Teaching plan for the course unit

 

 
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General information

 

Course unit name: Literature, Ethics and Globalization

Course unit code: 569568

Academic year: 2025-2026

Coordinator: Myriam Mallart Brussosa

Department: Department of Modern Languages, Modern Literature and English Studies

Credits: 6

Single program: No definit

 

 

Estimated learning time

Total number of hours 150

 

Face-to-face and/or online activities

60
 

-  Document study

Face-to-face and online

  

6
 

-  Seminar

Face-to-face and online

  

42
 

-  Experimental workshop

Face-to-face and online

  

12

Supervised project

45

Independent learning

45

 

 

Recommendations

 

This subject is taught entirely in English. However, students may use Catalan or Spanish for presentations and written work if they have not taken a bachelor’s degree or pre-EHEA degree in English Studies.


Further recommendations

This subject may include field trips as part of its activities.

 

 

Competences / Learning outcomes to be gained during study

 

Basic and general competences
 

— Knowledge forming the basis of original thinking in the development or application of ideas, typically in a research context.

 

— Capacity to integrate knowledge and tackle the complexity of formulating judgements based on incomplete or limited information, taking due consideration of the social and ethical responsibilities involved in applying knowledge and making judgements.

 

— Skills to enable lifelong self-directed and independent learning.

 

— Capacity to understand: identification of concepts, problems and key questions in debates on the construction of cultural identities.

 

— Capacity to manage information: capacity to extract and integrate information from different sources, making effective use of libraries, archives, newspaper archives and other resources (particularly digital resources) relevant to research in the humanities.

 

— Capacity to apply the acquired knowledge to problem-solving in new or relatively unknown environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.

 

— Capacity to communicate conclusions, judgements and the grounds on which they have been reached to specialist and non-specialist audiences in a clear and unambiguous manner.

 

— Capacity to interpret texts from different eras and cultural traditions.

 

— Capacity for reflection: awareness of one’s own thought process, and ability to acknowledge and appraise different theories and points of view in the field of literary and cultural studies.

 

— Capacity to develop independent thought: critical and self-critical capabilities, capacity to develop original problem-solving strategies, capacity to generate new ideas, and capacity to delimit an object or field of study in terms of the construction and representation of cultural identities.

 

— Capacity to conduct basic research and monitor recent developments in the international scientific community in the fields of cultural studies, literary studies and gender studies.

 

— Ability to work in a team (capacity to collaborate with others and contribute to a common project / capacity to work in cross-disciplinary and multicultural teams).

 

Specific competences
 

— Advanced understanding of the different theories and methodologies applied to interculturality, globalization and post-colonial studies, and the analysis of different types of texts in these fields; more detailed knowledge of the tools of philology needed to analyse complex texts and conduct comparative studies.

 

— Theoretical and critical capabilities for constructing discourse on interculturality, otherness and globalization.

 

— Capacity to analyse the links between contemporary artistic creation and history, cultural institutions and social and political trends, taking into account the influences of colonisation and globalization.

 

 

 

 

Learning objectives

 

Referring to knowledge

• Gain an extensive and in-depth understanding of the "shift in ethics" in literary studies since the beginning of the 1990s.

• Gain an extensive and in-depth understanding of various aspects of the phenomenon of globalization and its ethical implications.

• Associate current debates on ethics and globalization with the analysis of a selection of contemporary plays in English.

 

Referring to abilities, skills

• Develop the capacity to construct robust, complex arguments that address the state of the art on an international level.

• Develop the capacity to manage information effectively, to identify the literary, sociological and cultural theories and methodologies applicable to specific cases, and to contribute clearly and accurately to discussions of literary and cultural issues.

 

Referring to attitudes, values and norms

• Demonstrate a respect for all reasonably argued and well-founded viewpoints.

 

 

Teaching blocks

 

1. The "ethical turn": from the 1990s to today

2. Ethical implications of globalization

3. Ethics, globalization and representation: analysis of a selection of contemporary plays in English

 

 

Teaching methods and general organization

 

The general methodology combines theoretical and practical learning, through lectures and practical applied activities which may include directed debates, group work, oral presentations, written assignments and research tasks. 

The gender perspective will be taken into consideration in the content of the subject. 

 

 

Official assessment of learning outcomes

 

The following aspects will be assessed:

  • Attendance and participation in class and submission of independent learning activities that might be submitted during the course, or at the end in the form of a course journal: 15%,
  • Written assignment proposal, organized as follows:
    • Individual tutoring session to select a play object of study
    • Submission of an initial written proposal (approximately 1000 words): 25%
    • Oral presentation: 10%
  • Final assignment (approx. 2,500 words): 50%.


Students must complete each of the three assessed components to be eligible to pass the subject.

 

Examination-based assessment

Students who are unable to meet the requirements for continuous assessment may change to the one-off assessment, in which case a written request must be submitted before the deadline stipulated by the Faculty.

One-off assessment consists of

  • the submission of five response paragraphs addressing questions on the different sections of the course: 30%
  • a research paper (approx. 3500 words) on a different play than the ones discussed in class to be submitted by the deadline stipulated by the lecturer.


Reassessment
The procedure for repeat assessment is the same as that established for one-off assessment.