Unit rationale, description and aim
Literary works are by their very nature engaged in imagining ways of being in the world. In this unit, students read and critically review a selection of historical and contemporary world literature texts depicting diverse social worlds and cultural experiences. Using methods of close reading alongside critical and historical contextualisation, students analyse a range of relevant genres (which may include travel writing, ethnography, memoir, letters, novels, poems and plays) in light of the global conditions of their production and reception. Contexts, ideas and themes covered in the unit may include imperialism, cosmopolitanism, settler colonialism, indigeneity, postcolonialism and globalisation as well as debates about cross-culturalism, orientalism, racism, religion, gender, migration, decolonisation and social justice. The unit enables students to develop and investigate central issues and debates in global literary studies today.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Demonstrate broad knowledge of history and theory ...
Learning Outcome 01
Devise, develop and communicate complex ideas and ...
Learning Outcome 02
Locate, interpret and appropriately reference a ra...
Learning Outcome 03
Critically analyse evidence and synthesise scholar...
Learning Outcome 04
Recognise and reflect on the significance of compl...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics may include:
- key features of global literature and its development over time
- engagement with histories and/or theories of racism, postcolonialism, settler colonialism, Indigeneity, decolonisation, and cosmopolitanism
- literatures within a framework of international and globalised geopolitics
- writings and voices of world Indigenous peoples and also Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
- consideration of politics and ethics of literature in a globalised world;
- the commodification of literature and concepts of literary value
On the Rome campus, topics may include:
- key features of global literature and its development over time
- Rome-centred writing and literature
- Travel writing and Ethnography
- literatures within a framework of international and globalised geopolitics
- consideration of politics and ethics of literature in a globalised world;
- the commodification of literature and concepts of literary value
Assessment strategy and rationale
This third-year unit in the discipline of English is designed to include assessment tasks that build deep content knowledge, independent learning, and higher-order research and analytic skills. The contextual understanding task requires students to demonstrate knowledge of the key contextual factors that determine the production and reception of a specific literary text. This task will prepare them for the second research assignment. In multimode or online scheduled mode, students will undertake a research project that expands on the skills developed in the first assessment task in the form of a research essay that locates critical resources to produce a sustained argument that reflects on key debates, issues and texts in world and global literature. In intensive mode, where the time available to undertake assessments is shortened, students will undertake two contextual understanding tasks and a research/synthesis task. The summative task provides an overview of the knowledge and skills acquired by the students by requiring them to critically analyse and synthesise understandings of contemporary and historical world literature that use critical resources to produce a sustained argument that reflects on key debates, issues and texts in world and global literature.
Overview of assessments
Multimode or Online Scheduled Mode
Assessment 1: Contextual Understanding Task ...
Assessment 1: Contextual Understanding Task
This task is designed to ensure students understand how context determines the production and reception of literary texts and the implications of this for literary knowledge.
20%
Assessment 2: Research Task The aim of th...
Assessment 2: Research Task
The aim of this assessment is to enable students to demonstrate skills in proposing and developing a topic, close reading, analysis, writing and research in order to produce an evidence-based argument that offers interpretations of texts within a framework underpinned by relevant current scholarship.
50%
Assessment 3: Summative Task The key purp...
Assessment 3: Summative Task
The key purpose of this task is to determine how well students can synthesise and apply knowledge about global literary cultures to produce statements that acknowledge that texts and theories have real-world implications.
30%
Intensive Mode
Assessment 1: Contextual Understanding Tasks &nbs...
Assessment 1: Contextual Understanding Tasks
These tasks are designed to:
(1) ensure students understand how context determines the production and reception of literary texts and the implications of this for literary knowledge
(2) apply knowledge about global literary cultures to produce statements that acknowledge that texts and theories have real-world implications
50%
Assessment 2: Research Task The aim of th...
Assessment 2: Research Task
The aim of this assessment is to enable students to demonstrate skills in close reading, analysis, writing and research in order to produce an evidence-based argument that offers interpretations of texts within a framework underpinned by relevant current scholarship.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit is delivered as a multimode or online scheduled class in order to immerse students in active and collaborative learning through activities that facilitate the development of interpretive skills fundamental to the discipline of literary studies and a deep understanding of unit content. The unit engages students in inquiry-based learning, a research-based strategy that actively involves students in the exploration of the content, issues and questions surrounding a curricular area or concept. This face-to-face approach has been selected because of the breadth, depth and complexity inherent in an advanced-level unit.
Intensive mode:
When delivered in intensive mode the unit will use case studies to explore texts within a specific setting in order to immerse students in active and collaborative learning through activities that facilitate the development of interpretive skills fundamental to the discipline of literary studies and a deep understanding of literature in an international context.
To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy.