LFU:online

Familiarize the students with important works of American literature and various issues of American history, politics, and culture.

History is written by the winners, and so is literature? To this day, the single most privileged group of people in the (western) world is white, male, straight, and Christian, and this is also greatly reflected in the canonized literature of the United States of America. In this course, however, we will draw attention to the shamefully neglected and underrepresented. We will look at works by and about women, Native Americans, African-Americans, Jewish Americans, and the LGBTQIA community, among others. In doing so, we will delve deep into various issues of American history, politics, and culture always with an eye on current events.

Lecture inputs, presentations, group discussions

Active class participation, student presentations, reading and writing assignments, term paper

Course materials and selected primary and secondary sources will be posted on OLAT.

Prerequisite for the Bachelor Program (612): positive completion of compulsory modules 3 and 16,  for Teacher Training Program (Lehramtsstudium: 344): VO2: Introduction to American Literary Studies

For the Teacher Training Program (Lehramtsstudium: 344): PS2: American Literature.

Due to substantial differences in the allocation of ECTS-Credits in various curricula (teacher training program - BA/MA English and American Studies), the requirements for this course vary. Information will be provided by the instructor at the beginning of the course.