AKN-312.96
AMN-300.50, ANN-312.96, AM-300.50
Cultural Studies Research Seminar: American Culture in Hungary (Kultúrális tanulmányok: kutató szeminárium) in autumn 2005
Federmayer Éva, Tue 12:00–13:30, ADS 238, host: DAS (R306)
description & set texts
Though open to any English and American Studies majors with a keen interest in contemporary cultural issues, this seminar is especially offered to upper division students and/or those who have completed their core/survey courses in American or English Studies. The aim of this research seminar is twofold: it seeks to explore some of the theoretical as well as empirical aspects of American Studies scholarship today. In so doing, this course is structured around class discussions and individual research projects. Discussions will revolve around significant cultural studies texts the majority of which was written by European Americanists highlighting crucial aspects of the ‘Americanization’ of ‘Europe’ as well as the ‘Europeanization’ of ‘America’ in the context of the recently expanded European Union. Individual research projects will be pursued by students, scrutinizing contemporary, that is, post-1989 crosscultural productions of ‘America’ in Hungary, that is, aspects of American culture that Hungarians have woven into the fabric of their own life. We seek to examine crosscultural contacts in terms of a complex and dynamic relationship from the Hungarian end, assuming that ‘Americanization’ is far from being a relationship of an active giver (the USA) and a passive receiver (Hu).
requirements & assessment
Requirements: active participation in class discussions, mid-term exam, individual research project, progress reports, peer reviews, formal essay (based on individual research) of 8 pages (MLA format, double spaced with footnotes and bibliography). A negotiable alternative to the essay could be a long, annotated, mostly Hungarian bibliography of a research topic also due for the last session of the semester. Grading policy: report: 10%, class discussion: 10%, peer review: 10%, progress report:10%, mid-term exam: 20%, paper: 40%