gb - Englisches Seminar - Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Übungen
--- --- Versteegen
Legal TV in Britain and the USA, 3 CP
2 st. do 12-14 GB 03/46
(vgl. 050 667)
In an era where TV programmes seem to be undergoing a development of increasing
globalisation and standardisation, spearheaded by forever new American-produced
formats, it is interesting to note that law-related television (legal drama, legal comedy,
legal documentaries, reality court shows etc.) continues to exhibit a distinctly national
flavour in the USA, in the UK, and also in Germany. The course will explore the most
important genres of modern legal TV on both sides of the Atlantic and will also draw
the occasional comparison with Germany. We will look at the development of the
various formats on British and American television channels over the last fifty years
and will analyse the roles they play in the various countries’ popular cultures and
legal cultures. Materials will be provided in a course reader and on blackboard.
Assessment/requirements: active participation and minutes of one class meeting
(four pages) or summary of one pertinent critical article (either to be submitted as a
written paper of three to four pages or to be given as a short classroom
presentation).
--- --- Kindinger/Steinhoff
Writing Women and Women’s Writing in the Late Nineteenth Century, 3 CP
2 st. mi 10-12 GB 03/46
(vgl. Vorl.-Nr. 050 656)
The late nineteenth century in American culture and society is understood as a time
of great upheaval. Due to changes in the political, economic, social and domestic
spheres, after the Civil War and at the dawn of the twentieth century, new power
structures are negotiated. In this class, students will be introduced to literary and
cultural debates about gender in late nineteenth-century writing by women and about
women. Questions we will raise include: How was womanhood constructed? Were
women confined to the domestic sphere only? And how did representations of gender
intersect with race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality? We will address different ideals of
womanhood as created for instance in cookbooks, advice books, and women’s