2024/25 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL32111 Gender, Culture and Politics: Readings of Jane Austen

20 creditsClass Size: 25

School of English

Module manager: Dr Richard De Ritter
Email: r.deritter@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

Though Jane Austen is no longer thought of as a writer who was indifferent to the political concerns of her time, it can be easy for modern readers to miss the ways in which her novels engaged with urgent contemporary debates. This module provides the opportunity to study Austen in terms of those debates. By reading her work alongside other contemporary writings, we will explore the cultural and political meanings of Austen’s fiction.

Objectives

This module aims to provide you with an understanding of Jane Austen’s fiction and its cultural and critical contexts. Through lectures, seminar discussions, and written feedback on formative work, this module will enable you to read Austen’s work informed by relevant contexts.

Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:

1. Analyse Austen’s writing in a detailed and critically aware manner;
2. Understand relevant historical, political and social contexts and reflect critically on their relationship with Austen’s writing;
3. Evaluate a range of different critical and scholarly approaches to the work of Austen.

Skills Learning Outcomes

4. Conduct independent research, gathering information from a range of sources, engaging in good academic practice in referencing their sources.
5. Produce independent arguments demonstrating advanced proficiency in critical thinking and writing skills.

Syllabus

Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
seminars	10	1.00	10.00
Lecture	5	1.00	5.00
Private study hours			185.00
Total Contact hours			15.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Students will receive feedback through: dialogue within their weekly small-group seminars; one-to-one meetings in the module leader’s weekly support hours; individual written feedback on the mid-semester formative submission; opportunities to meet with departmental Writing Mentors.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	3,000-words summative essay	100.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

In addition to the assessed 3,000-word summative essay, students are asked to submit a formative 1,000-word mid-semester essay. Students will receive written feedback and invited to seek verbal feedback on this work, which can then be developed into the final assessed essay.

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 31/01/2024

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