| Unit name | Homing Desires/Imaginary Homelands: Representing South Asia and its Diasporas |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL30145 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Stadtler |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
n/a |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
n/a |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
n/a |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
Homing Desire/Imaginary Homelands: Representing South Asia and its Diasporas gives you the opportunity to engage with Bollywood cinema, South Asian and South Asian diasporic writing and British South Asian cinema. You will consider the importance of South Asian cultural production in wider postcolonial and transnational contexts and engage with a range of critical, literary and conceptual approaches relevant to the study of South Asian literature and film. You will analyse key texts by writers and filmmakers including Gurinder Chadha, Attia Hosain, Hanif Kureishi, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Salman Rushdie among many others. Focusing on the conceptualisations of home and abroad, you will pursue advanced discussions and develop your argumentation skills. The unit builds on your previous studies of global and postcolonial literatures and allows you to further specialise in this area. The unit will expose you to new and unexpected ideas, give you a chance to discover new genres, literary forms and their influences. It will encourage you to think reflectively, creatively, and with increased independence about your academic interests.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
Specialisation units challenge and empower you to engage with specific elements of advanced literary study. Specialisation units include taught options, which are closely informed by the world-leading research of individual academic staff, as well as final-year dissertation units that will enable you to pursue your own research or creative interests. Specialisation units cultivate ambition and independent learning, and showcase the department’s wide-ranging and varied expertise.
An Overview of Content:
This unit will introduce you to representations of South Asia and its diasporas by exploring key themes, including representations of British colonialism; narratives of Partition, independence and nationhood; and the imaginings of South Asia’s diasporic identities. You will study South Asian popular culture, film and literature and how they explore questions of class, diasporic, gender, national, racial, religious and sexual identities. You will read these texts using a range of analytical tools and theoretical lenses, such as colonial and postcolonial discourse analysis, film theory, diaspora and transcultural theory to explore the distinctive narrative and aesthetic styles of these cultural productions and their visions of home and abroad.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit:
On completion of the unit, you will have a transformed understanding of texts by creatives of South Asian heritage and learnt to intellectually engage with a range of critical approaches and theoretical concepts relevant to studying South Asia and its diasporas. You will have refined your knowledge of cultural production in the context of South Asia and its diasporas, further deepening your analytical skills of literary and cultural contexts of the Global South in ways that not only connects to this unit, but meaningfully consolidates this thematic strand as you complete your programme of study.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of the 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.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Students will be given the opportunity to submit an outline of your final essay and receive formative feedback.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Essay, 3,500 words (100%) [ILOs 1-4]
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the format or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are confirmed by the School/Centre shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the year.
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. ENGL30145).
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 assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
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.
