COURSE CURRICULUM

The English Literature degree at Sussex provides a broad, interdisciplinary approach, combining critical analysis, creative engagement, and historical awareness. In Year 1, students develop foundational skills through modules such as Burning to Read, Critical Approaches, Radical Theory, and World-Making Before Globalisation, fostering analytical thinking and introducing diverse literary traditions. Year 2 expands this foundation with core modules like Language for Life, Liberty and Horror, and Global Modernisms, while offering a wide range of optional courses, including Literature and Philosophy, Reading Postcolonial Texts, The Art of Short Fiction, Staging the Renaissance, Writing Poetry, and more, allowing students to tailor their studies to personal interests. This year emphasizes critical engagement with literature from multiple cultures, periods, and genres, encouraging students to explore political, social, and aesthetic contexts. In Year 3, students undertake a Dissertation in English Literature, developing independent research skills, alongside optional modules such as Posthuman/Premodern, Serial Fictions, Gender, Race and Society in Early Modern Drama, Queer Fictions, Sussex Modernism, and topics in African American literature, among others. The program cultivates both scholarly expertise and creative insight, preparing graduates for careers in media, publishing, education, law, cultural organisations, and beyond. Students leave equipped with analytical, interpretive, and communicative skills, alongside the versatility to engage with literature in both academic and professional contexts.