English Literature
English at the University of Southampton has an international reputation for world- class research and teaching. Our Lifelong Learning programme gives you the opportunity to combine pleasure with learning, exploring literature, culture and history with a team of dedicated staff.
English Literature
Books
If you are interested in English language courses, please refer to the Modern Languages - English language section of this website.
We aim to create a friendly, informal atmosphere with opportunities for discussion, and offer a broad and imaginative series of events and courses which have an interdisciplinary emphasis. These include evening courses, cultural days and public events.
We cover the full range of English literature, looking at the social and cultural contexts of literature, and drawing on the most recent developments in literary studies. We have particular strengths in medieval and Renaissance studies, the 'long eighteenth century', modernist literature, diasporic studies, contemporary writing, critical and cultural theory, and film and visual culture.
The confirmed courses and events for 2011/2012 are currently:
Cultural Days
- The Tudors (with History)
- Shakespeare
- Responses to the Holocaust (with History & Jewish Studies)
- Literature & Landscapes
Evening Courses
Public Events
English at Southampton has close connections to Chawton House Library and the Parkes Institute. Chawton House is a specialist library and study centre which focuses on women's writing in English from 1600 to 1830. The main collection consists of early, and in many cases, rare editions of works from this period. Novels, poetry and drama are all included, and the collection is particularly strong in novels from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. There is also a diverse collection of factual material of the period, covering subjects such as female conduct and education, cookery, housekeeping and travel. The library runs a full lecture and events programme which can be found at http://www.chawtonhouse.org/.
The Parkes Institute is a unique centre for the study of Jewish/non-Jewish relations across the ages. The Institute, through its research, publications, teaching and outreach work, is based on the library and life work of the Christian scholar and activist, the Reverend Dr James Parkes (1896-1981). The library now consists of over 20,000 printed items – books, pamphlets and journals – and is supplemented by one of the largest collections of Jewish archives in Europe, consisting of many hundreds of individual and institutional records, totalling millions of individual items. Parkes runs lectures, events and a seminar series throughout the year, details of which can be found at http://www.soton.ac.uk/parkes/news/index.shtml.
