How does the course teach students the methods required for sensitive and critical cultural analysis, such as the informed reading of texts, artifacts, and social institutions? The reading materials of this course usually consist of two parts: the primary texts and the secondary literature. Through the first category, the students learn how to handle the primary sources while using close-reading as an efficient method to make sense of the text. Through the second category, they become informed about the conditions in which the literary texts were produced or the theories with which they could evaluate the primary sources. The goal is for them to handle both sets of material with critical and independent thinking. This will usually address in in-class discussions.