UNIVERSITY OF KENT
Confirmation that this version of the module specification has been approved by the School
Learning and Teaching Committee:
…J. Batchelor 1.12.14……………………………………………….(date)
MODULE SPECIFICATION
1.
Title of the module
Devils, Demons, Tyrants and Fops: Performing Vice, c. 1350-1550 (EN715)
2.
School or partner institution which will be responsible for management of the
module
English
3.
Start date of the module September 2015
4.
The number of students expected to take the module: 16-48
5.
Modules to be withdrawn on the introduction of this proposed module and
consultation with other relevant Schools and Faculties regarding the withdrawal
None
6.
The level of the module (e.g. Certificate [C], Intermediate [I], Honours [H] or
Postgraduate [M])
Honours [H]
7.
The number of credits and the ECTS value which the module represents: 30 (15
ECTS)
8.
Which term(s) the module is to be taught in (or other teaching pattern)
Autumn or Spring
9.
Prerequisite and co-requisite modules None
10. The programmes of study to which the module contributes
BA (Hons) in: English and American Literature; English, American and Postcolonial
Literatures; English and American Literature with Creative Writing.
11. The intended subject specific learning outcomes
Students will develop:
11.1 the ability to read, analyse and respond critically to medieval and early Tudor drama
1
Module Specification Template (v.October 2014)
UNIVERSITY OF KENT
11.2 a sound knowledge of the performance conventions and dramaturgical methods of
medieval and early Tudor drama
11.3 a good knowledge and understanding of important religious, social and cultural
contexts for early English drama, and an awareness of the ways in which the plays speak,
respond and contribute to those contexts
11.4 an awareness of the core methods and approaches to the study of medieval and early
Tudor drama
11.5 an ability to critically evaluate modern theory and its application in early drama studies
12. The intended generic learning outcomes
Students will develop:
12.1 Skills in the critical reading and analysis of a range of primary and secondary materials
12.2 the ability to understand and interrogate complex theoretical material
12.3 the ability to work independently
12.4 a command of written and spoken English and their abilities to articulate coherent
critical arguments
12.5 presentational skills
13. A synopsis of the curriculum
This module explores the representation and performance of vice in drama, c. 1350-1550.
Students will examine a range of medieval and early Tudor dramatic modes, and will
consider how ideas about vice and sin were conveyed through performance, how such
presentations worked in conjunction with their virtuous and divine counterparts, the
audience’s own embodied experience and the potential problems inherent in the bodily
pleasures of performance. Via the study of vice and sin, students will also encounter core
aspects of medieval and early Tudor performance culture, dramaturgy, and the material,
social and religious conditions that informed drama in this period. In addition, students will
be introduced to a range of non-dramatic primary sources, such as the Records of Early
English Drama, medieval philosophy and theology, iconography, spiritual and devotional
manuals, and etiquette books, which will sit alongside the playtexts and inform our
understanding of medieval concepts of vice. Modern theories of embodiment, cognition
and performance will underpin the study of vice on this module and students will be asked
to assess the usefulness of these models as a way of critically engaging with medieval and
early Tudor drama.
14. Indicative Reading List
Primary
Aristotle (1986), De Anima, trans. Hugh Lawson-Tancred (London: Penguin).
Augustine (1961), Confessions, trans. R.S. Pine-Coffin (London: Penguin).
Bale, John (2000). The Three Laws. Ed. Greg Walker, in Medieval Drama: Anthology, Oxford:
Blackwell.The Book of the Knight of the Tower (1971) trans. William Caxton, ed. by M.Y. Offord,
EETS S.S 2 (London: OUP).
The Book of Vices and Virtues: A Fourteenth Century English Translation of the Somme le Roi of
Lorens D’Orléans, (1942) ed. W. Nelson Francis, EETS O.S 217 (London: OUP). The Castle of
Perseverance, (2010) ed. David Klausner TEAMS Middle English Texts Online
Lindsay, David (2000). Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estatis, Ed. Greg Walker, in Medieval Drama:
Anthology, Oxford: Blackwell.
The N-Town Plays, (2007) ed. Douglas Sugano, TEAMS Middle English Texts Online
Walker, Greg, ed. (2000) Medieval Drama: Anthology (Oxford: Blackwell)
2
Module Specification Template (v.October 2014)
UNIVERSITY OF KENT
Secondary
Blair, Rhonda (2008) The Actor, Image, and Action (New York: Routledge).
Feher, Michel, ed., with Ramana Naddaff and Nadia Tazi, (1998) Fragments for a History of the
Human Body, Volumes I and II (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press).
Howes, David, ed., (1991) The Varieties of Sensory Experience: A Source Book in the Anthropology
of the Senses (University of Toronto Press).
McConachie, Bruce (2008) Engaging Audiences: A Cognitive Approach to Spectating in the Theatre
(Palgrave Macmillan)
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice (2002) Phenomenology of Perception, trans. Colin Smith (London:
Routledge).
Reynolds, Dee and Matthew Reason eds. (2012) Kinesthetic Empathy in Creative and Cultural
Practice (Chicago: Chicago UP)
Shaughnessy, Nicola, ed.. (2013) Affective Performance and Cognitive Science (London:
Bloomsbury).
Shepherd, Simon, (2006) Theatre, Body and Pleasure (London: Routledge).
Strickland, Debra Higgs, (2003) Saracens, Demons and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art
(Princeton: Princeton University Press).
Woolgar, C.M., (2006) The Senses in Late Medieval England (New Haven: Yale University Press).
15. Learning and Teaching Methods, including the nature and number of contact hours
and the total study hours which will be expected of students, and how these relate to
achievement of the intended module learning outcomes
This course will be taught by weekly two-hour seminars plus a further directed hour.
Additional time will be devoted by seminar leaders to one-to-one feedback sessions for
students following assessment, and making themselves available for consultation in office
hours. These will address learning outcomes 11.1-5 and 12.1-5.
The module's third hour will supplement the two-hour seminar with a mix of workshops with
practitioners, reading group meetings, and screenings or where possible live performances,
variously designed to further understanding of the seminar material. This mixed programme
of teaching events will foster independent learning and will encourage creative intellectual
engagement with the module materials (learning outcomes 11.1-5 and 12.2-5).
The students are expected to dedicate a total of twenty-five hours per week to this course
(300 hours in total). Students will partly be directed in their use of this time by doing
prescribed primary and secondary reading, but they will also be encouraged to engage in
independent research into pertinent non-dramatic primary materials, which they will record
in the ‘research diary’ and discuss in seminars each week (11.3-4, 12.3). The students will
be encouraged to develop individual and collaborative presentations, and thus hone
research, presentation and communication skills (12.4-5).
3
Module Specification Template (v.October 2014)
UNIVERSITY OF KENT
16. Assessment methods and how these relate to testing achievement of the intended
module learning outcomes
a) Seminar performance (10%) Learning outcomes 11.1-5; 12.4-5
b) 1000 word analytical response to theoretical/critical perspectives (20%) Learning outcomes
11.1, 11.4-5; 12.1-2
c) 1000 word analytical study of a primary source (20%) Learning outcomes 11.1-4 12.1, 12.3-4
d) 3000 word Independent Research Project (50%) Learning outcomes 11.1-5, 12.1-4
In accordance with the intended module learning outcomes, the analytical response (b) will test
students’ ability to interrogate modern performance and cultural theory and assess its applicability to
the study of early drama (11.4-5, 12.1-2); the analytical study of primary material (c) will help
students develop a detailed understanding of cultural contexts (11.3) and their ability to analyse
primary sources (12.1), will foster independent study (12.3) and an understanding of core methods in
the study of medieval and Tudor drama (11.4). In addition, the independent research essay will test
students’ abilities to carry out independent research (12.3), their ability to respond critically to
medieval and early Tudor drama and its contexts (11.1-3), and their own ability to apply
theoretical/critical approaches (11.4-5, 12.1-2). Seminar performance will test all learning outcomes,
but especially the ability to articulate coherent spoken arguments and broader presentational skills
(12.4-5).
17. Implications for learning resources, including staff, library, IT and space
The course will not make any extraordinary demands on resources. Some new critical
works related to the course are likely to be needed for the library, however, the Templeman
Library is generally well supplied with appropriate secondary reading for the support of this
course. The module will also take advantage of facsimile reproductions of manuscript
materials in the Special Collections department.
18. The School recognises and has embedded the expectations of current disability
equality legislation, and supports students with a declared disability or special
educational need in its teaching. Within this module we will make reasonable
adjustments wherever necessary, including additional or substitute materials,
teaching modes or assessment methods for students who have declared and
discussed their learning support needs. Arrangements for students with declared
disabilities will be made on an individual basis, in consultation with the University’s
disability/dyslexia support service, and specialist support will be provided where
needed.
19. Campus(es) or Centre(s) where module will be delivered:
Canterbury
If the module is part of a programme in a Partner College or Validated Institution, please
complete sections 20 and 21. If the module is not part of a programme in a Partner
College or Validated Institution these sections can be deleted.
20. Partner College/Validated Institution: None
21. University School responsible for the programme: English
4
Module Specification Template (v.October 2014)