BA (Hons) English Literatures and History with Foundation Year

The twentieth century witnessed momentous shifts. As empires collapsed and new countries were born, technology, economic change and new societal norms radically altered the way people lived their lives. In this module, we will explore some of this social, economic, political and cultural change by looking at a diverse selection of historical episodes from around the world. In doing so, we will ask questions about the ways the changes of the last century shaped the world in which we live today.

This will be a team taught module that utilises the expertise of the entire team and will cover a range of texts from different eras, cultural heritages, genres and forms, but all with a local connection to the West Midlands region.

This module will explore a broad and inclusive selection of poetry from different periods of literary history and representing diverse voices, including Black, Asian, and minority ethnic poets from global backgrounds. Using these examples, our emphasis will be on learning techniques for formal analysis (close reading), creative expression (writing poetry), and performance. We will consider aspects of reading, writing, and performing poetry, including form, rhythm and meter, diction, figurative language and sound. We will also consider the development of particular genres (e.g. the ballad, the sonnet) and forms (e.g. blank verse, free verse) over time and across cultures, from the medieval period to the present, with an emphasis on the reader expectations that accrue around poetic forms and genres.

The module will explore roughly 250 years, starting from around 1500 and taking you into the eighteenth century, to appreciate the forces of change and continuity during the early modern period. Its geographical focus will be both local and global, to help you develop a broad overview peppered with more intimately focused insights into the period. As the bridge between even more remote layers of recorded time, an understanding of the early modern world is fundamental to developing a sound understanding of modern history.

This module shows students how to make sense of the past through archival and oral sources. It provides an opportunity for students to gain an appreciation of the way historical evidence is drawn from the contested space of the archive and the multiple historical perspectives that exist in memory. It will explore relationships between past and present, memory and history, popular and scholarly discourses, and individual and group identities. Students will be introduced to local archives, oral history collections and how to conduct their own oral history interviews. In doing so, they explore how the use of archival collections and oral history can help to challenge gender, class and racial stereotypes and promote cross-cultural and cross-generational understanding.

This module aims to provide both a thorough introduction to the main areas of contemporary literary criticism and theory, with a particular emphasis on textual/cultural constructions of identity. Students will be equipped with a set of theoretical terms and concepts that will enable them to understand what is at stake in current debates in critical and cultural theory, and the way in which such debates inform the politics of literary and cultural representation. Topics covered include Structuralism/Post-Structuralism; Psychoanalysis; Marxism; Feminisms; Postcolonialism; Disability Studies; Animal Studies. Students will be provided with copies of theoretical essays via the VLE, with particular emphasis on thinkers from beyond the white, European-American 'canon' of theory.

This module explores the history of feminism by examining some of the ways women have organised to challenge their subordination in national, imperial and international contexts. Students will study movements to promote different and evolving visions of women’s rights in the realms of politics, work, education, and the family. The module will also analyse women’s involvement in wider movements for social, economic and political change such as abolitionism, anti-colonialism, workers’ rights, and disarmament. Through a series of case studies, students will encounter women activists from Britain and their counterparts in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas to analyse narratives of internal tension and set-back alongside more positive histories of solidarity and historic achievement.

This module offers a critical and creative engagement with literature written for children, designed for Creative Writing and English students. In studying the historical trajectory of children’s literature, students will be encouraged to analyse texts in relation to their cultural, social and gendered contexts, and mindful of the changing politics of childhood as an identity category. What did ‘childhood’ mean in different eras, and what was the literature intended for them meant to do?

The module provides a critique of pre-industrial and early-industrial consumerism using a range of primary sources and artefacts to examine the extent to which a 'consumer revolution' in culture and society occurred during the period. It examines the acquisition of new goods and commodities and the agencies and motivations through which these were obtained and deployed. The module is concerned with the theoretical underpinnings to the development of consumerist attitudes. The focus is primarily on the lower and middling sorts of England and Wales, though comparisons with elite culture as well as contemporary non-British modes of consumption will also be considered.

This module will explore the representation of disability in Victorian literature and culture, using a definition of the 'Victorian era' which expands beyond the colonial centre and considering texts as part of a long nineteenth century as well. With a particular emphasis on the way in which the 'extraordinary' body and mind are constructed in Victorian popular culture, students will study a selection of nineteenth-century texts via the lens of contemporary disability theory. The ideologies of empire are explored alongside issues of gender, class and religion (Christianity and Islam). Students will encounter nineteenth-century novels, drama, poetry, short stories, pamphlets, religious tracts, newspaper articles and advertising.

This module draws upon the different sub-disciplines of historical research to explore the Great War from a variety of perspectives. It makes use of the work of traditional military historians, as well as the research of social, gender and cultural historians, all of whom have provided valuable insights into the war-time experience of civilians and soldiers. Teaching sessions explore the impact of war on British society and also trace its devastating and transformational effect on the populations of Continental Europe, examining the War’s prosecution, its social consequences, and the manner in which it has been commemorated since 1918. Along with an emphasis on the different aims and methodologies that inform historical work in this field, the module invites students to explore the period by engaging with the primary source base; the written material, visual sources and artifacts that have survived the conflict, and with which we construct its histories.

This course explores the upheavals of modern history through the eyes of some of those who were most profoundly affected: Itinerants, migrants and refugees. With a focus on the available primary sources, we will examine the different ways that historians have attempted to reconstruct the perspective and agency of the men, women and children in question, and also consider the manner in which governments have sought to control this movement of people. The course takes as its two main themes the geographical mobility that came in the wake of nineteenth century industrialisation and the displacement of populations that resulted from war and persecution in the twentieth century.

This module explores the social, political and philosophical contexts of the English and global Renaissance through its literary culture.

This module will focus on the key themes, ideas and characteristics of the Gothic genre, situate them in their historical and philosophical context, and attend to the ways in which the representation of the Gothic has developed over the centuries since it first emerged out of the shadows of the Enlightenment. We will begin with John Aikin's 'Sir Bertrand: A Fragment' and end with Helen Oyeyemi's 'White is for Witching' and in between examine a range of literary texts. Close attention will be paid to the ways in which the genre has featured in a range of media and cultural environments, including, visual art, film, music, television and youth subcultures. Topics such as cultural anxieties, the ideology of the sublime, sexual politics, and strategies of subversion will be foregrounded, as will the array of critical perspectives and readings that the Gothic has generated. We also examine the ways in which themes such as gender, class and race intersect with the concern of the gothic tropes that we examine.

The final decades of British rule in India were tumultuous times. From the iconic civil disobedience campaigns of Mahatma Gandhi to violent revolutionary activity, the imperial state was rocked by protest. At the same time the international legitimacy of colonial rule was dissolving in the wake of the Bolshevik revolution, the rise of the United States of America and the turmoil of the two World Wars. This module examines the ‘local’ and ‘global’ dimensions of decolonisation in South Asia, exploring the history of anti-colonial activism alongside the experiences of ordinary people who lived through the end of empire. In doing so, students will learn about the importance of gender, caste, class and religion in anti-colonial politics.

Drawing upon an extensive English-language scholarship, and through analysis of translated contemporary sources, students are invited to explore German history in what was a period of profound social and political change, but one also marked by important continuities. The topics to be addressed include: The economic growth that transformed the new state from 1871 and the high levels of geographical mobility this generated, including the mass emigration of Germans overseas. The manner in which ethnicity, gender and social class shaped the life course of German subjects throughout the period 1871-1945. The emergence of the labour movement, and the mass political participation characteristic of the peace-time Wilhelmine era (1890-1914) and of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933). Society in WW1 and the revolution that accompanied defeat in 1918. The political, social and economic developments in Weimar Germany which led to the rise of the NSDAP. The combination of coercion and consent which helped the Nazis secure and retain control and the possibilities that existed for opposing the regime. The continuities between colonialism and Nazi practices of warfare and occupation in WW2. The Nazi persecution of social outsiders and racial enemies, including the development of policy towards German and European Jews, the ideology which drove this, and the process of cumulative radicalization that led to their mass murder.

This module provides the opportunity for students to conduct their own research into a negotiated subject of their choice within the areas of English Language Studies or English Literary Studies. It requires students to demonstrate the analytical skills acquired over length of their English degree, including the abilities to construct and sustain an argument, and to support it using evidence.

The module provides you with the opportunity to explore a historical topic or a topic related to the use of the past independently and in depth. It is normally taken during the final semester of study, thereby allowing you to draw on the skills developed and honed throughout your earlier studies. The choice of research topic should be guided by your interest as well as the feasibility of undertaking the project given the availability of relevant primary and secondary sources and the expertise of potential supervisors. The findings of your Independent Study are usually presented in the form of a written dissertation. However, in the spirit of inclusivity and creativity, alternatives are possible with the approval of the supervisor and the module leader. In seeking approval, you will need to demonstrate that it would still be possible to meet the module’s Learning Outcomes. Approval for any alternative should be secured before work on the Independent Study begins. The discussion of feasible topics, possible supervisors and modes of presentation will normally have started at Level 5 in the ‘Research in Action’ module.

This module maps, historicises and analyses our rapidly changing experience in the digital age, which confronts us with new and diverging forms of social relationships, identities and changing human behaviour. The module explores how narrative form is changing by paying attention to new modes, media, formats, platforms and reading devices with new temporalities and possibilities, such as literature published via Twitter, gaming narratives, cell phone novels, and new genres such as 'tech thrillers'. We also analyse game narratives. Particular attention is paid to gender representation in the digital age, digital inequality in relation to class and ethnicity, and how technology responds to post-secular contexts. Relevant theoretical contexts include post-humanism, digital humanities, AI and computational literary studies.

This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the Modernist period and the terms ‘modernism’ and 'avant-garde' in some of their classifying and critical uses, and to develop and deploy reading skills appropriate to modernist and avant-garde texts across a selection of works, including some from continental Europe and the USA and Latin American. We will begin with a screening of Salvador Dali's film 'Un Chien Andalou' and end with a short story by the first openly gay black writer in the USA, Richard Bruce Nugent, in between we will examine the work of James Joyce, Latin American Frida Kahlo, Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, T.S Eliot, David Garnett, and Leonora Carrington amongst others. In addition, some sessions will be dedicated to the analysis of Modernist theory and the texts and to an examination of relevant contextual tropes such as gender theory, psychoanalysis and the concept of the fragmented subject (Freud, Jung and Spielrein) and theories of time (Bergson) and race (Walker).

Most people do not learn about the past in university lecture halls and seminar rooms. This module offers an introduction to the field of public history, broadly defined to cover encounters with the past outside of the academic discipline. Students will learn to be critical consumers of representations of the past in museums and at heritage sites, in fiction, on screen and online, as well as community history projects. After surveying different public history approaches to the past, students will undertake and reflect on their own small-scale original project in curating historical materials or presenting historical insights for non-academic audiences, depicting the past in creative work or on a short-term placement. In doing so, students will be encouraged to think critically about the limits and the potential of non-academic encounters with the past.

This module approaches medieval literature through the lens of feminist and queer studies. It covers texts from the tenth to sixteenth centuries which either trouble or resist categories such as male/female; heterosexuality/homosexuality and Christian/Muslim/Jewish, or which disrupt heteronormative narratives and time. The module reads and workshops medieval poetry, drama, prose and art from a wide variety of genres in relation to key queer and feminist theorists. It covers early examples of what we would now term gay, lesbian, bisexual and asexual narratives; cross-dressing and trans narratives; female masculinity; the relationship between gender, race and oppression in the medieval imagination and early evidence of the emergence of what we now consider ‘queer’ art forms, such as camp and drag performance.

The module examines the key themes of family, gender and sexuality in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, using a variety of online and documentary sources to examine both ‘normative’ and ‘transgressive’ behaviour within British society.

This module explores the ways postcolonial texts challenge dominant discourses of 'race', gender, sexuality, class, disability, and religion. Students will study a range of texts by authors of colour from Britain, the U.S. and other parts of the world and consider the intersections between different constructions of identities in literature and culture. Postcolonial cultural theory and critical race theory will be central to this module, alongside feminism and disability studies. Guest speakers will contribute towards the module at various points. Alongside the set texts on the module, students will be encouraged to bring literary and cultural texts from their own experiences to the classes, and to feed into the assessment. Students will have the opportunity to work together to produce a digital artefact which communicates their expert knowledge of this topic to audiences beyond academia.

The module draws upon successive generations of English-language scholarship and a wealth of contemporary sources in translation to explore the genesis, development and murderous outcome of policy towards the Jews and others targeted by the Nazi regime. It first examines the Nazi persecution of German Jews and other racial and social enemies in Germany in the inter-war years, then charts the transition to systematic mass murder across occupied Europe during World War Two. Throughout the module students will study the motives and actions of the perpetrators of these crimes, and attempt through extensive engagement with the source record to piece together the experience of the many who suffered at their hands.

This module examines Romanticism as a concept encompassing literature and global culture between 1780 and 1840. With reference to poetry, fiction, and non-fictional prose, the module explores in particular how the Romantic imagination intersects with, is modified by, and contests developments in material culture, science and technology, politics, religion, and the arts. Sites of cultural debate to be considered include: representations of revolution; the abolition of slavery; gender rights and sexuality; landscape, travel, and colonialism; and the writer in society.

This module examines the history of youth culture and popular music in twentieth century Britain. The focus will be both chronological and thematic. Sessions will explore the emergence of youth as a social problem, examine the relationship between youth culture and popular music, analyse the relationship between history, sound and place. It also explores the ways in which youth cultures and popular music have reflected, challenged, and informed shifting notions of class, race, gender, sexuality, and regional/national identities. Throughout the module students will engage with a range of written sources along with recorded music, performance, and cinematic representations of youth culture.