, keeping an annotated bibliography, writing a research plan and funding application, giving a public spoken presentation as well as defending a poster.

Intended learning outcomes:

By the end of the course students will be able to:

■ Identify and locate a range of relevant academic sources for their own research ideas and projects, and organize these in a coherent fashion;

■ Articulate in oral and written form their own response to readings (whether these are self-identified readings or ones from other students or staff) as well as to oral presentations encountered on the course, demonstrating an open but critical awareness of research projects different to their own, and demonstrating a global awareness of the issues confronting the study of Comparative Literature;

■ Articulate in appropriate critical language in a variety of oral and written forms their own plans for a sustained research project, showing a deeper grasp of the (inter)-cultural, historical, theoretical and/or aesthetic issues their research questions have thrown up, as well as of the issues and problems involved in working in the field of Comparative Literature.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.