AJ28039 Canadian Culture and Society

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2016
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 3 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Thomas Donaldson Sparling, B.A. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jana Chamonikolasová, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 14:10–15:45 G25
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course examines the development of Canadian culture as a central component of the development of Canadian society and the emergence of a distinctive Canadian identity. It understands the term “culture” to include both “high” and “popular” culture, and looks at a broad range of manifestations of cultural expression from the visual arts and architecture through literature and music, mass media and film, to dance and sport. Though the focus will be on Anglophone Canada, the key role of Francophone Canada will also be discussed, as well as the fundamental importance of the First Nations and the increasingly striking contribution of Canada’s ethnic minorities on the Canadian cultural scene. The course objectives include: 1. To become familiar with the diversity of Canadian culture. 2. To improve critical thinking and academic writing skills. 3. To gain a deeper appreciation of Canadian culture.
Syllabus
  • Week 1/ Feb. 24: Introduction to the course (Don Sparling)
  • Week 2/ Mar. 3: Historical and Social Contexts (Don Sparling)
  • Pryke and Soderlund: Kenneth G. Pryke, “A Profile of Canadian History” (3-33)
  • Pryke and Soderlund: Lenn Kuffert, “A Commentary on Some Aspects of Canadian Culture” (97-115)
  • Vance: “Introduction” (vii-xi)
  • Week 3/ Mar. 10: Understanding Canadian Identity (Don Sparling)
  • Pryke and Soderlund: Andrew Nurse, “A Profile of Canadian Regionalism” (35-61)
  • Pryke and Soderlund: Yasmeen Abu-Laban, “For Export: Multiculturalism and Globalization” (249-77)
  • Vance: “Chapter 1: The First Artists” (1-23)
  • Vance: “Chapter 2: The Meeting and Mingling of Cultures” (24-40)
  • Week 4/ Mar. 17: Visual Arts and Architecture (Don Sparling)
  • Pryke and Soderlund: Sandra Paikowski, “Canadian Painting” (487-519)
  • Vance: “Chapter 3: Colonial Societies” (41-64)
  • Vance: “Chapter 4: Common Showmen and Mountebanks” (65-83)
  • Week 5/ Mar. 24: Literature I (Don Sparling)
  • Pryke and Soderlund: Cynthia T. Hahn, “French-Language Literature in Canada” (327-53)
  • Pryke and Soderlund: Karen E. Macfarlane, “Issues and Contexts: Canadian Literature in English” (355-81)
  • Vance: “Chapter 5: Culture on the Frontier” (84-104)
  • Vance: “Chapter 6: The Dream of Useful Knowledge (105-34)
  • Week 6/ Mar. 31: Literature II (Kateřina Prajznerová)
  • Pryke and Soderlund: Bruce W. Hodgins, “The Canadian North” (63-95)
  • Aritha Van Herk, The Tent Peg
  • Week 7/ Apr. 7: Reading week: no class
  • Research report due
  • Week 8/ Apr. 14: Mass Media (Don Sparling)
  • Vance: “Chapter 7: ‘Streaks on the Horizon’” (135-65)
  • Vance: “Chapter 8: Importing Culture” (166-90)
  • Week 9/ Apr. 21: Film (Guest-speaker: Tomáš Pospíšil)
  • Pryke and Soderlund: André Loiselle, “Fragments or Persistence of Visions: Continuity in Canadian Film History” (415-45)
  • Vance: “Chapter 9: Exporting Culture” (191-216)
  • Vance: “Chapter 10: The First World War” (217-46)
  • Week 10/ Apr. 28: Music (Guest-speaker: Irena Přibylová)
  • Pryke and Soderlund: Elaine Keillor, “The Canadian Soundscape” (447-85)
  • Vance: “Chapter 11: The New Parliament of Art” (247-80)
  • Vance: “Chapter 12: Patron Saints of Culture” (281-306)
  • Week 11/ May 5: Theatre (Guest-speaker: Martin Pšenička)
  • Pryke and Soderlund: Don Rubin, “Canadian Theatre: Visions and Revisions” (391-413)
  • Vance: “Chapter 13: The Second World War” (307-34)
  • Vance: “Chapter 14: Government Patronage” (335-64)
  • Week 12/ May 12: Sport (Guest-speaker: Jason Blake)
  • Blake, “Conclusion” from Canadian Hockey Literature (focus especially on “Reading Hockey Abroad”)
  • Pryke and Soderlund: Alan Metcalfe, “Sport and Canadian Culture” (179-99)
  • Vance: “Chapter 15: The Cultural Flowering” (365-97)
  • Vance: “Chapter 16: The Regulatory State” (398-426)
  • Week 13/ May 19: Conclusion (Don Sparling/Kateřina Prajznerová)
  • Vance: “Chapter 17: Towards the Future” (427-51)
  • Vance: “Conclusion” (452-56)
  • Research paper due by 12:00 on Wednesday, May 25 (1st re-sit June 8, 2nd re-sit June 22
Literature
    required literature
  • Pryke, Kenneth G., and Walter C. Soderlund, eds. Profiles of Canada. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ P,
  • Vance, Jonathan F. A History of Canadian Culture. Don Mills: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.
Teaching methods
Lecture, discussion, audiovisual learning.
Assessment methods
Policies:
Attendance: You are expected to attend all sessions and to participate actively in class discussion. If you must miss a class, you are expected to e-mail Kateřina Prajznerová 68450@mail.muni.cz with an explanation in advance or soon afterwards, and to turn in the response paper for that class by the next week.
Assignments: You must complete all assignments and earn a passing grade on each of them in order to pass the course. If you submit work that is sub-standard, you will be asked to revise. Late assignments will be accepted only in cases of serious and documented emergencies. In all assignments, you are required to follow the MLA style of documenting sources. For more information on individual assignments, see the guidelines below.
ELF/IS: The main e-learning system for the course is ELF. No password is required to sign up.
Laptops: Please note that, in order to facilitate discussion and minimize distraction, the use of laptops and other personal electronic devices will not be permitted during class.
Assessment:
For full credit (zkouška):
Class participation (10%)
Response papers (40%)
Research report (20%)
Research paper (30%)
For partial credit (zápočet):
Class participation (30%)
Response papers (70%)
Assignment guidelines:
Response papers: Based on the reading assigned for each class, you will formulate three thinking questions that you would like to bring up during class discussion. Additionally, you will write your own short response to one of the questions (a complete paragraph of about 300 words). Please upload all this material in one file as a weekly echo-assignment into ELF by 12:00 pm on the Wednesday before the particular class session (Mar. 2, Mar. 9, Mar. 16, Mar. 23, Mar. 30, Apr. 13, Apr. 20, Apr. 27, May 4, May 11) and also bring a hard copy to class.
Research report: In the middle of the semester, you will write a three-page (about 1000 words) summary (plus a list of at least three works cited) on a topic of your choice. The purpose is for you to learn more about some aspect of Canadian culture that interests you and to get started on a research project that may (but does not necessarily have to) lead to your research paper. Please upload the research report as an echo-assignment into ELF by 12:00 pm on Wednesday, Apr. 6.
Research paper: At the end of the semester, you will write a five-to-six page (about 2000 words) critical analysis on a topic of your choice. The purpose is for you to examine in depth some aspect of Canadian culture that interests you; to develop your ideas with the help of a variety of sources; to formulate an argument and support it by convincing evidence. You may choose to write on a topic that we have not discussed in class but that is in some way connected to the issues we have covered. You are encouraged to draw on the themes that emerged (and re-emerged) in your response papers and in class discussions during the semester. Please upload the research paper as an echo-assignment into ELF by noon on Wednesday, May 25 (1st re-sit June 8, 2nd re-sit June 22).
Language of instruction
English
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