| CODE | ORS1001 | ||||||
| TITLE | Cultural Voices from North Africa to the East | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Oriental Studies | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | In European and American universities, the western literary and cultural canons are often given priority over cultural expressions from other regions of the world. This study-unit reverses this trend and casts the spotlight on cultural artefacts originating within eastern milieus, ancient and modern. Different lectures will focus on literature, visual art, cinema, drama, and music emanating from diverse regions in the Near, Middle, and Far East. The approach will be interdisciplinary, and special emphasis will be given to situating cultural artefacts within their wider socio-cultural, artistic, linguistic, political, historical, religious, and/or ideological context. This study-unit, therefore, offers students the opportunity to look at the world from new perspectives and exposes them to a chorus of new voices. Study-Unit Aims: - To introduce students to a select number of non-'western' cultural artefacts (e.g., literary texts, visual art, performing art, films), with a special focus on ancient and modern works emanating from the Near, Middle, and Far East; - To train students to analyze, appraise, and criticize such modes of cultural expression, and to assess their impact and significance in the spheres of art, language, literature, history, culture, religion, and/or politics; - To highlight a synoptic approach to the study of cultures and cultural artefacts, one which takes into consideration language, literary and visual idioms, history, socio-cultural and political contexts, religious traditions, geography, and other aspects. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Describe, analyze, and interpret a wide range of cultural artefacts (e.g., literary texts, visual art, performing art, films) originating from the Near, Middle, and Far East; - Evaluate and critique such cultural artefacts, with a view to appraising their impact and significance in the spheres of art, language, literature, history, culture, religion, and/or politics; - Reflect on the multifaceted nature of cultural artefacts, with a view to integrating interdisciplinary perspectives in the process of their analysis. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Apply different reading and interpretative strategies to cultural artefacts, including literary texts, visual art, performing art, and films; - Criticize cultural artefacts, with a view to assessing their impact and significance in the spheres of art, language, literature, history, culture, religion, and/or politics; - Integrate cultural artefacts within a wider socio-cultural, political, religious, and ideological discourse. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Armbrust, Walter (ed.) 2000 Mass Mediations: New Approaches to Popular Culture in the Middle East and Beyond. Berkeley: University of California Press. - Biale, David (ed.) 2002 Cultures of the Jews: A New History. New York: Random House Inc. - Buckley Ebrey, Patricia. 1993 Chinese Civilisation: A Sourcebook. 2nd edn. New York: The Free Press. - Gabel, John B. et al. 2005 The Bible as Literature: An Introduction. 5th edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press. - Hourani, Albert. 2013 A History of the Arab Peoples. London: Faber & Faber. - MacKenzie, John M. 2011 Orientalism: History, Theory and the Arts. Manchester: Manchester University Press. - Norden, Bryan W van. 2011 Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing. - Said, Edward W. 1997 How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World. Vintage Books. - Said, Edward W. 2007 Orientalism. London: Penguin Classics. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Salvatore Giuffre Dennis Mizzi (Co-ord.) Ghenwa Mumari Martin R. Zammit |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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