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ARHI507 Victorian Values
This module examines the visual culture of the Victorian age, Pre-Raphaelitism, Aestheticism and British Impressionism, say, to question modern stereotypes about `Victorian Values¿ both moral and cultural. We will not only consider the definitive role of social principles in the art of this period, but also debates about art and beauty as independent realms of meaning and value.
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ENGL502 Gothic Fictions: Villains, Virgins, Vampires
This module looks at eighteenth- and nineteenth-century novels to trace the variety and scope of literary contributions to the Gothic. It begins by discussing the origins of the Gothic novel, then moves to the heyday of the genre in the revolutionary 1790s, on to authors writing in the early and mid-nineteenth century, through to the decadence of the 1890s.
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ENGL511 Apocalypse and the Modern Novel
This module explores how fiction from the late nineteenth century to the present day has represented end of world scenarios. It will engage with issues of genre and form, and with appropriate historical and cultural contexts including the environment, spirituality, technology, and globalisation. Criticism and secondary sources pertaining to these issues, as well as to individual authors, will be considered alongside the primary texts.
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ENGL516 American Novel
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ENGL518 The Impact of Publishing: Understanding the Technologies of Knowledge
The module will provide an introduction to some of the key concepts in publishing history. It will look at the ways that knowledge has been captured, stored, retrieved, disseminated, policed and suppressed. It will consider how the development of different writing and printing technologies changed the understanding of the self and the self in relation to the world. It will discuss the creation, production, publication, distribution and reception of texts within their cultural, economic and technological contexts.
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ENGL519 Working with Literature
While remaining focused on English and English and Creative Writing projects, this module will provide students with the opportunity to apply their literary and creative skills in a 'work-facing' environment.
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ENGL520 Creative Nonfiction
This module introduces students to the key concepts and issues in contemporary works of creative nonfiction including autobiography, travel writing, essays and reportage. We will produce our own works of poetry, short story and nonfiction, and critically evaluate and contextualise them.
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ENGL522 Dramatic Writing for Stage, Screen, and Beyond
This course explores a wide range of dramatic writing and dramatic writing theory, integrating critical reading with creative writing projects. Class time will be spent discussing published authors/texts/productions, writing/reading theories, compositional processes, practical exercises, and student work.
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ENGL523 Genre Writing
This module introduces students to writing in various genres, with possibilities including fantasy, science-fiction, period/historical, young adult fiction, horror, comedy, romance, crime, and thriller. Forms explored will include fiction, dramatic writing for stage and screen, and poetry. The module is taught through lecture, seminars, and workshops where students are asked to submit and feedback to peers and tutors on a regular basis.
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ENGL524 Burning Issues: Interdisciplinary Writing Project
This module asks students to engage with the 'burning issues' of our times, by thinking outside of their own discipline and engaging with research taking place in other departments, schools and faculties around the university, or even the country and the world. Students select a topic from outside their discipline and then, through research and communication with experts in the chosen field, devise a writing project to communicate and explore their chosen issue.
The module is taught through lecture, seminars, and workshops where students are asked to submit and feedback to peers and tutors on a regular basis.
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ENGL525 Writing to Commission
In the context of this module, Professional Writing refers to commercial content for a variety of media outlets including advertising and marketing, as well as other 'businesses' which students have imagined and created themselves. Students will experiment with creative formats such as posters, reviews, reports, 'copy', interviews, the op-ed (opinion-editorial). The module is taught through lecture, seminars, and workshops where students are asked to submit and feedback to peers and tutors on a regular basis.
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ENGL526 'Hurt Minds': Madness and Mental Illness in Literature
This module considers changing attitudes towards, and a variety of theories of, the mind, examining how different cultures have understood ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ mental states. It will look at how the experience and treatment of mental illness has been represented in fiction. The mind is at its most fascinating when it behaves outside of expected social norms. By considering a variety of literary texts over several centuries, this module explores shifts in the definition, understanding, evaluation, and management of exceptional mental states.
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HIST511 Heritage and Public History
The module content will examine the theory and practice of the presentation of the past to public audiences. In it, students will examine the creation, nature, use and understanding of heritage and public history, nationally and internationally. They will examine these issues in case studies of historical `sites¿ of different types, to gain a critical awareness and understanding of the theories and controversies surrounding heritage and public history. This is a work facing module, where students will consider the theory and practice of `using¿ `sites¿ of heritage and public history from the point of view of a range of stake holders.