| Unit name | What Does it Mean to be Human? |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LANG00046 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | QCA-3 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Smyth |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Centre for Academic Language and Development |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit aims to introduce students to a broad range of topics from, and some of the intellectual questions raised by, disciplines across the Faculty of Arts. These topics will be grouped together in themes to ensure the unit is coherent in itself and that it allows students to understand the intellectual connections between different disciplines.
It further aims to help students to develop a range of skills required for study at undergraduate level and to gain an understanding of how particular disciplines may be studied in more depth in the Arts and Humanities. The unit will use the academic content it provides as the vehicle for this development of these skills.
In more detail, the unit has the following aims:
• To introduce students to significant events, movements, ideas, and works of arts, literature, philosophy, and music from the nineteenth century to the present day, with a particular emphasis on understanding how these historical episodes and works contributed to our present day society and its culture.
• To introduce students to primary and secondary source material; to introduce them to the skills required to analyse and evaluate the primary material, to understand the secondary material and critically evaluate it, and to formulate their own ideas in response to this.
• To introduce students to the various disciplines in the Faculty of Arts from which they may wish to choose an undergraduate course as a result of progression from the Foundation Programme.
• To introduce students to seminar-style discussion lead by a member of academic staff, and to help them develop the skills required to contribute productively and to articulate their own ideas in these discussions.
• To help students develop skills required for undergraduate study, such as writing an essay, critical thinking, or responding to feedback.
The unit will be divided into three themes (e.g. Individual and Society, Human Rights, Faith and Doubt). The thematic question will be explored from diverse perspectives, e.g. by examining how our understanding of what it is to be human has been influenced by movements such as those for women’s rights, civil rights, the Labour movement, universal suffrage, Apartheid in South Africa and/or the Holocaust.
There will normally be an introductory week, in which the students will consider an overview of the historical period. The remaining weeks will be divided equally between the three themes.
By the end of the unit, students will be able to:
(1) demonstrate an understanding of some of the major episodes in the history of ideas from the nineteenth century to the present day;
(2) critically evaluate the contributions of these episodes to current society;
(3) demonstrate an understanding of skills, such as, essay writing, critical thinking, building on the contribution of others, and responding to feedback.
(4) compare and evaluate philosophical arguments, works of music, art, and literature, theological texts, and historical documents.
(5) demonstrate an understanding of the aims and academic content of a range of disciplines in the Arts and Humanities.
Students will attend 3 hours of study per week. Learning is facilitated in sessions involving a combination of teacher-led input, combined with discussion of readings and other set meterial for the week. On-line delivery of materials through Blackboard VLE
Formative assessment:
Summative assessment:
Gombrich, E. H. (1995) The Story of Art (Phaidon)
Auerbach, E. (2003) Mimesis: the representation of reality in Western literature (Princeton)
Barzun, J. (2001) From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years to Western Cultural Life: 1500 to the Present(HarperCollins)
Gilroy, P. (1993) The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness (Verso)
Hobsbawn, E. (1988-1995) The Age of Revolution: 1789-1848; Age of Capital: 1848-1875; Age of Empire: 1875-1914; Age of Extremes: 1914-1991 (Abacus)
