Entry requirements

General entry requirements

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the student is expected to be able to:

• critically analyse social-scientific, humanistic and historical writings in relation to nuclear threat;
• reflect on and assess the potential power of beauty and of humor in enabling people to confront the peril of nuclear annihilation;
• evaluate potential sources of historical and ethnographic information in relation to nuclear threat;
• conduct interviews with individuals about how they make sense of their lived experience in an ominous historical moment;
• speak and write, with attention to detail and incongruity, about individuals' engagement with the threat of nuclear war.

Content

Can the beauty of the world enlist us in protecting life from injury? How do the pleasures of humor entice us to confront the peril of nuclear holocaust rather than turning away? This course explores the experience of being human in ominous times. We discover potential sources of hope, aliveness and engagement via historical and contemporary thinkers and artists, in-class interviews with invited guests, and students' own research projects.

Instruction

Course instruction takes the form of participatory lectures, students' prepared interviews with invited guests, discussions of the literature, practical exercises, and an analytical research project that is presented to the class. The course is taught in English.

Assessment

The course is assessed on the basis of active participation in seminars (0 credits), written assignments (4 credits) and oral assignments (3,5 credits).

Grading scale for seminars: Fail-Pass (U-G). Grading scale for all other assessed components: Fail-Pass-Pass with distinction (U-G-VG).

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

Other directives

Good reading and speaking skills in English are required. The student must be capable of working independently throughout the course.

Transitional provisions

Students retain the right to be examined on the course according to this syllabus for 3 semesters after their course instance has ended. Normally, instruction will be given according to the latest version of the course syllabus only.