Professional Writing and Discussions: The Politics of Language

7.140304

Dozenten

Beschreibung

Professional Writing and Discussions (PWD) courses are advanced language courses designed for B.A. students who are in or have completed their 5th semester of studies and for M.A. students. Under the guidance of their course instructors, the course participants will undertake a more active and independent development of their language skills by applying them to a specific topic area. They will continue to train their productive and receptive language skills, further expand their lexico-grammatical knowledge in connection with the specialist language used in the course, and acquire supplementary cultural knowledge on English-speaking countries. Ultimately, the central aim of these courses, whatever topic area and skills focus a student chooses, is to facilitate their transition into a self-sufficient and proficient user of the English language. Students who elect to take this course will be expected to attend class regularly and contribute actively and intelligently. Furthermore, they will need to complete a portfolio of written and/or oral tasks during the course of the semester. The deadline for my PWD courses in the upcoming summer semester is Friday, 16th August 2019. Please plan accordingly and only sign up if you are able and willing to meet that deadline.

In this particular course, we will explore the immense impact that language has in socio-political settings with a focus on the morality of that language. We will analyse the use of language to influence public attitudes and, accordingly human behaviour, e.g. voting patterns, social media usage, advertising and propaganda. We will also investigate the implications of free speech, political correctness and censorship of language, e.g. hate speech laws or legally mandated gender-neutral language. We will play close attention to ways in which language can be used to harm, whether intentionally, conventionally or unwittingly, and how this impacts different groups of people (e.g. sexism, racism, xenophobia, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, body shaming and class discrimination) and discuss current attitudes and discourse on these topics within the English-speaking world. An online course reader with relevant literature and various media sources will be made available in advance on the course’s Moodle platform. Up to ten spots in the course can be allocated in advance to students who come to one of my office hours in February (see my Stud.IP page for dates and times) and confirm both that they are prepared to commit to taking the course and that they have identified topics that they would like to investigate for their class session in the course. All other registrations are provisional and will be allocated based on factors such as level of need and semester of study.

Weitere Angaben

Ort: 41/105
Zeiten: Do. 10:15 - 11:45 (wöchentlich)
Erster Termin: Donnerstag, 04.04.2019 10:15 - 11:45, Ort: 41/105
Veranstaltungsart: Seminar (Offizielle Lehrveranstaltungen)

Studienbereiche

• Veranstaltungen > Interdisziplinäre Studiengänge > Literatur und Kultur in Europa > Modul Sprachpraxis
• Veranstaltungen > Anglistik; Englisch > Sprachpraxis > Master
• Courses in English > Language and Literary Studies