University of London, Queen Mary

This course introduces students to poetry in English. Working across a wide range of examples, from the ancient through the contemporary, it introduces poetic genres, techniques, and key theoretical debates in the history of poetry. It helps students to make sense of how poetry works, why poets make the choices they do, and how poetic experiences emerge from the conjunction of sound, rhythm, form, the body, lyric subjects, performance, readers and listeners.

British cinema is often celebrated for its social realism, yet has made significant and influential contributions to the worlds of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. From the Gothic tradition of Dracula to nightmarish visions of London in 28 DAYS LATER and the spectacular popular fantasies of DOCTOR WHO and HARRY POTTER, this course investigates this alternative history or "repressed underside" of British cinema and the ways in which these films have responded to their social and cultural production contexts. This course includes field trips to sites of importance in London, such as Highgate Cemetery.