British Orientalisms, c. 1750-c.1850 - CES00010M

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  • Department: Centre for 18th Century Studies
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2022-23

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Spring Term 2022-23

Module aims

  • To provide a detailed knowledge of a wide range of eighteenth and nineteenth-century texts, understood in their historical and cultural contexts
  • To provide an awareness of the different and changing ways in which Britons represented themselves in relation to their Eastern others
  • To provide an awareness of recent historical and theoretical debates about Empire and British identities
  • To develop the academic, personal and professional skills required to equip a graduate to undertake PhD research or make immediate impact upon employment in a relevant field such as teaching.

Module learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding of: i) a diverse range of eighteenth and nineteenth-century texts; ii) the historical, political and cultural contexts in which these texts were produced and received; iii) the changing ways in which Britons represented themselves in relation to their Eastern others; iv) some of the ways in which historical developments and processes have affected cultural representation; v) recent historical and theoretical debates about empire and British identities

Skills (discipline-related) including: i) familiarity with and the use of a range of research methods and tools (for example, library and archival catalogues and online databases); ii) familiarity with and the use of recognised discipline-related methods of bibliography and citation; iii) the ability to apply, explore and develop ideas through seminar debate, supervisory discussion and independent research; iv) the ability to articulate ideas lucidly and persuasively; v) the ability to present lengthy and complex arguments in writing

Skills (transferable) including: vi) time management; vii) the independent organisation and management of research materials and information; viii) appropriate professional conduct within the seminar environments; ix) effective communication (including informal debate and the formal presentation of research before an audience); x) the professional presentation of written documents to a deadline; xi) effective and efficient use of electronic research resources

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Module feedback

Written feedback, given in Week 5 for original assessment, and within two weeks of submission for re-assessed work

Indicative reading

Oliver Goldsmith, The Citizen of the World

Samuel Foote, The Nabob

William Beckford, Vathek

Edmund Burke, Speech on Foxs India Bill

Phoebe Gibbes, Hartly House, Calcutta

Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb

Lord Byron, 'The Giaour'

Fanny Parks, Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque

T.B. Macaulay, Essay on Clive