English Language and Literature

The BA programme in English Language and Literature (with concentrations) aims to furnish the successful students with comprehensive knowledge and skills relevant to such a double major and to specialise them either in Linguistics and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) or in Literature. The programme, therefore, concentrates on three core areas: (a) Linguistics, by offering a comprehensive study of how language in general, and English in particular, actually works, (b) TEFL, by offering theoretical and practical courses in TEFL to allow students to pursue careers in teaching English, and (c) English Literature, by covering the great authors and issues from 1580 to the present day and by offering a detailed study of all genres: poetry, drama, and prose. In addition to the knowledge and skills specific to the fields of English Language and Literature, the programme also aims to equip students with the necessary skills to undertake autonomous learning, do independent research, and use technology in appropriate and effective ways. The courses of the literature component are so designed to give the student an overview of developments within English literature from the Early Modern Period to today. Within such a chronological framework, the programme introduces students to many of the major figures and movements within English literature and to the social and historical conditions under which works of literature were created. Students are introduced to critical and theoretical texts and debates which surround the primary texts of the courses, thereby being allowed to place their own interpretations within a proper academic context and to understand the developments in critical thinking surrounding a text and within critical theory in general. This is achieved through the following required and concentration literature courses: Introduction to Fiction, Introduction to Drama, Introduction to Poetry, Shakespeare, Twentieth Century American Literature, Romantic and Victorian Poetry, Contemporary Literature, Gender in Literature, America in Literature and Film, Modernism/Postmodernism, World Literature in English, The Victorian Novel, Children Literature, Literary Theory and Criticism, Shakespeare on Stage and Film, Literature in Teaching, Memoir and Life-writing, and Authors in Context.