Admission requirements
In addition to LIAS and LUCSoR PhD students, this course is open to students of the MA Middle Eastern Studies (research), the MA Asian Studies (research), and the MA Classical and Ancient Civilizations (research). Interested students from other relevant Research MA programmes are kindly advised to contact the co-ordinator of studies, Dr. Nicole van Os, before registering for this course.
Description
This seminar will take us to the places where ‘text’ and ‘image’ meet. ‘Text’ and ‘writing’ can be interpreted in the strictest linguistic sense, but broader definitions exist as well and are emphatically within the seminar’s scope, which includes both the most un-image-like ‘text’ and the most non-textual ‘image’. The focus is on media where text and image meet, overlap, complement, interact, clash, synergize... What sorts of things happen there? Every text rendered visually is, in fact, also image (e.g. page layout, font, calligraphy). Reversely, images may be constructed as narratives or other meaningful compositions, sometimes to the point of representing a linguistically precise text. Arguably, every text and every image can be studied from the vantage point of materiality. And so on.
Course objectives
Students taking this course will
Learn about different ways in which text and image are produced and seen, and in which they interact, in different cultures, and in current scholarly approaches;
Process and discuss scholarly literature on these topics;
Develop an interdisciplinary and intercultural view on visual information.
Timetable
Visit MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar
Attendance and active participation are obligatory for seminars. Students are required to prepare for and attend all sessions. The convenor needs to be informed without delay of any classes missed because of illness or misadventure. In these cases it is up to the discretion of the convener(s) of the course whether or not the missed class will have to be made up with an extra assignment. The maximum of such absences during a semester is two. Being absent without notification and/or more than two times can result in exclusion from the term end exams and a failing grade for the course.
Course Load
| Total course load: 5 EC x 28 hours | 140 hours |
|---|---|
| Preparation (c. 10 hrs/wk), attendance (2 hrs/wk), short presentations | 70 hours |
| If the course is taken for credit (ResMA students only): a research paper | 70 hours |
Deadlines for paper submission are set by the convener, after consultation of the students. Papers must be submitted at a date that enables marking and administrative processing within maximally six weeks after the Seminar’s final session.
Assessment method
(ResMA students only)
ResMA students can take the course for credit, in which case they will write a paper worth about 70 hours of work. Information on the requirements for the paper will be provided by the instructor at the start of the course.
Academic Integrity
Students should familiarize themselves with the notion of academic integrity and the ways in which this plays out in their own work. A good place to start is this page. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students may not substantially reuse texts they have previously submitted in this or other courses. Minor overlap with previous work is allowed as long as it is duly noted in citation.
Students must submit their assignment(s) through Brightspace, so they can be checked for plagiarism. Submission via email is not accepted.
Assessment and weighing
| Partial Assessment | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Contributions to in-class discussion | 20% |
| A research paper of 3,000–4,000 words | 80% |
In order to pass the course, students need a pass mark (“voldoende”, i.e. “5.50” or higher) for the research paper and for the course as a whole.
The research paper is written in two stages: a first version, on which the convener will offer feedback, and a final version. Feedback on the first version is conditional on this being handed in before the deadline. The grade will be determined on the basis of the final version only. (The paper deadline mentioned in uSis is for administrative purposes only. The actual date will be communicated by the convener.)
All categories of assessment must be completed in the same academic year. No partial marks can be carried over into following years.
Resit
Only if the total weighted average is 5.49 or lower and this is the result of a paper graded 5.49 or lower, a re-sit of the paper is possible (80%). In that case the convenor of the course may decide to assign a (new) topic. The deadline for this version will be determined by the course convenor, after consultation with the student. A re-sit for other course components is not possible.
Inspection and feedback
If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will be organized.
Reading list
T.b.a.
Registration
ResMA students taking the course for credit are required to register through uSis. To avoid mistakes and problems, students are strongly advised to register in uSis through the activity number which can be found in the timetable in the column under the heading “USIS-Actnbr.”. More information on uSis is available in Dutch and English. You can also have a look at the FAQ.