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EL2517: POWER, EQUALITY AND EMPIRE (2021-2022)

Last modified: 31 May 2022 13:05


Course Overview

This optional course in literature allows students at pre-Honours to learn about the impact of global colonialism through the writings of those who experienced it and its repercussions.  It includes theorists of our time and texts like Aphra Behn’s Oronoko and Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.  The texts on this course are necessarily concerned with enslavement and freedom, with how one encounters difference, and what it means to possess or claim territory.  In examining these issues students will engage with issues of power and equality over centuries of writing about colonialism and empire. 

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 2
Session Second Sub Session Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Thomas C. K. Rist

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

  • EL2017 Power, Equality and Empire (Studied)

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

It is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and nowhere, perhaps, is this truer than of the British Empire.  This optional course at Level 2 offers a chance for students at pre-Honours to learn about the impact of global colonialism through the writings of those who experienced it and its repercussions.  What was colonialism about?  What caused it and what were its effects?  How has it been understood by writers and theorists in our time?  Including texts from the later Empire, earlier colonial enterprises and decolonial movements, with works like Aphra Behn’s Oronooko and Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, this course considers the contradictory responses and writings of authors through the ages.  The legacy of European colonialism continues to impact the world we live in today.  The texts on this course are necessarily concerned with enslavement and freedom, with how one encounters difference, and what it means to possess or claim territory.  In examining these issues students will engage with issues of power and equality over centuries of writing about colonialism and empire.  


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 31 August 2023 for 1st half-session courses and 22 December 2023 for 2nd half-session courses.

Summative Assessments

Reflective report - 1000 words (30%)

Essay - 2000 words (70%)

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Course Learning Outcomes

Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
ConceptualEvaluateStudents will develop their abilities to evaluate literary texts and their relevant contexts through lectures, tutorials and course assessments.
ConceptualUnderstandStudents will develop their understanding of relevant literary texts and contexts through reading, lectures, tutorials and assessments.
FactualApplyStudents will learn through to apply their understanding critically through lectures, tutorials and assessments.
FactualAnalyseStudents will develop analytical abilities regarding course texts and relevant contexts through lectures, tutorials and course assessments.

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