Course: American drama

» List of faculties » FF » KAA
Course title American drama
Course code KAA/MADR
Organizational form of instruction Seminar
Level of course Master
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 4
Language of instruction English
Status of course Compulsory-optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Course availability The course is available to visiting students
Lecturer(s)
  • Kalavská Petra, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
Realism and modernism in American drama: 1910-1930 (Susan Glaspell, Eugene O´Neill, Elmer Rice) The political turn and Agit-Prop in American drama: 1930-1945 (Clifford Odets) Post-war and Cold War contexts: American drama in the late 1940s and the 1950s (Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Lorraine Hansberry) Fragmented drama in a fragmented society: 1960-1990 (Edward Albee, LeRoi Jones, James Baldwin) Drama of American Masculinity (David Mamet, Sam Sheppard) The AIDS crisis (Tony Kushner)

Learning activities and teaching methods
Monologic (reading, lecture, briefing), Dialogic (discussion, interview, brainstorming), Work with text (with textbook, with book), Stimulating activities (simulation, games, drama)
  • Home preparation for classes - 56 hours per semester
  • Data/material collection - 10 hours per semester
  • Excursion - 5 hours per semester
  • Preparation for a credit (assessment) - 15 hours per semester
  • Contact teaching - 26 hours per semester
Learning outcomes
Through analysing canonical and lesser-known plays, the course will examine the trends in American drama of the twentieth century. Particular attention will be given to seminal plays of the period, e.g. Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, Buried Child and Angels in America, and to their reception. The discussion will mostly follow a chronological order and will concentrate on theoretical approaches to drama. Students will be encouraged to attend the theatre during the winter semester and see a performance of a play by an American, British, or Irish playwright.
Students will develop their communicative competence, competence of literary and cultural analysis and intercultural competence.
Prerequisites
none

Assessment methods and criteria
Discussion, Presentation

The students will be required to study all the reading assignments prior to each seminar and participate actively in the discussion. During the term the students will be expected to go to the theatre, to watch a play by an American/British playwright and report shortly on it in the seminar. The participants will also perform a part of a chosen play.
Recommended literature
  • Bigsby, Christopher. Modern American Drama: 1945-2000. Cambridge. 2000.
  • LAUTER, P. The Heath Anthology of American Literature.. D.C. Heath Lexington, 1990.
  • RULAND, R.; BRADBURY, M. Od puritanismu k postmodernismu. Praha. 1997.
  • Watt, Stephen, and Gary A. Richardson. American Drama: Colonial to Contemporary. Cambridge, Mass. 2003.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester