1. To show independent and critical attitudes towards the analysis of American literary texts, cultural institutions and art works.
2. To appreciate the role literature and art plays in national identity building or as a site of resistance to the dominant social and political hegemony.
3. To develop critical skills and the capacity to synthesize and interpret information.
4. To be able to work with different bibliographical, both hard and electronic, sources effectively.
5. To be able to defend literary/cultural opinions in English, orally and in writing, through analysis and argumentation.
6. To display greater understanding and tolerance to individual and collective differences.
7. To enhance teamwork and the capacity of autonomous learning.

1. To be able to examine and comment on the development of literary writing and artistic works in America, from the first examples of multiculturalism to the present.
2. To be able to explore the social, cultural, and historical issues underlying the different literary /artistic movements and works, as well as cultural institutions.
3. To be able to examine the connections between the artists’ and writers’ purpose, themes and audience expectations.
4. To develop personal and critical opinions related to the different topics discussed in the course.
5. To be able to explore and analyze the technical, rhetorical and linguistic as well as literary, cultural, aesthetic and historical topics related to examples of American literary multiculturalism.
6. To acquire the specific terminology associated to the literary, cultural and visual analysis of the given texts.
7. To analyze, understand and discuss the selected art works, readings, photographs, etc. in detail.
8. To be able to develop consistent arguments and defend them through the writing of short essays in English at C1 level.

45 hours class lectures, seminars, individual tutoring

20%

20%

Student work:
105 hours There is no substitute for viewing, reading and individual reflection in a humanities class, so students must be prepared to read / to watch extensively. The class will be based on the format of a participative seminar; therefore, students must prepare all readings/viewing/activities prior to the class and be ready to discuss them in depth in class. Each session will have a set of activities to encourage students’ reflecting on the text/artifact.
Team or individual work towards several short class presentations and short response papers on specific course primary sources.

150 hours

2

4

2

Los generales de admisión al máster

This subject adopts continuous assessment, which will be conducted through the following three categories:

• Written assignments and quizzes ……..,…. 40 % final grade
• Oral presentations …………………………….. 40 % final grade
• Active and meaningful class participation …., 20 % final grade

Final evaluation is reserved for students who are unable to attend lessons and are given permission by the academic authority. It will consist of a written and oral exam (to be recorded) on the subject content and the submission of all the exercises (presentations, short response papers, reading questions) set for each week in the term. These written activities will be sent via e-mail on the exam day.

Students should become acquainted with the document that regulates academic integrity at the UAH, “Código ético de buenas prácticas en la investigación (Aprobado por el Consejo de Gobierno de la Universidad de Alcalá, el 31 de octubre de 2019”).

Please, note that some of the texts in this bibliography are intended to provide a very general introduction to American literature for students who have never studied or read it before at university level. A more detailed and specific bibliography on the authors and primary sources listed for class discussion will be provided at the beginning of the course.


Doneson, Judith E. (2002) The Holocaust in American Film. Syracuse: Syracuse UP.

Eagleton, Terry (2013) How to Read Literature. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Elliot, Emory ed. (1991) The Columbia History of the American Novel. New York: Columbia University Press.

Hurtado, Aída (2020) Intersectional Chicana Feminisms: Sitios y Lenguas. University of Arizona Press.

Rosenfeld, Alvin H. (2011) The End of the Holocaust. Bloomington: Indiana UP.

Gibb, Alan (2014) Contemporary American Trauma Narratives. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

González, Jennifer A. et al. eds. (2019) Chicano and Chicana Art: A Critical Anthology. Duke UP.

Godfrey, Mark and Zoé Whitley, eds. (2017) Soul of a Nation. Art in the Age of Black Power. London: Tate.

Hart, James D. (1995) The Oxford Companion to American Literature. Oxford: O.U.P.

Kurin, Richard (2013) The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects. New York: The Penguin Press.

Lauter, Paul, ed. (2002) The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Olick, Jeffrey K. and Daniel Levy, eds. (2011) The Collective Memory Reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Onega, Susana and Jean-Michel Ganteau, eds. (2014) Contemporary Trauma Narratives: Liminality and the Ethics of Form. Abingdon: Routledge

Rothberg, Michael (2009) Multidirectional Memory. Remembering the Holocaust in the Age of Decolonization. Stanford University Press.

Sollors, Werner and Greil Marcus, eds. (2012) A New Literary History of America. Harvard University Press Reference Library.

La información de esta ficha no sustituye al programa de la asignatura, que es el documento donde se concretarán actividades, material, lecturas y contenido temático.

Durante la primera semana de clase presencial dicho programa se entregará en el aula, y quedará asimismo disponible en el campus virtual de la asignatura.