BA PHILOSOPHY AND ENGLISH LITERATURE

Title:

Genre and Context

Code:

EN1GC

Convenor:

DR Chloe Houston

Summary:

This module is designed to provide knowledge and understanding of two formative pairings of historical moment and genre: the Renaissance stage and the Victorian novel. In the first term, students will study four Renaissance plays, with an emphasis on drama as a distinct genre with its own particular conventions, and with attention to key aspects of the Renaissance stage, from playing spaces to the use of stage props. In the second term students will study three major Victorian novels, engaging with contextual issues of urbanisation, gender, sexuality and identity. In both cases, students will be encouraged to analyse literature in relation to genre and context and will gain an understanding of their intersections at particular historical moments.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Research and Criticism

Code:

EN1RC

Convenor:

DR Stephen Thomson

Summary:

This module provides a secure foundation in both the practical skills and theoretical literacy needed for the degree-level study of literature. It combines advanced training in reading, research, and academic writing with an introduction to debates around the core concepts of ‘reader’, ‘author’, and ‘text’. The set texts – a selection of short stories and literary essays from across the world – invite students to reflect on the complexities of these critical terms and to become more independent and more questioning as readers. A series of online screencasts equip students with subject-specific skills such as writing a critical precis and plot summary as well as general academic good practice like referencing and incorporating quotations.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Poetry in English

Code:

EN1PE

Convenor:

DR Matthew Scott

Summary:

This module provides students with training in skills of close reading that are foundational to the study of English Literature, as well as an overview of the history of poetry in English. Students will be introduced to major movements and ideas in key periods from the early Renaissance up to the present; and to a range of genres including love poetry, political poetry, pastoral, elegy, satire, the sonnet, the ode, and the dramatic monologue. Poems studied later in the course will be drawn from the wider English-speaking world, including Ireland, the Caribbean and North America, and will include a diversity of voices.

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Reason and Argument

Code:

PP1RA

Convenor:

DR Jumbly Grindrod

Summary:

This module enhances students’ ability to understand and construct complex arguments through the study of logic and the psychology of human reasoning. Reading: A module guide will be available. Recommended: Jamie Carlin Watson and Robert Arp, Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Reasoning Well, 2nd edition, Bloomsbury, 2015.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 90%, Class test 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Globalization and Language

Code:

LS1GL

Convenor:

DR Tony Capstick

Summary:

In this module students will explore the role of language in globalization. They will examine the reasons for the spread of languages around the globe historically and in the future (especially in the context of political developments such as Brexit, and the increasing importance of World languages such as English). They will also explore debates about linguistic imperialism and the political dimensions of language use and language policies. Finally, they will explore the effects of technology and migration on the linguistic situation in Latin America, New Zealand and the Middle East, including how urban centers are becoming increasingly multilingual and ‘superdiverse’, and the political and social consequences of this. Teaching is drawn from across the School of Literature and Language.

Assessment Method:

Set exercise 10%, Project 90%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Law & Society

Code:

LW1SOC

Convenor:

MRS Amanda Millmore

Summary:

This exciting and challenging course offers students a chance to consider the ‘big picture’ of how the law has developed, and its role in every facet of society. Students will learn that the law is not just a matter of arcane rules and procedure, rather it often reflects a nation wrestling with its conscience. From the abolition of the slave trade, to the recent Supreme Court decision on joint enterprise, the law changes and develops at a rapid pace. This course will also consider the new challenges in the law posed by the rising use of social media, and how the law has impacted upon the changing role of women in society.

Students will have the opportunity to develop their presentation and research skills and to work in small groups as part of their assessment. The course will be engaging, challenging and encourage student participation through a range of hands-on activities.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 50%, Oral 30%, Report 20%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Introduction to Linguistics

Code:

ML1IL

Convenor:

DR Federico Faloppa

Summary:

This module aims to familiarise students with principles in general linguistics, and to give students an overall picture of what a language is, how it works, and what its main structures are, with a particular focus on French, German, Italian and Spanish. It will also provide useful meta-linguistic competence which can be applied to the study of any other language.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 40%, Oral 20%, Set exercise 40%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Greats of European Cinema

Code:

ML1GEC

Convenor:

PROF Julia Waters

Summary:

The aim of this module is to provide students with an understanding of the ways in which European Cinema – and the various national cinemas that comprise it – reflects the changing political, social and cultural climate of the twentieth century. The course is designed to introduce students to key features of film analysis and to develop their ability to apply them to the films studied.

Assessment Method:

Exam 55%, Set exercise 45%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Revolutions in Human Behaviour: 4 Million Years BC to the Present [10 credits]

Code:

AR1REV10

Convenor:

DR Aleks Pluskowski

Summary:

This module investigates the development of human society in the long-term, from our earliest hominin ancestors (c. 4 million years ago) through to the present day. We will look at key revolutions that have affected human behaviour in the long-term. Key themes include: human evolution, the development of complex societies, the spread of Christianity and Islam, the industrial revolution, and 20th century world wars. The module is taught by lectures.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Revolutions in Human Behaviour: 4 Million Years BC to the Present

Code:

AR1REV

Convenor:

DR Aleks Pluskowski

Summary:

This module investigates the development of human society in the long-term, from our earliest hominin ancestors (c. 4 million years ago) through to the present day. We will look at key revolutions that have affected human behaviour in the long-term. Key themes include: human evolution, the development of complex societies, the spread of Christianity and Islam, the industrial revolution, and 20th century world wars. The module is taught by lectures, seminars and has a field trip.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Early Empires: Mesopotamia, Egypt & Rome

Code:

AR1EMP

Convenor:

PROF Roger Matthews

Summary:

This module introduces the archaeology and historical context of the world’s early empires, dating from 2500 BC to AD 395. We focus on the great empires of ancient Mesopotamia (Akkad, Babylonia and Assyria), Egypt, the Persian Achaemenid Empire and the Roman Empire. We will review other imperial entities of the world, including examples from China and the Far East, and the Americas. We will examine special themes relevant to the topic of empires, including ideology, imperial cult, trade, urbanisation, warfare, agriculture and the everyday lives of imperial subjects. You will study the rise and fall of some of the greatest, and the most fearsome, socio-political entities to have existed on our planet.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 70%, Practical 10%, Report 20%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Introduction to Management

Code:

AP1SB1

Convenor:

DR Yiorgos Gadanakis

Summary:

This module provides a contemporary and comprehensive introduction to management science and its relevance to businesses. Interactive in-class activities and the use of online apps will help you learn techniques for inspiring teamwork in an organisation context, discover the importance of strategic management design for achieving an organisation's goals, and understand the roles of the manager and the responsibilities this carries. You will also have a range of opportunities to gain hands-on practising decision making through case studies. Furthermore, develop your leadership skills to motivate and guide a team towards the achievement of an organisation’s objectives.  

Assessment Method:

Class test 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Modernisms & Mythologies

Code:

FA1MM

Convenor:

DR James Hellings

Summary:

This module will provide a broad, introductory survey of key developments in the history, theory and criticism of art during the modern period. Its starting point will be theories of the development of modernity and its social, political and economic components, and the ways in which modern art functions in and on its historical contexts. It will continue to look at the retrospective modernist critical and theoretical accounts of modern art's development.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Twentieth-Century American Literature

Code:

EN1TCL

Convenor:

PROF David Brauner

Summary:

Summary module description: Twentieth-Century American Literature presents students with a challenging range of work, bringing together canonical texts with the less familiar; engaging with work by white and African-American writers; and covering a number of genres and sub-genres, from poetry, the short story and drama, to crime fiction. Students will develop their skills in the close reading of literary texts; they will acquire and demonstrate an ability to respond to shifts in modes, styles, and preoccupations across the period; they will learn about and begin to debate ideas of cultural, ethnic, class and racial difference in relation to the US national identities.

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Persuasive Writing

Code:

EN1PW

Convenor:

DR Mary Morrissey

Summary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE3lKNVIqhk

This module develops students’ ability to write in a range of non-fictional genres of writing, such as letters, reports, reviews, newspaper and journal articles and online material, all of which have in common their practical purpose. We will concentrate on the composition of short pieces of writing in these forms while introducing students to themes associated with the study of formal rhetoric. We will engage with the long-running debate about the role of language in persuasion, for good or ill.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 65%, Report 35%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

The Economics of Climate Change

Code:

EC110

Convenor:

DR Stefania Lovo

Summary:

The module will offer an economic perspective on the causes and consequences of climate change. It will provide an introduction to key theoretical concepts, such as externalities and public goods, and to the policy tools available to devise adequate responses to climate change, such as command and control measures, taxation and subsidies. The module will also introduce national and international policy approaches in dealing with climate change and provide an overview of their implications for economic development.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 60%, Class test 40%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Economy, Politics and Culture in the Roman World

Code:

EC118

Convenor:

PROF Ken Dark

Summary:

Understanding the Roman world with reference to its relevance to studies of long-term political, cultural and economic change and to contemporary societies and economies.

Assessment Method:

Exam 80%, Assignment 20%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

The Science of Climate Change

Code:

MT1CC

Convenor:

PROF Nigel Arnell

Summary:

This module provides an introduction to the science of climate change, aimed at students who do not necessarily have a scientific background.

Assessment Method:

Exam 70%, Assignment 30%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

British Society

Code:

PO1BRI

Convenor:

DR Dawn Clarke

Summary:

The module draws on theories and approaches from Politics, Sociology, Psychology, History and Philosophy to consider some of the main contours of contemporary British Society. The module will explore a number of images of Britain including: Britain as a Welfare State, Multicultural Britain and Britain as a Class Society. It will also explore crime and deviance in Britain, the role of the mass media and the increasing power of the food industry. 

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Introduction to Political Ideas

Code:

PO1IPI

Convenor:

DR Rob Jubb

Summary:

An introduction to political theory, covering central topics like the state and its authority, democracy, rights and liberty, equality and social justice, and war and intervention, as well as some of the basic methods for understanding them all. 

Assessment Method:

Exam 60%, Assignment 40%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Freedom

Code:

PO1FRE

Convenor:

DR Rob Jubb

Summary:

This module provides an inter-disciplinary approach to the subject of freedom, with contributions from four different departments of the University: Classics, Law, Philosophy, and Politics. Students will explore a range of different perspectives on the idea of freedom, and will examine the different ways in which freedom is valued and regulated in a variety of settings. Students will work both individually and within groups to prepare their assignments, and there are a variety of written and oral assessments.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 30%, Oral 40%, Report 30%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Inequality

Code:

PO1INE

Convenor:

DR Jonathan Golub

Summary:

Inequality is everywhere around us: different individuals earn different salaries, people of different genders and backgrounds have access to different economic opportunities, and those at the top of the income distribution have radically distinct life chances than those at the bottom. What explains rising inequality, is it fair and what are the consequences? Should anything be done to reduce inequality, and if so, what?This course aims to answer these questions by providing students with the analytical tools and knowledge to understand and explain the evolution of earnings, racial and gender inequality over time and its variation across developed countries. It also considers the economic, normative and political implications of different forms of inequality, in particular gender and racial inequality. Is inequality at the top of the income distribution (i.e. the 1% v. the rest of us) the inevitable outcome of a well-functioning market system or does it suggest problems in the way our democracy work? Does inequality undermine democracy for instance by affecting political participation or increasing the appeal of non-liberal populist parties? Take the course and you will find out more about these fascinating questions and more!

Assessment Method:

Assignment 40%, Oral 10%, Project 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Elementary Logic

Code:

PP1EL

Convenor:

DR Severin Schroeder

Summary:

Arguments are the foundation of most philosophy. This module will teach you to explore in rigorous, mathematical terms why some arguments provide absolute support for their conclusions, and others do not. This module will thus provide essential formal ‘heavy machinery’ for reading and writing original philosophical papers in later parts of the degree course.Reading: Required readings will be posted online. Recommended:The open-source, online textbook ‘forall x’:http://www.fecundity.com/logic/Wilfrid Hodges, ‘Logic’, Penguin 2001

Assessment Method:

Set exercise 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Global Justice

Code:

PP1GJ

Convenor:

DR Shalini Sinha

Summary:

Global traditions of thought from the Buddha and Confucius to Simone Weil, Michel Foucault, Frantz Fanon, Martin Luther King Jr., and African and Native American thinkers have advocated ideas of justice that extend far beyond contemporary conceptions. This course is about looking at the idea of justice in ways that transform how we approach injustice and freedom in the contemporary world.

Some of the claims we will examine include: Justice is freedom from suffering!  Revolutionary violence is cathartic, it is a necessary means of emancipation! Political freedom begins with mental training! We belong to nature; nature has rights! Gender and sexual freedom require the dissolution of bodily identity!  Truth lies in pleasure! Epistemic justice is based in love! Only Confucian harmony can integrate a plural society! 

Assessment Method:

Assignment 70%, Oral 20%, Class test 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

The Meaning of Life

Code:

PP1ML

Convenor:

DR Luke Elson

Summary:

What is the meaning of life? This is perhaps the most important philosophical question we can ask. What is the answer? Indeed, what is the question really asking? In this module, we seek the answers. Along the way, we will consider a series of fascinating questions which promise to enlighten our understanding of ourselves and our place in the world. What makes life worth living? Is there no reason to fear death? Could life in artificial reality be better or more fulfilling than life in the real world? This module investigates diverse philosophical answers to these questions, as well as drawing from fields such as Health care, Psychology, and biology. 

Reading:

Required readings will be posted online.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 70%, Oral 20%, Class test 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Mental Machines

Code:

PP1MM

Convenor:

DR Nat Hansen

Summary:

This module investigates the interface between philosophy, cognitive science, and computer science. We will look at the hypothesis that the human mind is a computational system, as assumed by most contemporary work in cognitive science. We will ask: if the human mind is a computer, what kind of computer is it? Is it a classical computer, operating on structured representations in line with semi-logical rules of inference? Or is it more akin to contemporary ‘Deep Learning’ systems, trained on Big Data? We will consider substantial problems that arise for both such views, based on tasks that humans perform relatively easily, but on which computers are, as of yet, unable to perform successfully.

We will read the works of philosophers such as Ned Block, Dan Dennett, and Jerry Fodor, as well as scientists like Pedro Domingos and Gary Marcus.

Reading:



Required readings will be posted online.



Recommended:

Tim Crane, The Mechanical Mind, Routledge 2003.

Hubert Dreyfus, What Computers Still Can't Do, MIT Press 1992.

John Searle, 'Minds, brains, and programs’. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3: 417-457, 1980

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Radical Philosophy

Code:

PP1RP

Convenor:

PROF Maximilian De Gaynesford

Summary:

From Plato and Marx to contemporaries like Judith Butler, Slavoj Zizek, Catharine MacKinnon and Giorgio Agamben, there is a long tradition of radicalism in philosophy. This course is about how radical philosophy can usefully question our deepest assumptions and challenge our deepest beliefs. Poets should be outlawed from our society! We can secure knowledge by doubting everything! Capitalism will be destroyed by the very forces it creates! It is not possible for us to live authentically! Gender is a social performance! We can never access the subjectivity of those we investigate! Pornography silences women! We are not responsible for migrants and other fringe groups of society who lack full access to citizenship! We must tolerate hate speech! Torture is permissible in extreme circumstances, e.g. post 9/11! We cannot hope for a perfectly reconciled and harmonious society! These are some of the claims this course investigates philosophically.Reading:Required readings will be posted online.Recommended:Thomas Nagel, Mortal Questions, Cambridge University Press, 2012

Assessment Method:

Assignment 70%, Oral 20%, Class test 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

The Right and the Good

Code:

PP1RG

Convenor:

PROF Philip Stratton-Lake

Summary:

In this module we will go through the arguments and positions of W. D. Ross’s The Right and the Good. This will involve a close reading of Ross’s seminal book to get clear on what Ross’s view was, and how defensible it is. This will cover areas such as first order normative theory, moral epistemology, and moral realism. We will assess his methodology, the historical context of the book, and its philosophical reception. 

Reading:
The Right and the Good. By W. D. Ross.


Required readings will be posted online.

Recommended:
Thomas Hurka, British Ethical Theorists From Sidgwick to Ewing

Robert Audi, Moral Knowledge and Ethical Character.
Robert Audi, The Good in the Right
Tim Crane, The Mechanical Mind, Routledge 2003.
Brad Hoooker, “Ross-Style Pluralism Versus Rule-Consequentialism”. Mind, Vol. 105, No. 420 (Oct., 1996), pp. 531-552

Philip Stratton-Lake, ‘Introduction’ to Ethical Intuitionism: Re-Evaluations.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Writing the Philosophical Essay

Code:

PP1WRI

Convenor:

PROF Maximilian De Gaynesford

Summary:

This module will provide students with the skills necessary to craft clear, well-structured, and persuasive academic writing that effectively communicates complex ideas. Reading:Required readings will be posted online. Recommended: Harry Frankfurt, “On Bullshit” (available online)

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Literature, Language and Education

Code:

LS2LLE

Convenor:

MRS Suzanne Portch

Summary:

This module aims to provide students with an opportunity to apply their existing degree-based knowledge and learning and extend it within their chosen specialisation. 

Assessment Method:

Assignment 45%, Oral 10%, Report 45%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

The Business of Books

Code:

EN2BB

Convenor:

DR Nicola Wilson

Summary:

This module will develop and enhance students’ knowledge and understanding of the book as a technology and provide the critical skills with which to consider the history and future of its form. Through a combination of theoretical, methodological and hands-on teaching sessions and workshops, we will study the role and function of books in selected places, historical periods, and institutional contexts, including the library, the book shop, the publishing house, and the board room.

Assessment Method:

Oral 20%, Portfolio 30%, Project 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Contemporary Fiction

Code:

EN2CF

Convenor:

PROF Bryan Cheyette

Summary:

This module will provide the opportunity to study a selection of fiction in English from the 1980s to the present day. It will highlight the formal, thematic and cultural diversity of Anglophone fiction produced in this period. Students will encounter a range of authors, including but not limited to African-American, Irish-American, Anglo-Indian, Anglo-Japanese, Canadian-Trinidadian, black British and Nigerian – though the use of such identity categories will be subject to critical scrutiny.Texts will be studied in and against a number of social, political and historical contexts, including multiculturalism, feminism and globalisation. The module will also engage with many of the key critical/theoretical paradigms of the past four decades, such as post-colonialism, post-modernism, transnationalism and intersectionality.

Assessment Method:

Exam 67%, Assignment 33%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Critical Issues

Code:

EN2CRI

Convenor:

DR Madeleine Davies

Summary:

Critical Theory is the philosophy of literary study and this module opens up theoretical ideas connected with language, ideology, ‘structure’, sex and gender, and race. In addition to the range of theoretical arguments discussed, a literary text (George Orwell’s Nineteen-Eighty-Four) is used throughout the module to consider how the ideas can be used to read text and enhance critical analysis.

Seminars discuss the ideas raised in the lectures and use them in relation to Orwell’s novel; debates include what language is and how it creates meaning; how literature may be understood within ‘structures’ and conversely how structures may conceal invested frameworks; how ideology is transmitted, circulated and absorbed ; how race has been constructed via discourses of power; how the postmodern troubles previous faith in concepts such as ‘the real’, ‘truth’, ‘logic’ and ‘reason’. Seminar debate is lively on this module and the ideas we discuss can challenge prior beliefs as well as attitudes towards text and meaning (‘what it says depends on how you look at it: nevertheless, how you look at it depends on what it says’). This module informs all subsequent work at Part 2 and at Part 3 level and is particularly helpful to dissertation work.

The essays used on the module are available on Blackboard. Students are also given weekly ‘seminar preparation’ notes to help guide their reading and their preparation for seminar debate.

Students who are keen to extend their skills in critical thinking, and who are ready to challenge their own ideas and beliefs, will find this module extremely rewarding.

Assessment Method:

Portfolio 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Chaucer and Medieval Narrative

Code:

EN2CMN

Convenor:

DR Aisling Byrne

Summary:

Sometimes called the 'father of English literature', Geoffrey Chaucer (d. 1400) is one of the great innovators in English literary history. In this module we will explore his most famous work, The Canterbury Tales. This is a story collection of enormous variety, featuring everything from vulgar comedies to moral fables and from biting satires to narratives of tragic love. Each week we will explore a different text from The Canterbury Tales and delve into some of Chaucer's key themes, such as love, religion, gender, class, chivalry and magic. The module will also introduce some of the major literary and intellectual influences upon Chaucer's work and set his narratives alongside comparable texts from the period.

Assessment Method:

Exam 67%, Assignment 33%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Introduction to Old English Literature

Code:

EN2OEL

Convenor:

DR Aisling Byrne

Summary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl0T_Gz-KWI&t=8s

This module introduces students to the period of English literature that is often the most unfamiliar: the Old English or Anglo-Saxon period (c.7th-11th century). Old English literature is richly rewarding, not just because it has been an important influence on many twentieth-century writers (most famousl, J.R.R. Tolkien), but because its literary techniques and themes (female heroes, battles with Vikings, dragons, voyages of exile) are different to much later English literature. This module allows students to explore the literature of a time when England was part of the culture of the North.

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Lyric Voices 1340-1650

Code:

EN2LV

Convenor:

DR Mary Morrissey

Summary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkBJYjk4hqM&t=2s

This module explores the development of lyric poetry from anonymous medieval songs, the complex courtly verse inspired by French and Italian fashions, to the great variety of lyric poems written by men and women in the seventeenth century.  It will examine the construction of lyric personae and their characteristic voices, including the lover, the sinner, the courtier, and the social commentator.  Attention is given to the varied contexts in which lyric poetry appeared, and to the emergence of modern ideas of authorship.  Seminars will be grouped around such topics as: love; religious experience; audiences and authorship; social satire.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 33%, Project 67%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Modernism in Poetry and Fiction

Code:

EN2MOD

Convenor:

DR Mark Nixon

Summary:

This module examines the concepts of modernity and modernism, and relates them to the history of early twentieth-century poetry and fiction. Experimentation and innovation in poetic and narrative form are explored as responses to wider social upheaval and cultural movements.

Assessment Method:

Exam 67%, Assignment 33%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Writing, Gender, Identity

Code:

EN2WGI

Convenor:

DR Yasmine Shamma

Summary:

This module introduces students to a range of texts and critical approaches which address the relationship between writing and identity. Set texts cover a broad chronological sweep and include letters, novels, short stories and autobiographical works. We explore questions around the constructions of gender, sexuality, race and class in the set texts and more broadly. We discuss and debate assumptions embedded in the texts and our own assumptions as readers of these texts. We explore the power dynamics at play in a text and consider the implications. Lectures provide a contextual framing for the set texts and begin to open out critical questions around writing and identity; seminars are focussed on detailed analysis of the set texts and the recommended secondary reading.

Assessment Method:

Exam 67%, Assignment 33%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Writing America

Code:

EN2WA

Convenor:

DR Sue Walsh

Summary:

The module is concerned with literary constructions of American identity in American literature, focusing on some of the ways in which imaginative writers have perceived and defined the New World in relation to the Old and helped to shape or contest the nation's sense of cultural distinctiveness. The module will examine both the diversity of American voices and the emergence of common preoccupations, including myths of the frontier, Manifest Destiny, personal and political liberty, and the the construction of race, gender and sexuality.

Assessment Method:

Exam 67%, Assignment 33%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Victorian Literature

Code:

EN2VIC

Convenor:

DR Lucy Bending

Summary:

The Victorian era is one of great diversity and tension. It is a period when authors began to think about man's place in a world without God; about the workings of the mind; and the role of class and gender in the construction of identity. This module will engage with these, nd other ideas, looking at some of the greatest works of Victorian literature. The module will include novels (Charlotte Bronte's Villette, and Hardy's Return of the Native), poetry (Tennyson's In Memoriam, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese) journalism (Thackeray's 'Going to See a Man Hanged'), short stories (Daughters of Decadence edited by Elaine Showalter) and plays (Wilde's A Woman of No Importance).  The module offers a broad and exciting sweep of different modes of writing, drawing on some well-known and canonical texts, and some texts that are less frequently studied in an attempt to understand what mattered to the Victorians.

Assessment Method:

Exam 67%, Assignment 33%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Shakespeare

Code:

EN2SH

Convenor:

DR Lucinda Becker

Summary:

The module is organised chronologically in order to focus attention on different stages, genres, and periods of Shakespeare’s career as a dramatist, and begins with a lecture on the contexts of Shakespeare’s theatre, including political and social influences. Close study of at least seven plays, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard II, Measure for Measure, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and The Tempest, will encourage students to explore aspects of tradition and innovation in Shakespeare’s use of theatrical modes. The module will allow students to integrate a knowledge of the intellectual, cultural and stage history of the period into their study of the texts.

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Renaissance Texts and Cultures

Code:

EN2RTC

Convenor:

PROF Michelle O'Callaghan

Summary:

Renaissance Texts and Cultures is a module in which students explore the ways that English literature was shaped by, and helped to re-shape, English culture in the years between the Reformation and the Civil Wars. It provides students with a training in historicist literary criticism, that is, the critical approach that stresses the interconnectedness between literary texts and the cultural and political processes current at the time when the texts were first written and made public.

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Restoration to Revolution: 1660-1789

Code:

EN2RER

Convenor:

DR Rebecca Bullard

Summary:

This module surveys the literature and culture of the period 1660 to 1789, which is sometimes known as the 'long eighteenth century'. It explores the development of two of this period's most distinctive literary genres: satire and the novel. It considers how and why writers turned to these genres to express new and emerging ideas in the cultural sphere. Students on this module will investigate all or some of the following themes and ideas: the rise of science and the concept of Enlightenment; the birth of political parties and the partisan public sphere; slavery, human rights, and empire; the city and the country; gender and sexuality; the emergence of Gothic literature; the significance of the classical past.

Assessment Method:

Exam 67%, Assignment 33%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

The Romantic Period

Code:

EN2RP

Convenor:

DR Matthew Scott

Summary:

The module will provide a broad introduction to the varied literary culture of the Romantic period in Britain by examining a diverse group of texts written between 1750 and 1850.

Assessment Method:

Exam 67%, Assignment 33%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Ethical Argument 2: Philosophy and How to Live

Code:

PP2EA2

Convenor:

DR Luke Elson

Summary:

This module introduces students to longstanding methods, issues and arguments in moral philosophy.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Ethical Argument 1: Philosophy and How to Live

Code:

PP2EA1

Convenor:

DR Luke Elson

Summary:

This module introduces students to longstanding methods, issues and arguments in moral philosophy.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 90%, Oral 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Global Philosophy 2

Code:

PP2GP2

Convenor:

DR Shalini Sinha

Summary:

This module introduces key thinkers and issues in global and feminist philosophy. Some of the claims we will examine include: Gender is an illusion, male and female ‘sex’ attributes are social constructions!  Race categories are racist, they should be abolished! Persons are ‘processes’; self and identity are conceptual impositions that mask our true nature! The ethics of action lies in intention, not impact! Self-immolation is an ethical form of political protest! Gandhi and Islamist suicide bombing share an ethics of sacrificial dying! Debt is founded on violence! We should undertake dying with full awareness, by meditative fasting! Bare awareness continues in sleep and death!

We will engage in philosophical conversations with (i) contemporary feminist and race theorists such as Judith Butler, Sally Haslanger and Naomi Zack on performativist,  constructionist and essentialist approaches to gender and race; (ii) Buddhist philosophers on the metaphysics of self and identity, and the ethics of action; (iii) Jaina philosophers on the omnipresence of life, the hierarchy of beings, and moral action; (iv) Buddhist, Gandhian and Islamist perspectives on sacrificial dying and the ethics of political action; (v) David Graeber on the nature and origins of debt and money; (vi) Jaina conceptions of meditative dying, and contemporary perspectives on suicide and euthanasia; (vii) Indian and Chinese philosophers on consciousness in waking, dreaming, sleep, and death.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Global Philosophy 1

Code:

PP2GP1

Convenor:

DR Shalini Sinha

Summary:

This module introduces key thinkers and issues in global and feminist philosophy. Some of the claims we will examine include: Gender is an illusion, male and female ‘sex’ attributes are social constructions!  Race categories are racist, they should be abolished! Persons are ‘processes’; self and identity are conceptual impositions that mask our true nature! The ethics of action lies in intention, not impact! Self-immolation is an ethical form of political protest! Gandhi and Islamist suicide bombing share an ethics of sacrificial dying! Debt is founded on violence! We should undertake dying with full awareness, by meditative fasting! Bare awareness continues in sleep and death!

We will engage in philosophical conversations with (i) contemporary feminist and race theorists such as Judith Butler, Sally Haslanger and Naomi Zack on performativist,  constructionist and essentialist approaches to gender and race; (ii) Buddhist philosophers on the metaphysics of self and identity, and the ethics of action; (iii) Jaina philosophers on the omnipresence of life, the hierarchy of beings, and moral action; (iv) Buddhist, Gandhian and Islamist perspectives on sacrificial dying and the ethics of political action; (v) David Graeber on the nature and origins of debt and money; (vi) Jaina conceptions of meditative dying, and contemporary perspectives on suicide and euthanasia; (vii) Indian and Chinese philosophers on consciousness in waking, dreaming, sleep, and death.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 90%, Oral 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Hume, Kant, and Wittgenstein 1

Code:

PP2HKW1

Convenor:

DR Severin Schroeder

Summary:

This module introduces students to the ideas of three great philosophers: David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, focussing especially on their respective conceptions of philosophy.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 90%, Oral 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Meaning and the Mind 2

Code:

PP2MM2

Convenor:

DR Jumbly Grindrod

Summary:

This module introduces students to core philosophical issues about meaning and the mind, and to central connections between these issues. How could there be minds in a physical world? Are states of consciousness physical states? How do our thoughts and words come to represent the world around us? These questions are intimately related. The capacity to represent the world is a central, problematic feature of the mind. Moreover, to assess what minds are, we must pay careful attention to what our words for mental states mean, and to how they come to mean what they do. We will investigate these questions by reading and discussing recent work in the philosophy of mind and language, by authors such as David Chalmers, Hilary Putnam and John Searle, as well as classic texts by authors such as Gottlob Frege and Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Oppression, Inequality, and the Enemies of Democracy 1

Code:

PP2OID1

Convenor:

MR George Mason

Summary:

In this module you will consider the question: how should we be governed? The module will introduce you to key philosophical arguments concerning the meaning and value of freedom, equality and democracy. You will study both their defenders and their detractors.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 90%, Oral 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Meaning and the Mind 1

Code:

PP2MM1

Convenor:

DR Jumbly Grindrod

Summary:

This module introduces students to core philosophical issues about meaning and the mind, and to central connections between these issues. How could there be minds in a physical world? Are states of consciousness physical states? How do our thoughts and words come to represent the world around us? These questions are intimately related. The capacity to represent the world is a central, problematic feature of the mind. Moreover, to assess what minds are, we must pay careful attention to what our words for mental states mean, and to how they come to mean what they do. We will investigate these questions by reading and discussing recent work in the philosophy of mind and language, by authors such as David Chalmers, Hilary Putnam and John Searle, as well as classic texts by authors such as Gottlob Frege and Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 90%, Oral 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Hume, Kant, and Wittgenstein 2

Code:

PP2HKW2

Convenor:

DR Severin Schroeder

Summary:

This module introduces students to the ideas of three great philosophers: David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, focussing especially on their respective conceptions of philosophy.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Ignorance, Doubt, and Relativism 1

Code:

PP2IDR1

Convenor:

DR Jumbly Grindrod

Summary:

This module introduces students to a core area of philosophy – epistemology (the theory of knowledge), makes them familiar with key stances on the extent and nature of human knowledge (scepticism, empiricism, relativism, etc.), and requires them to evaluate such stances and find their place on the epistemological map.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 90%, Oral 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Ignorance, Doubt, and Relativism 2

Code:

PP2IDR2

Convenor:

DR Jumbly Grindrod

Summary:

This module introduces students to a core area of philosophy – epistemology (the theory of knowledge), makes them familiar with key stances on the extent and nature of human knowledge (scepticism, empiricism, relativism, etc.), and requires them to evaluate such stances and find their place on the epistemological map.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Oppression, Inequality, and the Enemies of Democracy 2

Code:

PP2OID2

Convenor:

DR Charlotte Newey

Summary:

In this module you will consider the question: how should we be governed? The course will introduce you to key philosophical arguments concerning the meaning and value of freedom, equality and democracy. You will study both their defenders and their detractors.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Publishing Cultures: Writers, Publics, Archives

Code:

EN3PC

Convenor:

DR Nicola Wilson

Summary:

How are texts made and literary reputations formed? What are the roles of collaboration, networks, and cross-media practices in making and distributing modern literature? This research-led module explores how print culture and the literary marketplace affects the way we read and understand texts. It is rooted in the first half of the twentieth century when debates about class, standards of reading and literary taste were hot topics, and new forms of literary cultures emerged. We will explore debates on modernism and the middlebrow, the role of publishers and editors, new book clubs and magazines, radio, celebrity, censorship, and advertising. Through a mixture of critical reading and practice-based workshops, you will be introduced to new ways of thinking about primary texts and can use digital archives and Reading’s unique Special Collections and publisher’s archives to produce your own research-based coursework.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 40%, Project 40%, Report 20%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Psychoanalysis and Text

Code:

EN3PSY

Convenor:

PROF Karin Lesnik-Oberstein

Summary:

This module introduces and explores relationships between psychoanalysis and literary criticism, concentrating not on psychoanalysis as ‘applied’ to literature, but, instead, on thinking through the implications of psychoanalysis for literary criticism and theory. On the basis of readings from Sigmund Freud the students are introduced to central concepts from and about psychoanalysis, primarily the psychoanalytic ‘unconscious’, and then continue by examining the implications of this for ideas about authorship and intentionality, readership and response, and text and interpretation. After the initial readings from Freud, each group selects both primary and secondary literature to analyse closely.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

From Romance to Fantasy

Code:

EN3RF

Convenor:

DR Mary Morrissey

Summary:

On this module, students will explore the role played by fantastical or wondrous elements in English literature from the middle ages to the present day. It will focus on a range of key narrative structures (such as the quest), persistent motifs such as magical objects, and influential modes, such as the gothic. It will present authors typically associated with fantasy, such as J.R.R. Tolkien, alongside authors less typically associated with this type of writing, such as Shakespeare and Jane Austen. It will also consider how romance narratives, like the stories of King Arthur, developed in the medieval period and were then revived and reworked in later centuries. It will explore the reinvention of the middle ages in subsequent centuries and consider what ‘medievalism’ tells us about the culture of later literary periods.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Utopia and Dystopia in English and American Literature

Code:

EN3UTD

Convenor:

DR Chloe Houston

Summary:

Utopia is our way of thinking about the nature and possibility of an ideal society. The word ‘utopia’, coined by Thomas More in 1516, suggests both ‘good place’ (from the Greek, ‘eu-topos’) and ‘no place’ (‘ou-topos’): a place which is both ideal and non-existent. This module will introduce the idea of utopia from its earliest manifestations in western literature up to the present day. Reading a range of texts from different genres and periods of history, we will explore the development of utopian literature from its philosophical, satirical origins in the sixteenth century to the ecological utopias of the late twentieth century and beyond. Along the way, we will encounter the notion of dystopia, a literary tradition which has a shorter but equally rich history, and will question the ways in which utopias and dystopias are inter-related.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 80%, Oral 20%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Shakespeare on Film

Code:

EN3SHF

Convenor:

DR Lucinda Becker

Summary:

Filmic adaptation of Shakespeare is a major component of the ‘Shakespeare Industry’. This module explores how the medium of film has treated Shakespeare, with a focus on how the written text can be used in depictions, interpretations and adaptations, and how film making techniques affect our perception of Shakespeare’s works. Alongside consideration of how plays have been interpreted on screen we will also consider key actors and directors, tracing changes and developments in both cinema and the ways early modern drama has been interpreted and appropriated by filmmakers in the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries. Throughout we will work with an awareness of Shakespeare as a cultural icon.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 80%, Oral 20%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

The Bloody Stage: Revenge and Death in Renaissance Drama

Code:

EN3TBS

Convenor:

DR Chloe Houston

Summary:

This module explores the representation of revenge and death across a range of revenge tragedies performed on the Renaissance stage. The Renaissance is a period when bodies were mutilated and put on public display by the state. We will explore what spectacles of punishment can tell us about wider cultures of retribution and violence, including the tensions between private revenge and state justice. Since bodies in death are surprisingly articulate, this module will consider how to analyse the staging of death scenes and whether there are differences in the ways that men and women die on stage. These highly stylised revenge tragedies are deliberately provocative and raise important questions about the aesthetics and ethics of violence.

Assessment Method:

Exam 40%, Assignment 60%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury

Code:

EN3VW

Convenor:

DR Madeleine Davies

Summary:

Virginia Woolf is a crucial reference point for women’s writing and feminist criticism.  This module provides students with knowledge and understanding of selected novels and essays by Virginia Woolf, and explores key issues including her challenges to concepts of boundaries, hierarchies, sex, sexuality and difference, and her attention to debates concerning the social, political, cultural and economic marginalisation of women in the early years of the Twentieth Century. The module emphasises Woolf’s novels, but seminars are also devoted to her critical essays and ‘political’ writing. Discussion of ‘Bloomsbury’ ethics and art weaves throughout the module. The debates included in the module connect with pacifism, the writing of the city, psychoanalysis, the challenge to heteronormativity, the body, and the tension between female creativity and procreativity.

Assessment Method:

Portfolio 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Writing Women: Nineteenth Century Poetry

Code:

EN3WWP

Convenor:

DR Lucy Bending

Summary:

This module will explore writing primarily by (but also about) women in the nineteenth century. We will read some well-known and influential poems –Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh, for example – as well as some by less well-known names, discussing the ways in which women responded to poetic tradition. We will ask how women found a voice in a predominantly patriarchal society; what subjects were deemed suitable for female poets, and how such poets overcame the limitations of expectation; how different verse forms could be used to different ends. Above all, the aim is to enjoy a wide-range of poems with women at their centre.

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Medieval Otherworlds

Code:

EN3MO

Convenor:

DR Aisling Byrne

Summary:

Magic and the supernatural play an important role in medieval English literature. In this module we will explore literary accounts of a range of fantastical locations where the ‘other’ is encountered in a particularly dramatic fashion. We will discuss romances where questing knights arrive in uncanny fairy kingdoms or where King Arthur travels to Avalon. We will analyse travel accounts which populate the fringes of the world with marvels and strange beings. In some narratives, heroes test themselves in hellish landscapes or search for paradise on earth. In other texts, sleepers confront the surreal world of their own dreams. Although depictions of these places can be sensational or escapist, authors also use them to explore very serious themes such as desire, death, gender and political authority.

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Margaret Atwood

Code:

EN3MAT

Convenor:

DR Madeleine Davies

Summary:

Margaret Atwood is Canada's most influential contemporary writer. Atwood consistently engages with issues of power ('who can do what to whom and get away with it') and her work connects with a range of contemporary debates including ecological, feminist, and ideological discourses. On this module we discuss dystopia, speculative fiction, the uncanny, ideology, postmodernity and questions of language and narration, engaging with the texts via close analysis and critical/theoretical readings of the texts. The novel explores Atwood's novels (The Edible Woman, The Handmaid's Tale, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and The Testaments) but her poetry and critical essays are discussed as appropriate. Students will demonstrate their engagement with the module in a summative Portfolio assessment which will be submitted by or on the final day of the term in which the module is taught (see below for assessment details). There is no exam on this module.

Assessment Method:

Portfolio 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Creative Writing Masterclass: Prose

Code:

EN3MPS

Convenor:

MS Shelley Harris

Summary:

This module will deepen student writers’ understanding of narrative techniques and sharpen their prose. Using a range of short stories, narrative non-fiction and novel extracts as a springboard, students will advance their knowledge of issues such as structure, characterisation, dialogue and prose quality. At the same time, they will put theory into practice by writing, editing and submitting to competitions and publications.
Learning takes place in a weekly two-hour workshop and one hour peer group, where students support each other’s work with constructive feedback. Where possible, we will invite guest writers and industry experts into the workshops, to share their know-how. This module is delivered at the University of Reading.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 30%, Portfolio 60%, Project 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Creative Writing Masterclass: Poetry

Code:

EN3MPY

Convenor:

DR Conor Carville

Summary:

This module will enable students to develop and design a short collection of poems, or a sequence or series of poems, or one longer poem, with a view to submitting a selection or extract to a print or online poetry magazine. Weekly workshops will introduce original exercises to allow students to generate material and hone technique. Attention will be paid to the elaboration of style and voice, as well as the balance between consistency and variety of theme and premise across the collection. Workshops will also facilitate group discussion of student work. Close consideration will be given to issues of address and audience, as well as the nature and scope of the poetry being written and published today, with particular focus on emerging voices and subject-matter.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 30%, Portfolio 60%, Project 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Nigerian Prose Literature: From Achebe to Adichie

Code:

EN3NL

Convenor:

DR Sue Walsh

Summary:

This module will introduce students to modern Nigerian literature in English, and to the debates that marked its inception such as Achebe’s controversial attack on Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Nigerian writers’ responses to Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s call to African writers to cease writing in English, the language of the colonisers. The module will also engage with critical debates about the claims of the oral roots of Nigerian literature and their implications, will address Nigerian interventions in feminist criticism and will also interrogate the construction of Nigerian national identity through analysis of number of texts centred around the representation of the 1967 civil war.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 80%, Set exercise 20%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Placing Jane Austen

Code:

EN3PA

Convenor:

DR Paddy Bullard

Summary:

Jane Austen once compared her art to that of the miniaturist: each of her novels, she wrote, was like a ‘little bit (two Inches wide) of Ivory on which I work with so fine a Brush, as produces little effect after much labour’. But the relatively small scale of her writing in terms of setting – its tendency to domestic portraits and family groupings – belies the expansiveness and mobility of her imagination. Austen had a vivid sense of the wider world in which she lived. Her meticulously realised interiors are set carefully within larger landscapes, and both are full of social, economic and aesthetic meaning. Her characters move between great houses and ordinary cottages, between city and suburb, between old agricultural estates and newly landscaped parklands, between familiar parishes and fashionable tourist destinations. Austen scholars have also explored wider backgrounds to her fiction: the ocean journeys of her naval officer relatives (and their equivalents in her novels); the colonial slave plantations that paid for those stately country homes. This module investigates Austen’s sense of space and place. It examines the movements of her characters through rooms and houses, the patterns of their dances in assembly halls, the paths of their journeys through town and country. It investigates how these movements sometimes represent changes of heart or class, of mind or fortune. It shows how they are always significant for the carefully drawn lines of her narratives.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 50%, Portfolio 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Dissertation

Code:

EN3DIS

Convenor:

DR Neil Cocks

Summary:

The Dissertation is a substantial (8,000-word) work of literary-critical argument, based on sustained independent research under the guidance of a supervisor, and written and presented in a scholarly manner. Prior to completing the dissertation students who take this module submit a 2,000-word portfolio of supporting documents, including: a literary review or bibliographical exercise; a sample of dissertation-level work; and a reflective piece, discussing rationales and research questions for the project. The module offers students the opportunity to explore in depth topics of particular interest, and to develop skills accumulated during their first two years of study.

Assessment Method:

Dissertation 80%, Portfolio 20%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Dickens

Code:

EN3DIC

Convenor:

PROF Andrew Mangham

Summary:

An opportunity for the detailed and intensive study of the work of Charles Dickens, based on the close analysis of four works and exploring Dickens's innovations and developments of the novel form in his historical and cultural contexts.

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

The Eighteenth-Century Novel: Sex and Sensibility

Code:

EN3ECN

Convenor:

DR Rebecca Bullard

Summary:

The novel as we know it today was born during the eighteenth century. From the first, novels display an intense fascination with the human body, constructions of gender and sexuality, and the physical and emotional responses of readers to the words on the page. But why are eighteenth-century novelists so interested in sex and - to use a key word of the period - sensibility? What different kinds of response do they elicit from their readers? And how can contemporary and recent ideas about the body, gender, authorship and reading help us to interpret these innovative literary texts? 

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Holocaust Testimony: Memory, Trauma and Representation

Code:

EN3HT

Convenor:

PROF Bryan Cheyette

Summary:

The module introduces students to the most important works of Holocaust Testimony and, by reading these books critically, will develop an awareness of theoretical issues concerning the relationship between trauma, memory and narrative, and the connection, more generally, between literary and historical forms of narrative. The module will examine both the diversity of Holocaust Testimony and the emergence of common preoccupations among these writers, alongside the different narrative forms and socio-historical contexts in which they work.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Children's Literature

Code:

EN3CL

Convenor:

PROF Karin Lesnik-Oberstein

Summary:

This module examines issues around children’s literature and children’s literature criticism and questions wide-spread popular assumptions about how to read and write about children’s literature. Students who do not wish actually to challenge and develop their own thinking, reading and writing about children and children’s books should not, therefore, take this module! Through in seminars closely analysing a range of children’s literature from the twentieth century and later, the module questions and analyses critical assumptions and formulations around authorship, memory, observation, readership, and identity. Some of the texts will be set by the module convenor whilst further texts may be chosen by the seminar group. 

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Contemporary American Fiction

Code:

EN3CF

Convenor:

PROF David Brauner

Summary:

The module is concerned with American fiction published in the last two decades of the twentieth century and first decade of the twenty-first, focusing on some of the ways in which contemporary American novelists deconstruct and reconstruct traditional ideas of what the novel can and should be and do. Exploring key terms such as realism, postmodernism, metafiction and irony, the module will examine both the diversity of contemporary American voices and the emergence of common preoccupations among these writers, alongside the different socio-historical contexts in which they work.

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Decadence and Degeneration: Literature of the 1880s and 1890s

Code:

EN3DD

Convenor:

DR Lucy Bending

Summary:

This module engages with some of the most iconic texts in English literature, including Stoker’s Dracula, Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde, and Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. In it we will explore what is meant by these terms ‘decadence’ and ‘degeneration’, calling, amongst many other things, on portrayals of 1890s’ foppishness, Darwinian models of evolution, the emergent New Woman phenomenon, the Wilde trial, and the portrayal of prostitution. This module is very interested in contextual material as a way of understanding literary texts, and we will be looking at a wealth of magazine articles and medical and scientific texts as a way of recognizing the depth and complexity of literary works.

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Black British Fiction

Code:

EN3BBF

Convenor:

DR Cato Marks

Summary:

This module examines a range of British texts (poetry, drama, novels, short stories, films) by writers of black and Asian descent. Beginning with the 1950s and progressing to the present day, we discuss what might constitute the (black) British literary tradition. The module reads its set texts alongside theoretical and historical material examining issues of cultural capital, national identity and minority communities. Documentary footage, blogs, and contemporary reportage will also be examined in order to trace the pressures that the terms ‘black’ and ‘British’ have exerted on each other in a variety of historical, social, and cultural contexts.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 50%, Portfolio 50%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Philosophy of Law

Code:

PP3LA

Convenor:

MR George Mason

Summary:

This module will introduce students to basic issues in the philosophy of law, including the nature of crime and punishment.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Happy, Good and Meaningful Lives

Code:

PP3HGML

Convenor:

PROF Philip Stratton-Lake

Summary:

Happiness and well-being are not only important from the agent’s point of view, but are essential to many moral debates. In this module we will analyse the key notions of happiness, a good life, and a meaningful life to gain a better understanding of each. We will also consider various views on what things make for a happy life, a good life, and a meaningful life. The module will look at both historical and current views on these issues.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Chinese Philosophy

Code:

PP3CP

Convenor:

PROF John Preston

Summary:

This module introduces students to the major figures in Chinese philosophy, including Confucius, Mozi, Mencius, Lao Tzu, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, and Han Feizi. We will look at central texts from each of these thinkers in detail, and consider relations not only between their ideas but also between their ideas and those of notable philosophers from the Western philosophical tradition.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Dissertation in Philosophy

Code:

PP3DIS

Convenor:

DR Jumbly Grindrod

Summary:

In this module you will pursue an in-depth philosophical project of your own devising. While predominately working independently you will receive one-on-one supervision with an academic working in the same field of study, and you will be encouraged to collaborate with other students on the module. 

Assessment Method:

Oral 25%, Dissertation 65%, Set exercise 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Fairness

Code:

PP3FAI

Convenor:

DR Charlotte Newey

Summary:

This module addresses the concept of fairness and its relation to other moral concepts and considerations.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

Code:

PP3BESR

Convenor:

DR Charlotte Newey

Summary:

This module will introduce students to a variety of ethical challenges and considerations for professionals and corporate enterprises alike. We consider issues such as: the importance of ethics in the business environment, the grounds of professional ethics, moral reasoning in a business environment, whether doing well is compatible with doing good, and how to allocate social responsibility.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Aesthetics

Code:

PP3AEST

Convenor:

DR Severin Schroeder

Summary:

The module will be concerned with conceptual questions concerning aesthetic judgements and the nature of art, beginning with an investigation of the concept of beauty and Kant’s account of it.  We shall then consider different answers to the question ‘What is art?’ Finally, we shall discuss philosophical problems which arise in specific art forms, such as the expression of emotions in music, the question whether fiction can be a valuable source of knowledge, the paradox of tragedy. 

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Are we free?

Code:

PP3AF

Convenor:

PROF Maximilian De Gaynesford

Summary:

‘Freedom’ is a central concept in modern political and ethical debate.  But many aspects remain unclear and call for philosophical investigation. For example, we are often able to do what we want. And that certainly looks like being free. But suppose we do not control what we want. We may be doing what we want, but are we free? Or suppose everything that happens must happen, as a result of events that took place millennia before our birth. That includes not only every action we perform, but every want that drove us to that action. Again, we may be doing what we want, but are we free? If not, do our lives have any more significance than that of fleas? Can we really be held responsible for anything? Do we ever merit praise or deserve blame? Are we ever justified in punishing people? These are some of the issues this module investigates philosophically.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Mediaeval Philosophy

Code:

PP3MED

Convenor:

DR Luke Elson

Summary:

This module introduces students to mediaeval philosophy (roughly, the period from 500 to 1500 AD). We will pick one philosophical topic (such as moral obligation, or God’s existence, the problem of universals, or the motion of projectiles) and look at what some major thinkers of the period had to say about it. We will read thinkers from at least two of the three religious traditions (Christian, Islamic, and Jewish).

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Philosophy of Religion

Code:

PP3REL

Convenor:

MR George Mason

Summary:

This module will introduce students to basic issues in the philosophy of religion.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Reason, Value & Knowledge

Code:

PP3RVK

Convenor:

PROF Philip Stratton-Lake

Summary:

To familiarise students with important concepts and debates in contemporary moral theory.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

The Scandal of Film

Code:

PP3SCF

Convenor:

PROF Maximilian De Gaynesford

Summary:

Films play a central role in our cultural life. But many aspects remain unclear and call for philosophical investigation. For example, we often attribute enormous powers to films. They teach us about reality! They reveal the human condition! They make us better people! They make us worse people! They include some of the greatest art yet produced! They do philosophy—better and more seriously than philosophers do! But are any of these claims actually true? Is it even possible, for example, that a film might be a work of art? It would be a scandal to go on believing these claims and not investigate them. So this course will.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Speech Attacks: bullshit, lies, propaganda

Code:

PP3SPA

Convenor:

DR Nat Hansen

Summary:

This module focuses on the way language can be used aggressively, to deceive, manipulate, and oppress. The theoretical foundation of the approach to language taken in this module is speech act theory, which investigates the various ways that we use language to perform actions ranging from betting, promising, and telling, to insulting, bullshitting, and silencing.  We will begin by discussing the foundations of speech act theory and examine a variety of ways that it has been applied to philosophical problems in feminist theory and political and social theory. We will also discuss lies and bullshit, and what (if anything) is wrong with these uses of language. And we will discuss the nature of propaganda and “fake news” and how to resist its effects. 

Exploring the questions raised in this module will take us into debates in philosophy of language, epistemology, feminist theory, and political philosophy. We will look at real-world examples in which language is used aggressively and use the tools provided by speech act theory to help us understand how those uses function, and how they can be opposed. We will read work by some (if not all) of the following authors: J.L. Austin, Harry Frankfurt, Sally Haslanger, Rae Langton, Ishani Maitra, Geoff Nunberg, Martha Nussbaum, George Orwell, Jason Stanley, and Lynne Tirrell.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 90%, Oral 10%"

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Society and State in Ancient Greece

Code:

PP3SSG

Convenor:

PROF David Oderberg

Summary:

A module devoted to the study of Aristotle’s classic work The Politics. We look at his conception of politics, society, and government, and examine its relevance to modern concerns and issues.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 90%, Oral 10%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.

Title:

Wittgenstein’s Philosophy of Mind and Action

Code:

PP3WMA

Convenor:

DR Severin Schroeder

Summary:

This module introduces students to Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy of mind and action, mainly based on the relevant discussions in his Philosophical Investigations. 

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

Please note that all modules are subject to change.
The information contained in this module description does not form any part of a student’s contract.