COURSE CURRICULUM

The English Literature course offers a rich and varied curriculum that develops your analytical, creative and communication skills through the study of texts from different periods, cultures and perspectives. In the first year, core modules introduce key literary theories, critical reading skills and the fundamentals of writing within the discipline. You explore major debates around race, decolonisation and representation through influential Black writing, alongside close textual analysis and foundational training in academic writing. Optional modules allow you to focus on poetry, drama or modern fiction. In the second year, you engage with pressing contemporary questions through modules examining literature’s relationship to the environment, colonial histories, technology, embodiment and human identity. A broad range of optional modules enables you to explore specific literary periods, including medieval, Renaissance, nineteenth-century, modern and postcolonial writing. In the final year, you complete an independent research project, developing your own intellectual interests under supervision. You can also choose from a wide range of specialist modules covering topics such as memoir writing, global African literature, refugee narratives, Shakespeare on screen, or literature’s response to crisis and apocalypse. Altogether, the course encourages independent thinking, creativity and a deep understanding of literature’s cultural and social power.