English BA (Hons)

This module will offer students an opportunity to gain valuable interdisciplinary skills by analysing the way stories are used in history, fictional and creative literature, philosophy, and theology. Through a consideration of some of the most pertinent narratives relative to the contemporary world, such as stories around empire and decolonization, technology, nationalism, and the environment, students will have an opportunity to think about how stories have been told through history, literature, and theology, and how they shape understanding, create meaning, and foster shared community.

This module will develop your ability to think critically. It introduces you to the notion of critical theory, and considers how a range of critical frames can be employed in reading, writing, performance and reflection, including feminism, psychoanalysis, Marxism, postmodernism and intersectionality. The module will use current issue-based topics to develop your critical thinking. It will link these topics to a range of contemporary texts, practices and communication strategies, drawing from fiction and non-fiction, oral, media, film and performance-based sources. You will learn how to read complex texts.

This module will extend the work done in Semester 1. You will continue to study how to analyse and critique text using a range of examples that build on the breadth and depth of subject knowledge covered in the first semester. You will explore the ideas of specific thinkers who have been influential in literary and linguistic studies (e.g., Roland Barthes, Judith Butler, Rita Felski). You will explore how to write in original, fluent, and accurate ways. There will be a focus on how to use writing as thinking to develop ideas as well as strategies to make writing pleasurable and/or efficient. The module will explore writing as a craft: e.g what good writing looks like, writing to deadlines, writing creatively, and writing for different audiences and purposes. In the second part of the module, you will be working on redrafting and editing alongside your tutor and peers to produce your final written piece.

In this module you will explore a range of strategies used in English studies to analyse a variety of written, visual, digital, and spoken texts. You will learn methods and approaches for analysis and critique these in terms of their effectiveness, limitations, and biases. Strategies will range from close reading to contextual readings which consider the nature of the text, who is addressing whom, where and when the text is located, how the text achieves its effects, and why it was written (after Pope, 2012, p. 85-86).

You will consider how Arts and Humanities projects can engender change, to highlight social issues and injustice, and promote social justice. The module will be themed around current affairs that highlight, for example, citizenship and belonging; prejudice; cultural dissent; or taboos. It may consider local, national or global issues. You will explore good practice in terms of diversity, inclusion and ethical considerations within Arts and Humanities projects.

In this module you will look at the public face of ‘English’ and its social and cultural value. The module will cover the ways in which English is used in public language (for example, written and oral; such a political speech or news media); the power of language (for example, language for protest or the use of censorship); private uses of English (for example, reading groups, bibliotherapy). You will explore how the critical nature of ‘English’ studies is socially useful as it enhances and complicates social debates around important issues. For example, the provisional nature of truth, the construction of knowledge, or the ways that narratives, discourse and language shape understanding, or how gender, race, sexuality and other forms of social hierarchy and discrimination reinforce one another in defining status and power. The module will also start you thinking about the careers that might follow from taking an English degree (such as Teaching, Lexicography, Editing, Creative Writing). You will also learn techniques for making presentations to support your professional development.

This module gives you the opportunity to reflect on the impact of technology on the Arts and Humanities, including how it shapes our ideas of how to live a good life. You will explore key themes such as consent, accountability, surveillance, and the attention economy, while examining the opportunities for creativity, transformation and reinvention that arise from digital technologies, as well as the potential for diversity, accessibility and inclusion.

In practical terms, you will start to build on your current digital skills and practices, explore ways of using digital technologies to develop and support your own learning.

The social, historical and cultural contexts of texts will be the focus of this module. It may include topics such as: the rise of the novel; challenges to canonical literature; transitions between literary periods; transcultural writing; neo-literary forms; how language changes and why; the relationship between language, discourse and social norms, and the development and impact of new communicative forms such as the digital. In this module you will also learn how to structure and write a long, continuous piece of work.

This module will focus on the practical application of English knowledge and skills in the workplace. Students will be encouraged to take leading roles in the delivery of the module through student-led sessions, sandpit activities, group guided study, reading groups, and/or sharing practice.

In this final year module, you will be thinking about the future in a variety of ways, including the future of English as a discipline as well as how the subject deals with questions and imaginings of the future. You may explore speculative fiction (including opportunities to undertake some creative writing); the development of the English language as a Global medium of communication; the posthuman and posthumanities; the most current critical developments in English (for example, ecocriticism, raciolinguistics, queer linguistics, future studies or decolonization).

The independent project allows you to undertake a sustained piece of independent research into a topic of your own choosing. This might be a text-based study, an empirical study where you collect data, a work-based research project, or practice-based work with evaluation. This is a capstone module which serves as a culminating piece of work, drawing on all your studies. Whatever you choose to do, your project should show a grounding in current research and establish clear lines of original enquiry.

At the beginning of the module a series of workshops will help you revise and develop the research skills you will need to complete your project successfully. You will also be supported by an individual supervisor in one-to-one tutorials.

In this module you will prepare for your independent project. You will explore the nature of a ‘capstone’ project and how to develop a project that reflects your learning and your post-graduation goals (e.g., further study, career). You will develop advanced research skills that will enable you to successfully propose a relevant and focused proposal for your independent project. One-to-one tutorials will be part of the delivery of this module to support you in developing your own project.