term paper (Master English and American Studies, Lehramt Gym., MA Internationale Literatur, Master ETK), project presentation (NAS)
Online/Digitale Veranstaltung
Veranstaltung wird online/digital abgehalten.
Hauptunterrichtssprache
englisch
Sonstiges
For students of the MA programme Internationale Literatur (EAS-1781 / 1782 / 1783), make sure to attend an Übung or Vorlesung in conjunction with this seminar. See your Modulhandbuch for further details.
“Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself,” writes the late John Lewis, iconic civil rights activist and member of the House of Representatives, in a posthumously published opinion piece in the New York Times. Lewis points to the dual face of democracy – its institutions and the active participation of the population, citizens and non-citizens alike. Particularly with the impending elections, Donald Trump’s frequent attempts to delegitimize the vote, and the nomination of a contentious candidate for the Supreme Court so close to the election, the stability of democratic institutions and processes is a topic of debate. Conversely, the emergence of Black Lives Matter, Idle No More, #MeToo and other grass routes activist groups and particularly the intensified protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by the police highlight a crucial non-institutional facet of democracy in the US as well as its potential tensions to established politics.
The debates of today are urgent, but they are not fundamentally new; neither is the discussion of the role of culture and literature in them. In this Oberseminar, we will in a first step look at select examples of explorations of what democracy means and their cultural manifestation in the 19th century. Given that our first session will take place on the night of the presidential election, we will begin in the present but then ‘jump back’ to the 19th century – looking at texts for instance by Alexis de Tocqueville, Frederick Douglass, and Walt Whitman – and work our way back towards the current situation and contemporary examples of democratic debate in and through literature and film. There will be no set reading list presented at the beginning of the semester; I will make suggestions, look forward to hearing yours, and we will decide which the texts to read and discuss this semester in class.
This is an Oberseminar that doubles as a Master seminar and can be taken for the NAS colloquium’s requirement. You are expected to bring an interest in the connection between literature and society, literary studies and political theory to this class.
*Upon registration, please write me an email with a brief explanation as to what aspect of the topic interests you in particular and what you hope to discuss in this class. In the potential case that more students register than slots are available, admission to this seminar is on the basis on your expressed interest; students will be informed on Oct 26 - after registration is closed - whether they have a slot in the course or will be allocated a slot in another class.*
Anmelderegeln
Diese Veranstaltung gehört zum Anmeldeset "ELW/ALW/NELK Aufbaumodul MA: HS".
Folgende Regeln gelten für die Anmeldung:
Die Anmeldung ist möglich von 02.10.2020, 10:00 bis 26.10.2020, 10:00.
Diese Regel gilt von 02.10.2020 10:00 bis 26.10.2020 10:00. Die Anmeldung zu maximal 3 Veranstaltungen des Anmeldesets ist erlaubt.
Es wird eine festgelegte Anzahl von Plätzen in den Veranstaltungen verteilt.
Die Plätze in den betreffenden Veranstaltungen wurden am 28.10.2020 um 10:00 verteilt. Weitere Plätze werden evtl. über Wartelisten zur Verfügung gestellt.
