LFU:online

Sensitizing the students to aspects of American culture in the context of American drama.

From Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton (2015), American drama has often served as a mirror of American society, drawing attention to political and cultural issues and criticizing the status quo. Despite being the last literary genre to develop in the United States, it matured rather quickly as we will find out when we discuss important representatives. This course seeks to acquaint the students with this literary genre in general as well as to analyze important American plays in their historical, cultural, political, and socio-economic context.

Authors discussed will include (but are not limited to): Tennessee Williams, Lorraine Hansberry, Marsha Norman, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Lecture inputs, student 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 module 10,  for the Teacher Training Program (Lehramtsstudium: 344): VO2: Introduction to American Literary Studies, for BA Lehramt (457): positive completion of compulsory module 13

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.