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Course Director: Janet Jones
Office: CFA 306 A / Office Hrs: Wed. 10:30-12:30
jjones@yorku.ca.
www.yorku.ca/jjones/
Webct: <http:/webct.nipissingu.ca>
Course Description:
Via Webct and videoconferencing, this course will include students from universities in Toronto, Montreal, North Bay, the Netherlands, Finland and Italy. Each site will focus on a specific theme in response to the cultural geography of the area but all will respond to the idea of cultural production in an international environment. The following themes will be examined at the various sites: UQAM in Montreal, Culture As Language Game; Nipissing University in North Bay, Native Creativity; HUMAK in Finland, The Transmission of Tradition; University of Trento in Italy, Cultural Diversity and Hogeschool in Rotterdam the Netherlands, Story Telling as Collective Creativity. There will be a class component and a teacher at each site.
Module Description:
Drawing from the rich and complex diversity of cultural life in
Toronto, the York University module will focus on the topic, The Arts in a Multi-Cultural
Environment. It will begin by introducing students to aspects of postcolonial
discourse including: effects of modernity / postmodernity on global experience,
orientalism, ways of living ‘between’ cultures and diasporas.
The focus of the course will then examine how some Toronto artists, from a
variety of disciplines, respond to this diverse cultural environment in their
art production. Presentations by, and interviews with, artists will form a significant
aspect of this segment of the course. For York University students, this component
will be primarily classroom based. The other segment of the course will be Webct/Web
based and involve component (s) from the other site(s).
WebCT and videoconferencing will be used to enable communication between students
and teachers at all of the sites. With technical assistance, students will include
their projects on the course module’s web site for exchange with the other
sites.
Grading Scheme:
Group Presentation of Selected Readings………15%
Group Artist Presentation & Project …………. 40%
Class Participation & Webct Participation ……… 15%
Additional Module(s) Project (s)……………………
30%
Required Readings:
A course reader has been prepared which contains all of the required
readings. It is available through York University Bookstore in York Lanes. Students
from sites other than York University can purchase the course reader via the
York University bookstore web-site at
( Note: this has to be added when I get the info.)
Websites:
Extensive use will be made of web-sites related to the course material.
Additional Bibliography:
Ashcroft, Bill; Gareth, Griffiths; & Tiffin, Helen (editors).
The Post-Colonial Studies Reader,
London: Routledge, 1995.
Bhabha, Homi K. The Location of Culture. London; New York: Routledge, 1994.
Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks, trans. Charles Lam Markmann, London:
MacGibbon and Kee, 1968.
The Wretched of the Earth, Trans. Constance Farrington, New York: Grove Press,
1963.
Fusco, Coco. The Bodies That Were Not Ours: and other writings. London, New
York: Routledge, 2001.
Fusco, Coco. English Is Broken Here: notes on cultural fusion in the Americas
New York City: New Press, 1995.
Gandhi, Leela. Postcolonial Theory: a critical introduction. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1998.
Glage, Liselotte. (ed) Being/s in Transit: traveling, migration, dislocation.
Amsterdam; Atlanta, GA: Rodopi, 2000.
Gregory, Castle ed. Post-Colonial Discourses: an anthology. Malden, MA: Blackwell,
2001.
Hall, Stuart. (ed.) Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying
Practices. London: Sage Press, 1997.
Hall, Stuart & Gay, Paul du.,(ed.) Questions of Cultural Identity. London:
sage, 1996.
Harvey, David. The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Conditions
of Cultural Change. Oxford: Blackwell Pub., 1990.
Hatoum, Mona. Mona Hatoum: the entire world as a foreign land / [essays by
Edward W.Said), London: Tate Gallery Pub., 2000. Published to accompany an exhibition
held at the Tate Gallery, London, England, March 23-July 23, 2000.
Ifekwunigwe, Jayne O. Scattered Belongings: cultural paradoxes of "race",
nation and gender. London, New York: Routledge, 1999.
Kennedy, Valerie. Edward Said: a critical introduction. Cambridge, UK: Polity
Press, 2000.
Lazarus, Neil. Nationalism and Cultural Practice in the Postcolonial World.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Mignolo, Walter D. Local Histories/Global Designs: coloniality, subaltern knowledges,
and border thinking. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000.
Minh-Ha, Trinh T., When the Moon Waxes Red; Representation, Gender, and Cultural
Politics. New York & London: Routledge, 1991.
Framer Framed. New York: Routledge, 1992.
Root, Deborah. Cannibal Culture: Art, Appropriation and the Commodification
of Difference. Colorado; Westview Press, 1996.
Said, Edward W. Out of Place: a memoir. New York: Vintage Books, 2000.
The Edward Said Reader. Edited by Mousta Bayoumi and Andrew Rubin. New York:
Vintage Books, 2000.
Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1979
Schwarz, Henry and Ray, Sangeeta, eds. A Companion to Postcolonial Studies
Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 2000.
Sampat-Patel, Niti. Postcolonial Masquerades: culture and politics in literature,
film, video, and photography. New York: Garland Pub., 2001.
Young, Robert J.C. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell
Pub., 2001.
Module Schedule:
January 7th:
-Introduction to the course and review of the module outline and
projects.
-Introduction to some of the key concepts that will be studied in the course.
- Student introduction
-The class will divide into groups to discuss presentations/projects and exchange
e-mail addresses. (1/2 Hour)
January 14th - Seminar Presentation on how to use webct.
-Meeting with the webct and web technical support team (Ralph
& Steve)
-Group meeting to discuss Artist Presentation/Project / initial 1/2
page hand written outline due
Reading for Next Week:
“Colonialism: Defining the Terms” in Postcolonialism: An Historical
Introduction by Robert J.C. Young
“Imperialism” ,in Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction by
Robert J.C. Young
“Neocolonialism”, in Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction
by Robert J.C. Young
January 21st- What is Colonialism? What is Imperialism? What is Neocolonialism?
Presentation of the readings: Group One
Seminar Discussion/Presentation: How have these ideas or world ‘realities’
influenced the arts?
-Group meeting to discuss Artist Presentation/Project (1/2 hr) to expand
upon initial outline
Reading for Next Week:
“Postcolonialism” in Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction
by Robert J.C. Young
“National Culture” from The Wretched of the Earth By Frantz Fanon
“Introduction: Ethnicity and Indigenity” in The Postcolonial Studies
Reader
“ No Master Territories” by Trinh T. Minh-Ha in The Postcolonial
Studies Reader
January 28th - What is Postcolonialism?
Presentation of the readings: Group Two
Video: Frantz Fanon- Black Skin, White Mask – Directed by Isaac Julien
(#3963) 1995.
(50Min)
Seminar Discussion/Presentation: How have these ideas or world ‘realities’
influenced the arts?
Expanded Aritist Project/Presentation Outline Due
Readings for Next Week:
-A selection from Orientalism by Edward W. Said.
-“The Luxurious Ambivalence of Exoticism” Deborah Root from Cannibal
Culture”
February 4th - What is Orientalism?
Presentation of the readings: Group Three
Video: Edward Said on Orientalism ( #5200) 40 Min.
Seminar Discussion: How have these ideas or world ‘realities’ influenced
the arts?
Reading for next Class:
“Hybridity- Introduction” from The Post-Colonial Studies Reader
“Is the Post- in Postmodernism the Post- in Postcolonial?” By Kwame
Anthony Appiah
in Contemporary Postcolonial Theory
“Cultural Identity and Diaspora”, by Stuart Hall in Contemporary
Postcolonial Theory
February 11th - What is Hybridity? What is Diaspora?
October 21st: Modernism / Postmodernism Revisited (Another Approach)
Presentation of the readings: Group Four
Video # 4427: Representation and the Media - by Stuart Hall (55min)
Seminar Discussion: How have these ideas or world ‘realities’ influenced
the arts?
February 18th: No Classes – Reading Week
February 25th:
-Final Group meetings to confirm Artist Projects / Presentations
- Individual meetings to decide upon and discuss the students module(s) at the
other sites.
Reading: See course web-site on the Guest Artist
March 4th:
Guest Artist Presentation: (see web-site) 1.5 hours
Group One: Artist Project / Presentation (3/4 hr.)
Group Two: Artist Project / Presentation (3/4 hr.)
Reading: See course web-site on the Guest Artist
March 11th:
Guest Artist Presentation: (see web-site) 1.5
hours
-Group meetings on the Artist Project / Presentation to discuss how/what to
put on the class web-site
Reading: See course web-site on the Guest Artist
March 18th:
Guest Artist Presentation: (see web-site) 1.5 hours
Group Three: Artist Project / Presentation (3/4 hr.)
Group Four: Artist Project / Presentation (3/4 hr.)
Reading: See course web-site on the Guest Artist
March 25th:
Guest Artist Presentation: (see web-site) 1.5 hours
-Group meetings on the Artist Project / Presentation to discuss how/what to
put on the class web-site
April 1st:
-Viewing of the final class projects on the web-site
-Individual meetings to discuss the students progress on the module(s) at the
other sites.
Project Descriptions:
I. Group Presentation of Selected Readings (15% of Grade)
-An oral presentation by each member of the group on the selected
readings and an on-line review of the listed web-sites. Other class members
should be prepared to make significant contributions to each of these presentations
in the form of questions and discussion. This means that all members of the
class should have thoroughly read the assigned material in the Course Reader
and looked at the web- sites before the class. Groups will have to meet outside
of class time to prepare this presentation. The material should be divided between
the group members for presentation. Clips from videos – other than those
listed on the course outline, slides of work, or music, etc. may augment the
presentation.
- A 1-2 page handout summarising the main points of your presentation should
be given to each member of the class. This handout should attempt to answer
the question posed for that week’s class, i.e. What is Postcolonialism?
-This handout will be put on the course’s Webct site in the
Discussion Section by the Friday of the same week as the Presentation. Students
from the other sites and the rest of the class are asked to respond with ideas
/ questions / comments of their own. The Handout will begin with a Question
– i.e. What is Postcolonialism?
- The Group will be expected to monitor the comments and actively participate
in
responding to the other students’ comments.
Class Participation
This grade is based on:
-Class attendance
-Participation in discussions which clearly indicate that you have read the
readings / viewed the web-sites
-Participation in any additional events that may come up during the course,
i.e. additional screenings, talks, gallery exhibitions.
Webct
This grade is based on:
-Participation in the webct discussion groups.
Initial Group Research & Preparation:
-After discussion in your group and research choose one artist or
group of artists from any discipline- music, dance, visual arts, film &
video, or theatre for the focus of your presentation/project.
These artist(s) must be active in the Toronto arts community and in some way
be addressing issues of postcolonialism, diaspoas, or hybridity in their work.
They must be professional artists – i.e. not your classmates but they
may be enrolled in a graduate programme at York University. This may entail
a great deal of research – asking other professors, looking in Canadian
arts journals etc.
-You need to collect all the information you can on these artists – including
images of their work, CD’s, video clips, reviews of their work and if
possible contact them directly for an interview.
-Each member of the group will choose some aspect of the artist(s)
work and write a twelve page academic paper on the work (1.5 spaced / bibliography/
foot or endnotes). This paper will place the artist(s) work within the context
of postcolonial studies and draw heavily on the ideas we have discussed in class.
Extensive research in the area of postcolonial studies will be required.
-The ideas / topic for the paper should be discussed with me before a lot of
work is done. Please see me during my office hours.
-The visual/audio material on the artist(s) will be presented to
the class.
-Each group member will present an overview of his/her paper to the class.
Web- Project
With technical help, the group project will be put onto the class
web-site. It will include:
- Design of the project (i.e. colour / graphics / font types etc.)
- Introduction to the artist – one page
- The artist(s) work (video clips, slides, music clips, reviews etc.)
- The papers by the members of the group ( edited)
IV. Module (s) for York University Students - from other Course Sites: (30%)
Each class member should thoroughly research the module topics at the other five sites through webct – Academic Partners. All of these modules will begin after the York University module. You need to choose at least one module topic or a maximum of two to complete the requirements for this course. If you are choosing only one, it must come from a European site. If you are choosing two, you may choose one from a European site and one from a Canadian site or two from European sites. After you have researched the module topics, speak to me and then contact the instructor for the module. The three of us will work out an individualised project(s) based on your chosen modules. The projects from these modules should be sent to the host instructor to be graded via e-mail.
This can be paid for through a credit card and the Course Reader
will be promptly mailed out to you. This contains all of the class readings
for the course. Please look at the listed web-sites, as well. Read
the articles and view/contribute to the Discussion Groups on the readings. See
the Module Schedule for the discussion topics.
2. Choose one artist or group of artists from your country
who are working with issues of postcolonialism in their work. Research this
artist (s). Place the artist(s) work within the context of postcolonial studies,
referencing the ideas in the Course Reader and the Web-sites.
3. The project should include:
- some examples of the artist(s) work
- one page Introduction to the artist (s) and their work
- A research paper that places the artist(s) work within the
context of postcolonial studies and relates the work to the ideas in the course
reader.
-
- This may be a group project with a number of your classmates or you may choose
to do this project alone.