123422 SE Literary & Cultural Studies Seminar / BA Paper / MA British/Irish/New English (2019S)

For an island nation the sea plays a not insignificant role when it comes to both representation and self-image. In this course we will try to trace some of the most prominent elements, which the sea and its associations (wealth, trade, slavery, smuggling, whaling, defence, war, exploration, colonisation, danger, beauty, the unknown, the un- and superhuman, the sublime etc.) contributes to Britain's image from the early modern period to the present. Since this course has a thematic core and aims to cover several centuries, we will sometimes discuss fragments of longer texts, rather than, say, whole plays (Sh, RII), novels (Austen; Dickens; Gaskell; Conrad; Levy) or diaries (Darwin). Whenever this is the case, you'll be expected to familiarise yourselves with the general plot, so the context of the selected passages is clear to you. When it comes to the films (Darkest Hour, Dunkirk), you'll be expected to watch them in their entirety at home as prep, although we are only going to discuss certain scenes in class. Shorter texts may be religious (psalms etc.) or secular; may be poetry (anonymous; Cavendish; Coleridge; Arnold; Philip) or journalistic (Windrush scandal).

There will be no lengthy student presentations in this class. Instead you are expected to act as a specialist for one lesson of the term, either alone or as a member of a team, depending on the number of participants. How exactly this works in terms of timing, what will be expected of you and what a 'prep mail', 'the double-feedback-loop' or a 'golden nugget' is, which you are going to have to deliver, will be explained in detail in the first lesson.

Field Trip
This course is supplemented by a field trip to London that will take place from 16th to 19th May. Everybody travels there and back under their own steam. This trip is not obligatory and if you cannot join us, you will be able to pass the course irrespectively. Apart from myself, two of my team's members will come along, and we are taking twelve students with us. Should more than twelve course participants be interested in coming on the trip, we'll draw lots in the first lesson. Should there be fewer, we'll advertise outside the course. Organisational responsibility lies with Manon Labrande, who will explain the details at the beginning of term. At the moment it looks like we are going to start the visit Thursday evening at the National Theatre (Small Island), then go and visit the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Maritime Museum, the Museum of London Dockland, and explore the tea clipper Cutty Sark. For Saturday we are planning a trip to Portsmouth, to see what's left of Henry VIII's Mary Rose, visit the historic Dockyards, including Nelson's flag ship Victory, the National Museum of the Royal Navy and take a quick trip around the harbour, before making our way back to London. Tate Britain has promised us a maritime-themed tour (including their Turners) on Sunday morning. From noon onwards you will be free to do as and what you wish in London and stay as long as your duties allow you.

If you do decide to sign up for this trip, we will ask you to agree to the following points:
- that you will book & pay for your own travel
- that you will book & pay for your own accommodation
- that you will take care of & pay for your nourishment
- that you will be in central London, within walking distance of the National Theatre, by 6.15 pm on the 16th of May 2019
- that you won't leave London before 1 pm on the 19th of May
- that between these two points in time you will participate in the cultural programme we are currently putting together

What you do between the end of our trip on Sunday noon and the beginning of your classes in the following week is entirely up to you. Should you miss a class the following week because you want to stay in London for a bit longer, please make sure to tell/clear this with your teachers.