Welcome to the Department of English, Aarhus University. We are pleased that you are joining us for the forthcoming semesters and as you will soon discover, Aarhus is more than just an excellent academic experience. The links below will help guide you through some of the information relevant to your studies at the Department of English.

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INSTITUTE OF LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CULTURE

Department of English

University of Aarhus

Nobelparken

Building 1463

Jens Chr. Skous Vej 5

DK- 8000 Aarhus C

Phone: +45 8942 6501

Fax  :    +45 8942 6540

E-mail: englvk@hum.au.dk

Website: www.engelsk.au.dk/

Board of Studies: studienaevn.slk@remove-this.hum.au.dk

Student Guidance: studievejleder.slk@remove-this.hum.au.dk

The Department of English, Institute of Language, Literature and Culture, will offer the following courses taught in English during the Autumn 2009 semester. Details of ECTS credits and exam forms are given below.

Exchange students may enrol for courses that form part of the obligatory programme for Danish students and for elective courses. Full details about obligatory courses are given below; details of elective courses at Bachelor and Master’s degree levels can be found at

http://www.engelsk.au.dk/en/studies/teaching/course_descriptions .

Please note that all these courses form part of degree programmes in English Studies either at Bachelor or Master’s degree level. Students therefore need an appropriate level of English language proficiency to be able to follow the courses and pass the exams. Students who are studying subjects other than English at their home university may be asked to provide evidence of their proficiency in English before being allowed to enrol for these courses.

(see http://www.engelsk.au.dk/en/for/incoming/language_requirements ).

Staff picture gallery and staff e-mail addresses are also available on the English Department website.

For further information about courses, application deadlines etc, kindly contact Ann Carroll Bøgh,

engacb@remove-this.hum.au.dk

For course registration, please contact Jane Lücke Didriksen, engljd@remove-this.hum.au.dk

 

AUTUMN SEMESTER 2009

Teaching starts Monday August 31, 2009

CORE COURSES:

 

PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

This course provides students with the basic tools needed to describe and analyze the sound systems of various forms of English. In this course, students will acquire (a) basic knowledge about English phonetics (i.e., the articulatory and acoustic properties of English speech sounds and their perception) and English phonology (the linguistic function and abstract patterns of English speech sounds); and (b) basic competencies needed for the phonetic and phonological description and analysis of English as spoken by native and non-native speakers.

 

• Level : BA
• Lecturer : Ocke Bohn, e-mail: engosb@hum.au.dk
• Course credits : 5 ECTS
• Assessment:
  • Part one: 2½-hour written theoretical exam
  • Part two: 1-hour written practical exam
• Course start: Week 36
• Time and place :  

Lecture (all groups)	Ocke Bohn	Monday 10-11	building 1441, Aud. 1
Group A	Marie Møller Jensen	Tuesday 15-16	building 1463 room 416
Group B	Peter Slomanson	Thursday 8-9	building 1453 room 227
Group C	Peter Slomanson	Thursday 9-10	building 1453 room 223
Group D	Ocke Bohn	Tuesday 8-9	building 1463 room 416

 

 

MORPHOLOGY AND SYNTAX 1

This course aims to provide a basic introduction to two central topics in the study of the English language: word structure (morphology) and sentence structure (syntax). Descriptive and data-driven, it nevertheless draws upon a range of contemporary theoretical notions and techniques. The large number of examples helps students develop a hands-on approach towards syntactic and morphological analysis.

• Level : BA
• Lecturer : Sten Vikner, e-mail: engsv@hum.au.dk
• Course credits : 5 ECTS
• Assessment: Active participation in class or a 3-hour written exam
• Course start: Week 36
• Time and place :

Lecture (all groups)	Sten Vikner	Monday 11-12	building 1441, Aud. 1
Group A	Sten Vikner	Tuesday 14-15	building 1463 room 416
Group B	Johanna Wood	Thursday 9-10	building 1453 room 227
Group C	Johanna Wood	Thursday 8-9	building 1453 room 223
Group D	Ken Ramshøj Christensen	Tuesday 9-10	building 1463 room 416

 

RESEARCH SKILLS AND ACADEMIC METHODS

This course is designed to help students develop a number of basic skills and techniques that will be useful in all subsequent classes, whether they be in language, literature or historical and cultural studies. Topics covered include research techniques; the use of libraries, computer databases and the Internet; planning a research paper; developing an argument; documenting sources in notes and bibliographies; and revising and refining written work.

 

• Level : BA
• Course credits : 5 ECTS
• Assessment: Active participation in class or an essay with a set question (24 hrs./max. 6 pages)
• Course start: Week 36
• Time and place:

Group A	Jody Pennington	Monday 14-16	building 1453 room 227
Group B	Peter Slomanson	Tuesday 14-16	building 1453 room 227
Group C	Peter Slomanson	Monday 14-16	building 1453 room 223
Group D	Marie Møller Jensen	Friday 8-10	building 1453 room 223

LITERATURES IN ENGLISH 1550-1800

This course is the first part of the Department's three-part Literatures in English programme. The course makes reference to British and American Literatures as well as to writing emanating from colonial contexts. It seeks to highlight the ways in which different literatures in English, at the same time as constituting distinct traditions, have nevertheless intersected with and influenced each other. Like the other parts of the programme, this course balances the need to establish cultural/national/historical characteristics in the literatures of different English-speaking countries with the need to recognise the global dimension of the English language imagination. The course focuses on 16th, 17th and 18th century literatures in English, paying particular attention to topics such as Humanism, Enlightenment, revolution and colonialism; to periods such as the Early Modern or genres such as the early novel; and to individual writers including Shakespeare, Milton, Daniel Defoe and William Blake.

 

• Level : BA
• Lecturers : Various members of the English Department staff
• Course credits : 5 ECTS
• Assessment: Active participation in class or a  3-hour written exam
• Course start: Week 36
• Time and place:

Lectures (all groups)		Tuesday 11-12	building 1441, Aud. 1
		Wednesday 11-12	building 1441, Aud. 1
		Wednesday 7.10.	building 1253, Aud. 2
Group A	Dominic Rainsford	Thursday 10-12	building 1453 room 223
Group B	Tabish Khair	Thursday 12-14	building 1453 room 227
Group C	Matthias Stephan	Friday 10-12	building 1453 room 223
Group D	Matthias Stephan	Thursday 14-16	building 1467 room 116

 

 

CONTEMPORARY LITERATURES IN ENGLISH

This course is the third part of the Department's three-part Literatures in English programme. The course, making special reference to British, American and Postcolonial Literatures, focuses on the globalization, since the end of the Second World War, of literature in English. It will be taught under headings such as hybridity, migrancy, ethnicity, and identity as negotiated between local and global space. Attention will be paid to writers such as Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison and Seamus Heaney.

 

• Level : BA
• Lecturers : Various members of the English Department staff
• Course credits : 5 ECTS
• Assessment: 10-page written essay
• Course start: Week 36
• Time and Place:

Lecture (all groups)		Tuesday 14-15	building 1441, Aud. 1
Group B	Maria Beville	Thursday 14-16	building 1453 room 227
Group C	Maria Beville	Thursday 8-10	building 1463 room 416

 

 

BRITISH AND IRISH HISTORY AND SOCIETY

This course introduces both the history and contemporary society of the British Isles and Ireland as an independent field of study, in the process locating the Department's linguistic and literary studies within a social, cultural and historical context. The objective of the course is to enable students to work independently on political, social and general cultural materials and problems, both historically and specifically. The course addresses both domestic and foreign policies, including such historical topics as the development of the British Empire and Commonwealth,

 

• Level: BA
• Lecturer : Michael Böss, e-mail: engmb@hum.au.dk
• Course credits : 5 ECTS
• Assessment: Active participation in class plus a 5-page essay on a topic of the candidate’s own choice or a 4-hour written exam
• Course start: Week 36
• Time and place :

Lecture (all groups)	Michael Böss	Wednesday  10-11	building 1441, Aud. 1
		Wednesday 7.10.	building 1253, Aud. 2
Group A	Mark Eaton	Friday 10-12	building 1453 room 121
Group B	Mark Eaton	Friday 12-14	building 1453 room 121
Group C	Michael Böss	Thursday 12-14	building 1453 room 223
Group D	Mark Le Fanu	Friday 12-14	building 1453 room 227

NATION, STATE AND GLOBALISATION 1

This course is designed to introduce major themes, institutions, structures, processes and events that have characterized the development of Anglo-American global influence, particularly in the modern era. It reviews political, social, economic and cultural dimensions of globalization in relation to the English-speaking world, and enables students to explain, interpret and evaluate the process within a variety of interpretive frameworks. Students are introduced to such subjects as global governance, the British Empire and Commonwealth (including Canada), settlement and migration, economic integration, global media and the growth of English as a world language, as well as to critiques of globalization.

• Level: BA
• Lecturers: Various members of the English Department staff
• Course credits : 5 ECTS
• Assessment: Active participation in class or a  3-hour written exam
• Course start: Week 36
• Time and place :

Lecture (all groups)

Tuesday 10-11

building 1441, Aud. 1

 

PHILOSOPHY AND THEORY OF THE HUMANITIES (STUDIUM GENERALE)

Every department at the University of Aarhus has a course in Videnskabsteori (literally, Theory of Science; more accurately, in English, Theory of Knowledge) under the general heading of Studium Generale . These courses vary considerably from department to department, however. The Videnskabsteori course in the English Department is specially designed for students of English and consists of a series of lectures given by most of the members of the Department. Initially, the course focuses on general themes, e.g. the goal of a university, conditions of knowledge, and the object of the humanities. After this, the focus shifts to the theoretical foundations of the three different sub-disciplines represented in the Department (Linguistics, Literature, and Society/History/Culture).

 

• Level: BA
• Lecturers : To be announced later
• Course credits : 10 ECTS
• Assessment: An 8-page essay with a set question
• Course start: Week 36
• Time and place :

Lecture (all groups)	Monday 12-14	building 1441, Aud. 1
Question hour (all groups)	Tuesday 15-16	building 1441, Aud. 1

 

 

COMMUNICATION

The course analyses a number of examples of non-literary communication in English -  in written as well as oral form - for the purpose of increasing students’ understanding of the differences in nuances between genres, with special emphasis on style and discourse structure. The course also introduces some basic communication theories, including theories of inter-cultural communication. Students are required to analyse texts or produce written material designed for a specific purpose, medium or audience. The purpose of this course is thus to expand students’ ability to communicate in the most appropriate way in a number of different contexts. 

 

• Level : BA
• Course credits : 5 ECTS
• Assessment: A portfolio of brief written assignments
• Course start: Week 36
• Time and place :

Nick Wrigley

Thursday 14-16

building. 1453 room 223

  

BRITISH AND AMERICAN MEDIA

 

The course provides an introduction to British and American media in their social and cultural contexts. The aim of the course is to familiarise students with both written and audiovisual media, with special emphasis on current trends and developments.

 

• Level : BA
• Course credits : 10 ECTS
• Assessment: Oral exam
• Course start: Week 36
• Time and place :

Mark Le Fanu

Monday 10-12

building. 1453 room 223

 

 

SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD

 

The discipline introduces the main characteristics of institutions, structures, processes and events in the English-speaking world viewed in a historical context. It discusses important political, social, economic and cultural trends and conditions in the British Isles, the Commonwealth and the USA, and also includes a review of the historical development of the  links between the English speaking countries. 

 

• Level : BA
• Course credits : 10 ECTS
• Assessment: 7-8 page written essay
• Course start: Week 36
• Time and place :

Mark Eaton

Tuesday 12-14

building. 1453 room 223

 

 

ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

 

The course discusses the history and spread of the English language, and examines the way in which English has achieved its status as an international language. Students are introduced to regional varieties of English and to different standard variaties of the language. The course aims to expand students’ awareness and understanding of the evolution of the English language and to give students the specialised concepts necessary to work with the most important aspects of the globalisation of the English language. It also aims to instil an awareness of and respect for varieties of a language. 

 

• Level : BA
• Course credits : 5
• Assessment: Active participation in class or a 3-hour written exam
• Course start: Week 36
• Time and place :

Peter Slomanson

Wednesday 10-12

building. 1453 room 229

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ELECTIVE COURSES:

 

LOWER LEVEL ELECTIVES (5/10 ECTS):

2 ^nd   year BA courses

Assessment:

• A 10-page essay (10 ECTS)
• Or active participation in class (5 ECTS)
• OR an oral exam (5 ECTS). NB: oral proficiency is assessed in connection with the oral exam (5 ECTS)

Celts and Celticity – Past and Present
Michael Böss	Monday 14-16	building 1453 room 125
The Gothic and Postcolonialism
Tabish Khair	Tuesday 12-14	building 1453 room 227
Ultimate Shakespeare: Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth
Michael Skovmand	Monday 10-12	building 1463 room 416
Comparative Syntax
Sten Vikner	Wednesday10-12	building 1453 room 223

 

3 ^rd YEAR BA PROJECT COURSES (15 ECTS)

Assessment:

15-page project paper (essay)

Please note that these courses are at a more advanced level, and students need a higher level of English proficiency and background knowledge in English Studies in order to complete them successfully.

Early Modernism
Peter Mortensen	Friday 8-11	building 1463 room 416
Mediating America: Mass Communication in the United States
Jody Pennington	Friday 8-11	building 1453 room 227
English in North America: a Sociolinguistic Approach
Johanna Wood	Friday 11-14	building 1463 room 416

   

 

UPPER LEVEL ELECTIVES (10/15 ECTS)

 

MA level courses

Please note that these courses are at an advanced level, and students need a higher level of English proficiency and background knowledge in English Studies in order to complete them successfully.

Assessment:

• A 15-page essay (10 ECTS).
• Or a 20-page essay (15 ECTS).
• Or an oral exam (5 ECTS) (NB: oral proficiency is also assessed in connection with this exam (5 ECTS)).
• Or a 5-hour written exam (10 ECTS).
• Or active participation in class (10 ECTS).
• Or a “communication” exam (10 ECTS) which can take many different forms.

Learning the Sounds of English
Ocke Bohn	Thursday 10-12	building 1453 room 227
Canadian Multiculturalism and Its Critics
Michael Böss	Monday 10-12	building 1453 room 227
Postmodernism in Literary History and Cultural Theory
Maria Beville	Monday 12-14	building 1463 room 416
Violence Overseas – Fiction as a Shattered Mirror (SLK)
Sébastien Doubinsky	Tuesday 10-12	building 1453 room 227
‘The British Way’: British Values, Norms and Institutions on the Global Stage
Mark Eaton	Thursday 12-14	building 1453 room 125
Second Language Acquistion and Second Language Pedagogy (SLK)
Susana Silvia Fernández, Peter Slomanson	Thursday 14-16	building 1463 room 416
Left Coast vs. Right Coast: The Role of Hollywood in Shaping and Reflecting American Politics
David Harding	Friday 12-14	building 1453 room 223
Global Entrepreneurship Practical application of foreign language candidates’ qualifications and competences in revitalizing or setting up organizations/businesses. (SLK)
David Harding, Finn Kristensen and guest lecturers	Wednesday 12-15	Center for Entrepreneurship Finlandsgade 25, Århus N
Narrating Difference
Tabish Khair	Friday 10-12	building 1453 room 125
The syntactic structure of clauses and nominals (SLK)
Steffen Krogh, Henning Nølke, Sten Vikner, Johanna Wood	Monday 14-16	building 1463 room 416
Public Relations Strategies and Tactics
Jody Pennington	Wednesday 10-12	building 1453 room 227