University of London, Queen Mary

The Romantic movement originated in the 18th-century revival of balladry and romance and later absorbed the political and intellectual energies of the French Revolution, transforming received modes of expression and sparking a far-reaching debate on the power of the imagination and the nature of authorship. Studying male and female writers from 1760 to 1830, this course traces the development of the Romantic aesthetic, highlighting national and regional strands within British Romanticism while also exploring its engagement with the wider world. The Romantic revolution in poetry features prominently, along with the broad variety of other forms characteristic of the period, including the novel, autobiography, political pamphlets, and literary theory.

This course introduces students to a range of Victorian fiction. It addresses the content, form, and significance of the Victorian novel and how it develops amid the cultural, historical, and intellectual contexts of 19th-century Britain. It also examines the alternative form of the short story and considers what specific kinds of narrative and narrative effects this form enables. Authors to be studied may include Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Lewis Carroll, Wilkie Collins, Dinah Mulock Craik, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, Vernon Lee, Margaret Oliphant, Bram Stoker, and William Thackeray.

This course provides an overview of academic debates centred around evolving gender and sexual politics in contemporary China, which manifests as a unique area for studying the expansion of neoliberal economy, digital technologies as well as its socialist legacies. Bringing together significant theoretical insights and empirical research, teaching of this course will be facilitated through case studies of emerging forms of cultural representation, production, consumption and resistance. Topics will be covered include fandom and the popularity of online literature, influencers and gender performativity, feminist and LGBTQ+ activism and the creation of queer media, in the light of the Chinese context of censorship and governance.

This course concerns the contexts in which English is used, and the fact that the patterns and variations in language used in the everyday are worthy of analysis. It demonstrates how language-in-use can be studied systematically, and to show how English is used in particular situations and in the module of activities, speech situations, public discourse, and interpersonal interactions that might otherwise be taken for granted.

This course is designed for students who want to extend their knowledge of the range and diversity of English spoken in the world today. Students analyze and produce spoken language in different settings and genres by taking part in structured activities that examine the importance of audience, purpose and various communicative strategies. The examination of both global and local linguistic phenomena provides a context for participants to discuss diverse socio-cultural values and practices with others. Students have the opportunity to participate in practical workshops in which they are involved in activities such as discussions, role-plays and presentations. Assessment tasks include the research, recording and production of a collaborative video report and the live presentation of the research project in a seminar context. These tasks enable students to develop skills that support their ability to network effectively by enhancing their communication and interpersonal skills through designing and presenting group-generated project work in different media. There is also scope for community engagement and the integration of both local and international perspectives in the design and execution of the students' project work. 

This course explores the history, form, and function of writing systems from around the world: Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Chinese pictograms, Ancient Greek and modern Japanese syllabaries, the vowelless alphabets of Hebrew/Arabic, the "fusional" alphabets of Sanskrit/Hindi, the "separational" alphabets of Modern Europe. Students also look at various attempts to create "perfect" writing systems, such as that of Korea and the IPA and its rivals. Through the course, students gain an understanding of the phonological/morphological demands that languages place on their writing systems and how this leads to innovation and development. The course also examines sociological aspects of different systems (particularly in relation to the spread of systems and the role of writing in language preservation/endangerment) and what writing reveals about the organization of the mind/brain.

This course looks at various candidates for the "Great American Novel," a term for fictional narratives that seem to capture the essence of the United States. The course examines the concept's origins following the American Civil War, evolution throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, and enduring appeal in the popular imagination. Selected fiction is considered in relation to US national identity, the ideal of the American dream, notions of authorship, and anxieties toward social issues such as class, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation.