| Unit name | Postcolonial Environments |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL30122 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Kirk Sides |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit aims to introduce students to the field of postcolonial writing through a discussion of key literary texts and how they have represented issues such as colonialism, decolonization, diaspora and postcolonial, transnational networks. We will discuss literary works from across the ‘Global South,’ paying specific attention to how this geographical and ideological designation came into formation. Our main area of focus will be on how postcolonial writing has dealt with questions of land, landscape, ecology and the environment. Reading a diverse groups of texts from a variety of postcolonial spaces the unit aims to map the role of the environment in the development of postcolonial writing over the last half a century. The unit will look at the relationship between postcolonial writing and discourses surrounding land redistribution, national culture, colonial resource extraction and ‘petrofiction’, as well as turns to Afrofuturism, science fiction, postcolonial utopias and dystopias, environmental apocalypse and the Anthropocene. The unit will ask where do we locate the post-colony? What kinds of spaces are considered post-colonial? How do postcolonial environments shape our understanding of the globe as well as the future of the planet?
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
Teaching will involve asynchronous and synchronous elements, including group discussion, research and writing activities, and peer dialogue. Students are expected to engage with the reading and participate fully with the weekly tasks and topics. Learning will be further supported through the opportunity for individual consultation.
Students will be given the opportunity to submit a draft or outline of their final, summative essay of up to 1,500 words and to receive feedback on this.
1 x 3500 word essay (100%) [ILOs 1-4]
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ENGL30122).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
