Our Vision

Literary study at Lancaster is constantly opening on to other times and other worlds.

 

Tab Content: Year One

In year one, all students take three modules, and we offer four.

• Literature in Time: Continuity and Change
• Literature, Place and Space
• World Literature
• Introduction to Creative Writing

Tab Content: English Literature

If you are Single Honours English Literature then, in Year One, you are required to take Literature in Time, and if you want to max out on literature then you can also take Literature, Place and Space and World Literature. However, if you want to mix things up you could take Introduction to Creative Writing and/or one or two modules from outside of the Department in, say, History, Philosophy, English Language, International Relations, Sociology, Film Studies, or Languages: Chinese, French, Italian, German, or Spanish (Beginner or Advanced).

Tab Content: English Lit & Creative Writing

If you are coming to study English Literature and OR with Creative Writing then, in Year One, you are required to take Literature in Time and Introduction to Creative Writing. You could then add Literature, Place and Space or World Literature; however, if you want to mix things up you could take one module from outside of the Department in, say, History, Philosophy, English Language, International Relations, Sociology, Film Studies, or Languages: Chinese, French, Italian, German, or Spanish (Beginner or Advanced).

Our Vision in Creative Writing

Explore our vision of creative writing

Our Vision in English Literature

Literature and historical period

Within English Literature some of our modules relate to historical periods – these periods include:

  • Medieval Literature, This area of study is usually supported by a number of open seminars we hold at Lancaster’s spectacular medieval Castle.
  • Shakespeare, This area of study is usually supported by a full-scale student-led summer Shakespeare performance at the Castle.
  • 16th and 17th Century Literature
  • American Literature (1700-today)
  • Romanticism (c. 1789-1830) This area of study is usually supported by our annual Study Day at Wordsworth Grasmere, exploring Dove Cottage, the Wordsworth Museum, and the archive-rich Jerwood Centre.
  • The Victorians
  • Modernism(s) (c.1890-1940)
  • Contemporary Literature
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Literature and Other Worlds

We also offer a range of modules where the study of literature opens up to other worlds; these modules explore areas such as:

  • World and Postcolonial literatures, This area of study is supported by our expertise not only in English Literature but also the literatures of France, Germany, Spain, Egypt, Palestine, Ancient Rome and Greece, etc.
  • Single author studies (e.g. Jane Austen)
  • The Gothic
  • Science fiction
  • Literature, bodies, and sexualities
  • Literature, film and the visual arts, This area of study is supported by the University’s Peter Scott Gallery and, in Creative Writing, by opportunity to develop your own game writing.
  • Literature and music
  • Literature, philosophy, and politics
  • Literature and religion, This area of study is usually supported by our annual Open Theology Seminar at the Castle and our annual Literature and Religion Lecture given at Lancaster's ancient Priory.
  • Literature in the world (libraries, museums, exhibitions, marketing, fashion, tourism etc)
  • Work placement, Our students go on to many and varied futures.

NB In both years normally you will also be able, if you wish, to take a Creative Writing module (subject to availability) or a module from another Department in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (subject to availability).

Classic literature

And finally, in year three, you can explore or devise your own world of study in an individual research project.

This is an independent project in which, with regular one-to-one tutorial support, you research and write about almost any area of literary study that is of particular interest to you. In recent years students have chosen topics as varied as: German philosophy, Japanese fiction, French modernism, Irish fiction, classical myth (Roman and Greek), Welsh poetry, psychology, art, editing, Spanish Civil War, Islam, war, and video game.