Material and Spiritual Culture of Victorian England - MA Seminar 1

Master's seminars

A two-year MA seminar devoted to the discussion of Victorian culture and art. The course offers and close semantic analysis of artifacts such as toys, postcards. Elements of art history include the discussion of recurrent motives in Victorian art such as ancient history, childhood, house servants. The seminar will also concern the reception of Victorian art and culture in later epochs. A later part includes a survey of topics important for 19th-century culture studies. As part of the course, students prepare presentations of their MA projects which are discussed in class. Also, students receive individual or group assistance in writing their MA theses.

First semester.

An MA seminar devoted to the discussion of Victorian culture and art. Part one will be devoted to the discussion of subjects dealing with broadly understood material culture, such as:

- relations between high and popular culture in 19th century,

- the form and functioning of kitsch,

- new forms of 19th c. popular culture such as toys or postcards (Christmas, holiday, WWI),

- neo-classicism in 19th c. culture,

- illustrative aspect of Victorian art, recurrent motifs,

- semantic analysis of fashion and leisure in Victorian culture.

Part two will deal with analysis of social and political thought of the epoch basing on selected texts. Subjects will include:

- Monarchy, democracy and political system: B. Disraeli i W. Gladstone, W. Bagehot,

- Victorian society, liberalism, theory of progress: J. S. Mill, J. Bentham, T. Carlyle, H. Spencer, T. Macaulay,

- Raising social conscience and campaigning for women's rights: H. Mayhew, K. Marx, J. Butler,

- Religion, science, education: J. H. Newman, Ch. Darwin, T. H. Huxley, M. Arnold,

- Role of art. And artist in society: J. Ruskin, O. Wilde.

The choice of concrete subjects will depend on the state of prior knowledge and interests of the students in the seminar.

Primary sources - exceprts from texts by above-mentioned authors.

Secondary sources (examples):

1. Banach, Andrzej, O kiczu. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1968.

2. Briggs, Asa, Victorian Things. Sutton History Classics.

3. Hillier, Bevis, Greetings from Christmas Past. London: Herbert Press, 1982.

4. Houghton, Walter E., The Victorian Frame of Mind. New Haven and London: Yale U.P., 1976.

5. Flanders, Judith, The Victorian House. London: Harper Collins Press, 2003.

6. Mitchell, Sally, Daily Life in Victorian England. London: Greenwood Press, 1996.

7. Picard, Lisa, Victorian London: the Tale of a City 1840-1870. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006.

8. Sweet, Matthew, Inventing the Victorians. London: Faber and Faber, 2001.

Knowledge

Students are able to:

- K_W04 - Characterize on an advanced level the principles of research design in literary and culture studies with special focus on the application of methods and tools in formulating research problems

- K_W05 - Identify the notions and principles pertinent to intellectual property and copyright in reference to the MA thesis

Skills

Students can:

- K_U01 - Apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to the discipline (literary studies, culture and religion studies) regarding the subject of the MA seminar

- K_U02 - Apply advanced research methodology within literary and culture studies and English studies, respecting ethical norms and copyright law

-K_U03 - Apply knowledge obtained during the course of studies to account for and solve a problem, thereby completing a research task related to the discipline literary studies and/or culture and religion studies in reference to the subject of the seminar

-K_U04 - Analyze linguistic, literary and cultural phenomena and draw generalizations on their basis in the context of societal, historical and economic factors on an advanced level

- K_U06 - Find information in various sources and critically assess its usefulness for research related to the topic of the MA project

- K_U07 - Use modern technology in the process of learning and communicating with academic teachers, colleagues, representatives of various institutions and fellow participants in classes and projects, applying various channels and techniques of communication

- K_U11 - Design one’s own development regarding the writing of the MA thesis

Competences

Students are ready to:

- K_K02 - Apply knowledge and skills obtained during the course of studies to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development

In class discussions students acquire skills of expressing their thoughts in a clear, coherent, logical and precise manner, with the use of language which is correct grammatically, lexically and phonetically.

The preparation of MA thesis. The first year: plan, bibliography. The second year: 1st semester - one chapter, 2nd semester - the complete thesis.