BA (Hons) English Literature and Film Studies Bachelor's degree at York St John University

This module introduces you to film history, theory and analysis, as well as some of the technical and commercial aspects of film. You will explore these themes with a focus on key moments in the evolution of film, through the words of filmmakers past and present. We will also introduce you to some of the major approaches used to study and analyse film, such as: Auteur theory, Genre, Subject positioning, Psychoanalysis, The gaze, Montage

This module will help you to become more confident in studying literature at degree level. You will engage with a range of texts written before the 19th century, considering various different forms including prose, drama, poetry, and autobiographical writing. Through this you will start to think about how literature and history can be brought together, and why Literature remains a popular and important subject to study.

What sort of social, political, cultural, and historical values do we bring to the study of literature? And in what ways have literary texts addressed important issues, major events, and social changes? This module explores these questions and more, using a diverse range of texts from the turn of the 19th century to the present day. The selection includes canonical works, as well as works which have often been neglected or overlooked, including those by marginalised authors. Through close examin

This module will help you to build the skills you need to succeed in higher education, and specifically for researching and analysing media. This includes skills in: Researching, Referencing, Critical thinking, Academic writing, Presenting, Group work.

On this module you will learn the basics of academic writing and research at university level. Drawing on a range of classic and contemporary short stories and poems, you will develop skills such as: Using the library catalogue, Choosing secondary sources, Planning essays, Developing arguments, Close reading texts.

Drawing on relevant debates and scholarship, we will introduce you different films and their audiences, such as popular Hollywood film, independent film and world cinema. You will explore issues surrounding reception, taste and consumption, considering the social and cultural contexts in which film consumption takes place. You will also investigate different methods of studying audiences to consider how audiences engage with film.

On this module we will consider representations of economic, social and cultural power, and the ways in which they connect with various forms of identity. We will discuss how identities are formed, and how they can shift and change. We will consider, for example how sex, gender, sexuality, disability, race and ethnicity relate to power. We will discuss the representation of both power and identity in a variety of texts, including novels, films, novellas, and graphic novels, helping you to develo

This module is an opportunity to engage with the more vocational elements of working with media, and explore your entrepreneurial potential. You will work in groups to produce a creative portfolio and will eventually pitch your idea to a panel. This could be, for example, a magazine, a film festival, or an exhibition. You must take into account: Marketing and advertising, Business cases, Product development, Effective communication of ideas

Employability is discussed a lot at universities, but where does this idea come from, and what can literature teach us about work? This module interrogates the purpose of Literature, as both a degree and subject matter. It shows the value of literary study to understanding and navigating issues around the gendered, classed, and racialised nature of work. The module also provides opportunities for external placements, career planning, and work-related learning. You will reflect on and learn to ar

On this module you will explore how America has imagined itself through film, identifying historical patterns, trends and continuities. We examine how American myths and ideologies have dominated attempts to define the national imagination. This could include: The mythology of the frontier, The myth of the open road in the countercultural 1960s, Regional identities of the south, California, the midwest or New York

On this module you will engage in debates about the production, reception and contexts of media and cultural products that have caused controversy. This includes debates about taste and the reception of text in different traditional, new and emergent media. We will introduce you to the terminology of aesthetic discussion and dispute, defining and discussing terms such as: Propaganda, Artistic licence, Canonical status, Acceptability, Pornography, Censorship.

On this module you will develop your research skills in preparation for the more extensive independent research project you will complete in your final year. You will focus on selected science fiction primary texts as well as related theoretical, philosophical, inter-textual and historical secondary material. You will also develop important academic skills through research. Our focus on science fiction includes major discussions within the genre, including: Race, The environment, The relationshi

On this module we will consider the different ways books and films tell stories, and what happens to literature and literary characters when they are translated onto the screen. We will introduce you to the theory, methods and conventions behind the process of adaptation. In addition to examining specific examples of film adaptation, you can choose to experiment creatively on an adaptation project of your own, using what you have learnt.

On this module you will consider the relationship between American literature and the physical and symbolic spaces of its settings. In American culture concepts of space and setting have a particular relevance that dates back to events such as the declaration of independence, the founding of civic spaces, and the Californian gold rush. You will be challenged to think creatively, critically, and innovatively about physical space and literature. In doing so we will explore the relationship between

On this module we will consider the significance of various European cinemas, and explore the histories and evolutions of these national cinema traditions as indicators of wider cultural change. You will consider cinema's potential for social, political and cultural critique, and contextualise film within counter cultural production, innovation, reception and distribution. This will include discussions about high culture vs low culture, and an investigation of the different audiences, institutio

On this module you will discuss independent cinema from historical, social, national and international perspectives. We approach independent cinema as an anti establishment voice that stands in opposition to mainstream studio productions. You will explore the wider cultural context of independent cinema, for example: The festival circuit, Film preservation, Fandom, Web communities, Cult cinema.

On this module you will use different academic subject areas to approach to the Gothic such as film, art and literature. Topics covered will include: The origins and influence of the gothic, Dopplegangers, Nightmares of science, Normality and abnormality, Metamorphosis, Gender in horror and the overlap of romance and horror

This module explores the ways new forms of news and entertainment in the eighteenth century revealed the unstable boundaries between truth and fiction. This led to the emergence of literary forms that came to typify the literature of later periods, such as the novel. Print provided a forum for writers to express concern over different forms of power, an issue debated in terms of empire, political and religious authority and personal identity, and responsibility. On this module you will consider

On this module we will consider whether we can meaningfully approach literary texts outside of their historical contexts. We will question whether a text can mean anything to anybody, or if are there more objective ways of understanding them. This module engages with some of the most fundamental questions in literary studies.