Undergraduate Course: Water and World Literature (ENLI10399)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Our environmental crisis is a crisis of water: too much, or not enough. Climate change threatens sea level rises, floods and drought. This course asks: what does it mean to write about water in an age of crisis? And how might modern and contemporary literature offer alternative ways of living with water?
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| Course description |
Water is fundamental to life on earth, yet it is threatened by climate change, contamination and overuse. Water also flows through literary texts, which tell us about how water has been imagined in different times and places. Literature offers rich resources for understanding and rethinking our relationships with water to create more just and sustainable ways of life. On this module, we will read a range of modern and contemporary texts that address water in different forms, which may include the ocean, rivers, lakes, rain, ice and springs. Infrastructure will be a key theme, with topics potentially including urban water systems, hydroelectric dams, canals, irrigation, and the ports and ships that underpin the global economy. We will examine human relationships with water in different global contexts, including the social and cultural meanings of water, the impacts of disasters, drought and pollution, and struggles for water justice. We will also explore how water might allow us to think beyond the human, examining representations of aquatic animals. Students will gain an introduction to current debates in environmental politics and thought through focusing on the vital theme of water.
The course will consider a range of forms, which may include novels, poetry, short stories, plays and graphic novels, predominantly from the late twentieth and twenty-first century. Students will gain an understanding of key theories and methods in postcolonial studies, ecocriticism, Environmental Humanities and Blue Humanities. We will also read work from disciplines including cultural geography, political ecology, science and technology studies, and anthropology.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A MINIMUM of 4 college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as cross disciplinary, "Freshman Seminars", civilisation or creative writing classes are not considered for admission to this course.
Applicants should also note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. In making admissions decisions preference will be given to students who achieve above the minimum requirement with the typical visiting student admitted to this course having four or more literature classes at grade A.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 15 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
100% coursework:
40% 2,000-word midterm essay
60% 3,000-word final essay
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| Feedback |
Detailed written feedback will be provided on each element of assessment, and further oral follow up feedback from the tutor
will be available from anybody who would like it. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Analyse and discuss the range of ways that water is represented in modern and contemporary literature.
- Develop knowledge of relevant theoretical approaches to literature, water and environment, including ecocriticism, postcolonial studies, Environmental Humanities and Blue Humanities.
- Evaluate and assess theoretical ideas about water, literature and society from a range of critical sources.
- Construct original and clear arguments using relevant theoretical methods to analyse literary texts about water
- Write clear and thoughtful academic prose with respect for scholarly accuracy and referencing conventions.
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Reading List
Bacigalupi, Paolo, The Water Knife (London: Orbit, 2015)
Ghosh, Amitav, The Hungry Tide (London: HarperCollins, 2004)
Okorafor, Nnedi, Lagoon (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2014)
Oswald, Alice, Dart (London: Faber and Faber, 2002)
Paul, Lalline, Pod (London: Corsair, 2022) |
Additional Information
| Course URL |
https://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/english-literature/undergraduate/current/honours |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
As an outcome of having studied this course, students will benefit from having developed a range of personal and professional
skills commensurate with the range of SCQF Level 10 characteristics:
Knowledge and understanding: students will have had the opportunity to demonstrate their critical understanding of a range of
literatures and theoretical concepts and to relate their concerns and modes of expression to their cultural, political, social and
critical contexts.
Applied Knowledge, Skills and Understanding: in their work for class discussion, presentations and formal assessment tasks,
students will have been able to practice the application of these theories and concepts in their construction of arguments about
the course material and to situate these arguments in the wider context of cultural and intellectual history.
Generic Cognitive Skills: in completing assessed essays and class presentations, students will have practised identifying, defining,
conceptualising and analysing complex problems and issues germane to the discipline.
Communication: through participating in these tasks students will also have demonstrated the ability to communicate ideas and
information about specialised topics in the discipline to an informed audience of their peers and subject specialists.
Autonomy and Working with Others: students will also have shown the capacity to work autonomously and in small groups on
designated tasks, develop new thinking with their peers, and take responsibility for the reporting, analysis and defence of these
ideas to a larger group. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
One two hour seminar per week for 10 weeks plus a one hour autonomous learning group per week at a time to be arranged. |
| Keywords | World Literature,Blue Humanities,Ecocriticism,Postcolonial Studies |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Hannah Boast
Tel:
Email: hboast@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Lina Gordyshevskaya
Tel:
Email: pgordysh@ed.ac.uk |
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