BSHUM1124b
Faculty of Arts
School of Humanities
Unit/Module Descriptor Cover Sheet: New and
changed units/modules
TBC
Unit/Module Code
Unit/Module Title
Film, Literature & Philosophy (30 credits)
Date of Re/Validation
Unit/Module Author/s
Start date or date when change will become
effective
Relevant course/s
September 2011
Dr Emma Bell
September 2011
Film & Screen Studies / Media Studies /
Literature
SECTION 1 – Summary of changes (changed units/modules only)
The proposal involves changes to: (indicate with a X whichever apply)
Title
Content
Credit rating
Learning and Teaching Strategies
Aims
Learning Support
Learning Outcomes
Assessment
Other
Summarise the changes and indicate the extent of the changes proposed: NEW MODULE
New or changed unit/module?
New
SECTION 2 – Rationale for changes (new and changed units/modules
This module will develop students skills of critical thinking and analytical enquiry, film and literary analysis,
reasoning and argument formation and intellectual independence. It will broaden their awareness of, and
ability to undertake, philosophical exegesis and exposition - skills that they have been developing over the
previous two years of study. As such it offers students a foundation for further intellectual independence and
for future studies in the analysis of the relationship between philosophy, screen arts and literature.
SECTION 3 – Implications (new and changed units/modules)
Does this unit/module replace an existing validated unit/module? If yes, please provide the name
and code of the unit/module to be replaced: no
Will the changes to unit/module necessitate any changes to the Programme Specifications
(for example, a change in title or a change in the credit rating)? If yes, please provide details. No
SECTION 4 – Scrutiny activity for unit/module authors (new and changed units/modules)
Has the unit/module been developed in liaison with relevant Subject teams? Yes
Is the Academic Programme Leader of relevant courses agreeable to the
Yes
proposed unit/module?
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BSHUM1124b
Module specification
s
Title
Code
Level
Credit rating
Pre-requisites
Type of module
Aims
Film, Literature and Philosophy
HD3xxx
6
30
None
One semester seminar-based unit

to introduce students to philosophical thinking
and exposition within the contexts of their relevant
subject areas

To introduce students to key texts in classical
and continental and philosophy

To encourage students to deepen their
understanding of critical, literary and filmic modes of
expression and signification

to foster analytical and critical enquiry within
the fields of Philosophy, Literature and Film

to encourage students to think critically about
the differences between presenting similar ideas
and arguments in different forms – i.e. dialogue,
image, narrative prose, cinema etc.

to encourage students to comprehend
practices of adapting narratives and ideas from text
to screen and vice versa

to enable students to develop the intellectual
and creative skills needed to elicit and make
essential connections between the narrative,
aesthetic, and formal aspects of texts in a variety of
philosophical contexts

to encourage students to think philosophically
about prose, art and entertainment forms, and to
engage with philosophical exposition

to develop individual tastes and critical
awareness in the fields of Literature, Media and Film
and Screen Studies

to enable students to comprehend and
discriminate between a range of methods of
approaching and analyzing texts

to equip students with a wide range of
research and presentation skills appropriate for the
communication of ideas, whether in written, oral,
visual or digitally-based formats

to cultivate students’ personal development
and their transferable intellectual and employability
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BSHUM1124b
skills
Learning outcomes/objectives By the completion of this module students will be able
to demonstrate:
· awareness of key ideas and texts in classical and
continental philosophy
. appreciation of the ways philosophical ideas have
been explored in filmic and literary texts
· practice ways of applying these philosophies to
filmic and literary texts
· the ability to examine and critically evaluate the
philosophical potentiality of aesthetic forms, and to
critical debates that surround these forms
· ability to test theories of others through
application to relevant examples but also to use
such materials to theorise themselves as
individuals.
Content
The module engages with key texts and ideas in
continental philosophy, drawn specifically from the
works of Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Wittgenstein
and Foucault.
It focuses on the ways in which philosophical ideas
are explored in texts that are available in both literary
and cinematic forms as adaptations - i.e. King Lear,
The Tempest, The Thin Red Line, Hiroshima Mon
Amour, Fight Club etc.
Thus, Media, Film and Literature students engage
with the same textual forms as their core area of
study, and try out the study of artistic forms outside
their core area of study.
Key secondary texts about philosophy, film and
literature are drawn from the philosophy of film
(Mullhall, Smith, Read, Deleuze etc.) and from literary
and cultural criticism (Derrida, Baudrillard etc.), and
students are encouraged to understand the
philosophical aspects of literary and filmic criticism.
*No previous experience of studying philosophy is
required, or expected, for students to engage
productively with, or succeed academically in, this
module*
Teaching and learning
strategies
Learning support
The unit is seminar based but includes a mini-lecture
that forms the agenda for, and structure to, each
class. Students are expected to complete all set
critical readings and selected screen texts before
each class and to undertake 6 hours of independent
study per week throughout the academic semester.
Seminars; tutorials; electronic learning environment;
online (student central and Box of Broadcasts)
bibliography
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BSHUM1124b
Assessment tasks
Indicative Reading:
Allen and Smith, Film Theory and Philosophy
Barthes, R. The death of the author/Mythologies
Baudrillard, J Simulacra and Simulation
Cavell, S. The Claim of Reason/The World Viewed/The
Unknown Woman/Must We Mean What We Say?
Debord, G. Society of the Spectacle
Deleuze, Cinema I and II
Derrida, Writing & Difference/Letter to a Japanese Friend
Descartes, R Discourse on Method/Meditations
Foucault, Ceci n’est pas une pipe/Discipline and
Punish/The Order of Things
Dick, P.K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?/We can
remember it for you wholesale
Dostoevsky, F. Notes from Underground/The
Double/Crime and Punishment
Dumas M. Hiroshima mon Amour.
Fincher, C. Memento Mori,
Freeland & Wartenberg, ‘Philosophy and Film’.
Hegel. The Phenomenology of Spirit
Heidegger, M. Being and Time
Jones, J. The Thin Red Line
McNeill, W, & Feldman, Continental Philosophy
Mullhall, S. On Film
Nietzsche. Genealogy of Morality/Beyond Good and Evil
Palahniuk, C. Fight Club
Percy, W. The Moviegoer
Read, R & Goodenough, J. Film as Philosophy
Rivkin & Ryan Literary Theory: an Anthology
Rowlands, M. The philosopher at the end of the universe.
Shakespeare, The Tempest, Philosophical Investigations
Taylor Sources of the Self: Making Modern Identity
Wittgenstein, L. Philosophical Investigations
There are 2 assessments for this module;
Essay 1: One 3500 word essay
Exam: One 1500 word take home exam
Assessment criteria:
The Essay and take home exam are assessed on
the extent to which students have demonstrated:

A basic understanding of key philosophical
concepts and theories studied on the unit, such as
aesthetics, morality, ethics, epistemology, ontology
and metaphysics

an understanding of some of the ways in
which literature and/or film engages with, and
contributes to the understanding of, these concepts

The ability to construct a basic philosophical
proposition and argue it through to a conclusion
· an ability to apply concepts to material examples
. clearly define their research topic, construct and
express their own 'readings' of a given text
. clarity ans sophistication of writing, the ability to
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BSHUM1124b
Brief description of module
content and/or aims
(maximum 80 words)
Area examination board to
which module relates
Module
team/authors/coordinator
Semester offered, where
appropriate
Site where delivered
Date of first approval
Date of last revision
Date of approval of this
version
Version number
Replacement for previous
module
Field for which module is
acceptable and status in that
field
Course(s) for which module is
acceptable and status in that
course
School home
External examiner
structure an argument and the ability to produce an
essay with correct citation and bibliographical
references
This module introduces students to key philosophical
ideas by exploring the ways in which some literary
and filmic texts do not merely exemplify nicely
particular philosophical problems, but provide their
own distinctive approaches and answers to them. The
first key skill is philosophical exposition, and the
second is textual analysis, the third is philosophical
exegesis.
Humanities
Dr Emma Bell
2
Pavilion Parade / Grand Parade
September 2011
Film & Screen Studies
Film &Screen Studies
Humanities
Dr Corin Depper
5