Your Degree in English at Queens University Belfast

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Your Degree in English at Queens University
Belfast
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Your Degree in English

• First Year Facilitates your transition from A
  Level to University. Modules are offered in both
  English Literature and English Language.
• Second Year Survey modules range from Old
  English to the twentieth century and include
  Irish Literature, American Writing, Creative
  Writing, English Language (history and usage) and
  Linguistics.
• Third Year A wide range of specialist modules in
  both English literature and English Language and
  Linguistics allow you to play to your strengths
  and provide you with a comprehensive knowledge of
  literary and cultural history.

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Contents

• Your Degree in English
• Structure of the Degree
• First Year English
• Module Map 2008-09
• Student Life in the School
• Studying in Europe and the USA
• Why do English?
• Contact Information

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Structure of the Degree

• Applicants must achieve grades ABB at A Level
  or grades BBB plus grade B at AS Level,
  including English Literature or English Language
  or both 90 of applicants will have studied only
  English Literature.
• Three year degree.
• Two semesters per year.
• Three modules per semester assessed at the end of
  each semester.
• An average of 200 students in each year.
• Teaching is a mix of lectures (all students
  attend the same lecture) and tutorials (15
  students attend a tutorial of their choice). In
  third year teaching is seminar based only.
• Assessment is a mix of essays (worth 60), exams
  (worth 30) and tutorial contribution (worth
  10). In third year assessment is essay and
  seminar contribution only.
• The pass mark for each module is 40.
• 40 of second year marks and 60 of third year
  marks make up your degree classification.
• 10 of students obtain a first class degree.

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First Year English

• Semester One
• ENG1001 English in Transition
• This module introduces students to literary
  interpretation as
• conceived by English studies at university level.
  It aims to provide
• students with critical skills and technical
  vocabulary necessary to
• study poetry and prose for the rest of their
  degree. The module
• focuses on a small selection of texts designed to
  help students make
• the transition from the critical strategies used
  at A-level to those of
• academic English.
• ENL1001 Introduction to English Language
• This module offers the broadest possible
  introduction to key topics in
• English language. It lays the foundations for the
  systematic study of
• the language in all its diversity. Among the
  topics covered are
• common beliefs about good and bad language,
  aspects of
• accent and dialect, and issues to do with
  language and power. The
• course also explores childrens acquisition of
  language and
• examines the connections between language and the
  brain.

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First Year English

• Semester Two
• ENG1002 English in Context
• This module examines a broad sample of recent
  fiction. In doing so,
• it raises a set of general questions 1) whose
  contemporary
• experience does this literature address? 2) what
  economic or
• political factors lead to a shared sense of the
  contemporary? 3)
• how does modern fiction relate to these social
  forces?
• ENG1006 Sounds of the City Belfast and Beyond
• This module explores the changing representations
  of the city from
• the medieval period through to the late twentieth
  century, across a
• variety of texts and genres. Students are asked
  to consider the
• relationship of the individual and the city, as
  well as the ideologies
• underlying the construction and representation of
  urban space,
• focusing on themes of conflict and community,
  citizenship and
• otherness. Having established a broad
  chronological and critical
• remit, the module will examine the urban culture
  and literary
• representation of Belfast.

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Student Life in the School

• The English Society
• The English Society, run by a committee of
  students, organises
• readings and social events on the University
  campus and further
• afield.
• Queens Writers Group
• The Queens Writers Group is an open forum for
  everyone interested
• in writing, from published writers through to
  absolute beginners . It
• meets weekly in the Seamus Heaney Centre for
  Poetry and the
• current chair is Dr Ian Sansom, BBC Writer in
  Residence at Queens.
• The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry
• Poetry is one of the activities for which Queens
  has always been
• best known. Nobel prize winner Seamus Heaney was
  a student, and
• later a lecturer in English at Queens, and lends
  his name to the
• Centre. Its director is the internationally-renow
  ned poet, Ciaran
• Carson. The Centre promotes the study and
  practice of poetry. It
• contains a library of contemporary poetry, and
  runs various events
• for example, readings, seminars, creative writing
  workshops which
• complement academic life in the School of
  English. The Centre
• provides a focal point for poetry as a living
  art, and for criticism of

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Why do English?

• With a degree in English from Queens everything
  is
• possible! Careers incorporating a degree in
  English are
• many and varied
• English as a foreign language teacher / as a
  second language teacher
• Primary school teacher / Secondary school teacher
• Advertising account executive
• Arts administrator
• Librarian
• Charity officer
• Editorial assistant
• Marketing executive
• Newspaper journalist
• Radio / TV programme researcher
• Public relations officer

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Contact Information

• Admissions information is available from the
• Queens Admissions and Access Service
• website at www.qub.ac.uk/ado
• The School of English website is at
• www.qub.ac.uk/english
• To arrange a visit to the School, please email
• the School Manager Mrs Carmel Beaney at
• c.beaney_at_qub.ac.uk.