The Politics of Representation (P4112)

15 credits, Level 6

Autumn teaching

The aim of this module is to examine the ways in which representations (in the broadest sense) both orchestrate and animate our social and cultural worlds. By representation we mean the texts, institutions and practices that are circulated via various forms of mediation (mainly through the written, the visual, and the auditory forms that circulate in culture). Identity has been a key issue here and the representation of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, class, age, disability, religion (and so on) will be one theme for investigation.

Similarly the use of representation to articulate political forms of life (for instance neo-liberalism and its associated agendas) will be a key concern. The module will provide a thorough exploration of a number of key approaches to contemporary and historical representational forms and will endeavour to place these approaches within wider political, cultural and social contexts.

Teaching

100%: Seminar

Assessment

100%: Coursework (Essay)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 24 hours of contact time and about 126 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.