History and English

This Global connections module examines how indigenous peoples, together with European colonists, enslaved Africans, and the famous 'Libertadores', forged new nations. It explores how power was transformed from the upheaval of the 19th century through the revolutions, uprisings and coups of the 20th century, moving nations between different forms of power.

Module overview:

This interdisciplinary module draws on topics from across the Humanities, with a focus on the relationship between the literature of the nineteenth century, and the experience of living in a period of rapid and unprecedented change, such as the invention of new technologies (steam locomotion, telegraphy, mass production, anaesthetic), and new structures and institutions (schools & universities, public libraries, newspapers, political parties, the post office, the police, workhouses, hospitals, asylums, sports clubs and mutual improvement societies). The module will also include a field trip to a location in central London, such as the Old Operating Theatre or Hunterian Museum of anatomy and pathology, the Ragged School Museum, the Foundling Museum or Tate Britain.

How you’ll learn:

You’ll learn through a weekly 2-hour lecture with student-led discussion and a 3-hour seminar. One week includes a field trip, and the final week is reserved for one-on-one tutorials. Lectures will deliver core content and encourage discussion, while seminars focus on student-led activities and assessment workshops. You’ll also have 30 minutes of weekly asynchronous support via podcast-style recordings.

This module examines the origins of contentious political, religious, and ethnic divides in Ireland and the Middle East which continue to shape world affairs. Comparing these regions through the lens of Britain’s changing role, students will also develop an understanding of how conflict overseas impacted British politics and culture domestically. 

Module overview:

This module builds on the introduction to studies of both period and genre in HE4 to examine a diverse range of modern and contemporary literature and media. It expands and refines your understanding of modern writing by examining a range of literary texts and media, examining the roots of modernist, postwar and contemporary literature and media in the technological innovations and key political and cultural events from the Great War to the present. The module also focuses on genre fictions, exploring theoretical approaches to the study of a range of different genres (e.g. horror fiction, spy fiction, gothic and horror fiction, social issue fiction, speculative fiction, superhero narratives) across a number of forms (e.g. prose narrative, graphic novel, film). The module examines the ways in which genre is used as a means of literary classification and explores the political ideation behind a number of popular generic forms. The module prepares you for further academic and professional work, emphasising critical analysis, creative thinking, and the ability to engage with complex global issues.

How you’ll learn:

You’ll learn through a mix of weekly lectures, interactive, student-led seminar/workshop, and assessment-related and/or academic support and/or pastoral-related and/or employment-related activities in one-to-one or small-group tutorials per week.

This transformations module identifies crises and conflicts when the Cold War risked boiling over into direct warfare. It offers you a deeper understanding of the nuances of the political climate in the late twentieth-century, as well as an opportunity to consider how legacies of the Cold War linger today. 

Module overview:

This module situates literature within the rapidly evolving twentieth and twenty-first century media and popular culture ecologies. It explores how literary texts intersect with visual, digital, and multimedia forms, mapping the trajectory from early cinematic influences on literature to the pervasive role of digital media and artificial intelligence in shaping contemporary narratives. By engaging with diverse forms and themes, you will develop a nuanced understanding of the interconnectedness between literature, media, and culture. Through interdisciplinary exploration and creative application, this module prepares you for academic and professional success in an increasingly interconnected and media-driven world.

How you’ll learn:

This will be an Autumn module consisting of a combination of a one hour lecture per week, a three hour interactive, student-led seminar/workshop per week; and a one hour assessment-related and/or academic support and/or pastoral-related and/or employment-related activities in one-to-one or small-group tutorials per week.  

Module overview:

This module aims to make Shakespeare fresh, exciting and accessible to students of all backgrounds, providing them with the cultural capital that Shakespeare still represents, whilst also enabling them to explore pressing global issues, including inequalities of gender, race and sexual identity, the threat to democracy posed by far-right groups and tyrannical leaders, environmental catastrophe and climate change through Shakespeare’s works.

The module focuses on five core texts which you who progress onto PGCEs to pursue careers in teaching are likely to require knowledge of: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello and The Tempest. The discussion of each play will be split across two weeks, with the first offering a detailed textual engagement with the play’s themes, in the context of its early modern performance and historical moment, before the second class opens it up to more explicitly presentist concerns, with reference to texts which adapt, reinterpret or challenge the original. These might include modern theatrical performances, films, cartoons, advertising campaigns, novels and short stories, computer games and gallery exhibits. You will be encouraged to seek out your own texts which respond to Shakespeare and to shape your own syllabus in the response week and for the first part of the assessment. Through this means, you will become adept at understanding the ways in which Shakespeare is used to engage with particular narratives and debates in the present moment, whilst being encouraged to reshape Shakespeare to tell your own stories and explore your own perspectives.   

How you’ll learn:

You’ll have seminars and workshops each week, plus 30 minutes of recorded lectures or guided reading. You’ll also have the chance to attend a theatre performance or gallery exhibition to inspire your presentation.

Module overview:

The final year Capstone Project consolidates and develops the advanced skills you have learned at HE4 and HE5 in planning work, interpreting texts, developing theoretical and critical approaches, and in pursuing individual study and research. It fosters independence of thought, project-planning and organisation skills, and allows you to develop your own particular research and/or creative interests and to enhance your academic and skills expertise. The module will also offer you the opportunity to plan and develop a non-traditional output which is equivalent to a dissertation (eg creative project, website, digital object, film essay).