CS301-6-FY-CO:
Dangerous Ideas: Essays and Manifestos as Social Criticism
2017/18
Interdisciplinary Studies Centre (ISC)
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Thursday 05 October 2017
Friday 29 June 2018
30
09 March 2011
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA T702 American Studies (United States) (UK Study),
BA T711 Latin American Studies (Including Year Abroad),
BA T731 Latin American Studies,
BA T7N3 Latin American Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA T7N2 Latin American Studies with Business Management,
BA T7N4 Latin American studies with Business Management (Including Foundation Year),
BA T7M8 Latin American studies with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year),
BA T7M9 Latin American Studies with Human Rights,
BA LQV0 Liberal Arts (Including Foundation Year),
BA Q900 Liberal Arts (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
BA QV00 Liberal Arts (Including Year Abroad),
BA V900 Liberal Arts,
BA L903 Global Studies,
BA L904 Global Studies (including year abroad),
BA L908 Global Studies (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
BA LR04 Global Studies and Modern Languages (Including Year Abroad)
This module examines how writing in the form of the essay and manifesto can be subversive. During the year, we will look at several essays and manifestos that challenge and often satirize dominant ideas, existing social arrangements, and provoke us to explore the many varieties of writing itself. The module seeks to reappraise the essay and follow the important role it has played in the development of the humanities and social sciences from the 16th century to the present. Today the essay is emerging as a critical tool in the examination of all aspects of human experience, both the profound and the ephemeral. Essays may mask themselves as innocent excursions but, as with Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' or George Orwell's 'Politics and the English Language,' the essay can rapidly overturn accepted opinions and provoke the questioning of values. Likewise, manifestos like Marx and Engels' 'The Communist Manifesto' may be written specifically to mobilise opinion and overthrow existing social and working institutions, while the 'How to be Idle' manifesto proposes we abandon work itself.
The readings are primarily chosen on the basis of their historical impact, current relevance and at the same time selected as models for good writing. It is hoped that a consideration of how ideas are powerfully and succinctly communicated will encourage students to experiment, and thus, broaden the approach of those essays produced by the students who follow the module.
No information available.
No information available.
Core for BA Liberal Arts students.
To prepare for this module, suggested introductory reading:
Nussbaum, Martha C. (2010) Not for profit: Why democracy needs the humanities. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press
Article from The New Yorker (June 16, 2015) A New Theory of Distraction by Joshua Rothman. Available at: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/a-new-theory-of-distraction
Weekly lecture, plus a weekly seminar that will include staff presentations, student-led intellectual discussion.
- (1992) Ape theatre, London: Granta Books.
- Wilde, Oscar. (2001) The Soul of Man under Socialism, London: Penguin Books Ltd.
- (2011) 1909, London: Thames & Hudson.
- Friedman, Rose. (1980) Free to Choose, London: Penguin Books Ltd.
- Stedman Jones, Gareth. (2002) The communist manifesto, London: Penguin Books. vol. Penguin classics
- Leon Battista Alberti. (1999) The use and abuse of books =, Prospect Heights, Ill: Waveland Press.
- Dyer, Geoff. (2016) The abundance: narrative essays old and new, New York, NY: Ecco.
- Kelley, Robin D. G. (c2000) Discourse on colonialism, New York: Monthly Review Press.
- Nussbaum, Martha Craven. (c2010) Not for profit: why democracy needs the humanities, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. vol. The public square book series
- Institute of Contemporary Arts (London, England). (1974) Art into society, society into art : seven German artists, Albrecht D., Joseph Beuys, K. P. Brehmer, Hans Haacke, Dieter Hacker, Gustav Metzger, Klaus Staeck : Institute of Contemporary Arts, 30. October - 24. November 1974.
- EBSCOhost ebook collection. (©2000) Discourse on colonialism, New York: Monthly Review Press.
- Montaigne, Michel. (1993) Of the Cannibals [1588], London: Penguin Books Ltd.
- Puchner, Martin. (c2006) Poetry of the revolution: Marx, manifestos, and the avant-gardes, Princeton: Princeton University Press. vol. Translation/transnation
- Wilson, Andrew. (2015) Auto-Destructive Art: Metzger at AA, London: Architectural Association Publications.
- Fahs, Breanne. (2008) The Radical Possibilities of Valerie Solanas. vol. 34
- Hodgkinson, Tom. (2005) How to be idle, London: Penguin.
- dawsonera. (2012) Not for profit: why democracy needs the humanities, Woodstock: Princeton University Press. vol. Public square book series
- Free to Choose: Part 1 of 10 The Power of the Market (Featuring Milton Friedman) - YouTube.
- (1934, reprinted 1939) A modest proposal, New York: Random House. vol. Nonesuch library
- Inside the assassination complex: whistleblowing is not just leaking, it's an act of political resistance, https://theintercept.com/2016/05/03/edward-snowden-whistleblowing-is-not-just-leaking-its-an-act-of-political-resistance/
- (1994) Politics and the English language, New York: Penguin. vol. Penguin twentieth-century classics
- Solanas, Valerie. (2016) SCUM Manifesto, London: Verso Books.
- (1992) Total eclipse, New York: HarperPerennial.
- EBSCOhost ebook collection. (c2006) Poetry of the revolution: Marx, manifestos, and the avant-gardes, Princeton: Princeton University Press. vol. Translation/transnation
- Stedman Jones, Gareth. (2002) The Communist manifesto, London: Penguin Books. vol. Penguin classics
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course. The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students. Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Essay 1 |
|
40% |
| Coursework |
Reading week assignment |
|
10% |
| Coursework |
Essay 2 |
|
50% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Steven Gormley, email: segorm@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Caspar Pearson, email: cpearson@essex.ac.uk.
A range of staff from across the university will contribute to the module. Class tutor: Cathy Duxbury
Interdisciplinary Studies Centre 6.130. Email: istudies@essex.ac.uk
Yes
Yes
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
Of 42 hours, 28 (66.7%) hours available to students:
2 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
12 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
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