Module GERM3021: IMAGES OF LUTHER

Department: Modern Language and Cultures (German)

GERM3021: IMAGES OF LUTHER

Prerequisites

• German Language 2 (GERM2021)OR an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/woman of the Board of Studies of MLAC or his/her representative.

Corequisites

Excluded Combination of Modules

• The module may not be studied in combination with Imaging the Nation (MELA3121)

Aims

• To introduce students to Martin Luther (1483–1546), one of the most important figures of German history, and to familiarize them with a selection of the ways in which Luther and the Reformation period have been interpreted, presented and manipulated from the 16th century till the present day.
• To develop students’ research skills.
• To complement the current provision of research-led final-year modules in German, responding to student demand for greater choice.

Content

• A wide range of primary material presenting ‘images’ of Luther.
• This will be drawn from a variety of media, including text (historical, fictional, texts in specialized discourses), theatre, film, music, visual art, sculpture, monuments.
• This material will range historically from the 16th century to the present, with particular emphasis on: the 16th century; the Long-19th-century Nationalist period; the Third Reich; The GDR; the present day.
• Critical sources on this material and the issues it raises.

Learning Outcomes

• A knowledge of a range the ways in which the figure of Luther has been understood and (mis)represented in a range of historical periods, in a variety of media, by a number of interest-groups.
• A deepened understanding of the ways in which the past is constructed, reconstructed and manipulated for a variety of political, cultural and confessional purposes.
• Knowledge of the methodologies appropriate to the analysis of different kinds of Luther ‘images’.
• Enhanced knowledge of the specialised language required to talk and write about the problematic of the images of Luther in both English and German.

• Analysing and interpreting ‘images’ in a variety of media: notably text, theatre, film, visual media, sculpture and monuments.
• Applying appropriate methodologies in order to perform this analysis and interpretation.
• Independent research skills, developed through an individual research project.

• Enhanced comprehension skills in German, and enhanced range and fluency of expression in English and German.
• The coherent formulation of arguments and their presentation in written and oral form.
• Pursuing a guided programme of self-directed study that will lead to the production of an extended piece of written work (the written project).

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module will be taught be means of plenary sessions (student presentations on chosen topics), seminars (commentary) and supervisions in which plans for the written project are discussed.
• Weekly reading in preparation for plenaries and seminars will foster the acquisition of the relevant subject-specific knowledge; this knowledge will be further enhanced as students debate issues surrounding the interpretation and depiction of the figure of Luther. This debate will allow students to develop their analytical capacities and to explore a range of appropriate methodological approaches.
• Conducting plenaries and seminars in the target language will aid acquisition of the relevant critical vocabulary and discursive register.
• Oral presentations by students will help them develop skills in organising arguments and presenting them fluently, interestingly and accessibly, in German.
• Supervisions will foster students’ ability to plan and execute a programme of independent research-based work (the written project).
• Assessment is by a 1500-word commentary, based around a contextually-informed reading of a specfic imageand a 3500-word written project in German, based on one of the topics covered in the module and structured round a question developed by the student in consultation with the tutor. This will evaluate students’ ability to assimilate, understand and analyze critically the relevant primary and secondary material, as well as their ability to present a sustained argument with suitable evidence in German. Both exercises are designed to test students’ subject-specific knowledge and their ability to use their subject-specific skills in order to evaluate this knowledge. The 3500-word project will also test students’ independent research skills.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

None.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University