ALL375 - Shakespeare Today: Sex, Race and Politics
Unit details
| Year | 2025 unit information |
|---|---|
| Enrolment modes: | Trimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Online |
| Credit point(s): | 1 |
| EFTSL value: | 0.125 |
| Unit Chair: | Trimester 1: Geoff Boucher |
| Prerequisite: | Nil |
| Corequisite: | Nil |
| Incompatible with: | ALL275 |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - on-campus unit enrolment: | 1 x 1-hour online lecture per week 1 x 2-hour on-campus seminar per week |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - online unit enrolment: | 1 x 1-hour online lecture per week 1 x 2-hour online seminar per week or approximately 2-hours of online learning tasks and discussions per week |
| Typical study commitment: | Students will on average spend 150-hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit. This will include educator guided online learning activities within the unit site. |
Content
Today, Shakespeare is probably the most important literary figure in any language. His impact on world literature has been immense. And the still-expanding shockwave of his influence can also be felt far from literature, in everyday contexts such as romance and race relations. What would the modern cult of love as passion be, for instance, without its poetic manual, Romeo and Juliet? For this very reason, Shakespeare used to be claimed by the cultural and political establishment as a spokesperson for the status quo. Recent work on Shakespeare has completely shattered that myth. Today, we discover a Shakespeare who was superbly critical. Perhaps, indeed, Shakespeare had secrets that bordered on treasonous. Certainly, Shakespeare wrote sex, race and love in ways that are dangerous and supple, not smug or congratulatory. The unit tracks this, highly contemporary Shakespeare, across key texts. Students get to grips with Shakespeare’s plays and poems in a way that focuses on the way that his work that has kept its sting. Through queer theory and post-colonial readings, it explores Shakespeare’s refusal of the reigning orthodoxies of his day—and ours. Students will be asked to critically analyse a play or group of poems in light of these in current debates. Then they will have the opportunity to discover for themselves, and explore in depth, an innovative contemporary Shakespeare.
Learning Outcomes
| ULO | These are the Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: | Alignment to Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs) |
|---|---|---|
| ULO1 | Apply knowledge of literary history, literary modes, theoretical concepts, literary language, and creative approaches to the works of Shakespeare | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO2: Communication |
| ULO2 | Communicate major literary, critical and theoretical ideas to a variety of audiences | GLO2: Communication |
| ULO3 | Critically engage with the production of texts and discourses and apply findings to the relevant literary research | GLO4: Critical thinking |
| ULO4 | Analyse and evaluate theoretical, historical and contemporary approaches to literary conventions to create new, innovative and cross-generic modes of responses to these works | GLO5: Problem Solving |
| ULO5 | Work autonomously as a reflective practitioner committed to learning and developing skills in literary studies | GLO4: Critical thinking |
These Unit Learning Outcomes are applicable for all teaching periods throughout the year.
Assessment
| Assessment Description | Student output | Grading and weighting (% total mark for unit) | Indicative due week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment 1: Report | 2000 words or equivalent | 50% | Information not yet available |
| Assessment 2: Essay | 2000 words or equivalent | 50% | Information not yet available |
The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.
Learning resource
The texts and reading list for ALL375 can be found via the University Library.
Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.
Unit Fee Information
Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study and their study discipline, and your study load.
Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current Students website.