Course Details

1. Explore a subject by undertaking bibliographical research and the development of a research question in a specific historical context
2. Apply and broaden their research experience with long term planning – since this work will be completed during the next semester in the course AJER 480, the Final Research Project.
3. Analyze, write, and present proposals for research – since reports on goals and work in progress is part of the process of the course
4. Evaluate data and analytic frameworks in relation to different media of presentation – since the work will include, apart from its written dimension, an oral presentation: the students must present their work in a student seminar whose aim is to help them acquire experiences in the public presentation/articulation of discourse
5. Develop their synthetic abilities [combining/linking issues from theoretical and practical journalistic courses] in the process of writing [and presenting] their work

The social-historical construction of the terms “modernity” and “tradition”. The decoding of terms as an [introductory] analytic strategy. Introduction to the requirements of the course: reading/discussing texts, weekly commentary on cultural “events”/”texts”. Contrast of terms associated with modernity-post modernity [reason-relativism, equality-difference, progress-mixing]

The “birth” of Modernity: Enlightenment and the French Revolution [Discussion of literary texts]. From Romanticism to Realism – social and aesthetic transformations [Discussion of theatre and/or painting]. The age of the machine : its impact on society, knowledge, politics, everyday life. The blending of rationality and progress

Modernist movements: painting, writing, cinema, theatre. Discussion of film and film criticism. Modernism and politics: social revolution and art in the first half of the 20^th century. Discussion of film and texts

Towards Postmodernity: From the crisis of meaning of the 50’s to the “underground” and the “revolution of everyday life” in the 60’s and 70’s. The politics of difference. The changing conception/definition of art.

Decentering the subject, the crisis of master-narratives, and the rise of relativism. Examples from politics and mass culture/ cinema Theory: from Barthes to Derrida

The theoretical debate since the early 1980’s: Jameson, Lyotard, Habermas – Foucault. The implications of the post modernity debates on: art, politics, analysis [deconstruction], eroticism, the relation of technology and everyday life. Use this discussion to select area for final essay.

• The choice of relevant texts depends on the topic chosen by the student. The Advisor will make sure that there is a comprehensive review of the main currents in the area under discussion in the suggested bibliography.

• This is contingent on the student’s choice of subject. The Advisor will make sure that broader data involving empirical research and historical studies are also included so that the research focus of chapter two is completed successfully with the student having a broader view of both theoretical perspectives and the historical context within which they developed.