Academic management

This subject is taught during the second semester, as part of the Third Year of the Degree in English Studies and is included in the Major in English Studies. It is one of the five subjects within Literatures of the Anglophone World, whose general objective is to offer a significant overview of a representative corpus of the main literary works written in the English language in different historical periods and geographical areas of the Anglophone world. This course analyses the relationship between literatures in English and gender. It offers historical and theoretical training in the most relevant aspects of the production, dissemination and reception of literatures in English, based on a critical and contextualized analysis of selected works from the perspective of gender and of difference. The topics include: the construction of the English literary canon, the genealogy of female writers in the English language, gender in literary production and reception, the reading of texts from a gendered perspective, gender and literary genres and the literary specificity of selected texts. The importance of theories on subjectivity, difference and sexuality in textual analysis will be highlighted, as well as the imbrication of gender with other factors of difference. Detailed readings will include critical and literary texts from different periods and geographies, which will be analyzed with intensive student participation.

There are no specific requirements, beyond those established for the Major in English Studies. However, it is highly recommended to have successfully taken previous courses in the area of Literatures in the Anglophone World. On the other hand, to satisfy the objectives of the course, use of the English language at C1 level (CEFR) will be needed. 

-General skills from the English Studies plan: CGIng1, CGIng, CGIng8, CGIng9, CGIng16, CGIng29, CGM3, CGM4, CGIng113.

-Specific skills from the English Studies plan: CEM31, CEM32, CEM33, CEM38, CEM39, CEM41, CEM43.

-Expected learning outcomes: RAM21, RAM28, RAM32, RAM36, RAM37, RAM39.

See https://sies.uniovi.es/ofe-pod-jsf/web/oferta/seccion-1.faces for further information. 

1. Introduction to Gender Studies and Feminist Literary Criticism
2. Body Matters
3. Intersectional Feminism
4. Patriarchal Violence
5. Feminist Futures

The number of in-class sessions may vary, depending on the Faculty of Humanities' calendar. 

Should it be necessary, some of the activities may be done online. Students will be duly informed. 

Ordinary call (May 2023):

Students can choose between Pathway A or B for their assessment. Students who submit any of the tasks for Pathway A will not be allowed to change to Pathway B for the May call. 

PATHWAY A: For students with regular attendance. It will consist of two sections:

A1) Final exam (60%): Date to be determined by the Faculty of Humanities. It will last a maximum of two hours. All the contents covered during the sessions, as well as the whole compulsory reading file, will be considered potential exam content. 

A2) Individual or group activities done during the practical sessions (40%): Students are required to read the assigned texts before the "PLA" sessions, during which several assessment tasks will be completed (with or without previous warning). If a student is not in class during an assessment session, their grade for that specific task will be zero. 

All students must pass the exam with a minumim grade of 5 in order for section A2 to be added to their final result. 

PATHWAY B: For students withou regular attendance, or for those who choose to complete this pathway. It will consist of two parts:

B1) Final exam (70%): Date to be determined by the Faculty of Humanities. It will last a maximum of three hours. All the contents covered during the sessions, as well as the whole compulsory reading file, will be considered potential exam content. 

B2) Essay (30%): Throughout the semester, students following this assessment pathway will elaborate a critical paper (2,000-2,500 words) about a topic approved by the teaching team. The essay will be submitted on the day of the final exam in all the calls. Specific instructions for the essay and about deadlines and compulsory tutorials, if necessary, will be provided via Virtual Campus at the beginning of the course. The student's commitment to the deadlnes and general calendar will be taken into account for the final grade. 

All students must pass the exam with a minumim grade of 5 in order for section B2 to be added to their final result. 

Extraordinary calls (June/December 2023):

The same as Pathway B for the ordinary call. 

In June 2023, those students who obtain a Pass (or higher) grade in section A2 in May will be allowed to keep it and just sit the exam. They must make this clear in written form on their exam answer sheet. In this case, the asessment tasks will constitute 30% of their final result. The same applies to students who obtain a Pass (or higher) grade in section B2 in May. For these students, the exam format will be the one described for Model B (three hours, etc.). 

No partial grades will be kept for the December 2023 call. In this case, all students will complete the full Pathway B (exam + essay). 

Assessment for students officially granted 'differentiated assessment':
Those who have been granted the differentiated evaluation (see Article 7 of the “Reglamento de Evaluación de la Universidad de Oviedo” / "University of Oviedo Evaluation Regulations") will follow Model B in all cases.

Important warnings for all calls:
• Exceptionally, if necessary due to health hazards, non-face-to-face teaching and assessment methods may be included, both for Model A and for Model B, in which case the students would be promptly informed of the new procedures.
• In accordance with the provisions of articles 24 and 25 of the University of Oviedo Evaluation Regulations, fraudulent use of documentary sources and total or partial plagiarism in assignments or exams will be penalized with an "F" in the subject (final grade = 0).
• In all the calls, the linguistic and discursive competence of the students will also be considered part of the course evaluation.

Compulsory readings for the assessment tasks to be conduced during practicas sessions (in this order):

1. Ruhl, Sarah. 2010.  In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play
2. Anzaldúa, Gloria. 1980. “Speaking in Tongues: A Letter to 3rd World Women Writers”
3. kaur, rupi. 2015. milk and honey
4. Atwood, Margaret. 1985. The Handmaid’s Tale

Throughout the semester, other texts for the sessions (lectures-CEX and/or practical-PLA) will be uploaded to the Virtual Campus. All of them will be considered compulsory reading and taken into account for assessment. It is the students' responsibility to follow the reading calendar provided and to be aware of the supplementary materials used in class. 

Further reading:

Connell, Raewyn. 2005. Masculinities (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Polity Press.

Gilbert, Sandra, and Susan Gubar. 1979. The Madwoman in the Attic. The Woman Writer and the 19th Century Literary Imagination. (Cualquier edición)

Moi, Toril. 1985. Sexual/Textual Politics: Feminist Literary Theory. (Cualquier edición)

Plain, Gail, and Susan Sellers (eds.). 2007. A History of Feminist Literary Criticism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rooney, Ellen (ed.). 2006. The Cambridge Companion to Feminist Literary Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Showalter, Elaine. 2011. The Vintage Books of American Women Writers. New York: Vintage.

Showalter, Elaine. 1977. A Literature of Their Own. British Women Novelists from Brontë to Lessing. (Cualquier edición)

Truth Goodman, Robin (ed.). 2019. The Bloomsbury Handbook of 21st-Century Feminist Theory. Bloomsbury.

Warhol-Down, Robyn, and Diane Price Herndl (eds.). 2009. Feminisms Redux: An Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

If necessary for the specific units in the program, other relevant bibliographical references will be provided throughout the semester. If that is the case, all the lists will be made avaiable via Virtual Campus.