English

Our key aim is to instil in students a love of and appreciation of Literature. We like to explore ancient and modern texts, plays, poetry and prose. We ask the students to ask questions both about the Literature itself but also about social, cultural, historical and political contexts. We believe also in academic rigour and as one of the few remaining subjects where extended writing tasks are expected, we encourage the learning of writing skills that we believe are fundamentally transferable to all areas of life. We want to turn out students who are articulate and confident not only orally but also on paper.

We use a variety of different source materials ranging from 14th century scripts to modern block-buster movies, from radio programmes to the latest information on the web.

We also like to take English out of the classroom whether it be to Stratford or London, Northern France or Bristol. We visit plays, films, lectures, readings, festivals and poetry events.

English is our native tongue and the richness of it is all around us. We like to think that we celebrate that diversity in all our teaching in the English Department.