Университет Роэхэмптон, BA (Hons), Childhood and Society and English Literature

Childhood and society Year 1: The 1st year provides the student with a basic introduction to some of the main contributions to childhood and society; courses may include: children in contemporary British society; childhood and literature; introduction to child development; history of childhood; social science research methods Year 2: the 2nd year builds on the multidisciplinary approach established in the foundation year; by taking advantage of the flexibility of the modular system, the student is able to focus their studies according to their own interests; some students may want to use the programme as a preparation for further professional training, whereas others may wish to pursue a more academic line of inquiry. Yea 3: in the 3rd year there are a wide variety of optional modules available allowing the student to pursue particular perspectives including: psychoanalysis, social policy and sociology. English literature Year 1: In the 1st year the student acquires the skills and techniques necessary to succeed at university; the student is introduced to a challenging range of texts from different genres and historical periods and explores some of the critical and theoretical approaches that are important for their later work; the student is offered a range of optional courses to allow them to try out new areas of study that they can follow up in the 2nd and 3rd years; the student’s choice may include courses on the literature of childhood, the representation of slavery, and language in the media. Year 2: the degree is designed to allow the student to pursue areas of interest; the student takes a core set in their 2nd year covering pre-20th-Century literature; a range of options may include: autobiographical and biographical writing; travel writing; gothic and fantastic literature. Year 3: in the 3rd year the student is offered a range of options which may include: crime fiction; literature and addiction; women writers; writing multi-cultural Britain; the literature of food; Charles Dickens and many more; within the literature degree it is also possible to pursue a specialised interest in children’s literature or English language (particularly useful for students who plan to go on to postgraduate training as English teachers).

This is a combined Honours course which allows the student to study 2 subjects; the childhood and society course asks questions about what is happening to children: how society treats children, how they are governed and the moral and political values attached to childhood; the student also considers what children themselves feel and think, and how they imagine themselves as well as the world around them; the course involves not only an analysis of specific institutions, including schools, hospitals, clinics etc, but also an appreciation of the fact that children are not a submissive population and have a right to fashion their own lives; the English literature course is suitable for students who are interested in children’s literature or crime fiction, in Shakespeare or stand-up comedy, in Victorian novels or visual texts.