Summer 2021 - ENGL 484W D100
Topics in Media, Culture and Performance (4)
Class Number: 2572
Delivery Method: Remote
Overview
-
Course Times + Location:
May 12 – Aug 9, 2021: Wed, Fri, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
Burnaby
-
Instructor:
Betty Schellenberg
schellen@sfu.ca
Office Hours: Wed. & Fri. 15h00-16h00
-
Prerequisites:
One 300 division English course, or permission of instructor. Reserved for English honours, major, joint major and minor students.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
Investigates and theorizes the relation of literature and media (manuscript, print, visual, aural, electronic, and/or oral) within their cultural and/or performative contexts. This course may be repeated for credit if a different topic is taught. Students with credit for ENGL 484 may not take this course for further credit. Students who obtained credit for English 484W prior to Summer 2015 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.
COURSE DETAILS:
The invention of movable type, in eleventh-century China and fifteenth-century Europe, has generally been considered one of the most significant developments in human history. This course will focus on the literary history and culture of the printed book in the age of the hand-operated printing press – extending from the mid-fifteenth century, when Johannes Gutenberg used his newly developed press to print multiple copies of the famous Gutenberg Bible, to the early nineteenth century, when printing became industrialized with the invention of the steam press. We will also give consideration to different meanings of “book” before the invention of printing and now in the digital age.
Our study will be divided into five modules: the material book, the communications circuit, the printing press as agent of change, intermediality, and the literary culture of writing and reading enabled by print.
COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:
In each of the course modules students will:
1. read articles to build up knowledge about the historical and theoretical background;
2. gain “hands-on” experience with the physical book (sometimes through the virtual experience afforded by a database);
3. work through a case study from the life and writing of the eighteenth-century poet Alexander Pope, who blamed books for
the decline of civilization, while exploiting every aspect of book-making to his advantage.
Assignments will include reading evaluation, presentations, and three short essays. Each essay’s preparation will involve some combination of drafting, revising, peer editing, and argument pitching.
Grading
- Seminar preparation, participation, in-class writing 20%
- Historical/theoretical reading activity 15%
- Rare book profile presentation (in pairs) 20%
- Essays (750-word analysis of intermediality in a Pope poem (10%); 1000-word analysis of a Pope poem in the communications circuit (15%); 1500-1800-word analysis of a print phenomenon (e.g. authorship, the critic, the archive) as represented by Pope (20%) 45%
NOTES:
Please note that several of the "hands-on" activities for this course may involve attendance on the Burnaby campus. In such cases, the activities will be planned in keeping with COVID safety protocols.
Materials
MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:
Levy and Mole, eds. The Broadview Reader in Book History. 2015.
[Students are asked to order the text directly from Broadview Press or from some other book source; shipping from Broadview is free: https://broadviewpress.com/product/the-broadview-reader-in-book-history/#tab-description]
Any edition of poems by Alexander Pope or any anthology of Restoration and eighteenth-century literature containing several poems by Pope (e.g. Broadview, Norton, Longmans, Blackwell).
[Please contact the professor if you have difficulty procuring such a text. Note that you will need the help of editorial notes to read the Pope poems; it is therefore recommended that you do not try to work with online versions from poetry websites or from Google books]
Department Undergraduate Notes:
IMPORTANT NOTE Re 300 and 400 level courses: 75% of spaces in 300 level English courses, and 100% of spaces in 400 level English courses, are reserved for declared English Major, Minor, Extended Minor, Joint Major, and Honours students only, until open enrollment begins.
For all On-Campus Courses, please note the following:
- To receive credit for the course, students must complete all requirements.
- Tutorials/Seminars WILL be held the first week of classes.
- When choosing your schedule, remember to check "Show lab/tutorial sections" to see all Lecture/Seminar/Tutorial times required.
Registrar Notes:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS
SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.
Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html
TEACHING AT SFU IN SUMMER 2021
Teaching at SFU in summer 2021 will be conducted primarily through remote methods, but we will continue to have in-person experiential activities for a selection of courses. Such course components will be clearly identified at registration, as will course components that will be “live” (synchronous) vs. at your own pace (asynchronous). Enrollment acknowledges that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes. To ensure you can access all course materials, we recommend you have access to a computer with a microphone and camera, and the internet. In some cases your instructor may use Zoom or other means requiring a camera and microphone to invigilate exams. If proctoring software will be used, this will be confirmed in the first week of class.
Students with hidden or visible disabilities who believe they may need class or exam accommodations, including in the current context of remote learning, are encouraged to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112).