BA (Hons) English Literature

What makes us human in an age of artificial intelligence? This module explores the fascinating intersection between emotional intelligence and emerging AI technologies.

You’ll gain a practical introduction to using AI tools such as MS Copilot, while analysing contemporary literature and film that question how technology is reshaping our lives, creativity, and identity.

Through exploring empathy, emotion, and human connection, you’ll develop critical, digital, and interpretive skills while reflecting on both the opportunities and challenges AI presents.

Don’t just adapt to the age of AI. Understand it, question it, and explore what it means for the future of humanity.

Explore global Anglophone poetry’s response to issues like the US Civil Rights Movement and South African Apartheid and gender and identity politics. Study poetry’s spoken forms, including metre, rhyme, and verse types such as sonnets and ballads. Investigate how poets worldwide use these forms to engage with historical and social contexts, challenging and reshaping poetic expectations.

Looking to develop your passion for reading? In this module, you’ll get the chance to work with tutors to create a personalised reading list, exploring texts that challenge and inspire you.

By analysing these texts and their historical contexts, you’ll improve your reading skills, deepen your understanding of literature, and enhance your critical awareness, while preparing for more complex concepts to come.

If you're ready to reconnect with literature and build the skills to thrive, this module is made for you.

Explore evolving notions of identity through drama, focusing on gender, race, sexuality, and intersectionality. Examine how plays reflect and challenge societal norms from contemporary texts to ancient Greece and Shakespeare. Develop skills in dramatic analysis, gain insights into the relationship between self and society, and explore gender equality barriers.

Study key concepts like adaptation, appropriation, and intertextuality, examining how literature transforms existing stories. Explore texts like Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Chaucer, and Shakespeare to see how myths and narratives are reworked across time and cultures. This module incorporates feminist, postcolonial, and LGBTQ+ perspectives and encourages creating creative responses, blending English Literature and Creative Writing.

Delve into genres like science fiction, fantasy, romance, and realism. Examine how young adult fiction addresses real-life issues such as gender, sexuality, and racial justice, helping readers navigate their identities. Understand how young adult fiction shapes visions of the future, and its appeal to both young and adult audiences.

A unique collaboration between English at Hull, HMPPS, and local colleges. Analyse literary engagement with external audiences, gaining skills in quantitative research, ethics, and audience reception theory. Explore responses to literature and social issues. The module enhances employability through real-world challenges, preparing you for advanced research and practical applications.

Explore environmental issues, focusing on 'green' (land) and 'blue' (sea) themes. Analyse Anglophone eco-writing, including Native Indian and Indigenous perspectives, and texts on pollution, climate change, and sustainability, such as Juliet Blaxland’s The Easternmost House and W. G. Sebald’s Rings of Saturn. This module fosters cross-cultural and creative approaches to global environmental crises.

Rethink connections between plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries and their links to contemporary issues like racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and gender identity. By exploring how these plays address ongoing social issues, we gain an insight into the origins of modern social constructs, while deepening our understanding of dramatic forms and historical context.