I NTRODUCTION TO B RITAIN
BBNAN 00300
Reuss Gabriella ( reuss.gabriella@btk.ppke.hu
) office hour: Thursday, 9-10 am, Amb 132
Time & Place: Thursdays 10 am, Amb 129
Purpose: To present an overview of the contemporary social, political, and cultural life of Great
Britain, and to provide essential vocabulary for the study and interpretation of such topics.
Coursebook: Introduction to Britain, 2005, by K. Pintér, a university textbook, available at the university bookshop.
Recommended readings:
Books on British culture in the department library, esp. the following:
 James O’Driscoll: Britain. The Country and Its People: An Introduction for Learners of
English, OUP 1995.
 The Oxford Guide to British and American Culture, OUP 1999.
 Jancsó-Pintér-Suba-Szántó-Surányi: Cultural Relations, Akadémiai Kiadó, 2001.
Schedule:
1.
Sep 10
2.
Sep 17
3.
Sep 24
4.
Oct 01
5.
Oct 08
6.
Oct 15
7.
Oct 22
8.
Oct 29
9.
Nov 05
Elections
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Nov 12
Nov 19
Nov 26
Dec 03
Dec 10
Introduction to the course & requirements. Apply for presentation now!
Geography and statistics – and what they reveal
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland and the Troubles
System of government I.: Crown and Parliament
MID-TERM TEST autumn break
System of government II.: the Cabinet, the Parties, and the
Legal system
Education
Religions. Revisions for the end-term test
END-TERM TEST evaluation
Requirements: According the rules of our Department, you may skip 3 classes any time during the course, except the two tests. As the dates are already set you can arrange your absences around them. Preparation for each class is an evident prereqisite – even if you were absent the previous time. If you have a topic/music/reading/etc related to British culture in which you are
deeply interested, come and share it with your fellows, classes can in fact be enjoyable…!
Note on presentations: advisably, this will be about a six-minute talk with a printed
handout/outline, which will initiate class discussion. The more colourful it is, the more it will be remembered! (and graded)
Evaluation: Your final mark is based on the following components:
Mid-term test
End-term test
33%
33%
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Contribution to class discussion / presentation 33%
In order to pass (to have a mark 2), you must score over 60% of each component.
Have a nice term!
(and keep these guidelines)
Introduction to British Civilization
Course description for ERASMUS and other foreign students
Fall 2009
I NTRODUCTION TO B RITISH C IVILIZATION (BBNAN 00300): S EMINAR
Lecturer: Karáth Tamás PhD
Welcome to our Faculty, welcome to the Department of English of Pázmány Péter Catholic
University!
The aim of this brief course description is to help ERASMUS and other foreign students at the
Faculty of Humanities of Pázmány Péter Catholic University in setting up their learning program by informing them about the tentative contents, requirements and evaluation of this course. If you do not find sufficient information here below, do not hesitate to come personally to the first class (for detailed parameters of time and place, see Neptun or the information board at the English Department), or to contact me via e-mail: kartauzi@gmx.de
.
G
ENERAL
C
OURSE
C
ONTENTS
This is a seminar for BA Freshmen (first-year students) which provides a general overview of present-day British society through a discussion of articles and texts focusing on sensitive issues or debates in Britain. Discussion topics include questions like: What does it mean today to be a Brit? How do new national identities (like Welsh or Scottish) affect Britishness? What is below the umbrella term “British”? Which regional identities and divides exist in Britain?
How did the Scottish and Welsh devolution restore autonomy in these two countries of the
Celtic fringe? What has happened in Scotland and Wales since devolution? How did the Good
Friday Agreement bring back peace to Northern Ireland, and how fragile was/is this reconciliation between the warring sides of the province? Besides, we will talk about the everyday problems and tensions of an ethnically and religiously diverse society.
S UPPOSED P REREQUISITES FOR THE C OURSE
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Since this seminar is among the very first courses that BA English major students can take at our Department, no special prerequisite is needed for this course but to have a proper English which enables you to participate in group discussions, read few page-long articles from week to week, and write ca. 4-5 home assignments during term. If you can, however, activate and the material of your previous British civilization studies (at high school) or intelligently use your personal experience with British culture, you will certainly profit more from this systematic approach to Britain.
M
ETHODS AND
R
EQUIREMENTS
A seminar implies active participation in group work. This course is based on the discussion of the home readings which are few page-long articles and essays from British media. The final syllabus with readings and assignments will be distributed in the first class and will be put on an interactive website ( www.engling.hu
) where you have to register. For a valid course, you have to attend classes (you cannot miss more than 3 classes), prepare regularly
(i.e. to read the home readings regularly), submit written home assignments (ca. 4-5 pieces a term), write a mid-term and an end-of-term test, and fill in an outline map exercise successfully. The theoretical background of the course is based on Pintér Károly’s textbook,
Introduction to Britain (2 nd revised edition. Piliscsaba: Pázmány Péter Catholic University,
2005) as well as on an interactive e-material (“Land Rover”, designed for BA students), downloadable from the website of the English Department (via the Faculty website). The evaluation of the seminar will be the average of all the graded elements of the course.
The printed syllabus which will be distributed in the first class will be of especial help to guide your studies in the frame of this course: it will indicate all deadlines, readings and seminar topics.
I wish you a successful term at our Faculty and Department! Enjoy your stay at Pázmány!
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