124183 VK BEd 08b.3: VK Cultural Studies for Language Teachers (2019W)

Life stories fascinate us. We seem to have an urgent need to record these stories – our own as well as others’. In recent years especially, we have seen an unprecedented proliferation of life narratives – a veritable “biografication” of culture – that has been palpable in the memoir boom, the rise of social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, and the #MeToo movement, for instance. This course investigates life narratives in different media – from celebrity journalism to biographical comics and romance novels, from autobiographical introductions of handicrafts in online market places to biopics and autobiographical cookbooks. We will approach life narratives not just as representations but as a form of ‘doing’, drawing on concepts such as authenticity, exemplarity, and appropriation, and on a variety of theories (e.g. from cultural memory studies, celebrity studies, auto/biography theory, gender studies), and reflect on the relevance and use of life narratives in the EFL classroom.
N.B.: This course includes:
-- a MINI CONFERENCE on Saturday 7 December, 10am-3pm (attendance is obligatory!). Classroom sessions will terminate before Christmas so that students can finalise their term papers or BEd papers in January.
-- one session of teaching at a school of your choice (contacts will be provided if required), between 11 November and 11 December 2019. These sessions must be arranged individually. As winter terms are generally busy for teachers, we advise you to schedule your session as soon as possible!