FSEM1020-01.FSEM: Multicultural England.F15.Deffenbacher,Kristina

Kristina Deffenbacher

Document Type

Syllabi

School

CLA

Department

ENG

Course Subject

FSEM

Course Number

1020

Course Section

01

Course Title

FSEM: Multicultural England

Academic Term and Year

Fall 2015

Credits

4.00

Hamline Plan Letter

E

Area of Study

EENG, FSEM

Course Description

In this writing-intensive seminar we will examine representations and realities of multiculturalism in contemporary England. We will explore how histories—especially of empire, slavery, and immigration—shape, and are in turn shaped by, contemporary racial/ethnic/religious relations in England. Our texts for this first section of the course will include Zadie Smith’s fictional intervention in these histories in her award-winning novel White Teeth, and sociological and political studies in Race and Racism in Britain and The State of Race. We will then tighten our focus to the post-World War II history of one district in London: Notting Hill. For this case study we will analyze accounts of the Notting Hill race riots, engage in cultural studies of the Notting Hill Carnival, and explore how the internationally-popular film Notting Hill represents the neighborhood, whiteness, and Britishness. Along the way, we will reflect on the implications of our findings for how we think about multiculturalism in the U.S. At the end of the course, students will engage in an independent research project on a related issue. As this is a first-year writing course, we will pay as much attention to how we process the material through critical thinking, reading, and writing as we pay to the content itself. The writing component of the course fulfills a Hamline Plan requirement (first-year college writing, represented by the “E”); please note that it is possible to receive a passing grade in the FYSem but be recommended to take an additional writing course. Because this is a writing-intensive FYSem, you do not need to register for English 1110.

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