Loughborough University
Leicestershire, UK
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Loughborough University

Programme Specifications

Programme Specification

BA (Hons) English and American Studies (2015 and 2016 entry)

Academic Year: 2016/17

This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if full advantage is taken of the learning opportunities that are provided.

This specification applies to delivery of the programme in the Academic Year indicated above. Prospective students reviewing this information for a later year of study should be aware that these details are subject to change as outlined in our Terms and Conditions of Study.

This specification should be read in conjunction with:

  • Summary
  • Aims
  • Learning outcomes
  • Structure
  • Progression & weighting

Programme summary

Awarding body/institution Loughborough University
Teaching institution (if different)
Owning school/department Department of English and Drama - pre 2017
Details of accreditation by a professional/statutory body
Final award BA (Hons) / BA (Hons) + DPS
Programme title English and American Studies
Programme code EAUB08
Length of programme The duration of the programme is 6 or 8 semesters. Candidates following the four year programme are required to spend either: an approved placement in professional industry leading to the award of Diploma in Professional Studies (DPS) or: an approved study at a University abroad leading to the award of the Diploma in International Studies (DPS). The sandwich year (part I) must be taken after satisfactory completion of Part B and before the commencement of Part C.
UCAS code Q3T7
Admissions criteria

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/departments/english-drama/englishandamericanstudies/

Date at which the programme specification was published Wed, 24 Aug 2016 17:44:55 BST

1. Programme Aims

 

The programme seeks to:

 

  • encourage in students a sense of enthusiasm for both English and American Studies and foster engagement with verbal and visual cultures through a broad and diverse curriculum;
  • encourage students to reflect critically upon acts of writing and reading in English, and on the history of textual production and reception;
  • promote understanding of verbal and visual creativity and appreciation of the aesthetic features of literary and non-literary texts;
  • enable students to think independently, reason critically, analyse different forms of discourse, and weigh the importance of alternative arguments and perspectives;
  •  instil in students advanced competence in oral and written communication;
  • develop a range of subject specific and generic skills of value in graduate employment, including highly developed critical, analytical and research skills

2. Relevant subject benchmark statements and other external reference points used to inform programme outcomes:

 

  • The English Benchmark Statement

  • Area Studies Benchmark Statement

  • Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ)

  • SEEC Level Descriptors

  • University Learning and Teaching Strategy

 

3. Programme Learning Outcomes

3.1 Knowledge and Understanding

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of…

 The distinctive characteristics of the different literary genres of fiction, poetry, drama and other kinds of writing and communication;

 the defining attributes of American film and other forms of American visual culture;

 the relationship between literature and other forms of cultural production, especially film;

 a range of authors and texts from different periods of history, including those before 1800;

 the role of critical traditions in shaping literary and cinematic history, and the importance of the linguistic, literary, cultural and socio-historical contexts in which literature and film are produced and consumed;

 the appropriate and precise use ofcritical,linguisticand stylisticterminology;

 the range and variety of contemporary approaches to literary and cinematic study, which may include creative practice and its theorisation;

 how literature and language produce and reflect cultural change;

 the structure and functions of the English language and of its regional and global varieties;

 the history, theory and practice of American Studies, and the relationship of this interdisciplinary field to other disciplines and forms of knowledge.

 

 

 

3.2 Skills and other attributes

a. Subject-specific cognitive skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to…

 

 

use critical skills in the close reading and analysis of verbal and visual texts;

 

show sensitivity to generic conventions and to the shaping effects on communication of circumstances, authorship, textual production and intended audience;

 

demonstrate awareness of how different social and cultural contexts affect judgments about the nature of language, literature and visual culture;

 

show understanding of the critical and theoretical models that apply to English and American studies;

 

appreciate the central role of language in the creation of meaning;

 

demonstrate use of rhetorical skills of effective communication and argument;

 

where appropriate, demonstrate the use of theories and techniques of writing in their own creative work.

 

 

 

b. Subject-specific practical skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to…

 

present cogent and persuasive arguments both in written and oral form and be able to respond to a range of texts through creative or analytical writing;

 

critically evaluate the effectiveness and value of a wide range of oral, written and visual communications;

 

demonstrate advanced and effective research skills, including the ability to access, work with and evaluate digital sources;

 

demonstrate the capacity for independent thought and judgement through critical or creative practice;

 

deploy a broad range of appropriate critical vocabulary and theoretical terminology;

 

demonstrate bibliographic skills appropriate to the discipline, and expertise in accurately citing sources and using scholarly conventions in the presentation of work.

 

 

 

c. Key transferable skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to…

  

demonstrate advanced literacy and communication skills;

 

demonstrate advanced analytical skills and be able to handle complex information in a structured and systematic way;

 

understand and be able to interrogate and apply a variety of theoretical and interpretive positions and be able to weigh the importance of alternative perspectives;

show the capacity to adapt and transfer the critical methods of the discipline to a variety of working environments;

show the ability to initiate and take responsibility for their own work;

work with others through the presentation of ideas and the collective negotiation of solutions;

demonstrate high-level IT skills and the ability to access, work with and evaluate electronic resources;

demonstrate effective organisational and time-management skills.
 

 

 

 

4. Programme structure

Part A

Compulsory Modules (total modular weight 100 credits)

Semester One (40 Credits) 

Semester Two (60 Credits)

EAA700 (20)

Narrative Forms and Fiction

EAA701 (20)

Literary and Critical Theories

EAA511 (20)

Imagining America

EAA006 (20)

Introduction to American Literature

 

EAA001 (20)

Introduction to Film Studies 

 

Optional Modules (In addition to the above compulsory modules, students must choose an additional 20 credit optional module in Semester 1)

Semester One 

 

EAA102 (20) 

Introduction to Language

EAA104 (20) 

Introduction to Poetry

 Part B

Students must choose 120 credits across the year, with no more than 60 credits per semester. Students may take 120 credits in English OR, may choose 100 credits in English and 20 credits from EITHER a School-wide module OR a module from outside of the School.

Compulsory Modules (total modular weight 80 credits)

Semester One (20 Credits)

Semester Two (20 Credits) 

EAB039 (20)

Nineteenth-Century American Writing

EAB012(20)

African American Culture

 

 

 

 

 In addition, students must choose an additional 20 credits in each semester from the modules below. One must be pre-1800 and one post-1800.

Semester One (Min. 20 Credits)

Semester Two (Min. 20 Credits)

 EAB710 (20)

Renaissance Writings (pre-1800)

EAB711 (20)

Eighteenth-Century Literature  (pre-1800)

 EAB008 (20)             

Victorian Literature (post-1800)

EAB712 (20)

Modernisms   (post-1800)

 Optional Modules (total modular weight 40 credits)

In addition to the compulsory modules above, students are required to select 20 credits of optional modules in semester one and 20 credits in semester two.

Optional modules will be available in the following subject areas:
  • Literature from 1350 to the present

  • Language and Linguistics

  • Creative Writing

  • American Literature and Film

In the 2016-2017 academic year the available modules will be:

Semester One 

Semester Two

EAB020 (20)

Diverse Voices

EAB114 (20)

Elephants and Engines

EAB113 (20)

Introduction to Linguistics

EAB050 (20)

Philosophy, Literature and the Visual Arts

EAB040 (20)

New Woman Writing

EAB110 (20)

Introduction to Multimodality

EAB154 (20)

Chivalry from Chaucer to Shakespeare

EAB016 (20)

Language in Society

EAB102 (20)

American Adaptations

EAB018 (20)

Women’s Writing in the Seventeenth Century

EAB035 (20)

Weird Tale

EAB060 (20)

American Nightmare

 

 

EAB114 (20)

Elephants and Engines

 School-Wide Module Options

 

Optional modules will be available in the following subject areas:

 

  • History of Art, Architecture and Design

  • Visual Culture

  • Arts Management

In the 2016-2017 academic year the available modules will be

 

Semester Two

 

SAB933 (20)

Textile Futures 

SAB935 (20)

Art, Activism and Society

SAB936 (20)

Urban Visual Culture

SAB937 (20)

Wearable words, artefacts and new technologies

SAB938 (20)

Arts Management 

EAB912 (20)

Costume Design

EAB704 (20)

Modern and Contemporary British Theatre

 

EAB808 (20)

From Print to Digital: Publishing Revolutions

 Part I

Four year Sandwich Programme (DPS) (DiNTS) route

Candidates will undertake an approved placement leading to the Diploma in Professional Studies.

Semesters 1 and 2

EAI001

Industrial Training Placement (DPS)

120 credits

 

 

 

 Part C

 Compulsory Modules (total modular weight 60 credits)

Semester One (20 credits) 

Semester Two (40 credits)

EAC217 American Studies Dissertation (year-long, 40 credit module) 

 

EAC701 (20)

Global America 

 

 

 

       

Optional Modules (total modular weight 60 credits)

Students must choose 40 credits in semester one and 20 credits in semester two.

Optional modules will be available in the following subject areas:
  • Literature from 1350 to the present

  • Language and Linguistics

  • Creative Writing

  • American Literature and Film

In the 2016-2017 academic year the available modules will be:

Semester One

Semester Two 

EAC034 (20)

Narratives of American Sport

EAC229 (20)

Neo-Victorianism

EAC227 (20)

Myth and History: Milton’s Paradise Lost

EAC300 (20)

Rare Shakespeare

EAC012 (20)

America at War

EAC022 (20)

Ulysses

EAC016 (20)

Cruel and Unusual

EAC701 (20)

Global America

EAC713 (20)

A Certain Glory: How to Write Poetry Now

EAC714 (20)

 

One True Sentence: Writing Fiction

EAC440 (20)

The Modern Poet

EAC104 (20)

Aphra Behn and her Contemporaries

EAC042 (20)

Dimensions of Texts

EAC900 (20)

Analysing Work Experience in the Creative Industries

EAC024 (20)

Writings of Intimacy

 

 

EAC900 (20)

Analysing Work Experience in the Creative Industries

 

 

5. Criteria for Progression and Degree Award

In order to progress from Part A to Part B and from Part B to C and to be eligible for the award of an Honours degree, candidates must not only satisfy the minimum credit requirements set out in Regulation XX but also: 

.1 In order to progress from Part A to Part B, obtain at least 40% in all compulsory modules and successfully complete and pass the 10% assessment component in Academic Guidance and Professional Development in the modules EAA700 and EAA701.

 .2 In order to progress from Part B to Part C, obtain at least 40% in all compulsory modules.

 .3 To be eligible for the award of an Honours degree, obtain at least 40% in all compulsory modules.

Provision will be made in accordance with Regulation XX for candidates who have the right of re-assessment in any part of the Programme to undergo re-assessment in the University’s special assessment period.

6. Relative Weighting of Parts of the Programme for the Purposes of Final Degree Classification

Candidates' final degree classification will be determined on the basis of their performance in degree level Module Assessments in Parts B and C, in accordance with the scheme set out in Regulation XX.  The percentage mark for each Part will be combined in the ratio Part B 40% : Part C 60% to determine the final percentage mark.

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