LN253
European Literature and Philosophy
This information is for the 2015/16 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Olga Sobolev TW3 6.01A and Dr Angus Wrenn TW3 6.01A
Availability
This course is available on the BSc in Philosophy and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method and BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.
Available as an outside option to all undergraduate and General Course students. Students can take this course in any year of their studies following approval from the teacher responsible and subject to their own programme regulations.
Pre-requisites
Although an A-level pass or equivalent in Literature is useful, it is not an absolute requirement (especially for General Course students).
Course content
(a) Literary treatment of the major philosophical trends of the twentieth century, including the aesthetics of Bergson and Nietzsche, the analytical school of Russell; political philosophy of Isaiah Berlin, the existentialism of Heidegger and Sartre, the paradox of the absurd of Camus, French and East European Phenomenology; Wittgenstein and philosophy of language (b) Related trips to galleries and theatre productions during the year; (c) Use of archive recordings of authors, and video; (d) Students encouraged to draw upon background in their main discipline, and to read widely.
Teaching
10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT. 1 hour of classes in the ST.
Structured activities during the reading week
Formative coursework
Two essays per year, presentations.
Indicative reading
Dostoevsky Crime and Punishment & Notes from the Underground; Kafka Metamorphosis & The Trial; Nabokov Despair & Lolita, Celan Todesfuge and other poems; St-Exupery The Little Prince; Solzhenitzyn One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich; Camus L'Etranger & The Myth of Sisyphus; Kundera The Unbearable Lightness of Being; Frayn Copenhagen; Stoppard Dogg's Hamlet Cahoot's Macbeth
Assessment
Exam (75%, duration: 3 hours) in the main exam period.
Essay (25%, 2500 words) in the LT.
Student performance results
(2012/13 - 2014/15 combined)
Classification | % of students |
---|---|
First | 31.5 |
2:1 | 61.1 |
2:2 | 3.7 |
Third | 0 |
Fail | 3.7 |
Key facts
Department: Language Studies
Total students 2014/15: 24
Average class size 2014/15: 8
Capped 2014/15: Yes (24)
Value: One Unit
PDAM skills
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Application of information skills
- Communication
- Specialist skills
Course survey results
(2012/13 - 2014/15 combined)
1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" scoreThe scores below are average responses.
Response rate: 66%
Question |
Average | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reading list (Q2.1) |
1.4 | ||||||
Materials (Q2.3) |
1.9 | ||||||
Course satisfied (Q2.4) |
1.3 | ||||||
Lectures (Q2.5) |
1.4 | ||||||
Integration (Q2.6) |
1.5 | ||||||
Contact (Q2.7) |
1.9 | ||||||
Feedback (Q2.8) |
2.3 | ||||||
Recommend (Q2.9) |
|