Teaching

The Department of British Literary and Cultural Studies at TU Braunschweig has been rooted in the tradition of reform initiatives in British/American studies since the 1990s, which aim for the opening of media and cultural studies. Specific learning aims for literary studies are (pursuant to the position paper of the German Association for the Study of English).

• To distinguish between text-centred and context-orientated approaches, knowledge of influential, theoretical schools, and their most important representatives (for example Structuralism, New Criticism, Gender Studies, New Historicism, Postcolonial Studies, Cultural Studies, Perception Studies, Literary Sociology, Intermediality and Performativity Studies), also with their cross references to approaches in language, media and cultural studies.

• To introduce key concepts, matters, and types of work specifically with literary texts; introduction in theory-driven interpretation (for example, theme, form, or context-orientated).
• To familiarize our students with these approaches of literary analysis to help them create a basis that offers transferability for the analysis of different types of texts and for cultural products in other media (for example, theatre, film and television, 'new' media).
• To emphasize the concept of function, for example in the sense of the effect of aesthetic means (question about the importance of artistic process and their answer in the historical context).
• To build knowledge of prevalence and cultural spatially specificity of English speaking literatures.
• To build a solid knowledge of literary history in the anglophone cultural regions (eras, terminology, representative texts), which includes a critical awareness of the construct nature of literary history and of the possibilities and limitations of epoch and canon formation.

In order to achieve this in teaching practice, the Department of Literary and Cultural Studies offers the following seminars:

• Survey classes (Survey I/II), foundation courses (literary-, cultural-, film-, and media orientated studies) and seminars in a modular structure, as coordinated by the Department.
• Colloquium for students writing their BA/MA Theses. Introduction to Research (e.g. Literary and Cultural Studies Colloquium).
• Steps towards process and production orientated teaching, which work with, for example learner- and application orientated research elements (tasks and activities, poster sessions, scene reading, and reviews).
• Various types of assessment (exams, homework assignments, presentations, speaking exams, essays, portfolios etc).
• Classes in the target language of English, in order to ensure success in language learning. As a global language and also a global academic language, the mastery of English allows access to and understanding of large parts of the global cultural space.

We emphasize didactic profiling in research and teaching through

• working with E-Learning and computer-aided teaching
• interdisciplinary co-teaching
• continuous university didactic training
• quality-assured teaching assessment and mutual supervision
• and assistance with further curricular development.

Extracurricular activities are also especially important. We provide

• support of the student theatre group ("TUBS Players")
• regular excursions, for example "Literary London"
• and additional extracurricular activities for students (attending conferences, film evenings, book club).

Examples of extracurricular activities: 'PowerPoint Karaoke', 'Horror Film Quiz', TU Night, Theatre excursion to Bremen (June 2013) and projects with the Staatstheater Braunschweig.