This module is designed for students who have already completed an A-level in Chinese or whose Chinese is of a broadly similar standard. The language element aims to enable students both to consolidate and improve their skills in spoken and written Chinese. A further aim is to provide students with an introduction to the historical and cultural development of China in the past, and also to contemporary institutions and society.

Seminars are based on a textbook, and emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary and a firm grasp of Chinese grammatical structures. You will have the opportunity to develop listening and speaking skills through discussions and activities and with the support of audio and visual materials.

You are given the chance to examine how key moments in Chinese history have shaped contemporary Chinese culture. We will look at examples including films, plays, and novels.

Would you like to be able to communicate using Mandarin Chinese? Do you want to acquire key elements to become an expert of Chinese culture, society, and institutions? We focus on teaching absolute beginners how to speak, listen, and read so you can confidently use day-to-day Chinese. You’ll also be given the opportunity to learn about Chinese culture, history, and contemporary society.

You will have the opportunity to learn Chinese pronunciation and intonation, the basics of Chinese grammar, key sentence structures, and insights about the graphical element of writing, such as the significance of types of strokes, radicals, and their ancestral meaning.

To explore Chinese culture, you are given the chance to examine how key moments in Chinese history have shaped contemporary Chinese culture. We will look at examples including films, plays, and novels.

This module is designed for students who have already completed an A-level in French or whose French is of a broadly similar standard. The language element aims to enable students both to consolidate and improve their skills in spoken and written French. A further aim is to provide students with an introduction to the historical and cultural development of France in the past, and also to contemporary institutions and society.

In seminars, the emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary and a firm grasp of French grammatical structures. You will have the opportunity to develop listening and speaking skills through discussions and activities and with the support of audio and visual materials.

You are also given the chance to examine how key moments in French history have shaped contemporary Francophone culture. We will look at examples including films, plays, and novels.

(If you are studying BSc Hons International Business Management you only complete the language elements of this module).

This module is designed for students having little or no knowledge of the French language. Consequently, a substantial part of the module is devoted to intensive language teaching aimed at making the student proficient in both written and spoken French. At the same time, students will be introduced to aspects of French history, culture and society in the twentieth century.

Seminars are based on a textbook, and emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary and a firm grasp of French grammatical structures. You will have the opportunity to develop listening and speaking skills through structured activities and with the support of audio and visual materials. Each week, we aim for one of your language classes to be entirely devoted to the acquisition and development of oral skills.

To explore Francophone culture, you are given the chance to examine how key moments in French history have shaped contemporary French culture. We will look at examples including films, plays, and novels.

(If you are studying BSc Hons International Business Management you only complete the language elements of this module).

This module is designed for students who have already completed an A-level in German or whose German is of a broadly similar standard. The language element aims to enable students both to consolidate and improve their skills in spoken and written German. A further aim is to provide students with an introduction to the historical and cultural development of Germany in the twentieth century, and also to contemporary institutions and society.

In seminars, the emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary and a firm grasp of German grammatical structures. You will have the opportunity to develop listening and speaking skills through discussions and activities and with the support of audio and visual materials.

You are given the chance to examine how key moments in German history have shaped contemporary German culture. We will look at examples including films, plays, and novels.

(If you are studying BSc Hons International Business Management you only complete the language elements of this module).

This module is designed for students having little or no knowledge of the German language. Consequently, a substantial part of the module is devoted to intensive language teaching aimed at making the student proficient in both written and spoken German. At the same time, students will be introduced to aspects of German history, culture and society in the twentieth century.

Seminars are based on a textbook and the emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary and a firm grasp of German grammatical structures. You will have the opportunity to develop listening and speaking skills through structured activities and with the support of audio and visual materials. Each week, we aim for one of your language classes to be entirely devoted to the acquisition and development of oral skills.

You are also given the chance to examine how key moments in German history have shaped contemporary Germanic culture. We will look at examples including films, plays, and novels.

(If you are studying BSc Hons International Business Management you only complete the language elements of this module).

This module is designed for students having little or no knowledge of the Italian language. Consequently, a substantial part of the module is devoted to intensive language teaching aimed at making the student proficient in both written and spoken Italian. At the same time, students will be introduced to aspects of Italian culture and society.

Seminars are based on a textbook and emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary and a firm grasp of Italian grammatical structures. You will have the opportunity to develop listening and speaking skills through structured activities and with the support of audio and visual materials. Each week, we aim for one of your language classes to be entirely devoted to the acquisition and development of oral skills.

You are also given the chance to examine how key moments in Italian history have shaped contemporary Italian culture. We will look at examples including films, plays, and novels.

(If you are studying BSc Hons International Business Management you only complete the language elements of this module).

This module is designed for students who have already completed an A-level in Spanish or whose Spanish is of a broadly similar standard. The language element aims to enable students both to consolidate and improve their skills in spoken and written Spanish. A further aim is to provide students with an introduction to the historical and cultural development of Spain in the twentieth century, and also to contemporary institutions and society.

In seminars, the emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary and a firm grasp of Spanish grammatical structures. You will have the opportunity to develop listening and speaking skills through discussions and activities and with the support of audio and visual materials.

You are also given the chance to examine how key moments in Spanish history have shaped contemporary Hispanic culture. We will look at examples including films, plays, and novels.

(If you are studying BSc Hons International Business Management you only complete the language elements of this module).

This module is designed for students having little or no knowledge of the Spanish language. Consequently, a substantial part of the module is devoted to intensive language teaching aimed at making the student proficient in both written and spoken Spanish. At the same time, students will be introduced to aspects of Spanish culture and society.

Seminars are based on a textbook and emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary and a firm grasp of Spanish grammatical structures. You will have the opportunity to develop listening and speaking skills through structured activities and with the support of audio and visual materials. Each week, we aim for one of your language classes to be entirely devoted to the acquisition and development of oral skills.

You are also given the chance to examine how key moments in Spanish history have shaped contemporary Hispanic culture. We will look at examples including films, plays, and novels.

(If you are studying BSc Hons International Business Management you only complete the language elements of this module).

All DeLC first year language programmes are supported by a module designed to offer students further opportunities to expand and consolidate their knowledge and skills base. The module is non-credit bearing but students are expected to participate so as to acquire complementary skills useful in areas such as, essay-writing, expanding vocabulary, diversity of learning styles and engaging with culture, alongside other useful strategies to enhance autonomous language learning outside the classroom.

How have German-language writers imagined alternative worlds and speculated about the future through their work? And what can those works tell us about those writers’ engagement with the socio-political conditions of their cultures’ past, present and future? This module guides students through the history of German-language speculative fiction as a way of opening up new discussions about the history and politics of German-speaking Europe. It explores questions of transnational engagement with other traditions of speculative writing in Europe and beyond, and motivates students to ask why science fiction and other forms of speculative futures remain a neglected field of study in German-speaking countries. It encompasses a range of sources from the nineteenth century to the present day.

DELC334 is an independent study module that distinctively combines cultural and advanced linguistic components. In fact, students need to confront the challenge of writing an academic essay in a foreign language. At the same time, they creatively engage with the fundamental issue of intercultural communication (or cultural specificity) and language relativity in context.

Students will attend an introductory lecture in which the course convenor introduces the aims of the module and presents the resources to be used together with the formal and qualitative requirements for the composition of the essay in the target language. Students will be entitled to 2 supervisory meetings of 30 minutes each with the DELC member of staff who will be marking their essay in the target language (i.e. Chinese, French, German and Spanish), one during the 4th and the one during the 8th week of the course. In both meetings they will receive feedback about their writing and will benefit from ad-hoc suggestions about the subsequent stage of their compositions.

This module will consider different ways in which the concept of ‘dictatorship’ has been understood and critiqued throughout the twentieth century. Considering examples from Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Guinea, Italy, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe, students will explore the differences between the Latin American caudillo, European dictators, and the ‘Big Men’ of Africa. Selected critical and theoretical sources will be drawn upon to develop a more critical understanding of dictatorship, including the work of Hannah Arendt, Roberto González Echevarría and Achille Mbembe.

The module will also examine relationships between dictatorship and cultural production. How have dictators represented themselves in their writing, speeches and literature? To what extent have they controlled cultural production and to what end? How, in turn, have they been represented in cultural production? What role do writers, artists and intellectuals play in evaluating and critiquing dictatorship? In turn, can the writer, artist or intellectual be considered to be a dictator in the particular world view he/she projects and/or the rhetoric he/she adopts?

This module includes authentic texts only slightly adapted from the originals, with a special focus on contemporary Chinese society and institutions. You will learn how to communicate comprehensively and systematically using the appropriate expressions and language norms in the right context.

Youll develop your skills in understanding and joining political, academic and journalistic discussions using advanced Chinese language skills. Youll be able to translate between English and Chinese and develop an idiomatic style of formal writing.

All of this is supported through four contact hours of teaching a week. Youll attend a two-hour seminar to practise listening and speaking. A one-hour lecture each week will teach you grammar and language functions. Reading and writing practice is covered in a weekly one-hour seminar.

Its not necessary to have studied the Part I, Chinese Language 2 or 3 modules before this. However you must have reached a CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) B1-B2 level of Chinese proficiency.

This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the corresponding Written Language module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year.

The module aims to enhance students’ linguistic proficiency in spoken Chinese in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations as well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

This module also aims at broadening students’ knowledge about different aspects of modern Chinese-speaking societies, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions.

By the end of this module, we hope you will have enhanced your comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that they may encounter in Chinese-speaking countries.

This module includes authentic texts only slightly adapted from the originals, with a special focus on contemporary Chinese society and institutions. You will have the opportunity to learn how to communicate comprehensively and systematically using the appropriate expressions and language norms in the right context.

You’ll have the opportunity to develop your skills in understanding and joining political, academic and journalistic discussions using advanced Chinese language skills. An aim of this module is for you to be able to translate between English and Chinese and develop an idiomatic style of formal writing.

It’s not necessary to have studied the Part I, Chinese Language 2 or 3 modules in order to continue on to this module. However you must have reached a CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) B1-B2 level of Chinese proficiency.

This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the corresponding Written Language module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year of the Intensive course. Students who have taken the Intensive language course in their first year, normally follow this course throughout the second year.

The module aims to enhance students’ linguistic proficiency in spoken Chinese in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

This module also aims at broadening students’ knowledge about different aspects of modern society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions in order to prepare them for residence abroad in their 3rd year.

By the end of this module, students will have had the opportunity to enhance their comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that they may encounter in Chinese-speaking countries.

This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

This module aims to consolidate skills gained by students in the first year of study, and enable them to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise themselves with the culture and society of countries where their studied language is spoken.

The module aims to enhance your proficiency in understanding written Chinese, as well as in the writing of Chinese (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into Chinese; and the systematic study of Chinese lexis, grammar and syntax.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

This module is integrated with the Chinese Language 4 module.

This module has two main aims. The first one is to enhance your linguistic proficiency with emphasis on understanding of spoken and written Chinese, the speaking of Chinese (prepared and spontaneous) in both formal and informal settings, the writing of Chinese, and the systematic study of Chinese lexis, grammar and syntax. The second aim is to increase your awareness, knowledge and understanding of contemporary China.

By the end of this module we aim for you to have an informed interest in the society and culture of the Chinese-speaking world. You should also have acquired almost native-speaker abilities in both spoken and written language.

This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

This module aims to consolidate skills you have developed in the first year of study, and enable you to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise yourselves with the culture and society of countries where your studied language is spoken.

The module aims to enhance your proficiency in understanding spoken Chinese, as well as in the writing of Chinese (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into Chinese; and the systematic study of Chinese lexis, grammar and syntax.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

German-speaking countries have, over centuries, gained a reputation for innovation in technology and engineering – ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’, progress through technology, as the Audi marketing slogan boldly claims. But is it still viable, in an age of anthropogenic climate change, to see technology as a tool of ‘progress’? Another strand of thinking in German-language culture expresses a deep anxiety about technology and associates it with dark power, mystery and a loss of control. This unit examines the relationship between climate, technology and ideas of progress (or catastrophe) in German-language culture (visual art, film, poetry, prose, pop culture and everyday life), and situates this tension in a historical context.

This module introduces you to major themes that shape the experience of contemporary city dwellers: gender, social inequality, and practices of citizenship. These interlinking themes are introduced through novels, poetry and films and typically covers the following European, North American (with the emphasis on immigrant communities within its cities) and Latin American cities: New York, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile, Barcelona, and Berlin.

The combination of lectures, workshops and textual analysis encourages cross-referencing between the themes; students are encouraged to identify links between the topics studied (for example, gender and sexuality are relevant to an analysis of social inequality, and vice versa).

This module explores how post-war economic change has affected European societies, and how socio-political factors in turn have influenced the patterns and outcomes of economic development, over the second half of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty first century.

The module is structured on the basis of three country-specific modules (France, Germany and Spain), examining how these countries have confronted key moments of economic change, and what the longer-term consequences of that change have been. While the module emphasis is on broad national developments, discussion also covers examples relating to particular industries and major companies.

In lectures, workshops, and seminars we will explore the context of reconstruction after World War II and the pattern of subsequent economic development; the relationship between social and economic policies; the development of the three countries' economies; the changes of the 1980s and their impact on subsequent years; and the consequences of specific momentous events, such as the re-unification of Germany and how the financial crisis of 2008 affected, and still affects, France, Germany and Spain.

The humanities were once regarded as having an intrinsic value. As disciplines devoted to the study of cultures and societies, the humanities enjoyed prestige as areas of inquiry that were uniquely placed to probe the human condition. But do the humanities still have a role to play in a world where science and technology appear to be driving political and social agendas? Can they help us address global challenges? This module encourages students to engage with these questions by examining the history of the humanities in different linguistic and cultural contexts, by exploring the connection between the humanities and other disciplines across time and space, and by engaging with the tradition of critical thinking that is central to the identity of the discipline. Students will explore the intersection between the humanities and other disciplines with the aim of understanding what other disciplines can bring to study of art and, conversely, the value of art in our contemporary, outcome-driven world.

This is a non-credit bearing module aimed at preparation for coursework and employability. If you are a major student you will be timetabled to attend the events. These include areas such as returning to Lancaster, academic writing after the year abroad, careers information on graduate schemes and postgraduate study opportunities.

This final year module will provide you with an overview of the range of literature and culture produced in Sub-Saharan Africa, the French Caribbean and France to better understand the various relationships between France and these different parts of the Francophone world.

You will be given the opportunity to identify and discuss themes that they will find through analysis of a selection of novels and films. These themes will include language and style, and issues addressed by writers and film-makers in relation to identity, gender, culture, history, and representation itself.

Exploration of La Francophonie, the French Mission Civilisatrice, and relationships between contemporary France and her former colonies will provide context for the study of these novels and films. Discussions will be informed by the work of thinkers including Franz Fanon and Edward Said.

This module consists of both oral and aural skills and must be taken alongside the Written Skills module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year.

This module aims to enhance students’ linguistic proficiency in spoken French in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations as well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

This module also aims at broadening students’ knowledge about different aspects of modern French-speaking society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions in order to prepare them for residence abroad in their 3rd year.

By the end of this module, students should have enhanced their comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that they may encounter in French-speaking countries.

This module is integrated with the French Language: Written Skills module.

Both the oral and the written language modules focus on particular topics of cultural and contemporary interest. The general aim of these modules is to develop further the abilities the students gained during their second year and the year abroad.

By the end of this module, we aim for students to have developed an informed interest in the society and culture of the French-speaking world. They should also have acquired almost native-speaker abilities in both spoken and written language.

This module comprises both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the corresponding Written Language module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year of the Intensive course. Students who have taken the Intensive language course in their first year, normally follow this course throughout the second year.

The module aims to enhance students’ linguistic proficiency in spoken French in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations as well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

This module also aims at broadening students’ knowledge about different aspects of modern society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions in order to prepare them for residence abroad in their 3rd year.

By the end of this module, students will have had the opportunity to enhance their comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that they may encounter in French-speaking countries.

This module comprises reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

This module aims to consolidate skills gained by students in the first year of study, and enables them to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise themselves with the culture and society of countries where French is spoken.

The module aims to enhance students’ proficiency in the writing of French (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into French; and the systematic study of French lexis, grammar and syntax.

You will have the opportunity to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

This module is integrated with the French Language: Oral Skills module.

This module has two main aims. The first one is to enhance students' linguistic proficiency with emphasis on understanding of spoken and written French, the speaking of French (prepared and spontaneous) in both formal and informal settings, the writing of French, and the systematic study of French lexis, grammar and syntax. The second aim is to increase their awareness, knowledge and understanding of contemporary France.

By the end of this module we aim for students to have an informed interest in the society and culture of the French-speaking world. They should also have acquired almost native-speaker abilities in both spoken and written language.

This module comprises reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

This module aims to consolidate skills you have developed in the first year of study, and enable you to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise yourselves with the culture and society of countries where your studied language is spoken.

The module aims to enhance your proficiency in writing in French (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into French; and the systematic study of French lexis, grammar and syntax.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

This module explores the relations between French modernist literature and the rising power of psychiatry at the turn of the 19th/20th Century. Students reflect on ways in which literature, society, and medicine intersect through the study of illness narratives. Discussions include aesthetic issues and social debates such as: representations of the relationship between mind and body; how the experimental forms of modernist texts serve their interest in mental states; what role the visual aspect of these narratives played in their composition and reception; to what extent they can be considered as acts of social resistance.

DELC320 Full Unit Dissertation

This module is assessed entirely through coursework. Students are given a chance of pursuing a topic of their own interest, which is not covered in taught options. A dissertation consists of approximately 10,000 words written in English. The topic of dissertation must relate to French/German/Spanish language, or a comparison between two or more, or a general European issue. Any topic is subject to approval and must fall within the range of expertise of a member of the Department’s staff.

Each student is assigned a supervisor, who provides regular supervision, and feedback on the first draft of the completed dissertation. The topic is agreed and discussed with the supervisor in the Summer Term of the second year, and preparatory research should begin during the Year Abroad.

This module is integrated with the German Language: Written Skills module.

Both the oral and the written language modules focus on particular topics of cultural and contemporary interest. The general aim of these modules is to develop further the abilities you have hopefully gained during their second year and the year abroad.

By the end of this module, we aim for you to have developed an informed interest in the society and culture of the German-speaking world. We hope you will also have acquired almost native-speaker abilities in both spoken and written language.

This module is integrated with the German Language: Oral Skills module.

This module has two main aims. The first one is to enhance students’ linguistic proficiency with emphasis on the understanding of spoken and written German, the speaking of German (prepared and spontaneous) in both formal and informal settings, the writing of German, and the systematic study of German lexis, grammar, and syntax. The second aim is to increase your awareness, knowledge, and understanding of contemporary Germany.

By the end of this module, we aim for you to have developed an informed interest in the society and culture of the German-speaking world. We hope you will also have acquired almost native-speaker abilities in both spoken and written language.

This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the Written Skills module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year.

This module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency in spoken German in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

This module also aims at broadening students’ knowledge about different aspects of modern society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions in order to prepare them for residence abroad in their 3rd year.

By the end of this module, you will have had the opportunity to enhance your comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that you may encounter in German-speaking countries.

This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the corresponding Written Language module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year. Students who have taken the Intensive language course in their first year, normally follow this course throughout the second year.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency in spoken German in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

This module also aims at broadening your knowledge about different aspects of modern society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions in order to prepare them for residence abroad in their 3rd year.

By the end of this module, you will have had the opportunity to enhance your comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that you may encounter in German-speaking countries.

This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

This module aims to consolidate skills you have hopefully developed in the first year of study, and enable you to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise yourselves with the culture and society of countries where your studied language is spoken.

The module aims to enhance your proficiency in the writing of German (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into German; and the systematic study of German lexis, grammar and syntax.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

This module aims to consolidate skills you have hopefully developed in the first year of study, and gives you the opportunity to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise yourselves with the culture and society of countries where your studied language is spoken.

The module aims to enhance your proficiency in understanding spoken German, as well as in the writing of German (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into German; and the systematic study of German lexis, grammar and syntax.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

This module aims at exploring the nature of the relationship between the individual and society, notions of progress and economic justice, as these are still widely debated topics in contemporary Europe in light of the current economic and political crisis.

This module will use the concepts of utopia, dystopia and ideology as a forum for discussion on the relationship between individual imagination and social discourse in the nineteenth century, as well as the relationship between fiction and political discourse. You will look at the major intellectual debates which influenced the contemporary European thought after the French Revolution.

You will explore the development of major ideologies and cultural movements such as Romanticism, Marxism, Socialism and Positivism, spanning from the period immediately following the French Revolution to the middle of the nineteenth century.

This module is centred on the relationship between linguistic relativity and language use in intercultural communication. It regards all those phenomena where speakers of different ethnic groups (i.e. Chinese, British, French, German, Spanish) experience cultural, ideological as well as cognitive/semantic mismatches in context. The course offers a critical perspective and both qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis of situations where language specificity directly or indirectly determines interactional clashes, impolite behaviour or miscommunication.

As part of The International Placement Year you will normally spend at least eight months abroad in your third year. You will have the opportunity to:

• analyse the contemporary relevance of a tradition, contemporary social, political or economic issue, or a living part of the regional culture.
• reflect critically on cultural differences observed in everyday life such as social relationships, politics, attitudes to food, drink, religion, etc., explaining them in the context of various historical, social and cultural developments.
• think analytically about your intercultural position and understanding of the relevant culture(s).
• reflect on language use (different registers, varieties of pronunciation and accents, dialects, vocabulary and idiomatic expressions, and aspects of grammar) and the process of the acquisition of skills in the relevant language(s).

The module also aims to enhance and develop your language skills, with all assessments being written in the target language. If you have started a language as a beginner in year one you will spend a minimum of four months in a country where that language is spoken. If you are a joint honours student who is studying two languages, you may choose to spend the year in either of the two countries concerned or, if appropriate arrangements can be made, you can spend a semester in each country.

Lancaster University will make reasonable endeavours to place students at an approved overseas partner. Students conduct either a study placement at a partner University, a teaching assistantship placement with the British Council or an appropriate working placement with a vetted employer abroad or a combination of placements (please note that there are some restrictions on British Council placements which usually last for the whole of the academic year).

Joint honours degrees

If you are a joint honours student who is combining a language with a non-language subject, your placement year will provide the opportunity to develop your language skills and cultural awareness, but will not necessarily relate to the non-language aspect of your degree.

Lancaster University cannot accept responsibility for any financial aspects of your International Placement Year.

This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the corresponding Written Language module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency in spoken Italian in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

This module also aims at broadening your knowledge about different aspects of modern society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions.

By the end of this module, you have hopefully developed enhanced comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that you may encounter in Italy.

This module is integrated with the Italian Language: Oral Skills module.

The aim of this module is to enhance your knowledge of grammar and to develop their Italian language skills through translation and guided composition.

In first term you’ll develop English-Italian translation skills, learn to compare translations with original texts, and discuss the use of monolingual and bilingual dictionaries. You will also have the opportunity to improve your essay writing skills.

In second term you learn Italian to English translation in turn, and the emphasis is put on the reinforcement of guided composition.

This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

This module aims to consolidate you have hopefully developed in the first year of study, and enable you to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise yourselves with the culture and society of Italy.

The module aims to enhance your proficiency in understanding spoken Italian, as well as in the writing of Italian (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into Italian; and the systematic study of Italian lexis, grammar and syntax.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

This module is integrated with the Italian Language: Written Skills module.

Both the oral and the written language modules focus on particular topics of cultural and contemporary interest. The general aim of these modules is to develop further the abilities the students gained during their second year.

The topics studied in this module change every year to reflect current affairs in Italy. Materials are taken from a range of sources such as newspapers, magazines and videos.

The current issues are studied through discussion, debate, role play, and analysing written, visual and audio materials.

In this module, students learn how the language used by institutions shapes individual perceptions of identity. It aims to provide a basic theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between language and power as reflected in current language policies at regional, national, and supranational levels. It gives you the opportunity to recognise forms of prestige and stigma associated with varieties of the three main languages under study. We aim to raise critical awareness of the portrayal and representation of linguistic variations in the media and in the sphere of literature.

The main topics covered in the course include language and power; European language policies; German as a pluricentric language; regional variations of France: linguistic diversity and French national identity; the languages and language attitudes of Spain (Castilian Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Galician); language and power in the Sinophone world.

This module aims to provide students with a grasp of both the historical contexts for violences and masculinities as they are depicted in Spanish and Latin American films as well as an understanding of theoretical approaches, enabling rich analyses of such violences and evolving masculinities. The module seeks to pluralise violence so that it is understood by students in its many forms. It will also ensure students have the terminology to discuss relevant contexts and approaches in relation to specific films in a coherent and intellectually appropriate framework. Students are encouraged to observe and analyse structural violences in various forms in these films and to understand their relationship with such categories as hegemonic, complicit, marginalised and subordinate masculinities. The module will then typically question the 'invisible' nature of domestic violence, physical violence as a means (or not) of providing 'cheap shocks' and different aesthetic approaches towards the depiction of state violences.

As part of The International Placement Year you will spend some time abroad in your second year at a partner University where the department has Erasmus+ links. You will attend modules, and be examined at host institutions and if you are studying two languages you will be required to spend time in each country. You will have the opportunity to study a combination of language and culture modules on offer at the host institution, chosen with guidance from the International Placement Year Tutor in the language studied. Studying abroad gives you the opportunity to develop your language proficiency while deepening your intercultural sensitivity.

Lancaster University will make reasonable endeavours to place students at an approved overseas partner. Students conduct either a placement at a partner University where the department has Erasmus+ links. You will attend modules, sit examinations

Lancaster University cannot accept responsibility for any financial aspects of the International Study Placement Year.

During their International Placement Year, MLang students are required to write projects in the target language(s) on topics researched in their host country. Topic areas for the projects include: language, social structures and relationships, attitudes towards religion, the educational environment, working environment and employment issues, the (local/national) economy, national, regional and local politics, culture/art.

You will receive academic (and pastoral) support for developing the skills needed for writing this Project, starting in Year 1 and continuing in Year 2.

Ideas about modern manhood have had significant influence around the world since the ‘globalisation’ wrought by colonisation and imperialism in the nineteenth century.

This module focuses on the search for new icons of masculinity in a modernising China, introducing students to key discursive notions such as “Mr Science” and “Mr Democracy” in the Republican era; the worker-soldier-peasant triad in the Mao era; the peasant heroes of the immediate post-Mao years; and the “explosive” nouveau riche, white-collar, migrant worker, and “little fresh meat” masculinities of the market-infused postsocialist era. Students analyse how cultural products present and critique notions of Chinese masculinities. Material is considered for its significance in key debates about masculinities, and may include novels, short stories, essays, graphic posters, art, music, films, TV drama series and reality shows, online dramas, websites, as well as secondary literature from a range of academic disciplines.

Over the last century, Spain has experienced civil war, dictatorship, and a vertiginous transition to democracy. The magnitude and pace of change have fuelled a national preoccupation with identity as Spaniards struggle to make sense of their country’s recent past. Diverse interpretations of the tumultuous events that have shaped Spain since the 1930s have proliferated under the banner of memory, which has catapulted this contested past to the centre of public life. This module traces how the concern with memory emerged in Spanish literature in the aftermath of the civil war, initially as a counterpoint to the Franco regime’s endeavour to control public perceptions of the country’s social realities and recent past. Students will read a series of influential literary works published at key moments in the development of Spain’s memory culture, while exploring the socio-political context of a memory movement whose recent controversies show no signs of abating.

The aim of this module is to consider how poets have engaged with controversial aspects of modernity in their works. You will be given the opportunity to explore the relationship between literature and society in French poetry from Charles Baudelaire to Michel Houellebecq.

You will be given the opportunity to explore a selection of French poets’ responses to the rise of industrialisation, the development of mass-culture and the growth of cities, through a variety of themes. They will discover how poets have embraced, questioned and critiqued the temporality of modern life through literary experimentation.

The module will introduce the emergence of new forms of writings associated with the beginning of this period such as the prose poem, free-verse, the manifesto and aesthetic experiments mixing poetry and visual art in the early twentieth century.

This module seeks to support you to apply your linguistic and cultural understanding in a specific professional context. This module gives you the opportunity to spend time on a work-based placement in the UK or abroad. You will be given the opportunity to develop, reflect on and articulate both the range of competences and the linguistic and cross-cultural skills that enhance employability by working in language-related professional contexts and reflecting on key issues in relation to their placement organisation. There is the opportunity to join a local work placement developed by the department, or for you to source your own placements (subject to departmental approval). Workshops before and during the placement will provide preparation and guidance on sourcing, confirming and then reflecting on academic work. Students will share their experiences and learning with each other by means of end-of-module presentations.

This module is a non-credit bearing module. If you are a major student going abroad in your second or third year you are enrolled on it during the year prior to your departure, and timetabled to attend the events. These include: introduction to the International Placement Year and choice of activities; British Council English Language Assistantships and how to apply; introduction to partner universities and how they function; working in companies abroad; finance during the International Placement Year; research skills and questionnaire design; teaching abroad; curriculum writing and employability skills; and welfare and wellbeing.

The inception of Spain’s Second Republic (1931-39) revolutionised gender and sexual politics. Women’s social and political capital was inflected by state, radical, and reactionary discourses, as conceptions of womanhood and ‘femininity’ mediated ideological cleavages.

In the aftermath of the Nationalists’ victory in the Spanish Civil War(1936-1939), hundreds of thousands of women were incarcerated by the Francoist regime (1939-1975), targeted for their support for the political left, trade unions, anti-fascist activism and, too, for resisting hegemonic gender norms, through infidelity, lesbianism, clandestine abortions, or prostitution.

In Sex, Politics & the State, students will interrogate the sexual and gender politics of rebellion, revolt, and oppression in modern Spain, drawing on thematic areas that continue to resonate in present-day debates, including feminist politics, commercial sex, sexual(ised) abuses, political violence, and reproductive justice.

By focalising contemporary Spanish literature and film, students will interrogate how Spain’s tumultuous political landscape (1936-1975) manifests in popular culture, cultivating a firm grasp of the historical context and key theoretical frameworks, specifically in relation to sexuality, gender, trauma, victimhood, memory, and violence.

This modules focuses on the ‘must-know’ historical moments, political events and aesthetic movements that shaped Chinese and Sinophone cultures in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

You will hone your skills in cultural analysis via diverse media as we explored four topics:

• Revolutions and Reforms
• Dreams and Futures
• Walls and Spaces
• Identities and Relationships

During the module, you'll consider themes such as power, resistance, trauma, aspirations, wellbeing, urbanisation, the urban/rural divide, migration, individualisation, collectivisation, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, and family. Texts, films and art will be studied in historical and cultural contexts, with due regard to relevant global trends such as imperialism, colonialism, postcolonialism, democracy, neoliberalism and nationalism.

During your journey through moments and movements across two centuries of Chinese cultural history, you'll encounter some of the most radical thinkers, writers, filmmakers and creative artists that make the Chinese-language intellectual tradition so distinctive and fascinating. You'll discover a stimulating range of cultural forms and learn how to reflect critically on them as expressions of multi-faceted, nuanced societies.

This module is divided into four topic areas, usually this comprises of the following:

• Language and linguistic heritage- this topic covers the evolution of French language from a dialect to a national language, explains the relationship between written and spoken language, and shows language variety: argot, verlan and francophonie.
• Centralisation and Regionalisation- this topic aims to enhance students’ understanding of the French political system, gastronomy, agriculture, demographics, management of the territory and environment, and transport and communication.
• Space, Place and the Urban- this topic aims at explaining how the Situationists, Dadaists, Surrealists, Le Corbusier and Henri Lefebvre influenced urbanism.
• Education, Science, Technology and Innovation- this topic covers the development and the structure of contemporary education in the French Republic, and aims at expanding students’ knowledge about modernism and development of technology.

What has it meant to be German over the past two hundred years? This module provides students with awareness of the ‘must-know’ moments and movements that have shaped contemporary German-language culture, while developing skills in critical-textual analysis, including film, poetry, drama, and political writing. It takes you on a journey through moments and movements across two centuries of cultural history, encountering along the way a series of radical thinkers, writers, filmmakers and creative artists. The main aim of the module is twofold: to build students' reading knowledge of German while giving them a flavour of the rich cultural output that has defined the modern German-speaking realm.

This core module typically covers broad themes related to the history and culture of the Hispanophone world, including power, resistance, repression, war, dictatorship, democracy, religion and memory. Literary texts, and typically other visual or archival materials including testimonies, are studied to open up alternative avenues towards traditional fields of study in Hispanism (empire and colonialism, nineteenth-century nation-building, revolution, dictatorship, Francoism, regionalism, neo-liberalism, and capitalist and anti-capitalist globalisation.) In the process, students are encouraged to interrogate the meanings and implications of key terms, typically including ‘decoloniality’, ‘revolution’, ‘rebellion’, ‘republic’, ‘empire’, ‘terror’ and ‘mysticism’. Students will have the opportunity to examine and debate in class close readings of cultural texts which themselves question the assumptions underpinning these terms, emerging with a broader, more analytical and critically-aware approach to issues in the Spanish-speaking world.

The question at the heart of Sinophone Studies is “What is Chineseness in the modern world?” This question has played out in different fashions across the various Sinophone cultures.

Sinophone cultural production offers crucial counterpoints to the depictions of Chinese identity in mainland Chinese, Han-centric creative works. Drawing from the work of scholars in the nascent field of Sinophone studies, this course understands Sinophone cultures as existing in the “minority nationalities” of China; in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and other locations in the East Asian “Sinosphere”; and in the significant Sinitic-language immigrant populations of the Americas, Australasia, and elsewhere. It recognises Sinophone cultural production as multilingual and multi-ethnic.

This module introduces key Sinophone literary works and films including novels, short stories, and films. Discussion focuses on the diverse ways in which Chineseness is imagined, negotiated, or resisted in these works, and the alternative cultural identities that they put forward.

This module covers Mexican political history and committed writing since 1968. You will be presented with several important and politically defining events in Mexican contemporary history: the student movement of 1968, the guerrilla movements and the guerra sucia of the 1970s, the emergence of civil society after the earthquake of 1985, the Zapatista Uprising in 1994, and the Oaxaca Uprising in 2006.

These movements and events are explored through lectures on the political context of each movement, and through a combination of fictional and non-fictional texts from a variety of genres, such as testimonial literature, the documentary novel, and communiqués. You will be analysing texts written by the most important contemporary Mexican writers and public intellectuals such as Paco Ignacio Taibo II, Elena Poniatowska, Carlos Monsivais, Carlos Montemayor, and the Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos.

This module is taught in English and all texts are available in English

How do films deal with topics such as immigration, environment, the posthuman and gender? Do they entertain viewers, instruct them, or both?

This module explores European, Latin American, and Chinese films in their social and historical contexts; the topics mentioned are the focus of key lectures and seminars. The module begins with introductory lectures on cinema and society and on film aesthetics and content. The main aim is to make connections between the films and such contexts, not only on the level of narrative, characterisation and dialogue, but also on that of form and technique.

This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the Written Skills module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year.

This module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency in spoken Spanish in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

This module also aims at broadening students’ knowledge about different aspects of modern society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions in order to prepare them for residence abroad in their 3rd year.

By the end of this module, you will have had the opportunity to enhance your comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that you may encounter in Spanish-speaking countries.

This module is integrated with the Spanish Language: Written Skills module.

The general aim of these modules is to significantly enhance and enrich the oral and written abilities you gained during your second year and your year abroad.

By the end of this module, we hope you will have developed an informed interest in the society and culture of the Spanish-speaking world.

This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the corresponding Written Language module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency in spoken Spanish in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

This module also aims at broadening your knowledge about different aspects of modern society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions.

By the end of this module, you have hopefully developed enhanced comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that you may encounter in Spanish-speaking countries.

This module is integrated with the Spanish Language: Oral Skills module.

This module has two main aims. The first one is to enhance your linguistic proficiency with emphasis on understanding of spoken and written Spanish, the speaking of Spanish (prepared and spontaneous) in both formal and informal settings, the writing of Spanish, and the systematic study of Spanish lexis, grammar and syntax. The second aim is to increase your awareness, knowledge and understanding of contemporary Spain.

By the end of this module, we hope you will have developed an informed interest in the society and culture of the Hispanic world.

This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

This module aims to consolidate you have hopefully developed in the first year of study, and enable you to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise yourselves with the culture and society of Spanish-speaking countries.

The module aims to enhance your proficiency in understanding spoken Spanish, as well as in the writing of Spanish (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into Spanish; and the systematic study of Spanish lexis, grammar, and syntax.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

This module aims to consolidate skills you have hopefully developed in the first year of study, and enable them to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise yourself with the culture and society of Spanish-speaking countries.

The module aims to enhance your proficiency in the writing of Spanish (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into Spanish; and the systematic study of Spanish lexis, grammar and syntax.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

DELC338 Spirits in the Material World: Cultures and Sciences

This module lives in the space between the here-and-now and a future made possible by science. You’ll explore perceptions of science across different languages and cultures, from Asia to Europe to the Americas, and explore relationships between the spiritual and the material.

You’ll look at some intriguing questions about science and the twenty-first century human condition such as: Where is AI taking humanity and are we already robots? Are science fiction writers a form of contemporary shaman? What possibilities do modern medical advances offer for transformative queer and trans healthcare?

You’ll find out about differing views on these and other topics from a wide range of source materials, such as speculative fiction, graphic novels, film, philosophical essays, and online talks. Themes typically cover Spirit and Matter, Speculative Fiction, The Post-Human, Philosophy, Art and Neuroscience, Biomedicine and the Hospital.

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This module explores cultural and theoretical approaches to queerness and LGBTQIA+ lives, identities, and politics across diverse linguistic and cultural contexts. It includes texts and artworks by philosophers, writers, filmmakers, and artists from the LGBTQIA+ community around the globe, asking how different queer voices and cultures have approached questions such as: What does it mean to be queer or LGBTQIA+ today? How are human experiences of gender, sexuality, and queer identity conceptualised and expressed? How do queer people stand up against oppression and violence, and how have they in the past? And: what might queer tomorrows look like? How do LGBTQIA+ people and communities imagine the future? The module explores key theoretical approaches in queer theory, and gender and sexuality studies, typically spanning cutting-edge fields such as queer environmentalism, postcolonial queer studies, transgender studies, intersex studies, and the queer medical humanities.

This module maps diverse concepts and contexts in French and Francophone philosophy and thought, from the 20^th century to today. We explore both how philosophy has transformed (and is still) in French and Francophone contexts and, simultaneously, how philosophy is itself transformative. We ask questions such as: What are ‘philosophy’ and ‘thinking’, and in what ways do they transform? How have French and Francophone philosophers approached diverse issues and contexts, from gender and sexuality; to racism; to (post)colonialism; to the body, mind, and brain; to neuroscience, biomedical science, and healthcare? And: how does philosophy interact with other disciplines—such as medicine, neuroscience, or technology—to bring about transformations in the world?

What makes a good translation and how do translations do good? This module aims to help you understand the practice of translation as it has evolved historically from the 18th century to the present across European and American societies. The materials we study include historical textual sources as well as contemporary documents. Our aim is to look at translation as both a functional process for getting text in one language accurately into another and a culturally-inflected process that varies in its status and purpose from one context to another. We will pay particular attention to the practical role that literary translators play within the contemporary global publishing industry and consider the practicalities of following a career in literary translation in the Anglophone world.

This module covers key debates on how television shows are consumed both nationally and transnationally, the appeal of crime dramas, cultural translation, and in particular the concept of domestication. Theoretical frameworks are applied to examples from television series produced in languages that are taught to degree level at Lancaster and are available in English via dubbing or subtitling. Selected case studies are devoted to the exploration of a particular theme. Typically, such themes may include aspects such as the sympathetic perpetrator, setting, local colour and exoticism, gender, race and ethnicity.

This module aims to give you a background to and insight into the diversity of twentieth and twenty-first century thought and contemporary definitions of culture.

Some key questions explored on the module include: What is 'culture' and how does it work? How do 'art' and 'culture' relate to each other? What do we mean when we talk about the production and consumption of culture? Why does popular culture arouse conflicting responses? What role does the body play in our understanding of culture? How does culture define who we are? Can a work of culture be an act of resistance?

With these questions in mind, this module focuses on texts which raise questions about class, race, gender, and subcultures.

The module encourages intercultural dialogue between students from different backgrounds and specifically welcomes Visiting and International students.