Teaching method: We will meet in weekly face to face sessions on campus and students will also have access to weekly self-study and online tutorial units, worksheets and opencast podcasts. You will need access to Stud.IP and a laptop or tablet with sound and audio capabilities.

This introductory course will offer students access to literary studies at university level and try to balance scholarly considerations with aesthetic enjoyment. It is the first part of a two-semester module, which will continue in the following Summer Term (Part II). In this first semester, we will look at the basic concepts not only of literature itself but also of literary criticism /Literaturwissenschaft. As we read our primary texts (short stories, one play and poems), we will be able to look at questions of literary genre (poetry, drama, narrative texts) and literary history (different periods and different national contexts). In addition, we will look at current theories of literature and of course, strategies of interpreting and analysing literary texts in a systematic, scholarly way, thus laying the theoretical and terminological groundwork to the study of literature, both from a methodological and a historical perspective.

All students are required to register on Stud.IP. Please explore the sections “Information” and “Schedule” on Stud. IP. for further details, such as requirements, weekly schedule, select bibliography, reference-only section in the library, modes of assessment and the exam schedule. Academic Exchange Students and Free Movers - please check requirements as outlined.
Strongly recommended, but not mandatory: Please sign up on Stud. IP for our weekly Zoom tutorial sessions – “10-76-1-Basismodul A-02 Tutorial: Introduction to English Literatures Part I (ZOOM only)” Fridays 10:15 a. m. – 11:45 a. m. (Credit points for General Studies)

Required reading materials (you will need a copy of these books for class):
Nünning, Vera, and Ansgar Nünning. An Introduction to the Study of English and American Literature. 4. Auflage, Klett Lerntraining, 2018. (You may choose any available edition.)
Shakespeare, William, and Robert S. Miola. Hamlet. 1st ed., W.W. Norton & Co, 2011. (You may choose any available edition.)

Availability: Copies of the texts can be purchased at the bookstore on our campus (Universitätsbuchhandlung Bremen: www.unibuch-bremen.de). In addition, you will find copies in the library building.

Requirements:
• Interest in the topics discussed and ideally a regular attendance and informed participation in class discussion (not part of your formal assessment);
• in-depth knowledge of the selected reading material and course materials,
• final written test at Test Center (University Boulevard)

This class will be taught in class on campus as long as it is permitted.
Linguistics is the scientific study of language and communication. It deals with all aspects of how people use language and what they must know in order to do so. The purpose of this class is to give a systematic introduction to the variety of ways in which language can be examined scientifically. Students will be introduced to and equipped with the fundamental concepts, the adequate terminology and methodology for linguistic analysis. The class will thus provide an overview of the core areas of linguistics – phonetics and phonology (the study of speech sounds), morphology (the structure of words), syntax (the structure of sentences), semantics (the study of meaning) and pragmatics (the study of meaning and language use in context). Taking a contrastive German-English perspective whenever possible, this course will also cater to the needs and interests of students who want to become teachers of English.


RECOMMENDED LITERATURE (please buy this book):
Kortmann, Bernd (2005), English Linguistics: Essentials. Berlin: Cornelsen.

ASSESSMENT

• careful reading and preparation of assigned readings and exercises for each session
• final exam.

This class will be taught in class on campus as long as it is permitted.
Linguistics is the scientific study of language and communication. It deals with all aspects of how people use language and what they must know in order to do so. The purpose of this class is to give a systematic introduction to the variety of ways in which language can be examined scientifically. Students will be introduced to and equipped with the fundamental concepts, the adequate terminology and methodology for linguistic analysis. The class will thus provide an overview of the core areas of linguistics – phonetics and phonology (the study of speech sounds), morphology (the structure of words), syntax (the structure of sentences), semantics (the study of meaning) and pragmatics (the study of meaning and language use in context). Taking a contrastive German-English perspective whenever possible, this course will also cater to the needs and interests of students who want to become teachers of English.


RECOMMENDED LITERATURE (please buy this book):
Kortmann, Bernd (2005), English Linguistics: Essentials. Berlin: Cornelsen.

ASSESSMENT

• careful reading and preparation of assigned readings and exercises for each session
• final exam.

Linguistics is the scientific study of language and communication. It deals with all aspects of how people use language and what they must know in order to do so. The class will thus provide an overview of the core areas of linguistics – phonetics and phonology (the study of speech sounds), morphology (the structure of words), syntax (the structure of sentences), semantics (the study of meaning) and pragmatics (the study of meaning and language use in context).

This course aims to introduce students to key moments in the social and cultural histories of English-speaking countries. In analyzing selected case studies from the Renaissance to the postcolonial world we will pay particular attention to historical shifts, cultural encounters and their dynamics of difference and power. We will draw for our discussions on a wide variety of sources, such as scholarly and fictional texts, paintings, advertisements, moving pictures and photographs, and will apply a choice of theoretical and analytical concepts.

The course will run as three groups (A-B-C); students have to choose one of them. It is the first part of a two-semester module which will continue in the following summer semester as "Key Moments in the Linguistic History of the English-Speaking World". All reading material will be made available for download in Stud. IP.

Each student is asked to participate in a tutorial conducted by experienced MA students. The tutorials consist of three sessions which will be repeated in the course of the winter semester.

Requirements:
Regular attendance and oral participation
• In-depth knowledge of the reading material
• Oral group presentation
• Three short response papers

Please note that prior enrollment via Stud. IP is mandatory.

This course aims to introduce students to key moments in the social and cultural histories of English-speaking countries. In analyzing selected case studies from the Renaissance to the postcolonial world we will pay particular attention to historical shifts, cultural encounters and their dynamics of difference and power. We will draw for our discussions on a wide variety of sources, such as scholarly and fictional texts, paintings, advertisements, moving pictures and photographs, and will apply a choice of theoretical and analytical concepts.

The course will run as three groups (A-B-C); students have to choose one of them. It is the first part of a two-semester module which will continue in the following summer semester as "Key Moments in the Linguistic History of the English-Speaking World". All reading material will be made available for download in Stud. IP.
Each student is asked to participate in a tutorial conducted by experienced MA students. The tutorial consists of three sessions which will be repeatedly offered during the winter semester.

Leistungsnachweis/Requirements:
Regular attendance and oral participation
• In-depth knowledge of the reading material
• Oral group presentation
• Three short response papers

Please note that prior enrollment via Stud. IP is mandatory.

FYI: Course times: 12:15 - 13:45

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP

Registration: Please register for ONE University Language Skills 1 course only.
N.B.: Attendance is mandatory in language-practice classes.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP

Registration: Please register for ONE University Language Skills 1 course only.
N.B.: Attendance is mandatory in language-practice classes.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP

Registration: Please register for ONE University Language Skills 1 course only.
N.B.: Attendance is mandatory in language-practice classes.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work for which you will receive 6 credit points.
The focus of both modules is on academic writing in English at university level, and you will develop the skills necessary to plan and write academic essays. This semester, you will be looking at structural elements such as paragraphing, writing a thesis statement and using citation etc. while also developing academic language skills in terms of word choice, grammar and syntax. Diagnostic tasks will indicate which personal areas of language you need to develop in order to achieve the academic level of writing for this level.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work for which you will receive 6 credit points.
The focus of both modules is on academic writing in English at university level, and you will develop the skills necessary to plan and write academic essays. This semester, you will be looking at structural elements such as paragraphing, writing a thesis statement and using citation etc. while also developing academic language skills in terms of word choice, grammar and syntax. Diagnostic tasks will indicate which personal areas of language you need to develop in order to achieve the academic level of writing for this level.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work for which you will receive 6 credit points.
The focus of both modules is on academic writing in English at university level, and you will develop the skills necessary to plan and write academic essays. This semester, you will be looking at structural elements such as paragraphing, writing a thesis statement and using citation etc. while also developing academic language skills in terms of word choice, grammar and syntax. Diagnostic tasks will indicate which personal areas of language you need to develop in order to achieve the academic level of writing for this level.

FYI: Course times: 12:15 - 13:45

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP

Registration: Please register for ONE University Language Skills 1 course only.
N.B.: Attendance is mandatory in language-practice classes.

FYI: course times are 14:15-15:45

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP

Registration: Please register for ONE University Language Skills 1 course only.
N.B.: Attendance is mandatory in language-practice classes.

This seminar will introduce you to the history of the ocean and its significance in English-speaking cultures as mediated by novels and short stories. The aim is to explore the different modes of narrating the ocean, and the ways in which each mode tells us about the role of the ocean in English-speaking cultures.

Drawing from postcolonial theory and the emerging field of the blue humanities, we view the ocean as both ‘nature’ and ‘culture’: a ‘natural space’ that is both in danger and a key player in climate change as well as a ‘cultural space’, a way of re-thinking issues of identity, race, migration, refuge and asylum, slavery, hegemony, and gender. We seek to understand how different meanings of the ocean are generated, disseminated, and contested by systems of power and control. The ocean is also considered as a connecting space between English-speaking cultures.

We will read the novel Sea of Poppies (2008) by the well-known Indian author Amitav Ghosh as well as three short stories from different English-speaking cultures, including one written by the Nobel Prize Winner for Literature 2021, Abdulrazzaq Gurnah. Two weeks are planned to be allotted for online talks with Ghosh and Gurnah respectively. Also, we plan to have a first-hand experience of a trip to Bremerhaven for a visit to the German Emigration Center to get an idea of the forces behind the historical migration from Germany to the US.

Requirements:
• active participation in weekly meetings,
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material,
• graded or ungraded assignment in accordance with the respective module requirements.

The course aims at introducing the world of British myths and legends to the students while simultaneously helping them to learn about the different approaches to the study of myths and mythology. The course analyses British myths and legends from a literary and cultural studies perspective, to learn about the historical, societal, and cultural consciousness as well as their form and functions.

This course provides you with an introduction to issues in intercultural communication. You will leave this course with an understanding of the ways in which our linguistic and cultural backgrounds may influence how we realize social functions using language, or – in other words – how speakers and listeners make meaning, and how they “do things with words.” You are introduced to the theoretical foundations of an applied approach to pragmatics as well as to implications for language teaching.
We will attempt to answer questions such as the following:

• Why does "It’s cold in here" sometimes mean "Please close the window" and other times "I don’t like this room"?
• Why are compliments sometimes interpreted the wrong way?
• Why is it sometimes polite to use formal language and other times offensive?
• What do we do to “read between the lines”?
• Why did the defense attorney object when the prosecutor asked the defendant when he had stopped abusing his wife?

Assessment: Portfolio

Literature: Scollon, R., Scollon, S. W., & Jones, R. (2012). (3rd Edition). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

“England and America are two nations divided by a common language.” (George Bernard Shaw)

This seminar explores the linguistic differences between the two main reference varieties of English, British English (BrE) and American English (AmE). We will examine these differences on various levels of language use, e.g. phonology, vocabulary, phraseology, grammar, and pragmatics. We will also look at the assumed widespread influence of AmE in terms of an “Americanization” of other varieties of English. In addition, we will investigate patterns of language change in the two varieties under study. In the course of this seminar students will carry out small-scale empricial research projects based on computer corpora to discover and examine differences between BrE and AmE in a data-driven, empirical way.

READING
The course will not be based on one single textbook, but key readings will be made available on an electronic bookshelf on the university’s e-learning platform Stud.IP.

Must-read before the first meeting (available as PDF on Stud.IP after registration): Chapter 8 in Svartvik, Jan & Geoffrey Leech (2016), English. One Tongue, Many Voices. 2nd edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

ASSESSMENT

• regular attendance and active participation in in-class data analysis and discussion
• careful reading and preparation of assigned readings for each session, reading assignments
• oral presentation, research proposal, work-in-progress report on research project (orally or as a poster), term paper

This course focuses on key issues, principles, methodological tools, and procedures for the scientific analysis of language in society. You will be introduced to various types of empirical methods, combining quantitative and qualitative research designs. We will address data collection, simple statistical procedures, discourse analytic approaches, multimodal analysis, linguistic ethnography, and narrative analysis, and learn how these methods work in practice in each case. In applying linguistics to social contexts, the students will deepen their knowledge of the subfields of sociolinguistics in regard to demographic categories such as age and gender and language in context (variation). Finally, you will take initial steps to empirical research in a selected topic in a mini study.

In 'A Room of One’s Own' (1929), the English modernist writer Virginia Woolf argued that “Women and fiction remain, […], unsolved problems.” This class introduces students to the study of the “unresolved problems” of women’s fiction in North America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will analyze a selection of novels and short stories that address and have emerged from various North American women’s experiences. We will learn about the diverse histories and literary forms of expression of women and their (literary) liberation struggles. Students will study the tools, practices, and histories of women’s and gender studies as well as feminist literary criticism and their relations to various waves and trajectories of feminisms in North America (e.g. Black feminism, “Third World,” women of color feminism, or eco- and hydrofeminism). With the help of weekly discussions of primary and secondary texts, we will examine the forms and styles of women’s fiction and ponder central issues raised, such as the construction of sex and gender, the role of sexuality and reproduction, the domestic sphere and the environment, gender-based violence, female friendship and solidarity, as well as their intersections with race, class, age, and ability, among others. In tackling these ‘unresolved problems’ of women and fiction in North America, we will hone our skills in literary and cultural studies, esp. academic writing, discussion, and presentation as well as practice critical thinking.
The majority of material and information will be made available on Stud.IP. Prior enrolment via Stud.IP is mandatory and admission is limited to a maximum of thirty students. The class is open to B.A. ESC students studying the WD1-a, WD1-b, D1-a, and the D1-b modules as well as international exchange students. Please check Stud.IP regularly for updates, including any preparatory primary or secondary readings.

Requirements
• active participation in weekly meetings,
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material,
• graded or ungraded assignment in accordance with the respective module requirements.

This course welcomes students who wish to complete the following modules:
B.A. E-SC D-1b, D1-c
Academic exchange students

William Shakespeare’s London, and in this seminar, London in the Elizabethan Age as well as at his time in the city (c.1560 – 1616), was a rapidly growing and bustling metropolis. In the duration of this course, we will travel back in time seeking to explore the history and social geography of this largest city in England. Based on a research-based learning methodology, we will attempt to map out London’s key locations as the centre of government, the law and the church as well as being the focus of politics and culture during a time of intense political and religious upheaval. In addition, this course focuses on the following topics: Stage history, playhouses; the fundamental features of dramatic composition to issues such as political structures in Renaissance England, gender roles and relations, love and sexuality, constructions of nationhood, global expansion and their representation in Shakespeare’s plays.

Since some of the participants are required to submit a research-based term paper, we will use parts of our seminar discussions to the development of topics, the formulation of a thesis statement, as well as considerations about the methodological approaches of writing such a paper. A reader with selected secondary text materials will be made available for download on Stud. IP. You will need access to Stud.IP and a laptop or tablet with sound and audio capabilities.
You may wish to check the sections "Information" and "Schedule" further details such as requirements, weekly schedule, select bibliography and modes of assessment.
Requirements and Assessment
• Interest in the topic discussed and ideally a regular attendance and informed participation in class discussion (not part of your formal assessment);
• in-depth knowledge of the selected reading material,
• homework assignments,
• Portfolio presentation or research-based term paper.
The requirements as formulated above may vary depending on your module choices and your overall degree program.

Reading materials
MacGregor, Neil. Shakespeare's Restless World, Penguin Books, 2014.
Copies are available for purchase at the bookstore on our campus (Universitätsbuchhandlung Bremen: www.unibuch-bremen.de)

This seminar will introduce you to the history of the ocean and its significance in English-speaking cultures as mediated by novels and short stories. The aim is to explore the different modes of narrating the ocean, and the ways in which each mode tells us about the role of the ocean in English-speaking cultures.

Drawing from postcolonial theory and the emerging field of the blue humanities, we view the ocean as both ‘nature’ and ‘culture’: a ‘natural space’ that is both in danger and a key player in climate change as well as a ‘cultural space’, a way of re-thinking issues of identity, race, migration, refuge and asylum, slavery, hegemony, and gender. We seek to understand how different meanings of the ocean are generated, disseminated, and contested by systems of power and control. The ocean is also considered as a connecting space between English-speaking cultures.

We will read the novel Sea of Poppies (2008) by the well-known Indian author Amitav Ghosh as well as three short stories from different English-speaking cultures, including one written by the Nobel Prize Winner for Literature 2021, Abdulrazzaq Gurnah. Two weeks are planned to be allotted for online talks with Ghosh and Gurnah respectively. Also, we plan to have a first-hand experience of a trip to Bremerhaven for a visit to the German Emigration Center to get an idea of the forces behind the historical migration from Germany to the US.

Requirements:
• active participation in weekly meetings,
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material,
• graded or ungraded assignment in accordance with the respective module requirements.

The course aims at introducing the world of British myths and legends to the students while simultaneously helping them to learn about the different approaches to the study of myths and mythology. The course analyses British myths and legends from a literary and cultural studies perspective, to learn about the historical, societal, and cultural consciousness as well as their form and functions.

In 'A Room of One’s Own' (1929), the English modernist writer Virginia Woolf argued that “Women and fiction remain, […], unsolved problems.” This class introduces students to the study of the “unresolved problems” of women’s fiction in North America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will analyze a selection of novels and short stories that address and have emerged from various North American women’s experiences. We will learn about the diverse histories and literary forms of expression of women and their (literary) liberation struggles. Students will study the tools, practices, and histories of women’s and gender studies as well as feminist literary criticism and their relations to various waves and trajectories of feminisms in North America (e.g. Black feminism, “Third World,” women of color feminism, or eco- and hydrofeminism). With the help of weekly discussions of primary and secondary texts, we will examine the forms and styles of women’s fiction and ponder central issues raised, such as the construction of sex and gender, the role of sexuality and reproduction, the domestic sphere and the environment, gender-based violence, female friendship and solidarity, as well as their intersections with race, class, age, and ability, among others. In tackling these ‘unresolved problems’ of women and fiction in North America, we will hone our skills in literary and cultural studies, esp. academic writing, discussion, and presentation as well as practice critical thinking.
The majority of material and information will be made available on Stud.IP. Prior enrolment via Stud.IP is mandatory and admission is limited to a maximum of thirty students. The class is open to B.A. ESC students studying the WD1-a, WD1-b, D1-a, and the D1-b modules as well as international exchange students. Please check Stud.IP regularly for updates, including any preparatory primary or secondary readings.

Requirements
• active participation in weekly meetings,
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material,
• graded or ungraded assignment in accordance with the respective module requirements.

During a disastrously rainy summer holiday at Lake Geneva in 1816, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley entered a storywriting contest with her travel companions Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Polidori. On a stormy night, the 19-year-old writer presented a horror story that chilled her listeners to the bone: she imagined a young scientist who brings to life a human-like Creature that becomes his downfall. Two years later, Shelley published an extended version of this tale as Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. Since its publication, the founding text of science fiction has enthralled generations of readers. It is a book so famous that most people will know its content without having read it. Its popularity also led to countless adaptations, parodies, and re-imaginings.

In this seminar, we will explore Frankenstein and its rich cultural legacy through centuries, genres, and media. Our main focus will lie on Shelley’s original text and its entanglement with contemporary discourses about gender, science, religion, race, sexuality, class, maternity, and art – to name but a few. The aim is to bring close readings of the novel in dialogue with historical texts and contexts. In addition, we will examine how the Frankenstein myth evolved through the ages. What can this nineteenth-century text contribute to debates about science and responsibility in the era of Artificial Intelligence, genetic engineering, and Climate Crisis?

Primary texts:
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: The 1818 Text Contexts Criticism. Third edition. Edited by James Paul Hunter. W.W. Norton Company, 2022.

Please obtain a copy of this novel prior to the start of class. Try to get the exact edition listed above (the first or second edition will work as well). That said, feel free to use another edition if you already have got one at home. I will inform the university book shop on campus to keep a few books in store, as they usually offer excellent deals on English-language books. Support your local bookstore!

Requirements:
• Regular attendance
• Active participation in class
• In-depth knowledge of the reading materials
• Final assessment according to module choice

Please note that prior enrollment via Stud. IP is mandatory.

In this course we will analyze systemic forms of violence and how they are linked to power relations. Focusing on racialized and gendered forms of violence in US history we will deal with theoretical approaches to violence and will examine photography, film and a variety of texts.
Essential readings will be available for download on Stud-IP.
Requirements:
Regular attendance and oral participation
In-depth knowledge of the reading material
Oral presentation and handout
Final paper (optional)

Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory

This course welcomes students who wish to complete the following modules:
B.A. E-SC D-1b, D1-c
Academic exchange students

William Shakespeare’s London, and in this seminar, London in the Elizabethan Age as well as at his time in the city (c.1560 – 1616), was a rapidly growing and bustling metropolis. In the duration of this course, we will travel back in time seeking to explore the history and social geography of this largest city in England. Based on a research-based learning methodology, we will attempt to map out London’s key locations as the centre of government, the law and the church as well as being the focus of politics and culture during a time of intense political and religious upheaval. In addition, this course focuses on the following topics: Stage history, playhouses; the fundamental features of dramatic composition to issues such as political structures in Renaissance England, gender roles and relations, love and sexuality, constructions of nationhood, global expansion and their representation in Shakespeare’s plays.

Since some of the participants are required to submit a research-based term paper, we will use parts of our seminar discussions to the development of topics, the formulation of a thesis statement, as well as considerations about the methodological approaches of writing such a paper. A reader with selected secondary text materials will be made available for download on Stud. IP. You will need access to Stud.IP and a laptop or tablet with sound and audio capabilities.
You may wish to check the sections "Information" and "Schedule" further details such as requirements, weekly schedule, select bibliography and modes of assessment.
Requirements and Assessment
• Interest in the topic discussed and ideally a regular attendance and informed participation in class discussion (not part of your formal assessment);
• in-depth knowledge of the selected reading material,
• homework assignments,
• Portfolio presentation or research-based term paper.
The requirements as formulated above may vary depending on your module choices and your overall degree program.

Reading materials
MacGregor, Neil. Shakespeare's Restless World, Penguin Books, 2014.
Copies are available for purchase at the bookstore on our campus (Universitätsbuchhandlung Bremen: www.unibuch-bremen.de)

This course provides you with an introduction to issues in intercultural communication. You will leave this course with an understanding of the ways in which our linguistic and cultural backgrounds may influence how we realize social functions using language, or – in other words – how speakers and listeners make meaning, and how they “do things with words.” You are introduced to the theoretical foundations of an applied approach to pragmatics as well as to implications for language teaching.
We will attempt to answer questions such as the following:

• Why does "It’s cold in here" sometimes mean "Please close the window" and other times "I don’t like this room"?
• Why are compliments sometimes interpreted the wrong way?
• Why is it sometimes polite to use formal language and other times offensive?
• What do we do to “read between the lines”?
• Why did the defense attorney object when the prosecutor asked the defendant when he had stopped abusing his wife?

Assessment: Portfolio

Literature: Scollon, R., Scollon, S. W., & Jones, R. (2012). (3rd Edition). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

“England and America are two nations divided by a common language.” (George Bernard Shaw)

This seminar explores the linguistic differences between the two main reference varieties of English, British English (BrE) and American English (AmE). We will examine these differences on various levels of language use, e.g. phonology, vocabulary, phraseology, grammar, and pragmatics. We will also look at the assumed widespread influence of AmE in terms of an “Americanization” of other varieties of English. In addition, we will investigate patterns of language change in the two varieties under study. In the course of this seminar students will carry out small-scale empricial research projects based on computer corpora to discover and examine differences between BrE and AmE in a data-driven, empirical way.

READING
The course will not be based on one single textbook, but key readings will be made available on an electronic bookshelf on the university’s e-learning platform Stud.IP.

Must-read before the first meeting (available as PDF on Stud.IP after registration): Chapter 8 in Svartvik, Jan & Geoffrey Leech (2016), English. One Tongue, Many Voices. 2nd edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

ASSESSMENT

• regular attendance and active participation in in-class data analysis and discussion
• careful reading and preparation of assigned readings for each session, reading assignments
• oral presentation, research proposal, work-in-progress report on research project (orally or as a poster), term paper

This course focuses on key issues, principles, methodological tools, and procedures for the scientific analysis of language in society. You will be introduced to various types of empirical methods, combining quantitative and qualitative research designs. We will address data collection, simple statistical procedures, discourse analytic approaches, multimodal analysis, linguistic ethnography, and narrative analysis, and learn how these methods work in practice in each case. In applying linguistics to social contexts, the students will deepen their knowledge of the subfields of sociolinguistics in regard to demographic categories such as age and gender and language in context (variation). Finally, you will take initial steps to empirical research in a selected topic in a mini study.

In this course we will analyze systemic forms of violence and how they are linked to power relations. Focusing on racialized and gendered forms of violence in US history we will deal with theoretical approaches to violence and will examine photography, film and a variety of texts.
Essential readings will be available for download on Stud-IP.
Requirements:
Regular attendance and oral participation
In-depth knowledge of the reading material
Oral presentation and handout
Final paper (optional)

Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory

This is course is a mixture between a lecture course and a regular class. Scholars and teachers both from FB 10 and from other universities will deliver lectures on various aspects of our general topic initiating a transdisciplinary discourse on "Gender - Culture - Feminism". In the sessions between the lectures we will discuss corresponding texts and resources to prepare ourselves for the diverse subject matters of the presentations and to critically reflect on their respective ideas and arguments.
Essential readings will be available for download on Stud-IP. You should also consult the 'Semesterapparat' (SuUB) for further readings.
Requirements:
• regular attendance and oral participation
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material
• oral presentation and handout
Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

This course is designed to introduce students to critical scholarship on US-American film history and culture. Basic introductions to the analytical categories of race, class, gender, and sexuality will help students to analyze how films construct and limit representations of African-Americans, Native Americans, women and femininity, men and masculinity, sexuality, class struggle and class difference.
Our major textbook will be Benshoff and Griffin: America on film: Representing race, class, gender, and sexuality at the movies. (Purchase is is suggested.)
Essential readings from the textbook will be also available for download on Stud-IP. You should also consult the 'Semesterapparat' (SuUB) for further readings.
Requirements:
• regular attendance and oral participation
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material
• oral presentation and handout
Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) is the first part of the SP-2 module (“SP-2 Sprachpraxis Aufbaumodul”) to be taken in the winter semester. Culture & Communication (C&C) is taken as the second part of the module in the summer semester. The aim of both parts of the module is to prepare your final oral exam which you usually take once you have completed SP-2.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) permits students to implement all four core language skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading) while turning a theoretical challenge into a practical success. This course is designed to give you an insight into academic research, to develop the skill of critical thinking as well as providing you with the opportunity to work on your language skills. The course content revolves around English-speaking countries and cultures. Students will learn about politics, traditions, accents and histories of the countries connected to the English language or/and the Commonwealth. Each country will be critically analysed with the goal of expanding their knowledge about an “English-speaking culture.” Students will have the opportunity to make decisions, solve problems, and at the end of the course, present the fruits of their labours as they put their own unique ideas into practice.

Registration: Please register for ONE Content-Based Integrated Skills course only.
N.B.: Attendance is mandatory in language-practice classes.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) is the first part of the SP-2 module (“SP-2 Sprachpraxis Aufbaumodul”) to be taken in the winter semester. Culture & Communication (C&C) is taken as the second part of the module in the summer semester. The aim of both parts of the module is to prepare your final oral exam which you usually take once you have completed SP-2.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) permits students to implement all four core language skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading) while turning a theoretical challenge into a practical success. This course is designed to give you an insight into academic research, to develop the skill of critical thinking as well as providing you with the opportunity to work on your language skills. The course content revolves around English-speaking countries and cultures. Students will learn about politics, traditions, accents and histories of the countries connected to the English language or/and the Commonwealth. Each country will be critically analysed with the goal of expanding their knowledge about an “English-speaking culture.” Students will have the opportunity to make decisions, solve problems, and at the end of the course, present the fruits of their labours as they put their own unique ideas into practice.

Registration: Please register for ONE Content-Based Integrated Skills course only.
N.B.: Attendance is mandatory in language-practice classes.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) is the first part of the SP-2 module (“SP-2 Sprachpraxis Aufbaumodul”) to be taken in the winter semester. Culture & Communication (C&C) is taken as the second part of the module in the summer semester. The aim of both parts of the module is to prepare you final oral exam which you can take once you have completed SP-2.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) permits students to implement all four core language skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading) while turning a theoretical challenge into a practical success. This course is designed to give you an insight into academic research, to develop the skill of critical thinking as well as providing you with the opportunity to work on your language skills. The course content revolves around English-speaking countries and cultures. Students will learn about politics, traditions, accents and histories of the countries connected to the English language or/and the Commonwealth. Each country will be critically analysed with the goal of expanding their knowledge about an “English-speaking Culture.” Students will have the opportunity to make decisions, solve problems, and at the end of the course, present the fruits of your labours as you put your own unique ideas into practice.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) is the first part of the SP-2 module (“SP-2 Sprachpraxis Aufbaumodul”) to be taken in the winter semester. Culture & Communication (C&C) is taken as the second part of the module in the summer semester. The aim of both parts of the module is to prepare you final oral exam which you can take once you have completed SP-2.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) permits students to implement all four core language skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading) while turning a theoretical challenge into a practical success. This course is designed to give you an insight into academic research, to develop the skill of critical thinking as well as providing you with the opportunity to work on your language skills. The course content revolves around English-speaking countries and cultures. Students will learn about politics, traditions, accents and histories of the countries connected to the English language or/and the Commonwealth. Each country will be critically analysed with the goal of expanding their knowledge about an “English-speaking Culture.” Students will have the opportunity to make decisions, solve problems, and at the end of the course, present the fruits of your labours as you put your own unique ideas into practice.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) is the first part of the SP-2 module (“SP-2 Sprachpraxis Aufbaumodul”) to be taken in the winter semester. Culture & Communication (C&C) is taken as the second part of the module in the summer semester. The aim of both parts of the module is to prepare you final oral exam which you can take once you have completed SP-2.
Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) enables you to implement all four core language skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading) while turning a theoretical challenge into a practical success. This course is designed to give you an insight into academic research, develop the skill of critical thinking as well as providing the opportunity to work on language skills. The course content revolves around English-speaking countries and cultures. You will explore areas such as politics, traditions, important people and histories of countries connected to the English language or/and the Commonwealth. Different countries will be critically analysed with the goal of gaining and expanding knowledge about a specific English-speaking culture. You will have the opportunity to practice the communication skills of discussion, analysis, compromise, persuasion, problem solving etc. At the end of the course, you will present your own unique ideas, putting theory into practice.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) is the first part of the SP-2 module (“SP-2 Sprachpraxis Aufbaumodul”) to be taken in the winter semester. Culture & Communication (C&C) is taken as the second part of the module in the summer semester. The aim of both parts of the module is to prepare you final oral exam which you can take once you have completed SP-2.
Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) enables you to implement all four core language skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading) while turning a theoretical challenge into a practical success. This course is designed to give you an insight into academic research, develop the skill of critical thinking as well as providing the opportunity to work on language skills. The course content revolves around English-speaking countries and cultures. You will explore areas such as politics, traditions, important people and histories of countries connected to the English language or/and the Commonwealth. Different countries will be critically analysed with the goal of gaining and expanding knowledge about a specific English-speaking culture. You will have the opportunity to practice the communication skills of discussion, analysis, compromise, persuasion, problem solving etc. At the end of the course, you will present your own unique ideas, putting theory into practice.

FYI: course times are 12:15-13:45

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) is the first part of the SP-2 module (“SP-2 Sprachpraxis Aufbaumodul”) to be taken in the winter semester. Culture & Communication (C&C) is taken as the second part of the module in the summer semester. The aim of both parts of the module is to prepare your final oral exam which you usually take once you have completed SP-2.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) permits students to implement all four core language skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading) while turning a theoretical challenge into a practical success. This course is designed to give you an insight into academic research, to develop the skill of critical thinking as well as providing you with the opportunity to work on your language skills. The course content revolves around English-speaking countries and cultures. Students will learn about politics, traditions, accents and histories of the countries connected to the English language or/and the Commonwealth. Each country will be critically analysed with the goal of expanding their knowledge about an “English-speaking culture.” Students will have the opportunity to make decisions, solve problems, and at the end of the course, present the fruits of their labours as they put their own unique ideas into practice.

Registration: Please register for ONE Content-Based Integrated Skills course only.
N.B.: Attendance is mandatory in language-practice classes.

FYI: course times are 16:15-17:45

This class is designed for students who did not pass / did not do the oral exam in SoSe 2022. You may have felt that you were not able to practice speaking English sufficiently during the online semester(s) and did not have the confidence you needed to pass the exam. You will now have the opportunity to gain fluency in your specialised area by expanding your ideas and conducting further research if necessary. The other members of the group will encourage you to express your concepts and develop your skills both in terms of language and content while you do the same for them. Exchanging ideas with one another on your own topic and that of other group members, and any further subjects that capture our interest, will help to increase your fluency and confidence for the next attempt at the exam.

N.B.: Attendance is mandatory in language-practice classes.

In 'A Room of One’s Own' (1929), the English modernist writer Virginia Woolf argued that “Women and fiction remain, […], unsolved problems.” This class introduces students to the study of the “unresolved problems” of women’s fiction in North America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will analyze a selection of novels and short stories that address and have emerged from various North American women’s experiences. We will learn about the diverse histories and literary forms of expression of women and their (literary) liberation struggles. Students will study the tools, practices, and histories of women’s and gender studies as well as feminist literary criticism and their relations to various waves and trajectories of feminisms in North America (e.g. Black feminism, “Third World,” women of color feminism, or eco- and hydrofeminism). With the help of weekly discussions of primary and secondary texts, we will examine the forms and styles of women’s fiction and ponder central issues raised, such as the construction of sex and gender, the role of sexuality and reproduction, the domestic sphere and the environment, gender-based violence, female friendship and solidarity, as well as their intersections with race, class, age, and ability, among others. In tackling these ‘unresolved problems’ of women and fiction in North America, we will hone our skills in literary and cultural studies, esp. academic writing, discussion, and presentation as well as practice critical thinking.
The majority of material and information will be made available on Stud.IP. Prior enrolment via Stud.IP is mandatory and admission is limited to a maximum of thirty students. The class is open to B.A. ESC students studying the WD1-a, WD1-b, D1-a, and the D1-b modules as well as international exchange students. Please check Stud.IP regularly for updates, including any preparatory primary or secondary readings.

Requirements
• active participation in weekly meetings,
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material,
• graded or ungraded assignment in accordance with the respective module requirements.

During a disastrously rainy summer holiday at Lake Geneva in 1816, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley entered a storywriting contest with her travel companions Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Polidori. On a stormy night, the 19-year-old writer presented a horror story that chilled her listeners to the bone: she imagined a young scientist who brings to life a human-like Creature that becomes his downfall. Two years later, Shelley published an extended version of this tale as Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. Since its publication, the founding text of science fiction has enthralled generations of readers. It is a book so famous that most people will know its content without having read it. Its popularity also led to countless adaptations, parodies, and re-imaginings.

In this seminar, we will explore Frankenstein and its rich cultural legacy through centuries, genres, and media. Our main focus will lie on Shelley’s original text and its entanglement with contemporary discourses about gender, science, religion, race, sexuality, class, maternity, and art – to name but a few. The aim is to bring close readings of the novel in dialogue with historical texts and contexts. In addition, we will examine how the Frankenstein myth evolved through the ages. What can this nineteenth-century text contribute to debates about science and responsibility in the era of Artificial Intelligence, genetic engineering, and Climate Crisis?

Primary texts:
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: The 1818 Text Contexts Criticism. Third edition. Edited by James Paul Hunter. W.W. Norton Company, 2022.

Please obtain a copy of this novel prior to the start of class. Try to get the exact edition listed above (the first or second edition will work as well). That said, feel free to use another edition if you already have got one at home. I will inform the university book shop on campus to keep a few books in store, as they usually offer excellent deals on English-language books. Support your local bookstore!

Requirements:
• Regular attendance
• Active participation in class
• In-depth knowledge of the reading materials
• Final assessment according to module choice

Please note that prior enrollment via Stud. IP is mandatory.

In view of various research approaches that have emerged out of Harold Garfinkel’s writings on Ethnomethodology (EM) and Harvey Sacks and colleagues’ conceptions of conversation analysis (CA), the course aims to provide a starting point to discover Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis. Main topics of the course are the nature and origin of associated research approaches, research methodology, and application possibilities in applied linguistics.

The course introduces students to basic conversational analytic methods and techniques, focussing on the analysis of some fundamental structures of conversation – action formation and ascription, patterns of turn-taking, sequence organization, preference and repair – but also extending the scope to selected topics in EMCA research that have contributed to a better understanding of how social order is achieved and reproduced, i.e. embodied interaction, assessment practices, and epistemic practices.

Starting with a brief introduction to the theoretical underpinnings, students are encouraged to collect conversational data among themselves – serving both as material for training purposes during the course, and empirical data to be examined for completing course achievements.

Learning outcomes
• Understand theoretical foundations of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis
• Gather experience on transcription conventions, and software applications, appropriate for the analysis of social interaction
• Become acquainted with fundamental structures of conversation from an interdisciplinary research perspective
• Analyse phenomena of social interaction in naturally-occurring conversations

Detailed schedule following soon

In this seminar, we want to investigate different kinds of texts, e.g. novels, song lyrics or film scripts. We will use corpus linguistic methods, e.g. word frequencies, keywords and collocations, to describe language choices made by the author, which result in a specific style of a text. How are the protagonists characterised? What topic is foregrounded? Does the author use fancy adjectives, or are women and men addressed in the same way? You will learn how to use the Corpus Linguistics in Context (CLiC) web interface and do automatic analyses with the AntConc software (Laurence).
Finally, each student will do analyses of different linguistic aspects of a text of their own choice. In the end, you will be able to find, analyse and present aspects of literary and other texts. You become a proficient corpus linguist, and you will be able to verify with linguistic methods any hunches you have about a text.
Assessment: Poster presentation
Literature
McEnery, Tony & Richard Xiao & Yukio Tono. 2006. Corpus-based Language Studies: An Advanced Resource Book. Routledge.
McIntyre, Dan & Beatrix Busse (eds.) 2010. Language and Style: In Honour of Mick Short. Palgrave Macmillan.

Through language we create and share with others our ways of doing things and ways of
being in the world, our culture. Language is a tremendous tool for the organization of
particular realities, including a wide variety of social relationships and social systems.
Through language we are continually socialized, we build or resist authority, we
worship, argue, and imagine. We name and give meaning to aspects of experience from
particular perspectives. For example, members of different cultures can have quite
different and local notions of self and strategies of interpretation, including who are
authorized speakers and hearers. Language and culture are linked in the transmission of
knowledge, in the construction of social life, and ideologies about language use and its
relation . In this class, we will read texts and conduct mini studies related to different cultures.

Anthropological linguistics focuses on the cultural and social meaning of language. Anthropological linguistics came about in the United States as a subfield of anthropology, when anthropologists were beginning to study the indigenous cultures, and the indigenous languages could no longer be ignored, and quickly morphed into the subfield of linguistics that it is known as today. This course focuses on methodological tools and procedures for the scientific analysis of anthropological linguistics. You will be introduced to various types of empirical methods, combining quantitative and qualitative research designs. We will address data collection, simple statistical procedures, discourse analytic approaches, multimodal analysis, linguistic ethnography, and narrative analysis, and learn how these methods work in practice in each case. In applying linguistics to social contexts, the students will deepen their knowledge of the subfields of sociolinguistics in regard to demographic categories such as age and genderand language in context (variation). Finally, you will take initial steps to empirical research in a selected topic in a mini study.

(Main) characters in films and TV/digital series are salient and important participants in their respective narrative worlds (cf. Smith 2012, Tseng 2013) and can be defined as "identifiable fictional beings with an inner life that exist as communicatively constructed artefacts" (Eder 2010:18). Within the narrative world, they have relations with other characters on screen and, of course, an identity. As in real life, filmic identity is complex, multifaceted and multimodally constructed. Gender, for instance, is one important aspect of one's identity: gender roles, stereotypical expectations and the conscious challenging of these norms are also relevant in film, both in terms of construction as well as reception. Notions of power are relevant in most constructed relationships on screen as well as in different types of events, in which characters adopt particular roles, such as in business negotiations, social gatherings or rescue missions.
In this seminar, we'll approach the analysis of identity and social relations by focusing on the above mentioned two key concepts, namely gender and power. In doing so, we'll touch upon a number of different topics, for example gender theory, definitions of (film) genre and different types of power. Methodologically, we'll employ approaches from (multimodal) film analysis, (critical) discourse analysis and general corpus analysis. Underlying relevant linguistic principles are, for instance, notions of cohesion and coherence which will be discussed accordingly.

The class is split into four different thematic blocks which always start with some theoretical input and the discussion of a number of different examples before moving on to some hands-on analysis.
Please note that you will need a laptop for this class. If this is an issue for you, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me!

Form of assessment: portfolio

All readings will be available online.

In 'A Room of One’s Own' (1929), the English modernist writer Virginia Woolf argued that “Women and fiction remain, […], unsolved problems.” This class introduces students to the study of the “unresolved problems” of women’s fiction in North America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will analyze a selection of novels and short stories that address and have emerged from various North American women’s experiences. We will learn about the diverse histories and literary forms of expression of women and their (literary) liberation struggles. Students will study the tools, practices, and histories of women’s and gender studies as well as feminist literary criticism and their relations to various waves and trajectories of feminisms in North America (e.g. Black feminism, “Third World,” women of color feminism, or eco- and hydrofeminism). With the help of weekly discussions of primary and secondary texts, we will examine the forms and styles of women’s fiction and ponder central issues raised, such as the construction of sex and gender, the role of sexuality and reproduction, the domestic sphere and the environment, gender-based violence, female friendship and solidarity, as well as their intersections with race, class, age, and ability, among others. In tackling these ‘unresolved problems’ of women and fiction in North America, we will hone our skills in literary and cultural studies, esp. academic writing, discussion, and presentation as well as practice critical thinking.
The majority of material and information will be made available on Stud.IP. Prior enrolment via Stud.IP is mandatory and admission is limited to a maximum of thirty students. The class is open to B.A. ESC students studying the WD1-a, WD1-b, D1-a, and the D1-b modules as well as international exchange students. Please check Stud.IP regularly for updates, including any preparatory primary or secondary readings.

Requirements
• active participation in weekly meetings,
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material,
• graded or ungraded assignment in accordance with the respective module requirements.

During a disastrously rainy summer holiday at Lake Geneva in 1816, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley entered a storywriting contest with her travel companions Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Polidori. On a stormy night, the 19-year-old writer presented a horror story that chilled her listeners to the bone: she imagined a young scientist who brings to life a human-like Creature that becomes his downfall. Two years later, Shelley published an extended version of this tale as Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. Since its publication, the founding text of science fiction has enthralled generations of readers. It is a book so famous that most people will know its content without having read it. Its popularity also led to countless adaptations, parodies, and re-imaginings.

In this seminar, we will explore Frankenstein and its rich cultural legacy through centuries, genres, and media. Our main focus will lie on Shelley’s original text and its entanglement with contemporary discourses about gender, science, religion, race, sexuality, class, maternity, and art – to name but a few. The aim is to bring close readings of the novel in dialogue with historical texts and contexts. In addition, we will examine how the Frankenstein myth evolved through the ages. What can this nineteenth-century text contribute to debates about science and responsibility in the era of Artificial Intelligence, genetic engineering, and Climate Crisis?

Primary texts:
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: The 1818 Text Contexts Criticism. Third edition. Edited by James Paul Hunter. W.W. Norton Company, 2022.

Please obtain a copy of this novel prior to the start of class. Try to get the exact edition listed above (the first or second edition will work as well). That said, feel free to use another edition if you already have got one at home. I will inform the university book shop on campus to keep a few books in store, as they usually offer excellent deals on English-language books. Support your local bookstore!

Requirements:
• Regular attendance
• Active participation in class
• In-depth knowledge of the reading materials
• Final assessment according to module choice

Please note that prior enrollment via Stud. IP is mandatory.

In this course we will analyze systemic forms of violence and how they are linked to power relations. Focusing on racialized and gendered forms of violence in US history we will deal with theoretical approaches to violence and will examine photography, film and a variety of texts.
Essential readings will be available for download on Stud-IP.
Requirements:
Regular attendance and oral participation
In-depth knowledge of the reading material
Oral presentation and handout
Final paper (optional)

Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory

This is course is a mixture between a lecture course and a regular class. Scholars and teachers both from FB 10 and from other universities will deliver lectures on various aspects of our general topic initiating a transdisciplinary discourse on "Gender - Culture - Feminism". In the sessions between the lectures we will discuss corresponding texts and resources to prepare ourselves for the diverse subject matters of the presentations and to critically reflect on their respective ideas and arguments.
Essential readings will be available for download on Stud-IP. You should also consult the 'Semesterapparat' (SuUB) for further readings.
Requirements:
• regular attendance and oral participation
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material
• oral presentation and handout
Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

This course is designed to introduce students to critical scholarship on US-American film history and culture. Basic introductions to the analytical categories of race, class, gender, and sexuality will help students to analyze how films construct and limit representations of African-Americans, Native Americans, women and femininity, men and masculinity, sexuality, class struggle and class difference.
Our major textbook will be Benshoff and Griffin: America on film: Representing race, class, gender, and sexuality at the movies. (Purchase is is suggested.)
Essential readings from the textbook will be also available for download on Stud-IP. You should also consult the 'Semesterapparat' (SuUB) for further readings.
Requirements:
• regular attendance and oral participation
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material
• oral presentation and handout
Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

In this course we will analyze systemic forms of violence and how they are linked to power relations. Focusing on racialized and gendered forms of violence in US history we will deal with theoretical approaches to violence and will examine photography, film and a variety of texts.
Essential readings will be available for download on Stud-IP.
Requirements:
Regular attendance and oral participation
In-depth knowledge of the reading material
Oral presentation and handout
Final paper (optional)

Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory

This is course is a mixture between a lecture course and a regular class. Scholars and teachers both from FB 10 and from other universities will deliver lectures on various aspects of our general topic initiating a transdisciplinary discourse on "Gender - Culture - Feminism". In the sessions between the lectures we will discuss corresponding texts and resources to prepare ourselves for the diverse subject matters of the presentations and to critically reflect on their respective ideas and arguments.
Essential readings will be available for download on Stud-IP. You should also consult the 'Semesterapparat' (SuUB) for further readings.
Requirements:
• regular attendance and oral participation
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material
• oral presentation and handout
Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

This course is designed to introduce students to critical scholarship on US-American film history and culture. Basic introductions to the analytical categories of race, class, gender, and sexuality will help students to analyze how films construct and limit representations of African-Americans, Native Americans, women and femininity, men and masculinity, sexuality, class struggle and class difference.
Our major textbook will be Benshoff and Griffin: America on film: Representing race, class, gender, and sexuality at the movies. (Purchase is is suggested.)
Essential readings from the textbook will be also available for download on Stud-IP. You should also consult the 'Semesterapparat' (SuUB) for further readings.
Requirements:
• regular attendance and oral participation
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material
• oral presentation and handout
Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

In view of various research approaches that have emerged out of Harold Garfinkel’s writings on Ethnomethodology (EM) and Harvey Sacks and colleagues’ conceptions of conversation analysis (CA), the course aims to provide a starting point to discover Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis. Main topics of the course are the nature and origin of associated research approaches, research methodology, and application possibilities in applied linguistics.

The course introduces students to basic conversational analytic methods and techniques, focussing on the analysis of some fundamental structures of conversation – action formation and ascription, patterns of turn-taking, sequence organization, preference and repair – but also extending the scope to selected topics in EMCA research that have contributed to a better understanding of how social order is achieved and reproduced, i.e. embodied interaction, assessment practices, and epistemic practices.

Starting with a brief introduction to the theoretical underpinnings, students are encouraged to collect conversational data among themselves – serving both as material for training purposes during the course, and empirical data to be examined for completing course achievements.

Learning outcomes
• Understand theoretical foundations of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis
• Gather experience on transcription conventions, and software applications, appropriate for the analysis of social interaction
• Become acquainted with fundamental structures of conversation from an interdisciplinary research perspective
• Analyse phenomena of social interaction in naturally-occurring conversations

Detailed schedule following soon

In this seminar, we want to investigate different kinds of texts, e.g. novels, song lyrics or film scripts. We will use corpus linguistic methods, e.g. word frequencies, keywords and collocations, to describe language choices made by the author, which result in a specific style of a text. How are the protagonists characterised? What topic is foregrounded? Does the author use fancy adjectives, or are women and men addressed in the same way? You will learn how to use the Corpus Linguistics in Context (CLiC) web interface and do automatic analyses with the AntConc software (Laurence).
Finally, each student will do analyses of different linguistic aspects of a text of their own choice. In the end, you will be able to find, analyse and present aspects of literary and other texts. You become a proficient corpus linguist, and you will be able to verify with linguistic methods any hunches you have about a text.
Assessment: Poster presentation
Literature
McEnery, Tony & Richard Xiao & Yukio Tono. 2006. Corpus-based Language Studies: An Advanced Resource Book. Routledge.
McIntyre, Dan & Beatrix Busse (eds.) 2010. Language and Style: In Honour of Mick Short. Palgrave Macmillan.

Through language we create and share with others our ways of doing things and ways of
being in the world, our culture. Language is a tremendous tool for the organization of
particular realities, including a wide variety of social relationships and social systems.
Through language we are continually socialized, we build or resist authority, we
worship, argue, and imagine. We name and give meaning to aspects of experience from
particular perspectives. For example, members of different cultures can have quite
different and local notions of self and strategies of interpretation, including who are
authorized speakers and hearers. Language and culture are linked in the transmission of
knowledge, in the construction of social life, and ideologies about language use and its
relation . In this class, we will read texts and conduct mini studies related to different cultures.

Anthropological linguistics focuses on the cultural and social meaning of language. Anthropological linguistics came about in the United States as a subfield of anthropology, when anthropologists were beginning to study the indigenous cultures, and the indigenous languages could no longer be ignored, and quickly morphed into the subfield of linguistics that it is known as today. This course focuses on methodological tools and procedures for the scientific analysis of anthropological linguistics. You will be introduced to various types of empirical methods, combining quantitative and qualitative research designs. We will address data collection, simple statistical procedures, discourse analytic approaches, multimodal analysis, linguistic ethnography, and narrative analysis, and learn how these methods work in practice in each case. In applying linguistics to social contexts, the students will deepen their knowledge of the subfields of sociolinguistics in regard to demographic categories such as age and genderand language in context (variation). Finally, you will take initial steps to empirical research in a selected topic in a mini study.

(Main) characters in films and TV/digital series are salient and important participants in their respective narrative worlds (cf. Smith 2012, Tseng 2013) and can be defined as "identifiable fictional beings with an inner life that exist as communicatively constructed artefacts" (Eder 2010:18). Within the narrative world, they have relations with other characters on screen and, of course, an identity. As in real life, filmic identity is complex, multifaceted and multimodally constructed. Gender, for instance, is one important aspect of one's identity: gender roles, stereotypical expectations and the conscious challenging of these norms are also relevant in film, both in terms of construction as well as reception. Notions of power are relevant in most constructed relationships on screen as well as in different types of events, in which characters adopt particular roles, such as in business negotiations, social gatherings or rescue missions.
In this seminar, we'll approach the analysis of identity and social relations by focusing on the above mentioned two key concepts, namely gender and power. In doing so, we'll touch upon a number of different topics, for example gender theory, definitions of (film) genre and different types of power. Methodologically, we'll employ approaches from (multimodal) film analysis, (critical) discourse analysis and general corpus analysis. Underlying relevant linguistic principles are, for instance, notions of cohesion and coherence which will be discussed accordingly.

The class is split into four different thematic blocks which always start with some theoretical input and the discussion of a number of different examples before moving on to some hands-on analysis.
Please note that you will need a laptop for this class. If this is an issue for you, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me!

Form of assessment: portfolio

All readings will be available online.

This introductory course will provide an insight into important aspects and theoretical foundations of English Language Teaching (ELT) which is an indispensable part of every teacher's knowledge base. Participants will get an overview of theoretical as well as practical issues. Starting from a look at the history of ELT we will then move on to Foreign Language Politics in Germany and Europe before we begin to discuss more practical concerns, for example:

• In how far do the different varieties of English in the world take an effect on ELT?
• How can teachers foster the development of the students' language skills?

Apart from that, we will be looking at special forms of ELT, for example English in Primary Schools and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), and also the role of course books and literature in the classroom will be investigated. It is most important that participants actively engage with these topics, as it is crucial for teacher trainees to form an opinion about their future way of teaching.

This introductory course will provide an insight into important aspects and theoretical foundations of English Language Teaching (ELT) which is an indispensable part of every teacher's knowledge base. Participants will get an overview of theoretical as well as practical issues. Starting from a look at the history of ELT we will then move on to Foreign Language Politics in Germany and Europe before we begin to discuss more practical concerns, for example:


Apart from that, we will be looking at special forms of ELT, for example, English in Primary Schools and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). The role of course books and literature in the classroom will also be investigated. It is important that participants actively engage with these topics, as it is crucial for teacher trainees to form an opinion about their future way of teaching.

This introductory course will provide an insight into important aspects and theoretical foundations of English Language Teaching (ELT) which is an indispensable part of every teacher's knowledge base. Participants will get an overview of theoretical as well as practical issues. Starting from a look at the history of ELT we will then move on to Foreign Language Politics in Germany and Europe before we begin to discuss more practical concerns, for example:

• In how far do the different varieties of English in the world take an effect on ELT?
• How can teachers foster the development of the students' language skills?

Apart from that, we will be looking at special forms of ELT, for example English in Primary Schools and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), and also the role of course books and literature in the classroom will be investigated. It is most important that participants actively engage with these topics, as it is crucial for teacher trainees to form an opinion about their future way of teaching.

Begleitveranstaltung zu den Praxisorientierten Elementen (POE) im Fach Englisch.

Bitte melden Sie sich unter Stud.IP im Bereich "Zentrum für Lehrerbildung - Schulpraktika" für die POE im Fach Englisch an. Nach erfolgter Schulzuweisung werden Sie im Dezember automatisch einer der Begleitveranstaltungen zugewiesen.

Begleitveranstaltung zu den Praxisorientierten Elementen (POE) im Fach Englisch.

Bitte melden Sie sich unter Stud.IP im Bereich "Zentrum für Lehrerbildung - Schulpraktika" für die POE im Fach Englisch an. Nach erfolgter Schulzuweisung werden Sie im Dezember automatisch einer der Begleitveranstaltungen zugewiesen.

Begleitveranstaltung zu den Praxisorientierten Elementen (POE) im Fach Englisch.

Bitte melden Sie sich unter Stud.IP im Bereich "Zentrum für Lehrerbildung - Schulpraktika" für die POE im Fach Englisch an. Nach erfolgter Schulzuweisung werden Sie im Dezember automatisch einer der Begleitveranstaltungen zugewiesen.

Begleitveranstaltung zu den Praxisorientierten Elementen (POE) im Fach Englisch.

Bitte melden Sie sich unter Stud.IP im Bereich "Zentrum für Lehrerbildung - Schulpraktika" für die POE im Fach Englisch an. Nach erfolgter Schulzuweisung werden Sie im Dezember automatisch einer der Begleitveranstaltungen zugewiesen.

Begleitveranstaltung zu den Praxisorientierten Elementen (POE) im Fach Englisch.

Bitte melden Sie sich unter Stud.IP im Bereich "Zentrum für Lehrerbildung - Schulpraktika" für die POE im Fach Englisch an. Nach erfolgter Schulzuweisung werden Sie im Dezember automatisch einer der Begleitveranstaltungen zugewiesen.

Begleitveranstaltung zu den Praxisorientierten Elementen (POE) im Fach Englisch.

Bitte melden Sie sich unter Stud.IP im Bereich "Zentrum für Lehrerbildung - Schulpraktika" für die POE im Fach Englisch an. Nach erfolgter Schulzuweisung werden Sie im Dezember automatisch einer der Begleitveranstaltungen zugewiesen.

Einführungsveranstaltung für die Zusatzqualifikation "Bilinguales Lernen und Lehren".

Das Angebot richtet sich an Lehramtsstudierende des Studiengangs English-Speaking Cultures, die ein Sachfach als Zweitfach studieren. Diese Zusatzqualifikation ist ein zusätzliches Angebot und erstreckt sich über das gesamte BA und MEd-Studium. Nähere Informationen erhalten Sie unter giesler@uni-bremen.de

Bei ausreichend freien Plätzen können auch weitere interessierte Studierende aufgenommen werden.

This colloquium is designed for all students who are writing their thesis in the fields of (i) multimodal linguistics and its application to treatments of mixed media artefacts or performances and (ii) for critical discourse analysis, particularly empirically based studies. The course functions as an accompaniment to the activity of actual thesis writing and so is appropriate for both MA and BA students. Examples of media that might be targetted include: film, comics, graphic novels, advertisements and so on. Particularly of interest will be areas where language (spoken or written) works together with visual representations of any kind. Problems that participants may encounter will be treated, drawing on any additional theoretical and methodological approaches for characterising combinations of language and visual information as necessary, and consider ingpractical methods for corpus work (particularly involving mixed media and statistical evaluations, but not only). In the course we will work on how to construct strong thesis arguments. Students will be expected to present and discuss their project in various stages of progression both in class as well as in individual monitoring sessions as well as to give input to others. Standard styles of presenting work within linguistics will be discussed as well as ways of addressing and analysing data and showing that analyses are adequate.

These weekly tutorial sessions are connected to " Introduction to English Literatures Part I", the mandatory course as part of foundation module A (Part I). Please register on Stud.IP in advance in order to gain access to the ZOOM link. Students can gain credit points in the area "General Studies".

In this workshop we will explore and experiment with contemporary methods of improvisational theater, which is the art of making up theatrical moments on the spot, without a script. It is one of the liveliest and most current forms of theater of today and ingrained in US popular culture. You will first learn the basic principles of improvisational theater and then apply them to improvised scenework. We will also reflect on the impact of improvisational theater on popular culture, its applications e.g. in teaching, explore its practical approaches to comedic as well as dramatic narrative structures and draw comparisons between communication in improvised dialogue and other types of communication.

There will be a regular meeting on Fridays 9.45 - 12.00 during the semester, in which we will cover the basics of improvisational theater, followed by an intensive in the lecture-free period, in which we will work on a specific form and prepare for a performance. If you only want to participate in the intensive you need to have some experience, either from this or a previous semester. There is no obligation to be part of the performances. You can also support the performances by helping with the organization and marketing.

This part of the theatre workshop is based on our introductory work during the semester. Requirement is previous participation in the theatre workshop or some experience with long form improvisational theatre. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Note: This course takes place on campus!

Generally speaking, this course deals with the practical side of film enthusiasm. Students will not only watch the films, but they will also learn how to write about the films. In order to so, the following text types are analysed and reproduced: review, summary and blog entry. The goal of the course is to put together a film blog with texts about a broad range of films.

Students are graded on 2 written assignments. All materials are provided via StudIP. Please note that this course takes place in English.

The practice of creative writing techniques is by no means reserved for future poets and novelists; it also enhances our reading and understanding of how literary texts work and improves general vocational writing skills. The ability to give productive feedback in a respectful way, and in turn integrate this into our own writing, is of the essence.

This class is designed for a maximum of twelve students who want to take the plunge.

You need have no previous experience of creative writing, but you must bring with you both an interest in writing short fiction or poetry and the courage to read your texts in front of the workshop group. Among the approaches used will be re-writing techniques and the practice of specific literary forms which lead to better appreciation of these in existing writers. We will also try out some of the basic elements of poetry (rhyme, rhythm, image) and of narrative technique (i.e. how a story is told).

The bulk of the written work will be done in class as responses to themes or forms set by the teacher. Active participation in the form of regular written contributions will be expected from all who take part.