Information Package
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Master's of American Culture and Literature without Thesis

AMER564

RACE AND ETHNICITY IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Course Code
AMER564
Semester
-
Theory+Practice
3 + 0
ECTS
10
Course TypeElective Course
Course LevelMaster's Degree Without Thesis
Year of Study-
Semester-
ECTS10
Name of Lecturer(s) -
Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, the students;

  1. will be able to discuss how African-American and ethnic literatures reflect ideas of assimilation and multiculturalism,
  2. will be able to investigate how ethnic and minority literatures have shaped arguments about American cultural and national identity,
  3. will be able to discuss issues of class and gender in relation to race and ethnicity.
Mode of DeliveryFace to face
PrerequisitesNo
Recommended Optional Programme ComponentsNone
Course DescriptionExploring pluralistic and integrationist approaches to race and ethnicity in America, this course deals with how the writing of minority groups responds to issues such as assimilation and resistance as well as personal/group/national identity and history.
Course Contents
WEEK TOPICS
1st Week Introduction: American Ethnic Cultures and Literatures
2nd Week Freedom for Slaves: Abolitionism and African American Literature
3rd Week After Freedom: African American Literature from the Emancipation to the Harlem Renaissance
4th Week Submission of Research Paper I; Student Presentations
5th Week Submission of Research Paper I; Student Presentations
6th Week America the Melting Pot?: Jewish and Immigrant Experiences
7th Week Native Indian Literatures
8th Week Mexican American Literature
9th Week Submission of Research Paper II; Student Presentations
10th Week Submission of Research Paper II; Student Presentations
11th Week Intersections: Race, Gender, Class
12th Week Contemporary American Identities: Multiculturalism
13th Week Submission of Research Paper III; Student Presentations
14th Week Submission of Research Paper III; Student Presentations
Recommended or Required ReadingAguirre, Adalberto, Jr., and Jonathan H. Turner. American Ethnicity: The Dynamics and Consequences of Discrimination. New York: Mc-Graw Hill, 1995.

Beaty, Jerome, and J. Paul Hunter, eds. New Worlds of Literature: Writings from America's Many Cultures. 2nd ed. New York and London: Norton, 1994.

Buenker, John D., and Lorman A. Ratner, eds. Multiculturalism in the United States: A Comparative Guide to Acculturation and Ethnicity. New York: Greenwood, 1992.

Ferguson, Russell, et al., eds. Out There: Marginalization and Contemporary Cultures. New York: New Museum of Contemporary Art, 1990.

Guiberneau, Montserrat, and John Rex. The Ethnicity Reader: Nationalism, Multiculturalism and Migration. Cambridge, UK: Polity, 1999.

Hogue, W. Lawrence. Race, Modernity, Postmodernity: A Look at the History and the Literatures of People of Color since the 1960s. Albany, NY: State U of New York P, 1996.

McDonald, Jason. "Conceptual Metaphors for American Ethnic Formations." Representing and Imagining America. Ed. Philip John Davies. Keele: Keele UP, 1996. 84-91.

Mitchell, Angelyn, ed. Within the Circle: An Anthology of African American Literary Criticism from the Harlem Renaissance to the Present. Durham and London: Duke UP, 1994.

Sollors, Werner. Beyond Ethnicity: Consent and Descent in American Culture. New York: Oxford UP, 1986.

Sollors, Werner, ed. The Invention of Ethnicity. New York and Oxford: Oxford UP, 1989.

Straub, Deborah Gillan, ed. Voices of Multicultural America: Notable Speeches Delivered by African, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Americans, 1790-1995. New York: Gale, 1996.
Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods
  • Lecture
  • Discussion
  • Presentation
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Quantity Percentage (%)
Project 2 50
Attendance 1 10
Total(%) 60
Contribution of In-term Studies to Overall Grade(%) 60
Contribution of Final Examination to Overall Grade(%) 40
Total(%) 100
ECTS Allocated Based on Student Workload
Activities Quantity Duration (Hour) Total Workload (Hour)
Midterm exam
Preparation for Quiz
Individual or group work 14 5 70
Preparation for Final exam 1 10 10
Course hours 14 3 42
Preparation for Midterm exam
Laboratory (including preparation)
Final exam 1 3 3
Homework
Project 2 55 110
Weekly Articles and Resource Research 14 5 70
Total Work Load305
Total Work Load / 30 (h)10.16
ECTS Credit of the Course10
Language of InstructionEnglish
Work Placement(s)No

Programme Qualifications / Learning Outcomes

LO1 LO2 LO3
K1 X X X
K2 X X
K3 X X X
K4 X X
K5 X X X
K6 X X X
K7 X
K8 X
K9 X
K10 X X X
K11 X X X
K12 X
K13 X