Programme structure
Year 1
Modules you will take in Term 1 are Foundations and Shakespeare and the History of Ideas. Foundations provides an introduction to modes of reading and critical analysis broadly informed by an attention to questions of history and genre. Shakespeare and the History of Ideas is an introduction to the philosophy of language and literature as it has been practiced through history, using specific examples from Shakespeare such as Hamlet and Measure for Measure.
In Term 2 you will take modules Reinventions and Critical Theory. Reinventions follows on from Foundations and covers writers from the mid-eighteenth century to the present, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charlotte Brontë, William Golding, and Margaret Atwood. Critical Theory is an introduction to modern and contemporary critical theory, and combines careful study of original essays with ways of reading a range of work.
Alongside these there will be a mandatory course in Academic Literacies running in Terms 1 and 2.
Year 2
This year offers an in-depth exploration of the themes and literary trends initially encountered in year one. Expert tutors lead each period-based module, and students have the opportunity to discuss literature in its cultural and historical context. Authors studied in the past at this level include: John Milton, John Donne, Alexander Pope, Emily Brontë, Charles Dickens, Margaret Atwood and Arundhati Roy.
Year 3
For your dissertation, you will carry out a piece of research under the supervision of a member of English department staff.
