ENG4436 – English Literature and Human Rights
Course content
As one literary critic puts it, we live in an age of human rights, meaning that here in the West the narratives and images of human rights have become a part of daily life.
Human rights are represented in various forms in all branches of the media, in street campaigns, and on bookshelves. Yet, rarely do we stop and think about what human rights are, how they are narrated here in the affluent West, how they structure our ways of thinking and seeing ourselves and others.
This seminar is designed to investigate these issues and more, and in order to do so we will read a wide array of texts-historical, theoretical, fictional, autobiographical, and visual-that will help us to examine the discourses of human rights representation in detail and from a variety of angles.
Learning outcome
After completing this course, you:
- have an expanded understanding of the various ways that literature engages with the current political landscape regarding issues of human rights and recognition
- can engage in theoretical debates concerning human rights, representation, spectatorship, and power
- are familiarity with cultural theory and its relationship to literary studies
- can produce a research paper on a topic you develop yourself
- have academic writing skills
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
Students enrolled in other Master`s Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
The course has a capacity of 15 students. ILOS will not provide additional capacity if there are more applicants.
Teaching
Seminar, two hours per week for ten weeks, 20 hours in all.
Attendance is obligatory at least 8 out of 10 seminars. Additional absences must be justified by documentation given to the exam coordinator.
All obligatory attendance and assignments are only valid the semester you attend the course.
Examination
The form of assessment is a term paper of approximately 10 standard pages (a standard page consists of 2,300 characters). References and bibliography comes in addition.
You will determine the topic for the term paper together with the lecturer.
You will be offered individual term paper supervision.
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Resit an examination
A term paper or equivalent that is passed may not be resubmitted in revised form.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.