| Unit name | Theorizing Violence: Colonial Encounters and Anticolonial Reactions |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MODLM0025 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Fisk |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Modern Languages |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This course examines theoretical and empirical critiques of violence across several cultural and geographic contexts, and from a wide range of disciplines, including literary studies, history, philosophy, and political theory.
We will engage classic European texts on the philosophy of violence as well as reactions to colonial violence across the colonized world. We will also revisit political theories of violence in order to examine their relevance to understanding violence in the modern and contemporary periods. Comparing the experience of violence across a wide variety of colonial and colonizing contexts, this course tests the limits of the modern state’s monopoly on violence, while suggesting how literature and cultural artefacts generate resistance to state coercion.
Students will be encouraged to reflect critically on the range of texts pertaining to the history and theory of violence, while also engaging in cross-cultural comparison and practicing interdisciplinary methodologies. The comparative and interdisciplinary approach of this course will train students in the methodologies most relevant to the MA in Comparative Cultures in the School of Modern Languages, but the course content will be of relevance to students in other MA programmes.
1) Students will develop scholarly perspectives on a wide range of reflections on violence and will become able to situate these works within a broader intellectual tradition
2) Students will develop a sophisticated cross-cultural understanding of violence and of global imperial history from multiples points of view
3) Students will develop the ability to apply key insights from critical theory to the contemporary moment
4) Students will refine their abilities in comparative textual analysis
5) Students will acquire a sophisticated understanding of global intellectual history and political theory
6) Students will develop the tools to conduct further research into the theory of violence across world cultures
Teaching will be delivered online through a combination of synchronous sessions and asynchronous activities, including seminars, lectures, and collaborative as well as self-directed learning opportunities supported by tutor consultation.
3,000 word coursework essay (60%), testing ILOs 1-6
One 2,000 word commentary assignment involving discussion of two or more course readings (40%), testing ILOs 1-6.
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. MODLM0025).
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 University 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. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
