Culture and Society in Brazil, Portugal and Portuguese-speaking Africa

Code

MLAC1104

School

Modern Languages and Cultures

Level

1

Credits

20

Semesters

Full Year UK

Summary

The Portuguese-speaking world is made up of people on four different continents; Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, and there are eight countries in which Portuguese remains the official language. The spread of the language is a representation of the reach of the Portuguese Empire at its height as well as a reflection of the legacy of Lusophone cultures. This module provides students with the opportunity to learn about the diversity of cultural practices and social relations in the different parts of the world where Portuguese is spoken. The module covers the major social and cultural practices from modern Lusophone societies, including aspects of popular culture such as football and soap operas, but also cultural and artistic currents in literature and film. Questions of social relations and identity are also examined through a consideration of religious practice and religious expression, as well as themes of conflict, crisis and revolution through formations of political identity and political mobilisation.
 

Target Students

Available for First year students taking Spanish and/or Portuguese with SPLAS. Also available to Full year Exchange students. Available for Liberal Arts students. Not available to students who are taking MLAC1108 or MLAC1111.

Classes

• One 2-hour seminar each week for 23 weeks

The School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies operates an attendance policy. The details of this policy can be found in the student handbook on Workspace and in module handbooks. Seminars will be conducted on a weekly basis in small groups.

Assessment

• 30% Coursework 1: 1 x 1500 coursework essay end of Autumn semester
• 70% Exam 1 (2-hour)

Assessed by end of spring semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

1. Knowledge and understanding 

Students will:

(A2) acquire an in-depth awareness of the cultural, historical and political contexts appropriate to Lusophone culture addressed;

(A3) develop an appreciation of the relationship between their own cultural, historical and social backgrounds and those of those aspects of the Lusophone worlds to which they are exposed; 

(A4) handle with assurance a range of critical and analytical stratagems and tools in their approach to these areas.

2. Intellectual Skills 

Students are given the tools with which to:

(B1) engage in informed discussion of historical material, archive texts and/or other cultural/sociological documentation from Lusophone culture; 

(B2) demonstrate a critical awareness of the historical and socio-political contexts of Lusophone culture; 

(B4) deploy effectively a range of critical stratagems and approaches in their analytical work.

3. Professional/practical skills 

The training offered in this module allows students to: 

(C3) undertake relevant research and construct a reasoned argument on a topic/issue in English either orally or in writing.

4. Transferable/key skills 

Students are provided with the training to be able to demonstrate: 

(D3) the ability to construct and defend a coherent and well-researched argument in English; 

(D4) appropriate preparation skills in relation to written documents, oral presentation, illustrations and handouts and the delivery of oral presentations; 

(D5) sufficient cross-cultural understanding to be able to negotiate effectively between cultures, particularly Hispanic cultures and their own culture of origin; 

(D6) general research skills; 

(D7) time-management, prioritising and general organisational skills.

Conveners

• Dr Mark Sabine
• Dr Rui Miranda