Anglophone Cultural Studies I
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The main goal of Anglophone Cultural Studies I is to provide the basic methodological tools of cultural studies and apply them to understand and analyse cultures present in English-speaking countries.
To this end, the course aims to enable students to:
- understand a set of cultural practices and productions by adopting the methodological approach of cultural studies and post-colonial studies applied to the Anglophone contexts;
- use this approach to understand the key cultural concepts of the countries or areas being studied;
- read, analyse and interpret texts and cultural practices and productions related to the Anglophone contexts;
- understand the historical, political, social and cultural background related to the cultural practices studied;
- understand the colonial and decolonial history of the British Empire.
To this end, the course aims to enable students to:
- understand a set of cultural practices and productions by adopting the methodological approach of cultural studies and post-colonial studies applied to the Anglophone contexts;
- use this approach to understand the key cultural concepts of the countries or areas being studied;
- read, analyse and interpret texts and cultural practices and productions related to the Anglophone contexts;
- understand the historical, political, social and cultural background related to the cultural practices studied;
- understand the colonial and decolonial history of the British Empire.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- use the language and skills of cultural studies and post-colonial studies applied to the Anglophone contexts, in line with the professional profile to be trained during the three-year programme;
- apply this subject-specific language to mediation practices, in line with the professional profile to be trained during the three-year programme;
- use cultural skills to develop an aptitude for inclusion practices;
- read, summarise and compare cultural practices and productions in the Anglophone contexts studied;
- make intercultural and interdisciplinary connections, in line with the professional profile to be trained during the three-year programme.
- use the language and skills of cultural studies and post-colonial studies applied to the Anglophone contexts, in line with the professional profile to be trained during the three-year programme;
- apply this subject-specific language to mediation practices, in line with the professional profile to be trained during the three-year programme;
- use cultural skills to develop an aptitude for inclusion practices;
- read, summarise and compare cultural practices and productions in the Anglophone contexts studied;
- make intercultural and interdisciplinary connections, in line with the professional profile to be trained during the three-year programme.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
The course analyses how the British Empire and its gradual dissolution impacted its former colonies. It will examine the evolution of some of these colonies in the context of the postcolonial process. Unit 1 will be devoted to the methods of Cultural Studies applied to the contexts of colonialism and post-colonialism. Among the concepts and themes addressed will be: power, ideology, discourse, hybridisation, in-betweenness, third space, identity and belonging. We will also focus on issues related to Environmental Justice, linked to economic imbalance, as well as climate change.
Units 2 and 3 of the course are devoted to the analysis of a series of case studies from Anglophone Oceania (Australia, New Zealand/Aotearoa, and the Pacific Islands), examined through the lens of Cultural Studies and Postcolonial Studies. The aim is to explore the ways in which colonialism has shaped representations of alterity, cultural production, and Indigenous ecologies. Alongside these theoretical and analytical components, the final two units introduce the foundations of digital storytelling, understood both as a tool for critical re-elaboration and as a transversal skill relevant for students interested in cultural studies, linguistic mediation, and intercultural mediation. Students will be guided in the interpretation of multimodal texts and in the collaborative production of digital content, culminating in the creation of an interactive and multimedia e-book.
Units 2 and 3 of the course are devoted to the analysis of a series of case studies from Anglophone Oceania (Australia, New Zealand/Aotearoa, and the Pacific Islands), examined through the lens of Cultural Studies and Postcolonial Studies. The aim is to explore the ways in which colonialism has shaped representations of alterity, cultural production, and Indigenous ecologies. Alongside these theoretical and analytical components, the final two units introduce the foundations of digital storytelling, understood both as a tool for critical re-elaboration and as a transversal skill relevant for students interested in cultural studies, linguistic mediation, and intercultural mediation. Students will be guided in the interpretation of multimodal texts and in the collaborative production of digital content, culminating in the creation of an interactive and multimedia e-book.
Prerequisites for admission
The course requires a general knowledge of how colonial processes developed, especially British ones, and the traces they left behind in decolonisation. No prior methodological knowledge of cultural studies is required. In terms of language skills, students are required to be able to understand simple texts in English, both written and video, and to have basic expressive tools, in English and/or Italian, to make the concepts they wish to express intelligible. A basic knowledge of Italian is desirable. No previous skills in digital storytelling are required.
Teaching methods
The lessons will mainly be lecture-based, but will also include collaborative activities, group work, flipped classrooms, guest lecturers and, occasionally, participation in external events may be required. Students will be guided in the development of collaborative skills consistent with the professional profile they intend to acquire. The theoretical approach is accompanied by a short workshop on multimodal writing, which allows students to experiment with forms of critical reworking of the content covered.
Within Units 2 and 3, a total of six hours are dedicated to digital storytelling: four hours to introduce the principles of multimodal storytelling and present the digital tools for creating e-books, and two hours, within Unit 3, for the design and revision of the e-book. These activities support the completion of the final project, without detracting from the analysis of case studies, which remains the core focus of the course.
Within Units 2 and 3, a total of six hours are dedicated to digital storytelling: four hours to introduce the principles of multimodal storytelling and present the digital tools for creating e-books, and two hours, within Unit 3, for the design and revision of the e-book. These activities support the completion of the final project, without detracting from the analysis of case studies, which remains the core focus of the course.
Teaching Resources
Unit 1 - Postcolonial Studies & Cultural Studies
Texts
Historical framework:
https://www.britannica.com/place/British-Empire: source for general info on British empire. Further readings will be suggested during classwork
Cultural Studies -Theory
AAVV, Introduzione ai Cultural Studies, Carocci, 2016 (ch. 1 & ch. 5) 2016
C. Barker, Cultural Studies: Theory & Practice, Sage, 2000 (excerpts: check myariel for details, after the beginning of classwork)
Postcolonial Studies:
S. Bertacco, O. Palusci, Postcolonial to Multicultural. An Anthology of Texts from the Multicultural World, Hoepli, 2004 (excerpts: check myariel for details, after the beginning of classwork)
Unit 2 - Narrating the Other: Explorations, Childhoods, and Mapped Territories
Texts
· Joseph Banks's Endeavour Journal (excerpts)
· Katherine Mansfield's "How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped"
· Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines (excerpts)
All materials will be made available on the Ariel platform.
Within Unit 2, four hours are dedicated to introducing the principles of digital storytelling and the tools required for the creation of the e-book. The first session provides a theoretical overview of digital storytelling, explaining its relevance in cultural studies and its potential for critically reworking a case study. The second session offers a practical demonstration of selected platforms (Canva, Sway, BookCreator, Scalar), illustrating how to integrate text, images, and multimodal content coherently. At this stage, students do not yet produce final content but begin sketching the conceptual structure of their future e-book.
Unit 3 - Justice and Activism in the Pacific: Texts and Multimodal Practices
Texts
· Mabo v Queensland (documentary material)
· HREOC's Bringing Them Home https://bth.humanrights.gov.au/
· Witi Ihimaera, The Whale Rider, Penguin Group, 2025.
· Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner's poem-performance "Tell Them" https://www.kathyjetnilkijiner.com/tell-them/
All materials, except The Whale Rider, will be provided on Ariel.
Unit 3 also includes two hours of workshop focused on the design, revision, and completion of the collaborative e-book. These sessions are complemented by asynchronous feedback provided by lecturer via Ariel, aimed at ensuring internal coherence, refining narrative choices, and supervising the integration of textual and visual materials. At this stage, students move from a conceptual outline to the actual development of the e-book.
Recommended secondary readings regarding Units 2 and 3
· Haebich, Anna. "Forgetting Indigenous Histories: Cases from the History of Australia's Stolen Generations." Journal of Social History, vol. 44, no. 4, 2011, pp. 1033-46.
· Jolly, Roslyn. "Children of Empire: Rereading Katherine Mansfield's 'How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped' (1912)." Nordic Journal of English Studies, vol. 16, no. 2, 2017.
· Mason, Robert, editor. Legacies of Violence: Rendering the Unspeakable Past in Modern Australia. Berghahn Books, 2017.
· Patel, Sandhya. "Presentations and Representations of Contact. James Cook and Joseph Banks at Tahiti. The Endeavour Voyage 1768-1771." Journal de la Société des océanistes, vol. 136-137, 2013.
· Pollard, Natalie. 21st-Century Climate Imaginaries: Global Activism, Ecopoetry and the Arts of Environmental Justice. Bloomsbury Academic, 2025
Texts
Historical framework:
https://www.britannica.com/place/British-Empire: source for general info on British empire. Further readings will be suggested during classwork
Cultural Studies -Theory
AAVV, Introduzione ai Cultural Studies, Carocci, 2016 (ch. 1 & ch. 5) 2016
C. Barker, Cultural Studies: Theory & Practice, Sage, 2000 (excerpts: check myariel for details, after the beginning of classwork)
Postcolonial Studies:
S. Bertacco, O. Palusci, Postcolonial to Multicultural. An Anthology of Texts from the Multicultural World, Hoepli, 2004 (excerpts: check myariel for details, after the beginning of classwork)
Unit 2 - Narrating the Other: Explorations, Childhoods, and Mapped Territories
Texts
· Joseph Banks's Endeavour Journal (excerpts)
· Katherine Mansfield's "How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped"
· Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines (excerpts)
All materials will be made available on the Ariel platform.
Within Unit 2, four hours are dedicated to introducing the principles of digital storytelling and the tools required for the creation of the e-book. The first session provides a theoretical overview of digital storytelling, explaining its relevance in cultural studies and its potential for critically reworking a case study. The second session offers a practical demonstration of selected platforms (Canva, Sway, BookCreator, Scalar), illustrating how to integrate text, images, and multimodal content coherently. At this stage, students do not yet produce final content but begin sketching the conceptual structure of their future e-book.
Unit 3 - Justice and Activism in the Pacific: Texts and Multimodal Practices
Texts
· Mabo v Queensland (documentary material)
· HREOC's Bringing Them Home https://bth.humanrights.gov.au/
· Witi Ihimaera, The Whale Rider, Penguin Group, 2025.
· Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner's poem-performance "Tell Them" https://www.kathyjetnilkijiner.com/tell-them/
All materials, except The Whale Rider, will be provided on Ariel.
Unit 3 also includes two hours of workshop focused on the design, revision, and completion of the collaborative e-book. These sessions are complemented by asynchronous feedback provided by lecturer via Ariel, aimed at ensuring internal coherence, refining narrative choices, and supervising the integration of textual and visual materials. At this stage, students move from a conceptual outline to the actual development of the e-book.
Recommended secondary readings regarding Units 2 and 3
· Haebich, Anna. "Forgetting Indigenous Histories: Cases from the History of Australia's Stolen Generations." Journal of Social History, vol. 44, no. 4, 2011, pp. 1033-46.
· Jolly, Roslyn. "Children of Empire: Rereading Katherine Mansfield's 'How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped' (1912)." Nordic Journal of English Studies, vol. 16, no. 2, 2017.
· Mason, Robert, editor. Legacies of Violence: Rendering the Unspeakable Past in Modern Australia. Berghahn Books, 2017.
· Patel, Sandhya. "Presentations and Representations of Contact. James Cook and Joseph Banks at Tahiti. The Endeavour Voyage 1768-1771." Journal de la Société des océanistes, vol. 136-137, 2013.
· Pollard, Natalie. 21st-Century Climate Imaginaries: Global Activism, Ecopoetry and the Arts of Environmental Justice. Bloomsbury Academic, 2025
Assessment methods and Criteria
Unit 1 will be assessed through a computer-based exam, which is optional and mainly aimed at attending students; it will last 90 minutes. Those who wish to do so may take the traditional oral exam and be tested on the entire programme. The exam will be held in English. The assessment will also take into account active participation in lessons and active involvement in the proposed activities.
As for Units 2 and 3, for attending students who complete the multimedia e-book, the preparation and presentation of the e-book constitute a substantial component of the final assessment. Students will be asked to provide an in-depth analysis of the selected case study, discuss the narrative and multimodal choices made in the development of the e-book, and illustrate how their work engages with key concepts from Cultural Studies and Postcolonial Studies. Students will also be asked to reflect critically on the collaborative process that led to the creation of the e-book. In this case, the oral examination will not cover the entire syllabus, but only those topics and materials that are not addressed in the student's e-book, thereby integrating the evaluation already achieved through the project. For non-attending students or attending students without the e-book project, the oral examination will cover the full content of all three units.
As for Units 2 and 3, for attending students who complete the multimedia e-book, the preparation and presentation of the e-book constitute a substantial component of the final assessment. Students will be asked to provide an in-depth analysis of the selected case study, discuss the narrative and multimodal choices made in the development of the e-book, and illustrate how their work engages with key concepts from Cultural Studies and Postcolonial Studies. Students will also be asked to reflect critically on the collaborative process that led to the creation of the e-book. In this case, the oral examination will not cover the entire syllabus, but only those topics and materials that are not addressed in the student's e-book, thereby integrating the evaluation already achieved through the project. For non-attending students or attending students without the e-book project, the oral examination will cover the full content of all three units.
L-LIN/10 - ENGLISH LITERATURE - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professors:
Ogliari Elena, Vallorani Nicoletta
Professor(s)