BA (Hons) English Literature

You will develop an understanding of the way humans and non-humans shape and are shaped by their environment, and how this is reflected and explored in literature. You’ll study a variety of genres and kinds of writing across different eras and cultures. This may include:

• classical pastoral
• eco-poetry
• climate fiction
• non-fiction nature writing
• speculative fiction.

You will explore the historical, social and political issues that influence written representations of relationships with the environment, and you'll consider the formal and stylistic features of this writing. You’ll apply and extend this learning through a community engagement project involving literature and environments.

In this module, you will consider what it means for texts to break the rules. You’ll learn the ways that literature has transgressed social, cultural and formal literary boundaries and conventions. This may include topics such as:

• censored and banned texts
• gender, sexuality and transgression
• literature and protest
• modernist and avant-garde transgression
• genre blending and subversion.

You’ll examine shifting ideas of transgression in different historical periods and will explore how these ideas are shaped and altered by cultural, aesthetic, legislative and scientific factors. Through these investigations, you will explore the power of literature to challenge authority and influence today's world.

In this module, you will learn how to use leading and transferable tools and techniques within textual studies and digital humanities. You’ll explore, experiment with, and develop expertise in using different digital archives, tools and software for literary study. You’ll develop skills in:

• research
• creative thinking
• project planning
• digital literacy
• information handling.

You’ll apply and extend these skills by designing and undertaking innovative, small-scale research investigations into literature and other cultural artefacts.

As the second module in your 'Supportive Challenge' pathway, this experiential course immerses you in the real-world complexity of 'wicked problems' - challenges far too multifaceted for a single discipline to solve alone. You'll engage in hands-on, cross-disciplinary projects, collaborating directly with academics, peers, and external partners from diverse fields to explore issues beyond your primary subject area.

Through this collaborative practice, you'll strengthen your self-efficacy, resilience, and adaptability when navigating complex, unpredictable environments. You'll leave this module with a deeper insight into your own core values, a broader perspective on your chosen discipline, and the practical problem-solving skills needed to thrive in the modern workplace.

As the second step in your 'Supportive Challenge' pathway, you will tackle complex, real-world 'wicked problems' that require insights beyond a single discipline. Through hands-on, cross-disciplinary projects, you will collaborate directly with academics, peers, and external industry partners to address multifaceted challenges facing contemporary society.

This immersive collaboration builds your self-efficacy, adaptability, and resilience, giving you the confidence to navigate unpredictable professional environments and work effectively in diverse teams. Ultimately, you will gain a deeper understanding of your own values, articulate your unique strengths, and master the practical problem-solving skills needed to thrive in the future world of work.

This module will introduce you to the Romantic and Victorian periods through the theme of the supernatural. You’ll investigate the radical technological, social and scientific changes during these periods, and the new uncertainties which arose from these changes. You will discover how writers and artists explored the resultant challenges to established certainties and distinctions between:

• faith and doubt
• good and evil
• right and wrong.

You'll examine this through their portrayal of metaphorical angels and demons.

You’ll also study a range of novels, short stories, plays and poems, and different kinds of writing, such as Gothic novels and poems and Sensation novels.

What shapes the stories we tell? This module explores the forces behind literature itself, from scientific ideas to the emotions, memories and experiences that make us human.

You'll read across a sweeping stretch of literary history, from medieval and early modern texts to contemporary writing. Topics across the module include haunted spaces and ideas of home, to nature and the natural world, to questions of artificial personhood and the technologies that define our lives. You'll move between the domestic and the civic, the familiar and the otherworldly, building a richer picture of how literature holds all of these forces in tension.

In this module, you will study a range of American literary texts from the 19th century to the present day, and you'll consider their historical and cultural contexts. You will develop detailed knowledge of the literature and culture of America, exploring key topics such as:

• race and ethnicity, especially in Black and Native American writing
• slavery and its legacies
• American self-mythologising and national identity
• the effect of the Cold War on American writing
• the Harlem Renaissance.

In this module, you'll deepen your knowledge and understanding of children's literature and the importance of positive early literacy experiences for young children. You'll have the opportunity to read and think about a variety of texts and authors, with a focus on picture books. Also, you'll discuss the significance of diversity and representation in children's literature.

You'll develop your critical reading skills and explore how words and pictures work together. You'll look at how children learn to read. You'll also learn to choose texts that support their reading development and enjoyment.

Finally, you'll consider how the digital world might affect children's experiences with literature.

In this module, you’ll develop your talent and range as a creative writer. You’ll build on the skills you gained in your Creative Writing 1: Voice and Craft in Poetry and Prose module in Year 1. You’ll experiment with a number of forms and prose styles, including:

• crime writing
• travel writing
• science fiction
• historical fiction.

You’ll also explore techniques of writing poetry through forms such as the ballad and the sonnet. You’ll enhance your creativity, and reflect on your creative choices, as you critically examine what you and your fellow students write.

Develop your knowledge and understanding of the future visions of different periods and advance your resilience and openness through your capacity to imagine a future and recognise and acknowledge diverse futures.

You're focus on literature, media, culture and art from the nineteenth century onwards, and will examine how the future has been invented as a concept in philosophy, literature and culture. Also you'll engage in theoretical and philosophical debates and in conceptualising the future, while

• exploring dystopias and utopias
• the human-technology nexus
• the impact of digital technologies and advances in digital humanities
• human and nonhuman futures, and divergent futures.

This module gives you the chance to do independent research on a literary topic that fascinates you. With the supervision and support of a lecturer, you will design your own project, choosing your own topic and approach. You will study your selected topic in depth, and will demonstrate your new critical understanding through an assessment method of your choosing, such as a:

• blog
• video documentary
• long essay
• performance
• report.

You will develop skills in project planning, self-motivation, critical and creative thinking, and research.

This module offers the opportunity to study abroad, experience a new culture, and apply your skills in different contexts to enhance your employability. It will help you develop self-management, cross-cultural communication, and interpersonal skills.

You’ll receive support to secure a place at a partner institution abroad, where you can choose modules related to your degree or explore new areas that complement your studies.

Studying at an international university will help you enhance your interpersonal skills through cross-cultural communication with students and tutors, allowing you to build lasting relationships. You'll also improve your study skills by focusing on your chosen areas of interest, gaining valuable international experience that will strengthen your CV.

This year abroad module lasts for one academic year and is taken after the conclusion of your second year of study, once you’ve completed all your level 5 studies. Your year abroad is not credit-bearing.

You'll bridge your English Literature degree with the contemporary professional world through hands-on, authentic activities drawn from both inside and outside the classroom. Drawing on your full university journey, you will gather concrete evidence of your core attributes, competencies, and transferable skills (ACTS). You'll then channel these insights into a personalized plan of action, learning to articulate your literary expertise, personal motivations, and strategic strengths in formats tailored directly to graduate employers.

This reflective process delivers a crucial step-change in your self-efficacy and career readiness right as you prepare to graduate. You'll leave university with strong self-knowledge, clear direction, and the ability to confidently communicate your value to future employers. Ultimately, you will gain the insight and practical tools necessary to identify relevant opportunities and make an immediate, meaningful impact in whichever field you choose next.

You'll build your knowledge to an advanced level by:

• Practice Intensive Reading: Focus your attention on a single literary work or tightly related body of text through slow, deliberate analysis.
• Investigate Context and Reception: Analyze the historical, political, and material conditions under which texts are produced, while tracing their adaptations, reception histories, and cultural afterlives.
• Apply Advanced Theory: Deploy targeted critical and theoretical approaches to interrogate key scholarly debates.
• Construct Original Claims: Formulate persuasive, independent arguments detailing why these literary works remain relevant today.

You'll discover how text, context, and reader reception dynamically interact to create shifting layers of meaning across time. You'll acquire the analytical precision, theoretical fluency, and sophisticated argument-building capabilities necessary for high-level literary research.

What historical questions matter most to you? In this independent research project, you'll pursue an original piece of historical research on a topic of your choice, supported by individual supervision and drawing on the knowledge and skills developed throughout your degree.

You'll investigate, analyse and interpret historical evidence, developing your ability to manage a substantial project and communicate complex ideas effectively. You can choose to present your findings through a traditional dissertation or an alternative, public-facing format, such as a museum guide, educational resource, policy analysis or community history project.

As the culmination of your studies, this module enables you to demonstrate intellectual curiosity, initiative and historical expertise while developing the research, communication and project management skills valued across a wide range of professional and academic settings.

This module gives you the chance to study specialist areas of literature in depth. The topics available are drawn from the research expertise of your tutors, enabling you to engage with leading insights and approaches in the field. Available topics may alter from year to year, but recent topics have included:

• Experiencing Shakespeare
• The American Civil War in Literature, Memory and Myth
• Literature and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

This module gives you the chance to study specialist areas of literature in depth. The topics available are drawn from the research expertise of your tutors, enabling you to engage with leading insights and approaches in the field. Available topics may alter from year to year, but recent topics have included:

• Urban Jungle: the American City in Modern and Postmodern Literature and Culture
• Women and Modernism
• African-American Avant Gardes.

This module gives you the chance to study specialist areas of literature in depth. The topics available are drawn from the research expertise of your tutors, enabling you to engage with leading insights and approaches in the field. Available topics may alter from year to year, but recent topics have included:

• The Victorian Supernatural
• Literature and Madness
• Video Games, Digital Narratives and Interactive Texts.

In this module, you’ll meet literary agents and editors as you explore the submissions process for publication. You will produce a 3000 word piece of writing on a theme or idea that interests you, refining your writing practices. You’ll consider how this piece could work as part of a larger published work, for example:

• as chapters of a novel or memoir
• as poems, short stories or essays within an anthology.

This will develop your understanding of how a book works as a whole.

The Independent Study Module gives you the opportunity to explore a legal topic in greater depth, working closely with an academic whose research interests align with your chosen area. It allows you to investigate issues that go beyond the taught curriculum and develop expertise in a subject that reflects your interests and future ambitions.

You'll build advanced research, analysis and academic writing skills as you engage with legal scholarship, case law and contemporary debates. Students on our named pathways complete their project within their area of specialism, providing an opportunity to deepen their knowledge and showcase their expertise.

Whether you're considering postgraduate study, legal practice or another professional path, the module enables you to pursue an area you're passionate about while developing the independent learning skills valued by employers and researchers alike.

This module is compulsory if studying one of the named pathways.