Students undertaking English and French at Queen’s explore Anglo- and Francophone literatures and language in the widest possible sense. From the earliest writings in Anglo-Saxon to contemporary Irish, British, French and postcolonial literatures, students study English and French texts in their historical, cultural and ideological circumstances and material manifestations. Language modules in English and French explore language structure and function; the day-to-day use of the languages, including in the media; and the major influences that have shaped both linguistic traditions.
English Studies at Queen’s has an extraordinary heritage, as represented by its globally esteemed writers, such as Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney and T.S. Eliot Prize recipients Paul Muldoon and Ciarán Carson, among others.
English and French highlights
Global Opportunities
Queen’s offers a range of Study Abroad opportunities, from the Erasmus programme with a range of European partners, to the chance to study at a number of partner institutions in the United States.
Students on this programme will spend one academic year living and working in a Francophone country as part of their programme.
We welcome applications from European students who would like to attend Queen’s under the Erasmus programme. This programme enables students who are already enrolled at a university in Europe to take time out from their own institution and spend either one semester or a full academic year at Queen’s.
We regularly consult and develop links with a large number of employers including, for example, BBC Northern Ireland.
World Class Facilities
The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry is named after our illustrious alumnus and recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature. Today, it is the hub for creative writing and poetry at the University and is staffed by some of the most highly-regarded practitioners in poetry, scriptwriting and prose in the UK and Ireland. https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/seamus-heaney-centre/
Our state-of-the-art multimedia language centre provides students with learning facilities unparalleled elsewhere in the UK and Ireland, and includes a Language Lab with the latest language learning and translation software (including SDL Trados suite). https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/InformationServices/LanguageCentre/AboutUs/
Student Experience
From Personal Tutors to peer mentoring, we work closely with students to ensure they are supported at every stage of their degree.
A thriving cultural scene organised by our undergraduate and postgraduate communities, from the English Society and Poetry and Pints to the Lifeboat and the Yellow Nib, makes studying English at Queen’s a unique proposition. https://www.facebook.com/QubEnglishSociety
Students can work with our visiting Fulbright Scholars, leading US academics who spend a semester at Queen’s each year.
Further Study Opportunities
Students can apply for cognate postgraduate taught modules in the Faculty such as:
MA in English Literary Studies
MA in Broadcast Literacy
MA in Poetry: Creativity and Criticism
MA in Creative Writing
MSc in Software Development (conversion course)
MLaw (conversion course)
PGCE in Education
Alternatively, we offer a research-led MRes in Arts and Humanities.
Student Experience
French at Queen’s came 2nd, with an overall satisfaction score of 96%, in the Sunday Times subject rankings 2016. It is ranked 5th in the Guardian University League Table for 2017, and is 7th in the ‘Complete University Guide’ for 2017.
Internationally Renowned Experts
Professor Mark Burnett is a leading scholar of the place of Shakespeare in the contemporary arts and is director of the Kenneth Branagh Archive.
Dr Marilina Cesario is an expert on Anglo-Saxon science and collaborates widely with astrophysicists in reassessing our understanding of pre-modern scientific thinking.
Professor Philip McGowan is President of the European Association for American Studies (2016-2020) and sits on the Executive Board of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society.
Dr Edel Lamb is an international expert on early modern child theatre companies and is currently developing a project on theatre rivalry and riots in Shakespeare’s London.
Dr Gail McConnell explores the interface of literature and voice in her role as co-director of the AHRC-funded ‘Listening to Voices: Creative Disruptions with the Hearing Voices Network’ project.
Dr Alex Murray’s monograph on the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben (2010) has been translated into Turkish, Japanese and Chinese and his latest book Landscapes of Decadence: Literature and Place at the Fin de Siècle appeared in 2016 from Cambridge University Press.
Professor Glenn Patterson is the Rooney Prize and Betty Trask Prize-winning author of ten novels. He writes regularly for BBC Radio Three and Four, The Guardian and has made a number of documentaries for Irish and British television. His co-authored screenplay for Good Vibrations was nominated for a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.
Professor Janice Carruthers is an internationally renowned expert on linguistics. She is currently the Leadership Fellow in Modern Languages with the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Nick Laird, the Seamus Heaney Professor of Poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre, is a recipient of the Betty Trask and Eric Gregory Awards, whose most recent collection is Feel Free (Faber, 2018). He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books.
Student Testimonials
"I am so grateful that I spend each day studying what I love under the watchful gaze of experts in the fields of literature that really inspire my thirst for knowledge, in an environment so welcoming that I am proud and comfortable to truly speak my mind and share my opinions. As clichéd as it may be (and though this notion may be shunned in the art of creative writing!), the community of QUB English really is one big supportive family. I employ not one ounce of hyperbole when I say that choosing to study English at Queen’s was the greatest decision I ever have (and probably ever will) make in my life."
Niamh Lundy
BA English Graduate
“On starting English Literature degree in 2015, I never thought that I'd be dreading final year just for the fact I wouldn't be a part of English at Queen’s anymore. I've had the chance to study such a breadth of prose, poetry and drama across all sorts of periods under some of the most fantastic lecturers. Probably my favourite aspect of studying at Queen's is the community and friends that I've made within English. From being able to attend my lecturers' research seminars to peer mentoring first years, it feels like a (fantastically literary) family and I feel I couldn't have made a better choice.”
Micheal McCann
BA English and Creative Writing Graduate
"When I started at Queen's it was just another institution to me. Classes to attend, assignments to submit. However, over the course of my degree, Queen's opened up a whole new world to me. I chose a Joint Honours programme that allowed me to study English and Sociology. I had the chance to study the greats in English - Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, and then turn to Sociology to study gender equality, human rights, how to challenge societal norms, and that is only the tip of the iceberg.
My subjects are fascinating, my lecturers make them come to life, and the amazing friends I have made here make it so much more than just any other institution. For me, all of the above make Queen's home."
Lucy Gault
BA English and Sociology Graduate
"I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience here at Queen’s. I have found my course to be both stimulating and enjoyable and the facilities really are ‘second-to-none’. The standard of teaching is first class and the support available to students is excellent. I would definitely recommend Queen’s to anyone."
Maolíosa McGarry, (Stage Three French Student)
In their first year students undertake 6 modules in English and French, which introduce key concepts in language, literature, and creative writing. They will also develop critical and writing skills necessary in order to make the transition to university level study. Supplementary optional modules in French are also available if needed.
Stage 2
In their second year, students will undertake one core French module. They can then select up to 5 modules from modules exploring literature and language in English and French, and building on the key skills and learning gained at Stage 1.
Stage 3
Placement Year - during this year students will spend around 8 months in a French speaking country, undertaking a work or volunteering placement, building on language skills, and gaining valuable work experience.
Stage 4
In Stage 4 students undertake one core French module, and can again choose up to 5 modules from a wide range of topics which are rooted in staff research and expertise. They may also opt to undertake a dissertation (in Language and Linguistics, Literature or Creative Writing). Students can also elect to take a work based learning module.
9 (hours maximum) 5 at Stage One, at Stage Two and Three, English students have 3hrs contact time per module per week
Small Group Teaching/Personal Tutorial
0 (hours maximum) Varies
Large Group Teaching
9 (hours maximum) 5 at Stage One, at Stage Two and Three, English students have 3hrs contact time per module per week
Learning and Teaching
At Queen’s, students work in an ambitious learning environment that embeds intellectual curiosity, innovation and best practice in learning, teaching and student support to enable students to achieve their full academic potential.
On the English degree we do this by providing a range of learning experiences which enable our students to engage with subject experts, develop attributes and perspectives that will equip them for life and work in a global society and make use of innovative technologies and a world class library that enhances their development as independent, lifelong learners. Examples of the opportunities provided for learning on this course are:
E-Learning
Information associated with lectures and assignments is often communicated via a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called Canvas. A range of e-learning experiences are also embedded in the degree through, for example: interactive group workshops in a flexible learning space; IT and statistics modules; podcasts and interactive web-based learning activities; opportunities to use IT programmes associated with design in practicals and project- based work, etc.
Lectures
Introduce basic information about new topics as a starting point for further self-directed private study/reading. Lectures also provide opportunities to ask questions, gain some feedback and advice on assessments (normally delivered in large groups to all year group peers).
Personal Tutor
Undergraduates are allocated a Personal Tutor during Stage 1 and 2 who meets with them on several occasions during the year to support their academic development.
Self-directed study
This is an essential part of life as a Queen’s student when important private reading, engagement with e-learning resources, reflection on feedback to date and assignment research and preparation work is carried out.
Seminars/tutorials
Significant amounts of teaching are carried out in small groups (typically 10-20 students). These provide an opportunity for students to engage with academic staff who have specialist knowledge of the topic, to ask questions of them and to assess their own progress and understanding with the support of peers. You should also expect to make presentations and other contributions to these groups.
Supervised projects
In final year, you may choose a year-long double-weighted Dissertation module which requires you to carry out a significant piece of research on a topic that you have chosen. You will receive support from a supervisor who will guide you in terms of how to carry out your research and will provide feedback to you on at least 2 occasions during the write up stage.
Assessment
Details of assessments associated with this course are outlined below:
Assessments are designed to evidence your engagement with the learning objectives of each module, which will be advertised in advance of module selection. Modules are assessed variously through project work, individual and/ or group presentations, as well as more traditional written essays and assignments. Details of how each module is assessed are shown in the Student Handbook which is provided to all students during their first year induction.
Feedback
As students progress through their degree at Queen’s, they will receive general and specific feedback about their work from a variety of sources including lecturers, module co-ordinators, placement supervisors, personal tutors, advisers of study and peers. University students are expected to engage with reflective practice and to use this approach to improve the quality of their work. Feedback may be provided in a variety of forms including:
Feedback provided via formal written comments and marks relating to work that you, as an individual or as part of a group, have submitted.
Face to face comment. This may include occasions when you make use of the lecturers’ advertised “Feedback and Guidance hours” to help you to address a specific query.
Placement employer comments or references.
Online or emailed comment.
General comments or question and answer opportunities at the end of a lecture, seminar or tutorial.
Pre-submission advice regarding the standards you should aim for and common pitfalls to avoid. In some instances, this may be provided in the form of model answers or exemplars which you can review in your own time.
Feedback and outcomes from practical classes.
Comment and guidance provided by staff from specialist support services such as Careers, Employability and Skills or the Learning Development Service.
Once you have reviewed your feedback, you will be encouraged to identify and implement further improvements to the quality of your work.
What our academics say
"I fervently believe in education, culture and exchange. Higher education has a transformative impact on people and on society, and studying modern languages and cultures makes your world fuller, richer and more exciting."
Dr Dominique Jeannerod, Lecturer in French.
The information below is intended as an example only, featuring module details for the current year of study (2024/25). Modules are reviewed on an annual basis and may be subject to future changes – revised details will be published through Programme Specifications ahead of each academic year.
Issues in Contemporary Fiction: Gender, Race, Ecology
Overview
This module examines a broad sample of recent fiction. In doing so, it raises a set of related questions: 1) whose contemporary experience does this literature address? 2) what economic or political factors lead to a shared sense of the contemporary? 3) how does modern fiction relate to these broader social forces?
The module has a three-part structure. Part 1 examines the ways in which contemporary fiction responds to and in turn shapes debates about gender and gender difference. Section 2 analyses literary treatments of race and the aftermaths of colonialism. The final section of the module explores the ways in which recent fiction speculates on our collective future especially in the context of climate change and the threat of ecological catastrophe and asks what if anything can be done in the face of this threat.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module students will have gained a general understanding of the theoretical and methodological issues that surround the study of contemporary literature. Students will have learned to subject a range of recent fiction to a technical or formal analysis. They will also be able to read texts in context and will have a basic understanding of the social, economic, and political forces that shape these contexts.
Skills
Students will learn to develop a) analytical skills b) methods of textual analysis c) an understanding of meta-critical issues d) a clear and succinct writing style e) oral presentation skills f) a capacity for independent inquiry g) an ability to collaborate and work in groups h) computer skills.
This module offers a broad introduction to key topics in English language. It lays the foundations for the systematic study of the language in all its diversity. Among the topics covered are: common beliefs about “good” and “bad” accents and dialects; phonetics, syntax and morphology; and the social, situational and geographical variation in language, with an emphasis on the history and development of the English language. Another important area of inquiry is how language works in cultural contexts and intersects with issues of power and gender. In summary, the module enables students to move beyond ‘common-sense’ ideas about language towards the academic and analytic perspective appropriate for university level.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will have become aware of the levels of structure which make up the spoken and written varieties of a language, the communicative functions of these levels, and of the relevant descriptive and analytical frameworks to analyse and describe them, with regard both to present-day English and to stages in its historical development. Students will also have gained the skills for the confident oral delivery of some of the issues and topics addressed on the Course.
Skills
While Units One and Two focus on theoretical and analytical concepts and frameworks, Units Three and Four provide case studies from ‘real-world’ contexts such as the media and the historical development of the English language, to which students will apply the skills they have gained in Units One and Two. The module incorporates online assessment for Units One and Two, which will account for 30% of the mark and will take the form of online exercises, to be completed by students in weeks 3-6. Units Three and Four will be assessed at the end of the semester as essay assignments, worth 70% in total. Students will write two essays of 1400-1700 words each: one essay will address the issues covered in Unit Three (35%), and the other essay will address the issues covered in Unit Four (35%).
This modules aims to provide students with little or no previous knowledge of French with the grammatical, written, and spoken language skills necessary go further in the study of French. It will also equip them with professional and employability skills complimentary to their studies. It consists of:
1. Language Seminars (3 hours per week)
Seminars will equip students with the knowledge and understanding of grammatical constructions (both basic and more complex) and syntax required to use the French language independently in written and spoken form. Language skills are practiced in a range of activities: grammar exercises, reading, spoken and listening comprehension, translation, expressive and descriptive writing. All major areas of grammar will be encountered, laying the foundations for future study of the language and its nuances.
Seminars also introduce students to language in context. Students are exposed to new vocabulary, expressions and nuances of use through reading, translation and writing exercises based on sources from the Francophone world.
2. Conversation Class (1hr per week)
Led by a native speaker, this class develops students’ listening and speaking skills in French. The content from seminars is deployed in a range of practical scenarios likely to be experienced in French -speaking countries.
Learning Outcomes
This modules aims to provide students with little or no previous knowledge of French with the grammatical, written, and spoken language skills necessary go further in the study of French. It will also equip them with professional and employability skills complimentary to their studies. It consists of:
1. Language Seminars (3 hours per week)
Seminars will equip students with the knowledge and understanding of grammatical constructions (both basic and more complex) and syntax required to use the French language independently in written and spoken form. Language skills are practiced in a range of activities: grammar exercises, reading, spoken and listening comprehension, translation, expressive and descriptive writing. All major areas of grammar will be encountered, laying the foundations for future study of the language and its nuances.
Seminars also introduce students to language in context. Students are exposed to new vocabulary, expressions and nuances of use through reading, translation and writing exercises based on sources from the Francophone world.
2. Conversation Class (1hr per week)
Led by a native speaker, this class develops students’ listening and speaking skills in French. The content from seminars is deployed in a range of practical scenarios likely to be experienced in French -speaking countries.
Skills
On successful completion of the modules students should have developed the following range of skills: A comprehensive dexterity using French grammar; Translation skills; text analysis; essay writing; lexicographical skills; report writing skills; IT skills; presentation skills; spoken language skills.
This module aims to consolidate and develop the students existing written and oral language skills and knowledge of French and Francophone culture, equip them with professional and employability skills and prepare them to go further in the study of French. It consists of four elements designed to provide a comprehensive consolidation of French language competence:
1. Language Seminar (1hr per week)
Seminar aims to develop students ability to understand, translate and compose French language materials in a range of forms: text, image, audio-visual. Language will be engaged in context, guided by themes such as University life, Culture and Identity and Culture and Communication. Linguistic competence will be developed through a range of methods that may include: group discussion, comprehension, translation, responsive and essay writing.
2. Grammar Workshop (1hr per week)
Workshop designed to consolidate and enrich students' knowledge and understanding of French grammar and syntax. All major areas of grammar will be encountered, laying the foundations for future study of the language and its nuances. It focuses particularly on developing competence in the key area of translation into French.
3. Professional skills (1hr per week)
The class focuses on language skills for special purposes and contains two strands: Language for Business and Language for Law. Both provide linguistic and socio-cultural knowledge important to work-related situations in different fields.
4. Conversation class (1hr per week)
Conversation class is led by a native speaker of French and compliments the content of the Language hour. Students will meet in small groups to discuss, debate and present on the main themes of the course.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the modules students should:
1. Be able to read French texts in a variety of forms and demonstrate a sensitivity to their detail and nuance in speech, writing and when translating.
2. Be able to produce French texts appropriate to different requirements and registers.
3. Be able to investigate, structure and present a complex argument in longer pieces of written work.
4. Be able to communicate using more sophisticated grammatical and syntactical constructions with a good level of accuracy (without basic errors).
Skills
On successful completion of the modules students should have developed the following range of skills: comprehensive dexterity using French grammar; translation skills; text analysis; comprehension; essay writing; lexicographical skills; report writing skills; IT skills; presentation skills; spoken language skills
This module is envisaged as introducing students to literary interpretation as conceived by English studies at university level. It aims to provide students with critical skills and technical vocabulary necessary to study poetry and prose for the rest of their degree. The module focuses on a small selection of texts designed to help students make the transition from the critical strategies used at A-level to those of academic English. In turn, the two sections of the module include contributions from the Heaney Centre and creative writing colleagues and the mode of assessment will allow for reflective development of writing skills through resubmission of formative writing for summative assessment.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module students will have learned to read and analyze poetry and prose using the techniques, vocabularies and approaches of contemporary academic English studies. They will have made the transition from reading and writing at A-level, having learned the research skills and critical terminologies necessary for the close, contextual reading of prose and poetry and writing about both genres in a suitably academic register. They will be equipped to undertake advanced study of literary works in semester two modules.
Skills
Students will learn to develop: critical and analytical skills; methods of textual analysis appropriate to the genres of poetry and prose; writing and research skills appropriate to degree-level English; oral presentation skills; independent study skills; and an ability to collaborate and work in groups; the ability to read and prepare for weekly lectures and tutorials.
This module will introduce students to key areas of contextual studies in French, i.e. literature, culture, the visual arts and linguistics. There will be two 'strands' within the module, and across the two strands, students will be introduced to all four areas. The core material will include both French and francophone texts, film, images and data. Each strand will form a coherent whole in terms of both teaching and assessment.
Learning Outcomes
Students will acquire an introductory knowledge of key fields in French Studies, notably literature, culture, the visual arts and linguistics. They will acquire key skills in how to approach these fields in preparation for optional modules in Levels 2 and 3. They will further acquire skills in time management, written and oral communication, and skills in marshalling complex information and constructing an argument.
Skills
Skills in how to approach and analyse texts, images and data for future work in literature, the visual arts, linguistics; skills in oral and written communication; skills in marshalling large amounts of data and structuring an argument; skills in time management.
Beyond the Hexagon: French language, politics and culture in a global frame
Overview
This module will introduce students to key areas of contextual studies in French, ie. literature, culture, the visual arts and linguistics. There will be two 'strands' within the module, and across the two stands, students will be introduced to all four areas. The core material will include both French and francophone texts, film, images and data. Each strand will form a coherent whole in terms of both teaching and assessment.
Learning Outcomes
Students will acquire an introductory knowledge of key fields in French Studies, notably literature, culture, the visual arts and linguistics. They will acquire key skills in how to approach these fields in preparation for optional modules in Levels 2 and 3. They will further acquire skills in time management, written and oral communication, and skills in marshalling complex information and constructing an argument.
Skills
Skills in how to approach and analyse texts, images and data for future work in literature, the visual arts, linguistics; skills in oral and written communication; skills in marshalling large amounts of data and structuring an argument; skills in time management.
Course contents: Building on skills acquired at Level 1, this module aims to consolidate productive (writing and speaking) and receptive (reading and listening) skills in French language. Key components are: comprehension, translation into English and into French, résumé, grammar, CV preparation. The oral French component includes presentations and preparation for job interviews. Languages for special purposes strands equip students in law or business with skills for legal and professional contexts.
This module will contain the following elements:
1.Written language (2 hrs per week)
This component will focus on enhancing ability in written French through engagement with a range of journalistic and literary written texts at appropriate level. A variety of topics will be covered, dealing with current themes in society and topical issues. Written language tasks include translation (from and into French), résumé, comprehension and grammar exercises.
2.Oral language (1 hr per week)
This component will focus on enhancing ability in oral French. A variety of topics and themes are covered, which aim to develop knowledge of issues in present-day France, prepare students for the year abroad and for job interviews in the target language. Stimulus materials from a range of media (textual, visual, audio, video) are used.
3.Contextual Study (filière; 1 hr per week)
This component will raise awareness of cultural and linguistic issues in French and allow students to deepen their perspective of the field, as well as preparing students for a residence in a French-speaking country.
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of the modules students should:
1) be able to demonstrate fluency, accuracy and spontaneity in spoken and written French, with a broad range of vocabulary and expression, so as to be able to discuss a variety of complex issues;
2) be able to read wide variety of French texts and identify important information and ideas within them;
3) be able to translate a range of texts into and from French;
4) have developed a detailed critical understanding of representative textual and other material;
5) be able to engage in complex problem-solving exercises.
Skills
On successful completion of the modules students should have developed the following range of skills:
Skills in written and oral expression; critical awareness and problem-solving; close textual analysis; translation; comprehension; presentation; IT skills; employability skills, such as interview technique and cv preparation.
The Romantic period (c.1789-1832) witnessed dramatic social and historical change as the effects of major events such as the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, widespread Enclosure and the Industrial Revolution initiated the sense of ‘living in history’. In the midst of these revolutionary changes, poets wrote with new confidence of the importance of the imagination, as a creative and utopian force; of the beauty, fragility and power of the natural world; of political ideals of social justice; of the arguments for gender equality. Poetry became synonymous with the imagination as a force which could unite idealism with social change. This module studies a range of Romantic poetry, including but not restricted to, the work of Anna Laetitia Barbauld, William Blake, Lord Byron, John Clare, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Mary Robinson, Felicia Hemans, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Charlotte Smith, and William Wordsworth. Poems will be studied through the key themes of the revolutionary imagination; the natural world; the language of class; representations of childhood; slavery and feminism. One hour of each week’s seminar time will comprise a close reading of one key poem for that week’s discussion, with the second hour being used for more generalized and broader discussion. The module will also include a specialised library visit and a field trip connected with the natural world.
Learning Outcomes
Students completing this module will have learned to read poetry in terms of its formal techniques and effects and to situate these interpretations in a range of contexts both historical and contemporary. They will be able to read and contextualize poetry of the Romantic period in particular, and to understand its significance for contemporary literature and society. They will be able to distinguish and appreciate a diversity of poetic genres and styles characteristic of the period, and to read and interrogate a range of diverse kinds of poetry in a critical way. Students will be equipped to debate political, aesthetic and social issues in an informed way with regard to their historical development, and their continued development in modern forms. Students will also be able to interrogate constructions of Romanticism and to deconstruct its various claims from contemporary perspectives both supportive and critical of its legacy for the modern world.
Skills
Students who have completed this module will be able to:
• Interpret a range of poems in ways which are attuned to their aesthetic effects and contextual meanings.
• Debate various aesthetic, social and political issues produced in poetry of the Romantic period.
• Show an understanding of formal and generic developments in poetry with regard to intellectual history.
• Examine the ways in which literary texts are implicated in the emergence of dominant understandings of political and social discourses.
• Demonstrate transferrable skills in the forms of critical thinking, group discussion, written communication, and individual academic research.
This module introduces students to the extraordinary diversity and achievement of Irish literature, from the Act of Union in 1800 to the late twentieth century. The module is chronologically structured, and places particular emphasis on situating texts in their wider historical contexts, as well as developing their relations to broader European movements and traditions. Encompassing poetry, fiction, and drama, the module considers a range of themes, such as romanticism, gender, the gothic, cultural nationalism, the politics of modernity, liminality and exile, and northern perspectives on an Irish tradition. Writers studied will include W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, and Seamus Heaney.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module the student should have an ability to set Irish literature in its historical context; an ability to make connections between differing genres of Irish writing; an ability to scrutinise the politics of Irish writing.
Skills
On completion of this module you should have an ability to set Irish literature in its historical context; an ability to make connections between differing genres of Irish writing and an ability to scrutinise the politics of Irish writing.
Utopia / Dystopia: The Future in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Literature
Overview
In the late nineteenth century, utopian literature met speculative fiction: the ‘nowhere’ of utopia was reimagined as the future, which was conceived as both the best and worst possible worlds. This course examines a variety of late nineteenth-century utopias and dystopias, but also shows the ways this imaginative tradition shaped literary prediction in the twentieth century (including works by Aldous Huxley, George Orwell and Margaret Atwood). It considers the ways twentieth-century writers both engaged with their literary predecessors and rewrote utopian and dystopian traditions to speak to the urgency of their own political moments. From the dangers and promises of science and technology to the future of feminism, socialism, race and mass culture, we will explore what utopias and dystopias reveal about their own historical moments, and analyze the claim that one person’s utopia is another’s dystopia.
Indicative selection of texts
Edward Bulwer Lytton, The Coming Race
H. G. Wells, The Time Machine
William Morris, News from Nowhere
Catherine Helen Spence, A Week in the Future
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland
E. M. Forster, ‘The Machine Stops’
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
George Orwell, 1984
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, students will be able to analyze the evolving generic traits of political fantasy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and will have gained an understanding of utopian, dystopian and speculative fiction as literary forms. They will be able to relate utopian and dystopian fiction to social debates and historical changes in the period in which it was produced (including debates over feminism, socialism, evolutionary biology and eugenics and the future of democracy and mass culture). They will be capable of analyzing the political function of utopian and dystopian literature, and the role of reading communities in the evolution of the genre. Students will be able to use their understanding of genre to reflect on continuities with as well as changes between late Victorian and twentieth-century literature.
Skills
• A demonstrable understanding of the relationship between the political and the literary, and an ability to see the relevance of debates generated by this ‘literature of ideas’ to the present as well as the past
• Transferrable skills in the forms of group discussion, ability to present material to peers and individual research and essay writing skills – the ability to synthesize texts and create a clear analytical argument
• The ability to interweave close and historical reading skills – a demonstrable awareness of the ways historical and cultural change shapes literary form within political fantasy from the nineteenth to the twentieth century
• Ability to apply theoretical and historical debates over genre (utopian and dystopian and speculative fiction) to a range of literary contexts
• An ability to show the ways fiction is shaped by reading communities as well as writers (including socialist and feminist readerships).
This module introduces students to the drama of the English Renaissance. It explores texts by a wide range of authors, including Shakespeare, Cary, Marlowe, Middleton, Rowley and Webster and examines the forces working on drama in the early modern period. Lectures will provide an introduction to the dramatic form, close readings of the set plays, and readings in relation to contemporary issues such as nationality, authority, desire, religion, sexuality, gender, strangeness, race, identity, social standing, fantasy, magic and taboo.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should have learned how to study dramatic form and how to relate a text to its context. Through class discussion and formative assessments, you should have further developed your oral and written communication skills.
Skills
To familiarize students with the range of drama produced during the English Renaissance; to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to undertake Renaissance modules in Stage 3.
Algeria and France: Trauma, Forgetting, Re-Membering
Overview
Algeria was a prized French colony between 1830 and 1962. Its bloody liberation struggle from France was marked by atrocities on both sides. France’s role in such practices as torture, the enforced disappearance of Algerian nationalists, and most shockingly, in the police massacre of dozens of peaceful Algerian protesters, who were thrown into the Seine in October 1962, was for many years repressed and denied. The legacy of this conflict continues to determine relations between France and North Africa, has had a profound influence on politics and culture in contemporary France, and indeed impacts contemporary international relations more generally.
This module explores this contested, and still unprocessed, past, examining a number of films and texts that interrogate the war and its aftermath. It also introduces students to a number of significant theoretical ideas (Pierre Nora’s lieu de mémoire; Cathy Caruth’s trauma and latency; Henri Rousso’s ‘passé qui ne passe pas’; Michael Rothberg’s multidirectional memory) that help us to better understand the operation—and manipulation—of memory, the impact of trauma, and the difficulty in coming to terms, over generations, with a painful past.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate a basic understanding of French colonialism in general, and a more in-depth understanding of the French colonial presence in North Africa
2. Be able to analyse in detail a range of literary and cinematic works, in order to understand how the story of the Algerian war and its aftermath is presented, and to what political ends
3. Be able to engage critically and sensitively with a range of fictional materials, presented from radically different political perspectives (eg French setter/pied noir; harki, Algerian Muslim) and have reached an understanding of what this multiperspectivity brings in terms of understanding a still very unsettled narrative
4. Have understood the evolution in our understanding of this conflict, taking account of French denial of its very existence, the role that propaganda played for both sides, the significance of intergenerational memory and forgetting/repression, and the effect of the opening of the archives
5. Understand the continuing importance of this historical moment for contemporary politics
6. Demonstrate understanding of contemporary theories of memory, trauma and repression
Skills
· Close textual analysis
· Close visual analysis
· Comparative analysis
· Critical engagement
· Independent research and time management
An exploration of linguistic varieties of contemporary French, including regional variation, the role of socioeconomic status, age, gender etc and varieties of French spoken outside France.
Learning Outcomes
A detailed critical understanding of linguistic varieties of contemporary French, including phonological, syntactic and lexical variation.
Skills
Marshalling and synthesising diverse material; critical awareness; skills in written and oral expression, and in linguistic analysis.
This Level 2 module introduces French postwar Film Noir and Crime Fiction. It will contextualize this cultural production within historical circumstances and trends of the period, such as American influences on French Culture, Existentialism, 'Leftism' and 'Néo-Noir'. Aesthestics of the 'Noir' genre will be studied through a variety of Media, including Film, Novel, Comics and Posters. Among the themes discussed will feature Depiction of the City, Slang ('argot') and Modern Morals.
Learning Outcomes
Students should, after completion of this module: have acquired an awareness of the relation between commercial culture and artistic culture; have gained an understanding of the process of reception and assimilation of foreign cultural products; be able to analyse how art forms converge in a cultural phenomenon such as the 'Noir'; be able to analyse different kinds of documents and draw upon relevant primary and secondary sources in order to present structured, cohesive arguments in oral and written form; have developed transferable skills in group work, time-management and in the use of Powerpoint.
Skills
Textual analysis skills; written and oral expression skills; critical analysis.
Modern American Fiction: Race, Class, Gender, Sexuality
Overview
This module introduces students to some of the key American novelists, contexts and critical issues associated with the modern era, roughly interpreted as the first half of the twentieth century (c.1920-1950). It does not ignore the orthodox intellectual approaches to the era, namely that of the modern or modernism and how the representative fiction of the era sought to find new forms and languages suitable to the task of interrogating this modernity. However, rather than rehearsing old debates about national particularity, the “melting pot” and US exceptionalism, the focus of this module is the ways in which exemplary African-American, female, working class and gay novelists, as well as their white, male counterparts, sought to undo and re-write narratives of identity and belonging according to particularities of race, class, gender and sexuality. Particular attention is paid to the interplay between narratives of affirmation and negation (or ‘noir’). The module examines these axes of difference as multiple and overlapping, rather than mutually exclusive; hence the focus is on the narrative, formal and linguistic complexities thrown up the re-making of American fiction through the related and diverging prisms of class and race, for example, or gender and sexuality, or even in terms of race, gender, class and sexuality. A repeated concern of the module is whether or to what extent we can use US fiction of the era to trace and interrogate wider social and political challenges to dominant/normative understandings of the United States, modernity, capitalism, and national identity. The set texts reflect this heterogeneity in terms of the writers to be studied and in terms of the diversity of styles, forms and genres that make up American fiction of the era.
Learning Outcomes
Having completed this module, students will have developed an appropriate knowledge and understanding of modern American fiction (c. 1900-1950). They will be able to identify the ways in which representative novels of the era interrogate the modern era and the complex relationship between literary form, popular culture and modernism as organizing concepts. They will also be able to examine and reflect upon the complex ways in which dominant and singular narratives of national belonging are untold and reimagined according to the related and overlapping categories of race, class, gender and sexuality – and the implications of this for an understanding of “American” fiction. They will be able to offer close readings of this fiction according to its use of literary form and language and its thematizations of the urban, the modern, “noir”, capitalism, gender and sexuality and race and class. On completion of the module, students will be able to reflect upon the usefulness of fiction of the era to contest received or orthodox accounts of US political, social and economic life and potentially to intervene in this life for affirmative and/or politically progressive ends.
Skills
Having completed this module students will be able to:
• Analyse modern American fiction paying attention to theoretical/conceptual and contextual issues and develop close critical readings of a diverse range of fiction.
• Demonstrate understanding of the complex relationship between literary forms and socio-political transformations.
• Think about the synthesis and weighting of different, sometimes competing interpretations of literary texts.
• Reflect on the usefulness of race, class, gender and sexuality as organizing categories to interrogate the exemplary fiction of the era and its thematizations of US identities.
• Demonstrate transferrable skills in the forms of critical thinking, group discussion, written communication, and individual academic research
• Demonstrate digital literacy skills required to make a digital map, using relevant software programmes, relating to one of the set texts.
This module introduces students to key concepts and topics in French sociolinguistics. It explores language variation and change in French along a number of social dimensions, including the age, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status of the speaker. It will also look at the effect of situational variables such as style, register, medium and context on language use. The module will examine linguistic data on variation in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, and we will also consider some key theoretical and methodological issues which arise in the study of sociolinguistics.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this module, students will:
• be able to identify and explain the main dimensions of sociolinguistic variation and the ways in which these affect language use;
• be able to identify and explain the main dimensions of situational variation and the ways in which these affect language use;
• be able to assess the significance of linguistic data relating to areas of variation ;
• be able to critically assess some theoretical and methodological issues concerned with the study of sociolinguistics;
• have an understanding of some topics of language variation in French in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary;
• develop the ability to marshal large amounts of information and to construct a detailed argument;
• develop transferable skills in critical thinking, approaching the analysis of data, written and oral expression, group work, and presentation.
Skills
Critical thinking; approaching the analysis of data; written and oral expression skills; group work; presentation
Havoc and Rebellion: Writing and Reading Later Medieval England
Overview
From the Black Death to the Uprising of 1381; from the usurpation and murder of King Richard II to the Oldcastle Rebellion of 1414; from the rise of the Lollard heresy to the Wars of the Roses – how did late medieval writing, from Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, Langland’s Piers Plowman, and Gower’s Vox Clamantis, to the work of a range of anonymous poets, dramatists, and chroniclers, respond to several decades of tumultuous social and cultural change? This module introduces students to the vibrancy and vitality of a crucial period in the history of English writing, and it explores the methodological challenges of reading literature historically. Students will engage with key historicist readings of the period’s literature and will consider literature in its material circumstances with reference to online facsimiles of key manuscript books, as well as the museological presentation of the period’s material culture. The key genres, conventions and preoccupations of the period will be explored in relation to the explosive social mobility that followed the devastation of the Black Death. The module will conclude on the eve of the coronation of Henry VIII, when it was assumed that the political and religious tumult of the ‘calamitous fourteenth century’ had finally been settled.
Learning Outcomes
Having completed this module, students will have developed an appropriate knowledge and understanding of late medieval literature and culture (c.1370-1509). They will have learned to address the challenges of reading literature in its historical contexts, and become familiar with the central tenets of historicist critical practice. They will have learned to interrogate critically the re-presentation of texts and artefacts from the Middle Ages in online archival and museological contexts. They will have learned to reflect critically on the idea of the Middle Ages itself and on questions of historical periodisation in general.
Skills
Having completed this module students will be able to:
• Analyse late medieval literature, paying attention to the relationship between texts and contexts assumed by historicist modes of reading.
• Demonstrate understanding of the complex relationship between literary forms and socio-political transformations.
• Situate the literature of this period in the contexts of its influence on literary ideas and modes of transmission, such as authorship and printing, that will be of critical importance to later periods
• Demonstrate enhanced digital capabilities, both in terms of using digital repositories and in working collaboratively on a digital project for assessment.
This module examines the development of prose fiction in English from the later seventeenth century to the early nineteenth century. This is the period in which the novel emerged in its recognisably modern form, establishing itself as an important genre within literary culture. It was also an era of generic experimentation, as writers debated the nature of the novel, took the form in new directions, and grappled with earlier modes of writing in prose, such as romance and picaresque, allegorical and fantastical fiction. In this module, we explore the variety of prose fiction published during this period: from romance and amatory fiction, through works of realism and social comedy, to the sentimental and Gothic modes that emerged in the later eighteenth century. These works engaged closely with contemporary social, cultural and political issues, and we will consider texts that address topics such as travel and empire; science and civilisation; marriage and gender; crime, morality and the state of the nation. By considering these works in their literary and cultural contexts, the module both highlights the diversity of fiction written during this era and charts the early history of the novel up to the sophisticated narratives of Jane Austen.
Learning Outcomes
Having completed this module, students will have developed higher-level knowledge and understanding of prose fiction during the period 1660-1820. They will be able to identify the different kinds and modes of fiction published during this period, including romance and amatory fiction, works of realism and social comedy, the sentimental and Gothic modes. They will be equipped to assess critical arguments concerning the ‘rise’ of the novel as a distinctive literary genre during the ‘long’ eighteenth century. They will also be able to situate this body of fiction more broadly within its literary and cultural contexts. On completing the module, then, students will be able to articulate the key types of fiction in English during the period up to (and including) Austen, theories about the novel’s emergence as a literary form, and the engagement of these works with a range of contemporary issues.
Skills
Having completed this module students will be able to:
• Analyse works of prose fiction published during the ‘long’ eighteenth century, in terms of genre, technique, and social and cultural contexts
• Demonstrate understanding of the variety of forms, modes and styles within fiction during this period, and the pre-history of some of these ways of writing
• Adjudicate critical and theoretical ideas regarding the ‘rise’ or emergence of the novel genre during the period up to Austen
• Demonstrate understanding of the particular issues explored within this body of fiction - from issues such as marriage and travel to concerns about crime, morality and empire
• Demonstrate transferable skills in the forms of group discussion, written communication, and individual research
This module investigates the ways in which language intersects with the social and political reflexes of power and ideology. Students are encouraged to challenge, through exposure and then analysis, the discourse conventions that characterise the language of powerful groups and institutions. This module places particular emphasis on print and broadcast media, legal, political and advertising discourse, and on other forms of institutional rhetoric. Among the topics covered are: The Discourse of Institutions and Organisations; Power and Talk; Language and Gender; Language and Race; Language and the Law; Humour as Power; Political Discourse and the Language of Advertising.
Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to carry out systematic analysis of differing forms of language in different contexts of use. The moudle should help students to analyse a range of texts and practices, understand the ways in which language is used to exercise control, understand the anatomy of texts and text-types, especially print and broadcast media, and advertising discourse. Also analyse critically the interrelation between powerful institutions and the discourses they disseminate in the public sphere. Students should also further develop effective oral and written communication skills.
Skills
Students are invited to think in new ways about the English language in relation to its social and political context. Students should also develop skill in unpacking a variety of spoken and written texts, and in developing arguments about the way language practice is informed by and reinforces relationships of power. It is hoped that the course itself acts as an empowering tool, helping students to interrogate the discourse that surrounds them in everyday social contexts.
‘Critical and Cultural Theory’ names a panoply of intellectual movements, philosophical currents and political perspectives emerging out of the crisis in European culture and identity precipitated by the pace of political, technological and social change in the nineteenth century. That crisis was exacerbated by the world wars of the twentieth century, the rise of Communism, and the collapse of Western imperialism. This module introduces students to key issues in critical and cultural theory, historicising its emergence and reflecting on its current preoccupations. Beginning with the ‘masters of suspicion’, Freud, Nietzsche and Marx, who are often perceived to have brought the project of Enlightenment humanism to a shuddering halt, the module will trace the development of a variety of important theoretical perspectives, including Marxism, psychoanalysis, structuralism and poststructuralism, historicism, gender studies, and bio-politics and posthumanism. The module will build on the questions asked by the Stage One module ENG xxx Adventures in Literature and the History of Ideas and will complement the approaches taken on other Stage Two modules, given its historicising agenda.
Learning Outcomes
Having completed this module, students will have developed a basic knowledge of a range of theoretical traditions and be better equipped to situate the cultural and political preoccupations of the modern and postmodern literatures they are exploring elsewhere in the curriculum in relation to the intellectual, political and social developments of Western societies from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. They will be better attuned to the intellectual agendas and theoretical affiliations of the critical approaches used by both staff in the School and in the secondary critical materials they are encountering in other modules across their degrees. They will have learned to historicise and synthesise a range of often conflicting intellectual and philosophical traditions.
Skills
Having completed this module students will be able to:
• Identify and adjudicate between different intellectual approaches to literature, culture, gender and history
• Analyse and evaluate key critical terminologies and ideas and place them in their historical contexts
• Demonstrate an ability to read ‘secondary’ texts critically and with a view to their underpinning intellectual assumptions and agendas
• Demonstrate transferral skills in the form of group discussion, written communication, oral presentation and collaborative work
This module explores the linguistic history of English from prehistoric times to the present day. Adopting a chronological approach and working always with reference to texts, it traces the development and use of the language through varieties of Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English and Present Day English. The key topics of the course, applied to each of the periods studied, are (i)internal features, examining underlying grammatical characteristics; (ii)external features, with particular reference to vocabulary; and (iii)transitional and sociolinguistic features, considering the social context of language change, paying attention to changing practices in language writing.
Learning Outcomes
This module should provide an informed understanding of the history of the English language and of language change, with reference to social and cultural factors; to increase students' analytical and descriptive abilities, enabling them to engage in linguistic analysis of texts from different periods and with different writing conventions.
Skills
Students who complete this module should be able to deomonstrate knowledge and understanding of the historical development of English, relating language to its socio-cultural context, and they should be able to apply that knowledge and understanding to particular texts, using analytical and descriptive skills.
This module introduces students to the intellectual arguments and counter-arguments of the period known as the Age of Enlightenment, running through the long eighteenth century and embodied in its literature. As an increasing emphasis on rationality as a means to human understanding came to challenge earlier forms of social and political legitimacy, attitudes to self and identity; science and religion; gender and sexuality; politics and government were significantly reformulated from the eighteenth century onwards, with literature and the arts reflecting and participating in the broad historical movement that this shift in thinking represented. We will introduce and debate some of these key ideas of the Enlightenment (or of the various forms of Enlightenment) in relation to the development of generic categories and poetic forms over the period. The module will be organized around a series of texts and debates implicated in significant cultural and historical developments such as the growth of individualism, consumerism, ideas of political liberty and rights, and of the nation and its overseas empire. The module will include selections of poetry and prose (including literary forms such as the periodical essay, life writings, the political pamphlet, and the novel) to be read in relation to contextual, literary-theoretical, and historical considerations. We will also examine revisionist responses to the Enlightenment, reflecting the interests of contemporary authors seeking to represent the marginalized or silenced voices of the period such as those of women, labouring classes, slaves, and colonial others.
Learning Outcomes
Students completing this module will have gained, through their engagement with literary texts and genres, an understanding of major Enlightenment ideas and their impact on historical development. They will be able to read and contextualize literature of eighteenth century in particular with regard to such ideas, and to discern their significance for contemporary literature and society. They will be able to distinguish and appreciate a diversity of genres and texts characteristic of the period, and to read and interrogate such genres and texts in a critical way. They will be introduced to major digital resources giving them the skills that will enable independent research should they wish to progress further in this area. Students will be equipped to debate political, religious and social issues in an informed way with regard to the emergence of such controversies, and their continued development in modern forms. Students will also be able interrogate constructions of the Enlightenment and to deconstruct its various claims from contemporary perspectives critical of its legacy for the modern world.
Skills
Students who have completed this module will be able to:
• Analyse literary texts with regard to the major intellectual debates and forms of knowledge generated by Enlightenment thinking.
• Debate various religious, social and political issues produced in literature relating to Enlightenment.
• Demonstrate research skills with regard to the use of digital platforms such as Eighteenth-Century Collections Online and British Periodicals with regard to the exploration of such topics.
• Show an understanding of formal and generic developments in literature with regard to intellectual history.
• Examine the ways in which literary texts are implicated in the emergence of dominant understandings of political and social discourses.
• Demonstrate transferrable skills in the forms of critical thinking, group discussion, written communication, and individual academic research.
Foundations for Speech Analysis: The Phonetics of English
Overview
This module offers you an introduction to the study of speech analysis. We begin by investigating the mechanisms which are used to produce speech and providing a framework for the convenient classification and description of pronunciation features. We then examine accent variation, in terms of aspects such as contextual effects, intonation and voice quality. Finally, the module gives you the chance to acquire an understanding of the acoustic characteristics of speech. Throughout the module, you will be required to develop your oral and aural skills in phonetics by means of various practical and online facilities. While the module concentrates on normal English speech, we may also have the opportunity to consider data from non-English speech and from non-normal speech.
Learning Outcomes
This module should give a practical grounding in phonetics. Knowledge of how speech works is needed for a variety of occupations. Students intending to teach English will find phonetic skills essential in implementing oracy and literacy requirements in the classroom. Drama students can benefit from phonetic knowledge in order to deal with voice production, projection and accent learning. For foreign language learners and teachers, phonetics is invaluable in achieving target pronunciations. Future students of linguistics and communication should find that phonetics complements their study of linguistic communications and, finally, those interested in communication disorders need a detailed knowledge of speech production and perception in order to understand specific impairments and their effects..
Skills
When you have completed this module, you should be able to apply your knowledge of speech production and variation to a variety of communicative and educational situations. By means of your aural and oral training, you should have developed skills in detailed, analytic listening and in accurate perception, production and transcription of various phonetic distinctions. The 50% essay should enable you to acquire and demonstrate ability in critical assessment of, for example, the role of a speaker's phonetic profile in achieving particular communicative ends.
This module aims to map the world of the Anglo-Saxons through their language, literature and material culture. Students will learn about the heroic past and values of the Anglo-Saxons, magical rituals and prognostications, and systems of faith and beliefs. A fascinating range of texts and genres from the period (c. 7th-11th centuries) will be studied in relation to their cultural context and audience. These include: heroic poetry; elegies; riddles, charms and prognostications; historiography; and biblical writings. Students will engage with selected texts in the original language and consider issues of literary interpretation and translation. They will also be introduced to concepts of authorship, gender, genre, time, health, self, otherness and religion. Students will become familiar with the basics of Old English literary and religious vocabulary and acquire a working knowledge of the Old English manuscript tradition.
Learning Outcomes
To introduce the study of Old English; to introduce the world of Anglo-Saxon literature and culture.
Skills
Having completed the module, students should have acquired the basics of Old English grammar and poetics, the ability to translate and discuss critically selected Old English texts and to relate texts to their cultural and historical contexts.
This module introduces students to the literature and culture of the period 1900-1930, with a focus on the literary movements grouped under the term ‘modernism’. These literary texts will be examined as complicated and ambivalent responses to the experience of modernity. Students will cover key figures of British and Irish ‘High Modernism’, including James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and T.S. Eliot, alongside American modernists and writers of the so-called ‘middle brow’. Particular attention will be paid to the historical contexts in which these texts were produced, and on their conditions of publication and consumption. These contexts include: the aftermath of the Great War; gender politics, from the New Woman to Suffrage and beyond; the politics of race; terrorism and violence; queer sexualities; urban decay and urban development; the relationship between cultural centres and peripheries; poetry and its publics; American cultural politics; media, and the rise of youth cultures. More broadly, the modules will explore theories and manifestations of ‘modernity’, examining the challenges of modern technologies and social formations to literary practice.
Learning Outcomes
Having completed this module, students will have developed an appropriate knowledge and understanding of the literature of modernity. They will be able to read a variety of texts from the period 1900-1930, including novels, poems, short stories, novellas, and periodical essays. Students will be able to read these texts in relation to a number of contexts, including political, social, and cultural developments. They will also develop the skills to read these texts with an eye to their formal complexity and ingenuity, tying this experimentation to the dynamic social contexts to which they responded. Students will be introduced to a number of digital resources that will encourage their independent research into the periodical publication of modernist works. Moreover students will be able to interrogate a number of dominant critical frameworks, including: those that have, until recently, elevated modernism above the broader literary culture of the period; those that diminish the influence of Victorian literature on modernism.
Skills
Having completed this module students will be able to:
• Analyse modernist literature in both a historical and critical context.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the complex relationship between formal literary innovation and social transformations.
• Examine the relationship between ‘high’ cultural forms and the so-called ‘middle brow’ works of the period.
• Explore how literary texts challenged dominant understandings of race, gender, and class.
• Demonstrate transferrable skills in the forms of critical thinking, group discussion, written communication, and individual academic research.
• Demonstrate advanced research skills, in particular the use of digital platforms to explore the nature of modernist periodicals.
We are all familiar with people who have recently been quickly catapulted to the heights of fame and public attention. The status of such individuals is often associated with wealth and public exposure, and the rise of mass media makes it much easier for them to gain publicity and recognition instantly, across the world. But has it always been this way?
This module will examine the career and legacy of Charles Dickens, who was first recognised for his extraordinary creativity, in producing the works of literature for which he is best known. He was also, however, a careful and intelligent manipulator of his own public image, to the extent that the catchphrase ‘the man who invented Christmas’ survives to this day. By carefully scrutinising Dickens through fiction, journalism, letters, advertising, biography, photography, and film, students will come to understand just how ‘constructed’ this Victorian superstar was; they will also understand how the means he, his publishers, agents, and advisors, and his inheritors employed to develop and maintain his public image serve as forerunners for the phenomenon of celebrity culture in our own day.
Indicative set texts & other media:
Lee Barron, Celebrity Cultures: An Introduction (Sage, 2015)
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield
Ralph Fiennes, The Invisible Woman (DVD 2013)
Bharat Naluri, The Man Who Invented Christmas (DVD 2017)
Michael Slater, Charles Dickens (Yale UP, 2011)
Learning Outcomes
Having completed this module, students will have developed an appropriate knowledge and understanding of the history of celebrity, and the role it has played in shaping cultural values. They will be able to read and engage critically with key Dickens novels from the 1830s-1850s, as well as with his journalism and letters. They will also be able to examine and perform critical assessments on other media that feature Dickens as the central figure, including film, photography, and advertising. Students will be able to analyse and interrogate the ways in which various media project the idea of celebrity in light of their target audiences, and will be able to assess the effects of the strategies employed.
Skills
Having completed this module you will be able to:
• Analyse Dickens’s literary texts in both historical and critical contexts.
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the meaning of ‘celebrity’ and the role it has played in shaping cultural values
• Examine how textual and visual media have had an impact upon the development of celebrity
• Explore the construction of the author as a complex amalgam of creative ability and targeted media manipulation
• Demonstrate how celebrities become brands in their own right, and are used in marketing to promote products and services
• Demonstrate transferrable skills in the forms of critical thinking, group discussion, written communication, and individual academic research.
• Demonstrate advanced research skills, in particular the use of digital platforms to explore the nature of celebrity culture
The project will require the student to reflect on their extended period of residence abroad and the skills acquired as a result. It will include a 2000-word essay in the target language or languages. There will also be an oral examination in the target language or languages to be completed in the first half of the first semester following re-enrolment into Level 3.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module it is intended that you will have developed skills in the following areas: (i) Linguistic Skills: demonstrate advanced competence in the target language in both oral and written contexts; be able to understand the spoken language at near-native level; have developed enhanced strategies for independent language acquisition; be able to prepare and deliver an analytical report and oral presentation in the target language (ii) Academic/Professional Skills: have demonstrated an ability to adapt to a new educational/professional context; be able to analyse and reflect critically on these experiences, and to communicate your conclusions orally and in writing; have developed an awareness and understanding of the structures and ethos of an educational institution (school/university) or workplace in a foreign country, and draw comparisons with the UK/Ireland; have enhanced your employability profile (iii) Cultural Awareness: have gained an enhanced understanding of the culture and society of the foreign country through the experience of living and working/studying there; be able to draw comparisons with those of the UK/Ireland, and reflect critically on your own culture and society.
Skills
At the end of the module, it is intended that you will: have enhanced personal skills in six key areas (self-management & development, managing tasks, communication, working with others, applying knowledge, problem solving); be able to articulate these skills in such a way that you are able to maximise personal development during residence abroad for your future career.
Students complete a work, volunteer or study placement in fulfilment of the residence abroad requirements of their Modern Languages degree.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to demonstrate:
- Advanced linguistic skills
- Enhanced cultural and intercultural awareness
- An understanding of the work environment and professional skills OR an understanding of a different university system and enhanced academic skills
- Personal development
These skills will be assessed as part of the co-requisite module, either FRH3050 or SPA3050
Skills
Students undertaking the placement will develop their skills in the following areas: linguistic skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking); professional or academic skills; cultural and intercultural awareness; personal development.
Building on skills acquired at level 2, this module aims to develop the skills and understanding required to deal with a broad variety of language tasks. Linguistic, sociolinguistic and cultural awareness will be consolidated and deepened. The module will contain the following elements:
1. Written Language Skills (2 hours per week) which will offer students an opportunity to enrich their linguistic skills, consolidate grammatical awareness and develop facility in handling the structures of standard, modern French, across a variety of genres, by means of practical engagement with a range of texts carefully selected for both their linguistic interest (varying in style and register) and the insights they offer into aspects of contemporary France and the Francophone world. Emphasis is placed on accuracy, fluent and idiomatic expression, and linguistic flair. A variety of language acquisition and development methods will be employed: grammar practice, editing work, essay-writing, translation into English and into French.
2. Spoken Language (1 hour per week), which will focus on aspects of contemporary France and the Francophone world, with the aim of training students to speak accurately and fluently in French, to express a range of different ideas and opinions, and to organise material logically and coherently when presenting. This component of the module includes a presentation and extended discussion.
3. Contextual Study (1hr per week). This component, which will vary across the two semesters, will deepen and contextualise the other elements of the module by placing them in a broader cultural context and will include, for example, literary texts, films, art and linguistics. A specific languages for special purposes strands equip students in law or business with skills for legal and professional contexts. This element includes an essay in the target language.
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of the modules students should:
1) be able to demonstrate a high level of fluency, accuracy and spontaneity in written and oral French, including the use of a broad variety of linguistic structures and vocabulary;
2) be able to deal with a broad variety of material in the target language, including material which is complex and abstract, and which involves a variety of genres and registers; 3) be able to demonstrate an advanced knowledge of the structures of the language and their broader linguistic context and the ability to use appropriate reference works effectively;
4) be able to structure and present arguments at a high level in a range of formats and registers.
Skills
On successful completion of the modules students should have developed the following range of skills: Communication skills; translation skills; textual analysis; essay writing; lexicographical skills; IT skills; presentation skills; employability skills, such as report writing and editing skills; problem solving and critical thinking.
This module explores Ireland’s unique contribution to the Gothic through an extraordinary range of texts that encompasses classics of the genre (such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula) alongside lesser-known writers such as Gerald Griffin and James Clarence Mangan. Whilst the reading for the module exemplifies the formal diversity of the genre, particular emphasis is placed on the accelerating use of the short story as a literary vehicle for terror (notably in the work of Sheridan Le Fanu and Elizabeth Bowen). The module pursues several interrelated lines of intellectual inquiry: the longstanding perception of Ireland as a site of Gothic horror; the role of Gaelic folklore and myth in creating supernatural terror; the reception and development of Gothic themes in Irish writing; and current critical debates in the field. In tracing the widespread prevalence of Gothic motifs and themes, the module seeks to delineate the contours of a distinctive aesthetic, and reflects on questions of colonial and gender politics, as well as dilemmas of national and sexual identities as they appear in the dark glass of Irish Gothic writing.
Learning Outcomes
On completing this module, students should have a thorough knowledge of the Gothic genre as it developed in Irish writing, and be able to identify and expand upon the distinctive formal and thematic features of this literary tradition. Students should also be able to situate texts in a range of relevant contexts, relating Gothic motifs and themes to the historical and cultural particularities of their production. Students should also gain good understanding of the current critical debates surrounding Irish Gothic writing.
Skills
Over the course of the module, students should develop/acquire the following skills:
• to analyse primary and secondary material in a scholarly manner;
• to research appropriate critical and historical material on any given literary topic;
• to edit and present scholarly arguments and literary analyses to peers;
• to negotiate a ranging critical field, and situate in relation to it their own analytical perspective.
Speech Worlds: Phonological Acquisition, Variation and Disorder
Overview
The module focuses on four main areas of phonetics. First, you will refine your existing skills in phonetic description and transcription by expanding your knowledge of articulatory categories and distinctions. We then examine methods of profiling speakers' phonetic and phonological systems, using a range of appropriate models. The third component of the module concentrates on intonational aspects of speech. Here, we will examine recent theoretical developments alongside traditional accounts, and we will assess the role of intonation in various communicative situations. Finally, you will gain knowledge of and practical ability in the acoustic analysis of speech. Building on the basic acoustic skills you acquired in Patterns of Spoken English, you will now move on to understand the role of instrumental analysis in the quantification of speech production characteristics. In each of these four areas, we will analyse speech from a wide range of contexts, including disordered speech and children's speech. Throughout the module, you will be encouraged to develop your aural phonetic skills by means of an audio-tape, specifically designed to accompany the course, along with CD-ROM packages.
Learning Outcomes
This module should equip you with a firm understanding of the role of advanced phonetic study in assessing and profiling speech. You should be in a position to undertake a detailed analysis of a speaker's output and to account for breakdowns in speech production using appropriate and informed explanations. Your experience of this module should encourage you to appreciate the value of detailed phonetic knowledge in, for example, English teaching where a detailed understanding of oracy skills can be central to educational development, in foreign language teaching and learning, and in clinical speech contexts.
Skills
The central aim of this module is to develop your theoretical and practical skills in phonetics. We will achieve this aim by examining the processes involved in the production of speech and describing/ transcribing them in detail; by understanding and evaluating models for phonetic analysis; by applying phonetic and phonological analysis as a means of understanding the structure of normal and disordered speech, and by using techniques of acoustic analysis in investigating phonetic data.
Literature and Science in the Nineteenth Century: Evolution, Degeneration, and the Mind
Overview
This course will explore the diverse ways that writers responded to the dramatic developments in science in the nineteenth century, from Darwinian evolution and degeneration theory to the fascination with psychology, mesmerism and the mind. These emergent bodies of knowledge transformed conceptions of the self and society, and we will examine the strategies used by writers to engage with new conceptions of time, fears about progress, and the challenge to religious beliefs presented by the prospect of a directionless universe. Considering the emergence of social science and anthropology, as well as developments in evolutionary biology, psychology and the occult sciences, we will explore the ways science helped to shape nineteenth-century ideologies of race, class, and gender, and led to experiments with new and popular subgenres (including science fiction, imperial adventure, detective fiction and the utopian/dystopian novel).
Learning Outcomes
You will gain an understanding of the ways science participated in nineteenth-century constructions of race and empire, class and gender, and informed debates over subjectivity and social relations. You should be able to relate developments in biology, psychology and social science to fictional modes of representation, including developments in realist fiction, fantasy, and subgenre fiction. You will gain a more nuanced grasp of relationships between science, literature and culture in the nineteenth century.
Skills
You should build on skills developed on ENG2070, including the ability to relate texts to their historical contexts, the ability to engage with texts in both thematic and formal terms, the ability to relate scientific developments to literary developments (including the rise of science fiction, imperial adventure, detective fiction and the utopian novel), the ability to contextualise and question relationships between literature and science in the nineteenth-century, and to explore the dynamic relationships between fictional and non-fictional writings, the development of a critical awareness of the way science shaped (and was shaped by) nineteenth-century politics and culture. You will also acquire enhanced skills of independent thought and research, group-work skills and oral presentation skills.
This module aims to raise questions about the relation between works of fiction set in the Victorian period, and made-for-TV reappropriations of these texts. It considers the way that we ‘read’ the Victorian period through visual image, and the impact of technologies of the visual on the written word. It introduces different theoretical approaches to film, and explains, by means of example, the differences between cinema and television. It explores connection between cinematic practice (montage, the shot, editing, sound, space and mise-en-scène) and notions of writing. It will ask questions about the nature of genre, spectatorship, and issues of ideology and effect. The module will concentrate on identifying the range of different resources required to understand the flow of images on the TV screen, and will examine how ‘adaptation’ is conceptualised, particularly the ways in which the comparison of book and film is haunted by notions of faithfulness and the ‘original’ primacy of the literary work.
Learning Outcomes
Having completed this module, you should have refined your ability to analyse literary texts sensitively in relation to films made for TV. You should have developed your skills in constructing written and spoken analyses and arguments, based on assembling appropriate primary and secondary evidence from textual and visual media. You should have developed an ability to conceptualise adaptations, to speak in a theoretically informed manner about reappropriations of works set in the Victorian period, to distinguish between film and television as visual media, and to read visual images in such a way as to appreciate how literature and film work together to produce cultural artefacts.
Skills
This module should enable you to build upon and substantially enhance the skills that you have already acquired during the course of your degree, and in particular should allow you to acquire and demonstrate the following: broad comprehension of modern scholarly debates concerning adaptations; understanding of how Victorian social and cultural contexts are translated or interpreted for the modern age; understanding of the fundamentals of film and television art; the ability to analyse critically the interrelation between works of fiction and their made for tv counterparts, in the process identifying their complexities and contradictions; effective oral and written communication skills.
This course aims to explore the writing and culture of the working class, to ask how socio-economic distinctions inflect judgements of ‘taste’, and to develop an understanding of the historical role of class in shaping identities across ethno-nationalist lines. A good deal of scholarship in recent decades has signalled a growing awareness of British working-class writing, though Irish Studies, by comparison, has tended to neglect issues of social class. We will therefore engage the more substantial body of scholarship on British working-class literature to inform our discussion of Irish working-class writers, signalling new and exciting possibilities for future scholarship.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, students will have refined their broad critical understanding of key thinkers in cultural materialist and left-wing literary theory. They will have applied this understanding to over a dozen key texts (including films), engaging a range of historical and social contexts across twentieth-century British and Irish writing, analysing the recurrence of key themes and ideas in working-class writing. Students will also have related these readings to developments in postcolonial, postmodern and feminist theories, where applicable, drawing on a broad range of cultural and intellectual perspectives.
Skills
During this module, students will have the opportunity to practise the following skills:
- Critical analysis of key debates in literary and cultural theory;
- Engagement with interdisciplinary debates regarding historiography and the sociology of culture;
- Application of learning to key texts in working-class writing;
- Comparative analysis of literary and filmic representations and conventions;
- Writing critically and reflectively;
- Presentation skills.
This module examines in depth the work of two major twentieth-century American poets: Wallace Stevens and Elizabeth Bishop. The work of the module will divide evenly between the two writers, with the first five weeks concentrating on Stevens and the second five on Bishop. Students will engage with two main texts (the collected poems of each poet) and assess their writings either in terms of individual collections or as examples of a longer career in poetry.
Learning Outcomes
Having completed this module, students should have a thorough knowledge of the work of both Wallace Stevens and Elizabeth Bishop within a range of particular contexts: their connection to other poetic movements or schools or traditions; their place within a canon of twentieth-century American poetry; their relation to philosophical movements, both within the United States and further afield; and of how their poems work as poetry. They will also be familiar with other examples of Stevens’ and Bishop’s writing, whether in the form of letters, essays, or in prose and how these assist in the understanding of their poetry within related contexts.
Skills
Students will develop the ability to read and critically analyse poetry in a range of forms and modes: short poems; philosophical poems; narrative poems; long poems. Their skills in assessing fundamental examples of twentieth-century American poetry between 1923 and 1976 will be enhanced by a range of approaches: comparing poems by Stevens or by Bishop from across her/his oeuvre, and/or by comparing the work of both writers; by reading their work in relation to key critical and contextual understandings of their contemporary moments (Modernism, late Modernism, World Wars 1 and 2, the Depression, the Middle Generation). Students taking this module will develop an appreciation of poetry on its own terms as exemplified by two giants of the form in the United States.
Drawing on contemporary theories regarding new national and postcolonial literatures, this module will introduce students to post-independence Indian literature in English through a selection of texts including fiction, poetry, drama, travel writing and journalism. These will be accompanied by critical readings and discussions engaging with issues such as the role of English in India; the politics of nationalism, regionalism, caste and gender in contemporary India; India’s global reach and its (literary) diaspora; as well as current media and travel writing in India. While the emphasis will be placed on canonical literary texts (in printed form), other materials such as film, media, and internet resources will be used to complement and contextualise these literary works.
Learning Outcomes
Students will gain a broad understanding of contemporary Indian literature within a framework provided by current critical theories regarding new national and postcolonial literatures.
Skills
This module will develop the following skills:
- ability to engage in literary analysis
- the ability to understand and use current critical theories (specifically those relating to postcolonial and new national literatures in English)
- the ability to closely work with peers through group discussion
- oral engagement through discussion and class presentation
- formal written presentation of individual research work in the area
An exploration of the development of Caribbean literature in French in the latter half of the twentieth century. The module is studied through representative prescribed texts and other source material.
Learning Outcomes
To develop an awareness of the history of French colonialism and slavery, and of their continuing importance in contemporary society. A critical understanding of how the need to assert a sense of personal and/or collective identity is reflected in the texts studied. A sense of the rapid development of a relatively new literary tradition in the Caribbean islands.
Skills
Marshalling and synthesising diverse material. Skills in written and oral expression and close textual analysis.
Contemporary US Crime Fiction: the Police, the State, the Globe
Overview
This module examines some of the different manifestations of contemporary U.S. crime fiction since the late 1960s. Beginning with a section on ‘policing the city’ and the ways in which the genre negotiates the complex inter-relationship of race, class and capitalism, the module moves on to consider state violence and public corruption before concluding with an examination of the limitations of state power and the international reach of some crime fiction. Rather than arguing for the genre as a singular, static entity, the module examines its proliferation and diversity in the contemporary era (focusing on novels, TV series and films) and explores connections between crime fiction and other genres (e.g. urban realism and espionage fiction). In doing so, the module aims to situate different kinds of crime fiction as a series of complex negotiations with different forms of political authority (e.g. the police, the state, capitalism etc.).
Learning Outcomes
Having completed this module, students will have acquired the ability to analyse a broad range of exemplary U.S. crime fiction (novels, films, TV programs) in light of their understanding of particular theoretical approaches and different theoretical approaches in the light of their understanding of particular set texts. They will have developed an ability to identify particular generic traits, speak about the genre’s development since the late 1960s in a theoretical informed way and situate this development in relation to particular social, cultural, political and economic circumstances in the U.S and the global realm. They will have developed their skills in constructing written and spoken arguments drawing on appropriate primary and secondary evidence.
Skills
This module will allow students to build upon the skills that they have acquired in first and second year and in particular will allow and permit the following:
- broad understanding of the development and proliferation of U.S. crime fiction since the 1960s;
- understanding of the relationship of crime fiction texts to different forms of political authority;
- an ability to analyse a variety of set texts in the light of particular theoretical approaches and analyse a variety if theoretical approaches in the light of particular set texts;
- an ability to analyse literary and filmic/televisual texts and articulate sophisticated ideas and arguments in a clear, accessible manner in written and spoken assignments;
- an ability to work closely in collaboration with other students.
Stylistics is the application of analytical models and methods from linguistics to rhetorical texts, including (but not limited to) fictional and persuasive texts. In this module, the students are introduced to the analytical frameworks used in contemporary Stylistics, which draw on a range of approaches from Pragmatics, Corpus Linguistics and Cognitive Psychology. The frameworks are applied to texts to demonstrate how the linguistic patterns employed lead to stylistic effects. The students will practice applying the models to a variety of texts, identifying the linguistic features that contribute towards style in language.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students will have an understanding of the key frameworks used in stylistic analysis and the ability to apply them to rhetorical texts. Through practising this application, students will learn to identify patterns in the linguistic features that lead to stylistic effects. Consequently, students will have a heightened awareness of the use of language for artful and persuasive purposes.
As well as subject-specific outcomes, students will gain from this module more generally by learning methods in the qualitative analysis of texts, to write critically and to present an argument clearly.
Skills
During this module, students will have the opportunity to acquire the following skills:
Module-specific:
- Linguistic analysis of rhetorical texts
- Criticism of linguistic theory and practice
- Identification of formal linguistic features
Generic:
- Qualitative research methods
- Writing critically and reflectively
- Presentation skills
Home Matters: Space, Gender and Identity in 19th-Century France and Belgium
Overview
This interdisciplinary course focuses on the home in literature, art and architecture in 19th-century France and Belgium. Drawing upon a series of 19th-century artworks, poetry, prose, domestic advice manuals, magazines, housing plans and other artefacts, we will question how domestic space was configured and represented.
In particular, we will consider how issues of gender and class are articulated via divisions and tensions around space. Our discussion will centre firstly on the construction of the modern city, with a particular emphasis on housing in Paris and Brussels. We will draw upon a series of 19th-century and present-day critics (eg. Duranty, Benjamin, Bachelard, Marcus, Heynen) to interrogate the relationship between the home and its inhabitant in the age of modernity. We will then apply this contextual and theoretical knowledge to a series of case studies in three distinct fields: literature, art and architecture.
In literature, we will discuss the poetry of Charles Baudelaire and Max Elskamp, together with extracts from Balzac’s novels; in art, we will consider the Impressionist paintings of Mary Cassatt, Gustave Caillebotte and Berthe Morisot and, in architecture, we will study Henry van de Velde’s own home Bloemenwerf House, a gesamtkunstwerk, which sought to exemplify artistic and social unity at the turn of the century.
Prescribed material: class dossier (available on Canvas)
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, students will:
1. Have acquired an in-depth understanding of the socio-political and cultural context of nineteenth-century France and Belgium.
2.Be familiar with a wide range of 19th-century texts, paintings and media.
3. Be able to engage with the work of different theorists in Art History, Literature, Cultural Studies, Material Culture and Architecture.
4. Know how to compare the works of artists, architects, designers and writers.
5. Be able to analyse works of art and literature in detail.
6.Understand the importance of interdisciplinary methodologies in learning about the past.
The late twentieth century has seen a proliferation of Shakespeare on screen. This module investigates the phenomenon through the cinematic history of four plays - Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Othello. It looks at the work of directors such as Laurence Olivier, Franco Zeffirelli, Orson Welles, Kenneth Branagh, Baz Luhrmann, Oliver Parker and Michael Almereyda. Debate will focus upon the following areas; the relationship between the playtext and the film; the malleability of Shakespeare as a cultural icon; the relevance of Shakespeare to a modern audience; the shifting status of Shakespeare as a signifier of gender, race, technology and politics.
Learning Outcomes
This module aims to inculcate an in-depth knowledge of the multifarious ways in which Shakespeare is appropriated in late twentieth-century cinema; to enable students to discriminate between various filmic versions of a play; to gain the confidence and capability to deploy critical and theoretical tools to talk about film constructively; and to reflect upon connections between Shakespearean production and the preoccupations of a particular historical moment.
Skills
Having successfully completed this module, you should have become familiar with a range of ways in which Shakespeare is appropriated in the cinema; you should have learned how to utilise a theoretical filmic vocabulary in the interests of larger analyses; you should be able to discriminate between various filmic versions of a play and to identify some of their cultural and intertextual influences; you should have further honed your presentational skills and, through regular teamwork, learned the value of collaborative practice.
Death has traditionally been one of the great taboos of Western culture. While it is often discussed euphemistically, in English and French (he is “at peace”; she has “passed away”; “elle s’est éteinte dans son sommeil”; “il nous a quittés”…), there have been signs of a recent shift in our reluctance to confront, let alone discuss, death. The popularity of the modern Death Café network demonstrates that there has been something of a cultural revolution of late in respect of our desire to explore mortality. This interdisciplinary module, drawing on important new fields of enquiry, such as death studies and medical humanities, aims to explore what modern French literature reveals to us about ideological (cultural, ethical, religious, gendered) attitudes towards death. Using podcasts and sociological writings to frame our discussions, the module will focus on what some of France’s literary masterpieces from the nineteenth century to the present day can tell us about aspects of death. Engaging with topics such as sacrifice, suffering, (assisted) suicide, accompagnement, palliative care and bereavement, the module will be an opportunity for students to think about the following questions:
• What are the ideological and aesthetic concerns linked to representations of death in French literature?
• What does French literature tell us about the idea of a ‘good death’?
• How does French literature portray grief and mourning?
• How does French literature deal with sensitive social and ethical issues surrounding end-of-life care?
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this module, students will be able to:
a. Discuss knowledgably the issues raised by representations of death in a selection of French literary texts from the nineteenth century to the present day;
b. Understand better some of the cultural, ethical and legal issues raised by literary reflections on dying and death;
c. Develop close reading skills and make meaningful contrasts and comparisons between the various texts studied;
d. Appreciate better the role of literature in providing a voice to the patient, his/her carer(s) and medical professionals at the end of life.
Skills
This module will equip students with the capacity to:
a. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the chosen texts and an understanding of their significance in the broader historical / literary / cultural context in which they were produced;
b. Analyse and reflect critically on texts in the target language;
c. Argue at length and in detail in essay form about a specific topic, supporting the argument with evidence from the text and with opinions from secondary literature;
d. Use a range of literary-critical terminology, applying it to independently researched material as well as to material introduced by the course tutor;
e. Use recommended bibliographical tools and present a critical bibliography giving a balanced overview of an aspect of the subject;
f. Manage time effectively.
This module aims to provide a strong background in English language by focusing on the print and broadcast media in Britain. It will also introduce students to some of the theoretical concepts and critical issues associated with Media studies. For students, one of the most effective ways to begin understanding the media is to analyse media texts such as newspaper articles, magazine advertisements, political speeches, television and radio interviews, talk shows in detail. Students will also look at non-verbal communication, layouts, and images to see how language interacts with other modes of communication. The course examines important media issues, such as the myth of a free press, racism, violence and commercialization and also provides important information on areas of media studies essential for analysing media discourse, i.e. media practices (the way reporters and editors work and how audiences shape and are shaped by the media).
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, you should have developed skills in a critical linguistic analysis of spoken and written media texts/textual and visual media. You should also have gained an awareness of the place of the media in their broader political, economic, social and cultural contexts.
Skills
This module should enable students to build upon and enhance the linguistic skills that they have already acquired during the course of their degree and in particular should allow them to acquire and demonstrate: an ability to critically analyse and interpret written and spoken media texts; a broad understanding of media practices and media audiences; knowledge of a range of theoretical and methodological approaches within the field of media and language; critical thinking about how print and broadcast media are produced and distributed; proficiency in oral and written communication skills.
This module offers students the opportunity to explore the syntax and morphology of English. Starting from the insight that sentences have structure, and that all native speakers of English have knowledge of the rules that underlie that structure, this course focuses on the grammatical tools and theoretical concepts that allow us to investigate and describe the nature of our syntactic knowledge. Students are introduced to a basic formal framework for syntactic analysis (a simple phrase-structure model informed by modern Principles-and-Parameters Theory) and the kinds of questions and problems that such a model allows us to address, including those relating to child language acquisition and syntactic variation across different dialects of English. Throughout the course, the emphasis is placed on developing practical skills for data analysis alongside scientific skills of hypothesis formation and argumentation, and on setting the English language within the wider context of human language more generally.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, students will have proficiency in linguistic analysis using a theoretically-informed model of syntactic description, as well as an appreciation of the value of using such a model to discuss and explain not only real language data but also more abstract properties of linguistic competence. On a practical level, students will be able to identify and describe the major types of syntactic categories and constructions in terms of their formal characteristics and structural properties, as well as to manipulate constituents in order to arrive at a structural analysis. They will be equipped to evaluate alternative descriptions and analyses of linguistic phenomena and to argue for (or against) a particular solution to a problem.
Skills
The primary aim of this module is to familiarize students with a basic technical vocabulary and set of descriptive and analytical skills that can be applied to new data sets, including tests for identifying syntactic categories and for determining syntactic structure. A secondary aim is to develop an awareness of the kinds of linguistic facts that can be revealed by a theoretical approach to language involving introspective methods, including grammaticality judgments. In pursuing these aims, our purpose is not only to develop an ability to solve linguistic problems using the tools and concepts provided, but also to gain an understanding of how abstract structural notions can help us to capture and account for often subtle and surprising empirical patterns and generalizations.
This module examines contemporary (twenty-first century) novels set during the period 1660-1820: from the Restoration of Charles II to the Regency era popularly associated with Jane Austen. These works form part of the boom in ‘historical fiction’, a branch of the novel genre that dates at least as far back as Walter Scott’s Waverley (1814) but which has gained renewed popularity and prestige in recent years. By examining narratives set during a specific time-period, the module assesses the strengths and limitations of historical fiction, the reasons for its cultural and commercial purchase, its relationship to the past and to our contemporary moment, and the usefulness of the term ‘historical fiction’ itself. ‘Historical fiction’ encompasses a variety of modes, sub-genres and aesthetic categories, and the module addresses examples of ‘popular’, mass-market fiction and ‘literary’ (highbrow) fiction; intersections with other novelistic forms (such as crime, mystery and fantasy fiction); and the place within historical fiction of literary adaptations (of Austen’s novels especially). Historical fiction often returns to familiar motifs and historical events – such as the Napoleonic Wars or the decade of the 1660s, which saw the return of the monarchy, the spread of plague and the Great Fire of London. At the same time, contemporary writers have also revisited this period in order to recover marginalised voices: to reclaim, and re-imagine, historical identities in relation to gender, sexuality, race and class. Among other elements, we will consider narratives that focus on servants and slaves, and that explore such topics as crime and the city; social hierarchy and the status of women; empire and national identity; fact, fiction and historical ‘truth’. Via a dual focus on history and the present, the module will thus ask what contemporary fiction tells us about our understanding of the past, and about our own contemporary concerns, anxieties, and obsessions.
Learning Outcomes
Having completed this module, students will have developed higher-level knowledge and understanding of contemporary ‘historical fiction’, in relation to the specific time-period 1660-1820. They will be able to identify and articulate the key critical and theoretical issues surrounding this body of fiction, such as the relationships between narrative, history and ‘the past’; fact, fiction, and historical ‘truth’. They will be equipped to distinguish different kinds of historical fiction and the various genres and modes in operation within these novels: popular vs ‘literary’ fiction; crime, mystery and fantasy; the role of literary adaptation. They will be able to situate recent historical fiction in relation to earlier novels and the history of the (sub-)genre. On completion of the module, they will be more fully attuned to the limitations and risks, popular appeal and value of contemporary historical novels, with particular regard to the period from the Restoration of 1660 to the end of the Regency era.
Skills
Having completed this module students will be able to:
• Analyse contemporary works of historical fiction in terms of genre, technique, readerships, and constructions of the past
• Demonstrate understanding of the various ways in which contemporary novelists have conceived and depicted the period 1660-1820
• Adjudicate critical and theoretical ideas regarding the relationships between fact and fiction, narrative and history within this literature
• Demonstrate understanding of the ‘politics’ of historical fiction, with regard to the voicing of the historically marginalised and the investigation of personal and group identities in terms of gender, sexuality, race and class
• Demonstrate transferrable skills in the forms of group discussion, written communication, and individual research
Love Across the Divide: Northern Irish Literature and Culture 1968-Present
Overview
This module examines how Northern Irish texts, from 1968 to the present, engage with the ‘Troubles’ through the motif of ‘Love Across the Divide’. The attempt to negotiate the perennially fraught Anglo-Irish relationship through an Irish/British, Catholic/Protestant or Republican/Loyalist love story has a long literary history: and took on renewed urgency after the eruption of violence in the late 1960s. Exploration of this narrative trope illuminates the roles that gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, politics and class play in shaping individual, cultural and national identities. Students will study a wide variety of materials, including poetry, novels, plays, short fiction, TV & Film, to ask if the motif is mobilised differently across literary and/or cultural forms and if so, how and why? What do these narratives tell us about the progress (or lack of) with regards to women’s rights and gender politics in Northern Ireland? How should we read narratives exploring homosexual romance in a province where same-sex marriage is still prohibited? In thinking about how the conflict and its legacy have impacted on the most secret, intimate and surprising of things – sexual desire – students will be critically equipped to scrutinize the domestic debris of the ‘Troubles’.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module the student should be able to:
1. Discuss and evaluate a broad range of Northern Irish literary and cultural texts from the period studied.
2. Show an awareness of the historical and intellectual contexts to Northern Irish Literature, Culture and the Troubles.
3. Discuss differing critical approaches to Northern Irish literature and culture.
4. Think critically about the intersectional nature of identity, and the role that gender, sexuality, politics, religion, ethnicity and religion play in shaping our lives.
5. Comment upon the representation of the evolving political landscape and gendered nature of life in Northern Ireland from 1968 to the present.
6. Analyse how gender, sexual identity and desire can be politicised.
7. Reflect on the domestic impact of the violence and conflict of the ‘Troubles’.
Skills
Having completed this module students will be able to:
• Analyse texts from contemporary Northern Irish literature and culture with regards to their aesthetic, political and historical contexts;
• Demonstrate an understanding of the ‘politics’ of contemporary Northern Irish literature and culture;
• Critically appraise how identity is ‘intersectional’ with regard to ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, race and class;
• Demonstrate knowledge as to how the ‘Troubles’ were depicted in contemporary Northern Irish literature and culture, and how their impact can still be traced in the ‘post-Good Friday Agreement’ present;
• Demonstrate transferrable skills in the forms of seminar discussion, written communication, and individual research.
This module provides an opportunity for student to utilise disciplinary skills in a work-based environment within the context of reflective practice. Students will negotiate suitable placements in consultation with their academic supervisor and participate in a programme of related classes and events. Simulated work-based projects in which students work in groups with the support of the university’s Enterprise Unit in the Students’ Union are also possible.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should have:
Increased ability to relate academic theory to the work environment
A developed understanding of the organisational culture, policies and processes
The ability to reflexively and critically evaluate their own learning from the placement
An appreciation of enterprise and innnovation
Enhanced career knowledge
Skills
Employability skills, including effective communication, teamworking and problem-solving.
Writing Africa: The Colonial Past to Colonial Present
Overview
This module provides an overview of Anglophone prose fiction from and about the African continent, from the late 19th century to the present. Beginning with texts written at the height of British imperial power, the course charts imperial decline and decolonisation through literary eyes. Coming to focus on the African novel in English, students will study major concepts and debates in colonial and postcolonial studies and, by interrogating globalisation and the ‘colonial present’, will reflect critically on postcolonial theory itself. This course is structured around five themes: 1) Adventure, Exploration, Empire 2) Imperial Decline 3) Decolonisation: The Rise of the African Novel 4) Gender, Trauma, Conflict 5) Postcolonialism or Neo-imperialism
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, students will have analysed a range of colonial and postcolonial fiction set in sub-Saharan Africa, from the Victorian period to the present. They will have engaged critically with key debates in colonial and postcolonial studies concerning language, identity and representation, and applied these to course texts. Students will have extended their knowledge and understanding of module themes (including colonialism, decolonisation, postcolonialism, globalisation and neo-imperialism), and developed an informed critical vocabulary for the examination of colonial and postcolonial literatures.
Skills
On completing this module students will be able to:
• articulate their knowledge and understanding of colonialism, decolonisation, postcolonialism, globalisation and neo-imperialism
• analyse and evaluate key critical terms, and deploy an informed vocabulary for the examination of colonial and postcolonial literature
• demonstrate an ability to work with secondary materials
• identify independent research questions (having selected their own essay and presentation topics)
• display transferable skills in group discussion, written communication and oral presentation
• demonstrate skills in using online research and learning resources effectively (having participated in a digital resources workshop)
Contemporary Irish and Scottish Fiction Devolutionary Identities
Overview
The past decades have not only seen an increasing interest in the historical, political and economic crosscurrents between Scotland and Ireland, but they have also witnessed a remarkable literary renaissance on both sides of the Irish Sea. This course explores the transformed literary landscape of Irish and Scottish fiction since the 1980s in relation to the (d)evolutionary processes of cultural and social change in today’s Atlantic archipelago, concerning in particular the Irish Republic’s economic boom in the 1990s (commonly referred to as the ‘Celtic Tiger’), the Peace Process in Northern Ireland, and the movement towards the reconstitution of the Scottish Parliament. We will examine how these changes and the issues that they raise are reflected in an indicative selection of Irish, Northern Irish, and Scottish novels, focusing on the relationship between the formal and stylistic experiments often found in these writings and the concepts of identity, society, the nation, history, and gender that they draw on, resist, and/or give rise to. In this respect, we will pay due attention to ideas about the role of literature, gender, sexuality, class, race, and religion in the (re)construction of national identity; questions of power, authority and authenticity, and the impact of globalization on cultural production; the politics of place and the rural/urban divide; revisions and representations of history, and issues of trauma and memory; the literary use of non-standard English; narrative tropes, techniques, and typographic experiments.
This course aims to establish a comparative framework in order to trace the shared concerns and noteworthy differences that characterise and constitute a significant part of the contemporary Irish and Scottish literary scene. It is designed to introduce students to dominant critical and literary paradigms as well as key debates in Irish and Scottish Studies raised by postcolonialism, postmodernism, (post-) nationalism, gender studies, and feminism. To that end, literary texts will be read alongside theoretical and cultural perspectives in both fields, copies of which will be provided in a course reader.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, students will have gained a in-depth knowledge of 11 Irish and Scottish novels and developed an understanding of the corpus of, and crosscurrents between, contemporary Scottish and Irish fiction. The module will introduce students to dominant critical and literary paradigms as well as key debates in Irish and Scottish Studies raised by postcolonialism, postmodernism, (post-) nationalism, gender studies, and feminism. They will be able to apply the knowledge they have gained in textual analysis of contemporary Irish and Scottish fiction, expanding their sense of new developments in subject matter, literary technique, and language use.
Skills
Students will gain a range of subject-specific, intellectual, practical and transferable skills: they will develop their critical assessment of texts and gain deeper analytic and textual competence. They will also hone their presentation and writing skills and learn to present and discuss complex issues with clarity and cogency, both orally and in writing, write clearly and succinctly, and organise study time effectively.
This is a Special Topic module offered by a visiting Fulbright Distinguished Scholar in Creative Writing. The contents of the module, which will change on an annual basis, depending on the area of creative writing expertise of the Visiting Scholar, will provide an opportunity for students to work on a specific aspect of creative writing. The specific module content will be announced as early as possible each academic year. Students who sign up for this module will, as normal, have the right to switch to another module if the content does not suit their academic plans.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students will have examined an aspect of creative writing and will have written extensively in the appropriate form or genre. Objectivity about their own creative practice will have been further fostered by the writing of a self-reflexive commentary to accompany their final submission. Students should have come some way towards developing their own creative voice.
This is a Special Topic module offered by a visiting Fulbright Scholar. This course focuses on contemporary Irish women writers and their depiction of home in light of the poetic duality of scáth, an Irish word that may be translated as either shadow or shelter. This duality of scáth helps capture the complicated nature of home, especially for Irish women, who have historically been caught somewhere between viewing “home” as a sheltered respite or as an imprisoning shadow. After rooting the Irish female literary tradition in Irish myths, we will study both how today’s authors not only describe this paradoxical relationship but also offer models of women who simultaneously resist the shadows and create their own shelters of beauty and hope without denying or ignoring ugly realities. Sample texts include Emma Donaghue’s Room, Anna Burns’s Milkman, and Maggie O’Farrell’s This Must Be the Place.
Learning Outcomes
Students will develop their skills in: close reading of literary texts; analysis of literary texts within cultural, historical, and biographical contexts; oral communication; formulation of critical arguments; research methods; scholarly writing, including the integration of primary and secondary sources and adherence to academic conventions
Students will undertake a piece of independent research and write a dissertation presenting that research and their conclusions. They will have the guidance of a tutor, but the emphasis is on their own independent research and writing. There should be no overlap between the chosen topic and work done for other modules. Students will be expected to develop and exhibit suitable theoretical and methodological frameworks for their chosen topic.
Learning Outcomes
The module will provide an opportunity to explore, to investigate and to identify themes for research within English. Students will be able to draw from a variety of theoretical, textual, analytical techniques, to examine and evaluate a given research problem.
Skills
By the end of the module students will:\n\nhave a developed critical understanding of an area of literary study;\n\nhave developed the skills needed to conduct an independent line of research;\n\nbe able to write a cogent, well-illustrated dissertation, which displays originality of consistent thinking and application of ideas, concepts and theories.
Marvels, Monsters and Miracles in Anglo-Saxon England
Overview
The very nature of marvels insists on their subjectivity: they are defined by the experience of their viewer. To marvel from the Latin mirari or to wonder from the Germanic wundar is to be filled with awe, surprise, admiration or astonishment. When we try to generalise about the meaning of marvels and the use of wonder in the Middle Ages, we are confronted with multiplicity. How do we read marvels? What’s their role in medieval texts? Are monsters and miracles to be read as marvels? One of the most critical tools for discussing the nature of difference that is central to the marvellous is the idea of the ‘Other’ which offers both psychological and political means of analysing the experience of wonder. The Anglo-Saxons were fascinated by the idea of encounters with strangeness and difference – a fascination that expressed itself in a rich and diverse rang of textual, artistic and geographical representations of such imaginings. Difference was considered both marvellous and monstrous; terrifying and fascinating; disgusting and desirable.
This module examines the perceptions of the marvellous and monstrous in the literature of the Anglo-Saxons. It investigates the nature of those phenomena which the Anglo-Saxons experienced as marvels, how they interpreted their experiences of astonishment and how they recreated them for others. It analyses the importance of ‘marvellous difference’ in defining ethnic, racial, religious, class and gender identities, as represented in different genres including historiography (i.e. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle), travel narratives (Wonders of the East, Alexander’s Letter to Aristotle etc), hagiography (i.e. The Life of St Christopher) and other literary texts including Beowulf, Judith, Genesis B.
Texts in Latin, Old Norse and Middle English may be used for comparative purposes. Modern English translations will be provided for all the texts. Students are also expected to be able to engage with texts in Old English.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of the module students should be able to:
-Demonstrate a critical awareness of a variety of early medieval concepts and constructions of otherness and difference;
-Show a familiarity with a range of medieval texts, genres and cultural concepts;
-Demonstrate the ability to engage with both contemporary critical concepts and their applicability to pre-modern texts;
-Show evidence of independent research and study skills;
-Use relevant electronic databases to further their written work;
-Demonstrate a consistent level of contribution to seminar discussions.
Skills
This module will enable students to:
-Develop an informed sense of the complexity of concepts such as monstrosity, marvellous, superstition, miracle, religion, otherness;
-Consider and evaluate how difference (racial, religious, gender, national) was conceptualised in early medieval English culture;
-Acquire an understanding of various literary texts in relation to their cultural context and audience;
-Develop an ability to engage critically with the primary material as well as familiarity with modern scholarly and critical approaches;
Apply independent thought and academic research skills.
This module will examine gendered dimensions of performance from the late sixteenth century to the Restoration. It will introduce students to ways of reading performance via a range of playwrights, genres and theatrical contexts. Topics will include Shakespeare’s boy actors, the children’s playing companies, female performance, shifting dramatic practices and theatrical innovation. It will raise questions about performance spaces and traditions and the representation of gender, location, status, cross-dressing, the body and the actor on this stage.
Learning Outcomes
Students will gain knowledge of modes of representation on the Renaissance stage. They will become familiar with important developments in theatrical practices in this period. They will be able to critically reflect on the ways in which dramatic texts refract contemporary issues of gender, sexuality, status and location and to evaluate these themes across dramatic genres and performance spaces.
Skills
Students will develop skills of close analysis of texts in relation to Renaissance performance and cultural contexts. They will develop the ability to explore questions of gender, genre, space and performance. The module will improve students’ written and oral communication skills and enhance their abilities to develop an argument independently and through group work.
Extra-muros: language, film and literature in the banlieues
Overview
This interdisciplinary module allows students to critically examine the cultural representation of France’s densely populated and multicultural urban suburbs or banlieues, through the analysis and critique of the language, film, literature, and music which has developed in that context. Students will examine the contentious label of ‘banlieue’ as a genre in film and literature, and its contested status as applied to varieties of Modern French language use.
The module situates the banlieues in their sociological background, drawing on a range of press reports concerning key events like the 2005 and 2023 riots and the Justice pour Adama movement to critically evaluate the representation of these urban zones in French-language media. Students will be enabled to use techniques from linguistics such as Critical Discourse Analysis to engage with and evaluate media discourse about the banlieues, and to assess the realism of dialogue in fictional representations.
The module interrogates the diachronic development of cultural representations of the banlieues of Francophone Europe, as well as regional specificities in representation through the examination of a variety of texts across time-periods and regions.
Texts studied will vary from year to year in response to current events and student interests, but examples of likely texts include Kassiovitz, La Haine (1994), Sciamma, Bande de filles (2016), Ly, Les Misérables (2020), Begag, Le gone du chaâba (1986), Guène, Kiffe kiffe demain (2004) and Diallo, Deux secondes d’air qui brûle (2022) which will be approached alongside pertinent current music and Netflix’s Nouvelle École rap-reality show.
The module fosters media literacy and builds on literary, linguistic and film analysis approached in earlier modules. The module problematises representations of banlieue societies across contemporary cultural outputs and language use.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, students will be able to:
- explain the cultural importance of the banlieues in contemporary francophone Europe
- synthesise material from a variety of primary sources to critically evaluate cultural and linguistic representations of francophone society
- evince detailed understanding of the linguistic properties and social meanings of specific French varieties
- analyse societal representations in fictional and real-life contexts with reference to appropriate scholarship
Skills
This module will develop your skills in:
- intercultural awareness
- critical judgement
- textual, literary and linguistic interpretation and analysis
Students will undertake a piece of independent research and write a dissertation presenting that research and their conclusions. They will have the guidance of a tutor, but the emphasis is on their own independent research and writing. There should be no overlap between the chosen topic and work done for other modules. Students will be expected to develop and exhibit suitable theoretical and methodological frameworks for their chosen topic.
Learning Outcomes
The module will provide an opportunity to explore, to investigate and to identify themes for research within English. Students will be able to draw from a variety of theoretical, textual, analytical techniques, to examine and evaluate a given research problem.
Skills
By the end of the module students will:\n\nhave a developed critical understanding of an area of language study;\n\nhave developed the skills needed to conduct an independent line of research;\n\nbe able to write a cogent, well-illustrated dissertation, which displays originality of consistent thinking and application of ideas, concepts and theories.
Post A-level French
ABB including A-level English and French.
Note: for applicants who have not studied A-level French then AS-level French grade B would be acceptable in lieu of A-level French. For applicants who have not studied A-level English then AS-level English (grade A) would be acceptable in lieu of A-level English.
Beginners Level French
ABB including A-level English + GCSE French grade B or evidence of linguistic ability in another language.
Note: the Beginners' option is not available to those who have studied A-level or AS-level French. For applicants who have not studied A-level English then AS-level English (grade A) would be acceptable in lieu of A-level English.
A maximum of one BTEC/OCR Single Award or AQA Extended Certificate will be accepted as part of an applicant's portfolio of qualifications with a Distinction* being equated to a grade A at A-level and a Distinction being equated to a grade B at A-level.
Irish leaving certificate requirements
H3H3H3H3H3H3/H2H3H3H3H3 including Higher Level grade H3 in French and Higher Level grade H3 in English
International Baccalaureate Diploma
33 points overall, including 6(French),6 (English),5 at Higher Level
Graduate
A minimum of a 2:2 Honours Degree, provided any subject requirement is also met
Note
All applicants must have GCSE English Language grade C/4 or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University.
How we choose our students
Applications are dealt with centrally by the Admissions and Access Service rather than by individual University Schools. Once your on-line form has been processed by UCAS and forwarded to Queen's, an acknowledgement is normally sent within two weeks of its receipt at the University.
Selection is on the basis of the information provided on your UCAS form. Decisions are made on an ongoing basis and will be notified to you via UCAS.
For last year's intake, applicants for this BA programme offering A-level/BTEC qualifications must have had, or been able to achieve, a minimum of five GCSE passes at grade C/4 or better (to include English Language). Performance in any AS or A-level examinations already completed would also have been taken into account and the Selector checks that any specific entry requirements in terms of GCSE and/or A-level subjects can be fulfilled.
For applicants offering Irish Leaving Certificate, please note that performance at Irish Junior Certificate (IJC) is taken into account. For last year’s entry applicants for this degree must have had, a minimum of 5 IJC grades C/Merit. The Selector also checks that any specific entry requirements in terms of Leaving Certificate subjects can be satisfied.
Offers are normally made on the basis of three A-levels. Two subjects at A-level plus two at AS would also be considered. The offer for repeat candidates is set in terms of three A-levels and may be one grade higher than for first time applicants. Grades may be held from the previous year.
Applicants offering two A-levels and one BTEC Subsidiary Diploma/National Extended Certificate (or equivalent qualification) will also be considered. Offers will be made in terms of the overall BTEC grade awarded. Please note that a maximum of one BTEC Subsidiary Diploma/National Extended Certificate (or equivalent) will be counted as part of an applicant’s portfolio of qualifications. The normal GCSE profile will be expected.
Access courses, BTEC Extended Diplomas, Higher National Certificates, and Higher National Diplomas can be considered, provided the subject requirements for entry to English and French are also fulfilled.
The information provided in the personal statement section and the academic reference together with predicted grades are noted but, in the case of BA degrees, these are not the final deciding factors in whether or not a conditional offer can be made. However, they may be reconsidered in a tie break situation in August.
A-level General Studies and A-level Critical Thinking would not normally be considered as part of a three A-level offer and, although they may be excluded where an applicant is taking four A-level subjects, the grade achieved could be taken into account if necessary in August/September.
Candidates are not normally asked to attend for interview.
If you are made an offer then you may be invited to a Faculty/School Visit Day, which is usually held in the second semester. This will allow you the opportunity to visit the University and to find out more about the degree programme of your choice and the facilities on offer. It also gives you a flavour of the academic and social life at Queen's.
If you cannot find the information you need here, please contact the University Admissions Service (admissions@qub.ac.uk), giving full details of your qualifications and educational background.
International Students
Our country/region pages include information on entry requirements, tuition fees, scholarships, student profiles, upcoming events and contacts for your country/region. Use the dropdown list below for specific information for your country/region.
English Language Requirements
An IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each test component or an equivalent acceptable qualification, details of which are available at: http://go.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs
If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this degree programme, INTO Queen's University Belfast offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for admission to this degree.
Academic English: an intensive English language and study skills course for successful university study at degree level
Pre-sessional English: a short intensive academic English course for students starting a degree programme at Queen's University Belfast and who need to improve their English.
International Students - Foundation and International Year One Programmes
INTO Queen's offers a range of academic and English language programmes to help prepare international students for undergraduate study at Queen's University. You will learn from experienced teachers in a dedicated international study centre on campus, and will have full access to the University's world-class facilities.
These programmes are designed for international students who do not meet the required academic and English language requirements for direct entry.
Studying for an English and French degree at Queen’s will assist you in developing the core skills and employment-related experiences that are valued by employers, professional organisations and academic institutions. Graduates from this degree have the proven ability to analyse subjects in depth and develop coherent arguments in written and verbal form, as well as linguistic fluency and experience of living and working abroad, all of which are highly sought after skills in a global job market. In a context where over half of all graduate jobs are now open to graduates of any discipline.
We have found that employers of all kinds wish to employ English and French graduates. Although many of our graduates are interested in pursuing careers in teaching, business, the civil service, translating/interpreting or advertising, significant numbers develop careers in a wide range of other sectors. A list of the major career sectors (and some starting salaries) that have attracted our graduates in recent years is shown below:
Advertising
Librarianship
Voluntary sector/charities £15,000-£18,000
Public Relations £20,000
Banking £28,000
Export Marketing £15,000-£25,000
Publishing, Media and Performing Arts £16,000-£25,000 Teaching £21,500
Fast Stream Civil Service £25,000
Translation / Interpreting £18,000-£26,000
Varied graduate programmes (Times Top 100 Graduate Recruiters/AGR, Association of Graduate Recruiters UK).
Graduate Careers and Achievements
Many of our former graduates have risen to the top of their fields and include many famous figures; for example, in English: Seamus Heaney, Nobel prize-winning poet; Paul Muldoon, academic and poet; Stephen Rea, actor; Annie Kelly, journalist and writer; Annie Mac, radio presenter. In French: Kathy Clugston, Radio 4 presenter Edward Hughes, Professor of French, Queen Mary University of London. You should also take a look at the Prospects website for further information concerning the types of jobs that attract English and French graduates.
Further study is also an option open to English and French graduates. Students can choose from a wide range of Masters programmes, including the MA in English Literary Studies and the new MRes in Arts and Humanities (with a focus on English or French).
Other Career-related information
Queen’s is a member of the Russell Group and, therefore, one of the 20 universities most-targeted by leading graduate employers. Queen’s students will be advised and guided about career choice and, through the Degree Plus initiative, will have an opportunity to seek accreditation for skills development and experience gained through the wide range of extra-curricular activities on offer.
Degree Plus and other related initiatives
Recognising student diversity, as well as promoting employability enhancements and other interests, is part of the developmental experience at Queen’s. Students are encouraged to plan and build their own, personal skill and experiential profile through a range of activities including; recognised Queen’s Certificates, placements and other work experiences (at home or overseas), Erasmus study options elsewhere in Europe, learning development opportunities and involvement in wider university life through activities, such as clubs, societies, and sports. Queen’s actively encourages this type of activity by offering students an additional qualification, the Degree Plus Award (and the related Researcher Plus Award for PhD and MPhil students).
Degree Plus accredits wider experiential and skill development gained through extra-curricular activities that promote the enhancement of academic, career management, personal and employability skills in a variety of contexts. As part of the Award, students are also trained on how to reflect on the experience(s) and make the link between academic achievement, extracurricular activities, transferable skills and graduate employment. Participating students will also be trained in how to reflect on their skills and experiences and can gain an understanding of how to articulate the significance of these to others, e.g. employers. Overall, these initiatives, and Degree Plus in particular, reward the energy, drive, determination and enthusiasm shown by students engaging in activities over-and-above the requirements of their academic studies. These qualities are amongst those valued highly by graduate employers. http://www.prospects.ac.uk
There are a number of undergraduate prizes available to top-performing students on this pathway. In addition to Foundation Scholarships recognizing outstanding achievement in LevelOne, we have a range of endowed prizes.
Degree Plus/Future Ready Award for extra-curricular skills
In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Degree Plus/Future Ready Award. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.
1EU citizens in the EU Settlement Scheme, with settled status, will be charged the NI or GB tuition fee based on where they are ordinarily resident. Students who are ROI nationals resident in GB will be charged the GB fee.
2 EU students who are ROI nationals resident in ROI are eligible for NI tuition fees.
3 EU Other students (excludes Republic of Ireland nationals living in GB, NI or ROI) are charged tuition fees in line with international fees.
The tuition fees quoted above for NI and ROI are the 2024/25 fees and will be updated when the new fees are known. In addition, all tuition fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase in each year of the course. Fees quoted relate to a single year of study unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Tuition fee rates are calculated based on a student’s tuition fee status and generally increase annually by inflation. How tuition fees are determined is set out in the Student Finance Framework.
Additional course costs
Students have a compulsory year abroad in year 3 of their degree. Students who undertake a period of study or work abroad, are responsible for funding travel, accommodation and subsistence costs. These costs vary depending on the location and duration of the placement.
A limited amount of funding may be available to contribute towards these additional costs, if the placement takes place through a government student mobility scheme.
All Students
Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs which are not covered by tuition fees, which students will need to consider when planning their studies.
Students can borrow books and access online learning resources from any Queen's library. If students wish to purchase recommended texts, rather than borrow them from the University Library, prices per text can range from £30 to £100. Students should also budget between £30 to £75 per year for photocopying, memory sticks and printing charges.
Students undertaking a period of work placement or study abroad, as either a compulsory or optional part of their programme, should be aware that they will have to fund additional travel and living costs.
If a programme includes a major project or dissertation, there may be costs associated with transport, accommodation and/or materials. The amount will depend on the project chosen. There may also be additional costs for printing and binding.
Students may wish to consider purchasing an electronic device; costs will vary depending on the specification of the model chosen.
There are also additional charges for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.
How do I fund my study?
There are different tuition fee and student financial support arrangements for students from Northern Ireland, those from England, Scotland and Wales (Great Britain), and those from the rest of the European Union.
Application for admission to full-time undergraduate and sandwich courses at the University should normally be made through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). Full information can be obtained from the UCAS website at: www.ucas.com/students.
When to Apply
UCAS will start processing applications for entry in autumn 2025 from early September 2024.
The advisory closing date for the receipt of applications for entry in 2025 is still to be confirmed by UCAS but is normally in late January (18:00). This is the 'equal consideration' deadline for this course.
Applications from UK and EU (Republic of Ireland) students after this date are, in practice, considered by Queen’s for entry to this course throughout the remainder of the application cycle (30 June 2025) subject to the availability of places. If you apply for 2025 entry after this deadline, you will automatically be entered into Clearing.
Applications from International and EU (Other) students are normally considered by Queen's for entry to this course until 30 June 2025. If you apply for 2025 entry after this deadline, you will automatically be entered into Clearing.
Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as is consistent with having made a careful and considered choice of institutions and courses.
The Institution code name for Queen's is QBELF and the institution code is Q75.
Additional Information for International (non-EU) Students
Applying through UCAS
Most students make their applications through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) for full-time undergraduate degree programmes at Queen's. The UCAS application deadline for international students is 30 June 2025.
Applying direct
The Direct Entry Application form is to be used by international applicants who wish to apply directly, and only, to Queen's or who have been asked to provide information in advance of submitting a formal UCAS application. Find out more.
Applying through agents and partners
The University’s in-country representatives can assist you to submit a UCAS application or a direct application. Please consult the Agent List to find an agent in your country who will help you with your application to Queen’s University.
