M.A. seminars 2023–2025 in the extramural programme in English Philology

What is this list?

This is a list of M.A. seminars we had on offer in our extramural programme in English Philology (Filologia angielska) in 2023; that is, the starting year of these seminars is 2023 and the ending year is 2025, at the end of the two-year M.A. programme.

(Historic) Note

Candidates who wish to join the seminar by prof. UAM dr hab. Krystyna Droździał-Szelest and intend to become licensed English teachers, please note: Teaching licenses are granted to students who have previously completed the teaching specialization in the course of 3-year first-cycle (B.A.) studies at the Faculty of English, AMU. (In Polish, for the sake of disambiguation: Uprawnienia nauczycielskie otrzymują studenci/studentki, którzy ukończyli specjalizację nauczycielską w toku 3-letnich studiów pierwszego stopnia na Wydziale Anglistyki UAM.)

The matter of the body and the bodies that matter in British literature

dr Katarzyna Bronk-Bacon

Description

This MA seminar is devoted to the somatic turn in British culture and literature. The body (soma) has never "left" literary or cultural discourse but various historical and literary periods, and various disciplines within them, have prioritised the mind over corporeality. Not denying the psychological turn’s value, this seminar will redirect the study towards embodiment to suggest that it is our corporeality that allows us to function publicly and privately, that allows others to “read” us first. This seminar will explore British literature to discuss issues such as actual embodiment but also metaphors of the body which feature in all periods, denoting concepts such as: normativity; safety and contagion; monstrosity; decorum; gender and age identity, etc.

We will investigate bodies as matter but also as the matrix for the workings of the mind. Bodies that feel and affectively express emotions, even if traumatically repressed. Bodies which perform identities and roles; bodies that rebel via performances of forbidden acts. Bodies which are (allegedly) inherited but then also shaped by social and political circumstances. Bodies that partake in rites of passage and become themselves valorised or degraded and sequestered. Bodies with the potential to transform via bionic upgrades or hybridity. Bodies that are protected but also porous; shut and penetrative at the same time.

This seminar is for students with an open and inquisitive mind that will help us to decode literature and culture in search for overt and embedded patterns that societies are (sometimes forced) to acknowledge and live by. It is for students who enjoy reading for something more than escapism. It is for you if you (and not ChatGPt) enjoy writing about literature. Prior study of the history of British literature is welcome, but general knowledge of historical and cultural periods is equally beneficial. Students willing to write about theatre are more than welcome, as are those interested in age studies.

Bibliography

  • Butler, Judith. 2011. Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex. London: Routledge.
  • Foucault, Michel. 1995. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, translated by Alan Sheridan. New York: Vintage Books.
  • Foucault, Michel. 1994. “The Ethic of Care for the Self as a Practice of Freedom”, in The Final Foucault, edited by James Bernauer and David Rasmussen. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1-20.
  • Gilleard, Chris and Paul Higgs. 2013. Ageing, Corporeality and Embodiment. London: Anthem.
  • Hillman, David, ed. 2015. The Cambridge Companion to the Body in Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Turner, Bryan S. 1984. The Body and Society: Explorations in Social Theory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Issues and options in English language teaching: facing new challenges

prof. UAM dr hab. Krystyna Droździał-Szelest

The seminar will introduce students ((prospective) teachers) to some current issues in ELT which are usually neglected in methodology courses but are of significance for contemporary language education. As Richards and Farrell (2005: vii) remind us, “the field of language teaching is subject to rapid changes, both as the profession responds to new educational paradigms and trends and as institutions face new challenges as a result of changes in curriculum, national tests, and students’ needs”. Hence, it is believed that teachers have no choice but to keep pace with the progress and one of the ways of doing so is becoming aware of the new trends and influences.

Accordingly, special attention will be given to such topics as teaching English as lingua franca, developing (intercultural) communicative competence; promoting learner autonomy in the classroom; teaching English for specific purposes (ESP), teaching foreign languages to SEN learners, content and language integrated instruction (CLIL), etc.

As the main objective of the seminar is to enable the students to complete an M.A. thesis and pass the M.A. examination, it will (inevitably) focus on the development of the relevant skills and abilities such as:

  • identifying areas for research (practical or theoretical problem areas) and developing methods for researching them;
  • conducting research in a language classroom; gathering and interpreting data;
  • reporting (in an appropriate style) on small-scale research projects;
  • planning and organizing a research report following formal requirements;
  • compiling an adequate bibliography, finding and making use of relevant materials.

General reading list

  • Carter, R. and Nunan, D. (eds). 2001. The Cambridge Guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages. Cambridge: CUP.
  • Komorowska, H. (ed.). 2011. Nauka języka obcego w perspektywie ucznia. Warszawa: Oficyna Wydawnicza Łośgraf.
  • Kumaravadivelu, B. 2006. Understanding language teaching. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
  • Mercer, S., Ryan,S. and Williams, M. 2012. Psychology for language learning. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Richards, J.C. and Renandya, W.A. (eds). 2002. Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice. Cambridge: CUP.
  • Williams, M. and Burden, R.L. 1997. Psychology for language teachers. Cambridge: CUP.
  • Articles from ELT journals.
Enquiries

krysiad@amu.edu.pl

Note

Candidates for this seminar, please see the note about teaching licenses further up this page.

Media, culture and society

prof. UAM dr hab. Janusz Kaźmierczak

Description

The seminar will focus on the representations carried and the role played by the media in modern society, and in so doing it will introduce the students to media theory and research. The conceptual and methodological apparatus thus built will enable the students to complete their MA thesis projects that will involve studying the representations carried or the role played by the media in British or American culture, or investigating links between British, American and Polish culture as observed in the media. Of special interest will be all forms of connection between media and literature. Accordingly, in addition to the theoretical input, the seminar will offer guidance in developing and applying research skills, including making library searches, assessing sources, as well as planning and writing MA theses.

Candidates for the seminar should have a keen interest in the modern media and in media and cultural theory, as well as a good background knowledge of British and American culture. For the interview, they are also encouraged to acquaint themselves at least with parts of the books listed in the “Select bibliography” section

Select bibliography

  • Fiske, John. 1990. Introduction to communication studies. London: Routledge.
  • Lindgren, Simon. 2022. Digital media and society: Theories, topics and tools. (2nd edition.) London: Sage Publications.
  • Thwaites, Tony, Lloyd Davis and Warwick Mules. 1994. Tools for cultural studies: An introduction. Melbourne: Macmillan.
  • Turow, Joseph. 2017. Media today: Mass communication in a converging world. (6th edition.) New York: Routledge.

MA Seminar in Linguistics

prof. UAM dr hab. Bartosz Wiland

Description

The aim of this MA seminar is to help students prepare their individual MA projects in a selected area of linguistics.

During the first year of the seminar, we will have an overview of core areas of English and Polish linguistics (phonetics and phonology, syntax, word formation, lexical semantics) as well as general linguistics (linguistic typology, the relation between grammar, words and meaning, and an overview of different linguistic theories). Such a broad survey will help the participants develop individual interests and ideas for their own MA projects. However, MA projects in the areas of linguistics other than those listed above are also going to be welcome!

In the second year, the seminar will be devoted to in class discussions of individual MA projects.

For questions regarding the seminar, feel free to contact me at bwiland@amu.edu.pl.