Course Catalogue

1. To provide students with a stimulating, research-informed programme that is concerned with the production, reception and interpretation of written texts in English from diverse literary and cultural forms and genres from the sixteenth century to the present; 2. To enable students to acquire skills in analysing a range of forms of writing and exploring ways in which meanings and cultural identities are informed by historical, social, political, regional and global processes; 3. To introduce students to the complexities of reading and issues of language, representation and meaning through attention to the dynamics and histories of textual production, reception and interpretation; 4. To enable students to explore a range of periods, issues and literary texts in relation to the formation of social consciousness and individual subjectivities; 5. To enable students to become rigorous, critical and analytic in their thinking, while nurturing their intellectual and creative potential; 6. To equip students with a practice-based knowledge of digital humanities tools, methods and resources; 7. To enable students to become active and discerning cultural agents in the world beyond the university; 8. To develop employability skills by completing a self-awareness statement; 9. To support students in the effective focussing of their career aspirations and the identification and development of a range of subject-specific and generic skills of value in graduate employment. 10. To equip students with advanced verbal and written communication skills.

Teaching is through lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, personal supervision, online activities, attendance of performances and screenings, and study trips. The programme asks students to work with a diverse range of textual materials, including literary and non-literary works, manuscripts, and filmic, journalistic, and visual texts. Learning is acquired through participation in classroom and fieldtrip activities, and underpinned by collaborative and individual independent study (which involves reading, thinking, and researching topics with guidance from tutors). Students undertake exercises and formal assessment tasks which serve to structure thought and to encourage the assimilation of ideas and knowledge. The University's Virtual Learning Environment is used extensively by tutors on all modules to provide supplementary materials, links to resources and to support and communicate with students outside seminars, lectures and workshops. Modes of assessment used in the programme are: essays, examinations (including unseen, pre-released, and ‘take-away’ exams), independent research projects and a dissertation, oral and interactive activity (including formal presentations, seminar leads and online discussion), external placements or work-related learning activities, tasks aimed at developing specific skills (including digital literacies, bibliographical and curatorial exercises, and editing tasks), reflective journals, essay plans, abstracts, literature reviews, and the production of online materials for websites and blogs. The assessment process is SENDA compliant. Lectures provide models of intellectual skill; workshops, seminars and tutorials allow students to practice intellectual skills in a collaborative environment through structured discussions of written texts and of ideas; independent study gives students the opportunity to absorb and reflect on what is learned in taught sessions, while practising their developing skills through personal engagement with reading, writing and researching. The intellectual skills fostered by the programme are deeply intermeshed with the knowledge and understanding it provides. The forms of assessment used across the programme develop and measure students' intellectual skills as well as their knowledge and understanding. Teaching and learning activities involve opportunities for developing and improving communication skills: lectures enable students to develop skills in active listening and assimilating ideas and information; discussions in seminars also facilitate listening skills, spoken communication skills, responsiveness to others, group work and interpersonal skills. Private study (which is guided by tutors and supported by VLE) allows students to work independently, developing their own ideas and lines of thought. It also necessitates the development of good time management and organisational skills. Forms of assessment used on the programme aim to encourage students to develop good communication skills. Correspondingly, the ability to communicate with precision, good style and appropriateness is a criterion in the grading of forms of assessment. Forms of written assessment demand good skills in writing. Feedback on such work, plus dedicated teaching in writing skills, allow students to develop their style. Forms of oral assessment (such as presentations and seminar contribution) are used to develop and measure students' ability to communicate effectively in spoken forms. Likewise, these skills are integral to production of all forms of assessed work for the programme. The abilities identified here as Transferable or Key Skills are those which, while central to the particular study of English as a subject, can also be applied in other contexts outside the subject. Assessment of Transferable Skills occurs alongside assessment of other types of skills (knowledge, intellectual and professional).

All LJMU undergraduate programmes are required to incorporate into a L4 module an assessment item of the submission of a personal Self Awareness Statement: this is administered through 4109ENGL. Students can choose a work-based and/or work-related learning option at Level 5. All students on the programme are encouraged to understand that the goals of their course of study are wider than academic achievement alone, and to appreciate ways in which the work they do supports strong claims to employability. The programme’s PDP system is designed to provide students with opportunities (and support) when reflecting on – and documenting – their achievements inside and outside the programme of study, thereby raising their capacity to represent their achievements to others, or to translate what they do during their undergraduate years into a language that appeals to employers. This support is enhanced and extended by the work of colleagues in the University Careers Service.