Type of course

Admission requirements

Higher Education Entrance Qualification (generell studiekompetanse) or prior learning and work experience (realkompetanse).

Application code: 9199 - Enkeltemner (ikke realfag), lavere grad (Nordic applicants).

Course content

The British Studies syllabus will be organized into two to three week blocks, which focus on particular historical periods and investigate specific literary and cultural texts within British 'national' and international historical contexts. The modules in the course are focused on developing higher-level reading skills, interpretative writing skills, and a theoretical understanding of contextual analysis of literary writing in particular periods of British literature from 1600 to the present. The course focuses on a range of poetic, dramatic, and fictional forms in different time periods. We will explore how to understand these texts through analyzing genres, historical and literary contexts, language choices, and formal reading and critical strategies. These modules also develop your confidence in speaking and writing about literary/critical concepts, cultural analysis, and literary genres in British Literary Studies.

The course will introduce the student to the techniques of close textual reading of literary and cultural texts in British literature; develop an appreciation of the historical and literary conditions under which texts have been produced; examine the development of specific genres within historical time periods; and ask the student to write essays, response papers, and do different forms of academic research about the texts on the reading list using the vocabulary and strategies of literary study.

Objectives of the course

The students have the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The student has:

• some knowledge of the history and society of the British Isles in different historical periods- understanding of the interplay between culture and literature in British history and culture
• insight into the main formal and thematic characteristics of literary genres
• in-depth knowledge of individual texts of the period

Skills

• familiarity with a diversity of texts and genres of British Literature
• proficiency in close reading, analysis, and interpretation of literature
• to be able to write persuasively and effectively in academic English

Language of instruction and examination

Teaching methods

The course will meet for four hours (two hours lecture and two hours discussion section) each week during 13 teaching weeks of the semester. Please see Canvas for specific details. Any course changes in meeting times will be announced on Canvas and study questions and discussion material will be available on Canvas or at the course meetings.

Regular attendance in lectures and seminars is highly recommended.

A voluntary study trip (two weeks) to the Norwegian Study Centre in York is offered as part of the course.

Quality assurance: All courses undergo a halfway evaluation once in a 3-year period at the bachelor´s level.

Information to incoming exchange students

Recommended reading/syllabus