| Academic Unit: |
Department of Core Academics – Core Program |
| Mode of Delivery: |
Face to face |
| Prerequisites: |
None |
| Language of Instruction: |
English |
| Level of Course Unit: |
Undergraduate |
| Course Coordinator: |
- - |
| Course Objectives: |
• Introduce fundamental concepts and recurring themes within crime fiction.
• Expand your understanding of the history of crime, criminology, and the socio-political factors contributing to violence, all within the context of crime fiction.
• Provide insight into how culture reflects and addresses contemporary social, political, economic, and cultural challenges of a given society at a specific point in time. |
| Course Contents: |
Crime Fiction is an introductory course that delves into the captivating genre with roots dating back to the mid-1800s. From Edgar Allan Poe's Auguste Dupin to the zenith of popularity achieved by Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, this course traces the evolution of crime fiction throughout the 20th century. Hard-boiled detectives of the noir world in the 1930s, the social realism of Scandinavian fiction, tales of espionage during the Cold War, post-modern appropriations of the genre such as The Name of the Rose and The Big Lebowski are some of the examples. We will also explore the currently rising trend of true crime and serial killers on TV and streaming services.
Throughout the semester, we will engage in a critical examination of the role played by social, political, and cultural contexts in the creation of crime fiction narratives. |
| Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit (LO): |
- 1- will learn the basic concepts and discussions about crime, culture, and society
- 2- will be able to identify the periods and figures in the history of modern crime fiction
- 3- will have a general sense of the social, political, economic, and ideological developments and their impact on culture from the late 19th century up to present
- 4- will have the capacity to employ critical and comparative thinking methods to analyze, evaluate, and situate works of crime fiction in their historical, geographical, and ideological contexts
- 5- will be able to participate actively in discussions about law, violence, and crime
- 6- will be able to state and support their own views on social and cultural issues in clear, logical, and concise writing;
|
| Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods: |
Lectures & Writing-Discussion Sessions ● 60-90 min. of lectures per week ● 90 min of discussion and group work per week Reading, Writing, and Presentation Sessions ● Synchronous reading and writing tasks completed both individually and in groups ● 1. Topic presentations, 2. Final project first draft, 3. Peer review, 4. Project report, 5. Final Project |
| Week | Subjects | Related Preperation |
| 1 |
Orientation, syllabus overview and introduction |
|
| 2 |
The Emergence of Crime Fiction: Edgar Allan Poe |
Reading/listening/watching the assigned materials, preparing for the discussions and presentations activity |
| 3 |
The Myth of Sherlock Holmes: Arthur Conan Doyle |
Reading/listening/watching the assigned materials, preparing for the discussions and presentations activity |
| 4 |
Golden Age of Crime Fiction: Agatha Christie |
Reading/listening/watching the assigned materials, preparing for the discussions and presentations activity |
| 5 |
Crime Fiction in Interwar Period: Hard-Boiled Detectives |
Reading/listening/watching the assigned materials, preparing for the discussions and presentations activity |
| 6 |
Cold War and the Rise of Spy Fiction: From Fleming to Le Carré |
Reading/listening/watching the assigned materials, preparing for the discussions and presentations activity |
| 7 |
Conspiracy and Crime Fiction: Hitchcock and Others |
Reading/listening/watching the assigned materials, preparing for the discussions and presentations activity |
| 8 |
Crime Fiction as Social Commentary: Scandinavian School |
Reading/listening/watching the assigned materials, preparing for the discussions and presentations activity |
| 9 |
Technology Panic: From Videodrome to Robocop |
Reading/listening/watching the assigned materials, preparing for the discussions and presentations activity |
| 10 |
The End of History: Postmodern Crime Fiction |
Reading/listening/watching the assigned materials, preparing for the discussions and presentations activity |
| 11 |
End of the End of History: Crime and Terror |
Reading/listening/watching the assigned materials, preparing for the discussions and presentations activity |
| 12 |
True Crime and Other Subgenres in Streaming |
Reading/listening/watching the assigned materials, preparing for the discussions and presentations activity |
| 13 |
Presentations 1 |
Preparing for the in-class presentations |
| 14 |
Presentations 2 |
Preparing for the in-class presentations |
At Kadir Has University, a Semester is 14 weeks; The weeks 15 and 16 are reserved for final exams.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES (LO) AND PROGRAM QUALIFICATIONS (PQ)
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PQ1 |
PQ2 |
PQ3 |
PQ4 |
PQ5 |
PQ6 |
PQ7 |
PQ8 |
PQ9 |
| LO1 |
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| LO2 |
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| LO3 |
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| LO4 |
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| LO5 |
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| LO6 |
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Contribution: 1 Low, 2 Average, 3 High
