Module UXS-3025:
Stanley Kubrick: Auteur

Module Facts

Run by School of Languages, Literatures, Linguistics and Media

20.000 Credits or 10.000 ECTS Credits

Semester 1

Organiser: Prof Nathan Abrams

Overall aims and purpose

  1. Knowledge of key issues of the life and work of Stanley Kubrick as they appear in his films.

  2. To introduce students to a range of texts produced by one of the key film directors of the twentieth century.

  3. To interrogate issues of science, technology, violence, history, race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality and war in the work of one film director.

Course content

The enigmatic Stanley Kubrick was one of the most well-known filmmakers of the twentieth century. Although not prolific, his work was widely admired both by critics and mass audiences. Kubrick's films also provide a prism through which we can view the major events of the twentieth century including World War One, the Holocaust, the Cold War and the Vietnam War. In doing so, his films provide an opportunity to explore the key themes of science, technology, history, race, violence, gender, ethnicity, sexuality and war. Teaching is by means of a two-hour seminar per week. In addition, students are required to organise small-group viewing of designated films per week.

Assessment Criteria

threshold

Submitted work is adequate and shows an acceptable level of competence as follows:

  • Generally accurate but with omissions and errors.
  • Assertions are made without clear supporting evidence or reasoning.
  • Has structure but is lacking in clarity and therefore relies on the reader to make links and assumptions.
  • Draws on a relatively narrow range of material.

good

Good (50%+)

Submitted work is competent throughout and occasionally distinguished by superior style, approach and choice of supporting materials. It demonstrates:

  • Good structure and logically developed arguments.
  • At least in parts draws on material that has been sourced and assessed as a result of independent study, or in a way unique to the student.
  • Assertions are, in the main, backed by evidence and sound reasoning.
  • Accuracy and presentation in an appropriate academic style.

Very Good (60%+)

Submitted work is competent throughout and distinguished by superior style, approach and choice of supporting materials. It demonstrates:

  • Very good structure and logically developed arguments.
  • Draws on material that has been sourced and assessed as a result of independent study, or in a way unique to the student.
  • Assertions are backed by evidence and sound reasoning.
  • Accuracy and presentation in an appropriate academic style.

excellent

Submitted work is of an outstanding quality and excellent in one or more of the following ways:

  • Has originality of exposition with the student's own thinking being readily apparent.
  • Provides clear evidence of extensive and relevant independent study.
  • Arguments are laid down with clarity and provide the reader with successive stages of consideration to reach conclusions.

Learning outcomes

  1. Identify the key issues and conflicts with which Stanley Kubrick was concerned;

  2. Discuss the treatment of these issues in Kubrick's films;

  3. The ability to relate filmic texts to a historical context;

  4. Comment appropriately on the relationship between film and other issues (science, technology, history, violence, race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality and war) in the work of Stanley Kubrick;

  5. Read a film text, deploying the appropriate critical language

  6. The ability to digest, select and organise material and produce a consistent and coherent argument presented in essay-form to a deadline.

Assessment Methods

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Hours
Seminar

1 seminar of 2 hours duration per week

22
 

1 screening of 2-3 hours (depending on the film) duration per week

33
Private study 145

Transferable skills

  • Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media
  • Self-Management - Able to work unsupervised in an efficient, punctual and structured manner. To examine the outcomes of tasks and events, and judge levels of quality and importance
  • Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
  • Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
  • Inter-personal - Able to question, actively listen, examine given answers and interact sensitevely with others
  • Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.
  • Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.
  • Teamwork - Able to constructively cooperate with others on a common task, and/or be part of a day-to-day working team
  • Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting
  • Self-awareness & Reflectivity - Having an awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, aims and objectives. Able to regularly review, evaluate and reflect upon the performance of yourself and others

Courses including this module

Optional in courses: