Contact Details
Literature in a World Context
School of Language and Literature
Taylor Building | University of Aberdeen | Old Aberdeen AB24 3UB
Telephone: +44 (0)1224-272625 Fax: +44 (0)1224-272624
Email: j.stewart@abdn.ac.uk
What is Literature in a World Context?
This is a unique undergraduate programme, unlike any offered by other universities in the UK. It is based on an innovative conception of literary studies that incorporates cross-disciplinary reflection at its core, focussing on the study of literature in the age of globalization, new media, and massive immigration flows. The programme includes comparative literature courses, but also sets literature in the context of new developments in visual culture and information technologies, new understandings of the political at the national and international levels, and within the framework of intellectual history. If you are interested in thinking about how literature shapes and challenges our understanding of world historical events, then this is the ideal degree for you.'
Cultural Politics / Intellectual History / Globalisation / New Media / Visual Culture and Creative Practices
Programme Co-ordinator - Dr Janet Stewart
Dr Julia Biggane
Dr David Duff
Professor Chris Fynsk
Dr Katherine Groo
Dr Adrienne Janus
Professor Jeanette King
Dr Aine Larkin
Dr Alexandra Lewis
Dr Alex King
Dr Nadia Kiwan
Dr Laura McMahon
Dr Karen Salt
Professor Michael Syrotinski
Dr Simon Ward
Dr Matthew Wickman
The School Office is located on the ground floor of Taylor A Block (A13). We are open Monday-Friday 9.30 am - 4.30 pm, except on Tuesdays when we open at 10.00 am. We are a small, friendly team and over the term you'll meet us all! We can help with any queries you may have relating to courses, timetables and teaching venues. You can also collect course guides, and purchase study packs and handbooks. We'll also see you when you hand in work, and again when you come to collect it.
Some of our courses require you to sign up for your tutorial classes electronically. It's essential that you sign up for tutorials, so if you do experience any difficulties in doing so please contact the office immediately to resolve the problem. In addition to communicating with you by email, we do also suggest you check out the noticeboards on a regular basis. The one for New Students is situated opposite the entrance to Taylor Building A block - it will provide you with important information about courses. We don't know the answers to everything, but we're happy to help as much as we can and very much look forward to seeing you.
We hope you'll enjoy your studies at Aberdeen University.
Support Staff Team
School of Language & Literature
Contact Us
Literature in a World Context
School of Language and Literature
Taylor Building | University of Aberdeen | Old Aberdeen AB24 3UB
Telephone: +44 (0)1224-272625 Fax: +44 (0)1224-272624
Email: j.stewart@abdn.ac.uk
Literature in a World Context is a new cross-disciplinary programme designed and taught by a group of committed and enthusiastic staff. This group includes world-leading academics from the university's Centre for Modern Thought at the cutting edge of reflection on literature and its role in the 'world out there', and others working in related fields, such as the renowned film director, Raul Ruiz. The University of Aberdeen has recently invested heavily in both teaching and research, and the MA in Literature in a World Context is one tangible result of this investment.
Current students praise the 'rich reading materials' and 'fascinating subjects' that characterise the core courses on the programme, and appreciate the expertise and flexibility of teaching staff and their commitment to using imaginative teaching methods that encourage student participation and active learning. They also value the programme's cross-disciplinary approach.
Literature in a World Context introduces students to literature from all parts of the world, and so study abroad is an integral part of the third year for single honours students, and opportunities also exist for other students to spend time abroad. Currently, student exchanges are available in a number of European countries -Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland - as well as Canada, Hong Kong, Japan and the USA.
Finally, for those students keen to progress in their studies after gaining an undergraduate qualification, Literature in a World Context provides an ideal springboard for entry into postgraduate programmes, such as those offered in Aberdeen in Comparative Literature, Modern Thought, or Visual Culture.
APPLYING
Applying to study Undergraduate Courses
All applications to the University of Aberdeen are made through UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service).
You can get a UCAS Application Form and Handbook from your school or college. Or you can contact UCAS direct at:
UCAS
Rosehill
New Barn Lane
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL52 3LX
Tel +44 (0) 870 1122211
Or you can visit www.ucas.com
If you would like some direct advice about applying to the University of Aberdeen contact the Student Recruitment and Admissions Service. They will help with any queries. They can also help you organise a visit to the university at which you will be able to see the campus, talk to admissions staff and meet a member of the English Department to discuss your plans for study.
Student Recruitment and Admissions Service
University Office
University of Aberdeen
Kings College
ABERDEEN AB24 3FX
Tel: +44 (0)1224 272090 / 1.
Fax: +44 (0)1224 272576
Freephone: 0800 0271 495
or email us at sras@abdn.ac.uk
You can also visit the university on our Open Day. It is a great opportunity to find out more about studying at Aberdeen. For more information go to www.abdn.ac.uk/openday or email openday@abdn.ac.uk.
If you would like to see what our students are studying this year visit our Undergraduate pages.
GRANTS AND AWARDS
Undergraduate Grants and Awards
The University of Aberdeen offers entrance bursaries and scholarships which could help you manage your expenses.
There are around 30 awards available for entry in September 2007.
Most entrance bursaries are worth £1000 per year of degree study. Applicants must be resident in the UK, and have already applied to the University of Aberdeen.
Competition is fierce, but it is well worth applying. Last year, there was a one in four chance of receiving an award.
For more information visit the SRAS Bursary page.
If you want general advice about fees and funding visit How much will University cost?
Whether you would like to follow the full degree programme or are coming to Aberdeen as an exchange student and would like to take Literature in a World Context courses, we would be delighted to have you join us. If you are interested in coming to Aberdeen on an exchange programme, you should check the university's current information on study abroad and student exchanges.
The University of Aberdeen, founded in 1495, has a fine medieval campus, excellent library resources, and a strong support network for international students. Aberdeen is a thriving, commercial city on the east coast of Scotland, with many shops, parks and restaurants. It hosts some excellent arts and musical events and organisations, and there are many activity groups both in the university and the city community. The North East of Scotland has a rich and distinctive culture, and many areas of outstanding natural beauty and historic interest, which you can explore from a base in Aberdeen.
For more information about studying full-time in Aberdeen visit the SRAS International Handbook online. This will give you more details about the University and about the city of Aberdeen. It will also give you access to the Undergraduate prospectus, which will give you detailed information about how to apply for a full degree programme or a short exchange.
Jenny Fernandes
Head of International Office
Student Recruitment and Admissions Service
University of Aberdeen
University Office, King's College
Aberdeen , AB24 3FX, UK
Fax: +44 (0) 1224 272576
Email: jenny.fernandes@abdn.ac.uk
Undergraduate Courses: Overview
Levels 1 and 2
There are two core courses at Level 1: Encountering Global Change: Literature in a World Context I and Creative Practices: Literature in a World Context II. These courses provide an introduction to the programme, showing how literature takes a vital place in efforts to come to grips with significant global events and developments. The second year courses, Literature, History And Thought: 1848 To 9/11 and Modes of Reading, build on this foundation, introducing you to literary texts and thinkers of world renown. You will also have the opportunity to study a language as part of your programme.
Levels 3 and 4 (Honours)
You will take two of three core courses: Literature and the Political, Technologies of Transmission, and Literature and Art in Intellectual History. In addition, you will have the opportunity to tailor your programme to your own interests, choosing from a selection of courses offered in the School of Language and Literature, including language courses. The Honours programme concludes with a supervised dissertation on a topic of your choice.
Undergraduate Courses: Course Descriptions
LEVEL ONE
LW1003 Encountering Global Change: Literature In A World Context I
COURSE GUIDE : READING LIST
This introductory course explores literature as a global phenomenon, placing national literatures in international context. It shows how literature makes sense of historical and cultural events in a period of globalization - in other words, when all major events have global visibility - and examines the way literature relates to other ways of making sense of the world (including the arts, philosophy, politics, and the new media). Among other examples, it will use the responses to September 11, 2001 to illustrate how literature takes a vital place in efforts to come to grips with events and social developments of world-wide importance. All literary texts will be read in translation.
LW1503 Creative Practices: Literature In A World Context II
COURSE GUIDE : READING LIST
How do creative practices relate to political and social thought and action? How do contemporary creative practices relate to developments in new media, information technology, visual culture and music? What is the effect of increased globalization and migration flows on these practices and developments? These and other questions will be considered in this introduction to creative practices, which will examine creativity in both the production and reception of literature, visual culture and music in a world context. Students will also be given the opportunity to collaborate in creative practice, producing an internet publication in group-project work.
LEVEL TWO
LW2001 Literature, History And Thought: 1848 To 9/11
COURSE GUIDE : READING LIST
How does modern literature respond to world-historical events and shape our understanding of them? What role does literature play in modern intellectual and political history? This innovative introduction to modern literary thought explores these questions by focussing on the constellation of events, ideas and writings on six key dates: 1848, 1917, 1936, 1945, 1968 and 9/11/2001. Besides works of literature and film, the course studies various kinds of theoretical and polemical writing.
LW2501 Modes of Reading
Poets are banned from Plato's Republic, Dante damns lovers of literature to hell. Like modern counterparts, from Sigmund Freud to Hélène Cixous, they acknowledge the dangerous pleasures elicited by reading and affirm literature's ability to form self and world. Examining how literary works engage readers - to train moral imagination, cultivate sympathy, uncover subconscious fears, or solicit transgressive desires - this course studies texts by fundamental literary thinkers alongside works of world-renown. The course considers the nature of literary representations, introducing concepts such as mimesis, poesis and catharsis, realism, performance and fictionally, thereby preparing students for more advanced courses in literary thought.
LEVEL THREE
LW3001 Literature and the Political
It will explore, through a number of specific case studies, how literature has engaged in the past, and continues to engage today, with political circumstances, and political questions. Content will vary depending on research interests of staff teaching at any one time, but might include, for example: Rousseau's Social Contract; Harlem Renaissance writers; Pablo Neruda's poetry; Aimé Césaire's 'Discourse on Colonialism'; W.B. Yeats and Irish nationalism; Rushdie's The Satanic Verses.
LW3002 Technologies of Transmission
If literature was accorded a privileged position in the Gutenberg galaxy, what constitutes its status when confronted with new developments in media and information technologies? Drawing on the work of Haraway, Kittler, McCluhan, Ronnel, Sloterdijk and others, this course examines how literature has engaged in the past, and continues to engage today, with technological change, from the telephone and the gramophone to the modem and mp3. Its focus will be on topics such as digital literature, art and music, technological embodiments, and creative collaboration.
LW3003 Literature and Art in Intellectual History
This course approaches literary study in the context of intellectual history, including the history of science. It reads literary texts together with works from philosophy and other fields of intellectual endeavour (for example: psychology, anthropology, theory of art, and political theory) to explore how literature complements and sometimes challenges efforts to grasp human experience and the meaning of socio-historical movements. The course will therefore offer a broad intellectual perspective on forms of artistic representation and an advanced introduction to a vital dimension of literary study. While the focus will tend to fall on the modern period, topics will be drawn from a wide range of historical periods and forms of literature. All texts will be read in translation.
LEVEL FOUR
LW4501 Dissertation in Literature in a World Context
This course aims to provide students with an opportunity to pursue the individual advanced study of literature in the age of globalization. It will afford students the opportunity to set literature in the context of aspects of new developments in visual culture and information technologies, new understandings of the political at the national and international levels, and intellectual history.
Literature in a World Context introduces students to literature from all parts of the world, and so study abroad is an integral part of the third year for single honours students, and opportunities also exist for other students to spend time abroad. Currently, student exchanges are available in a number of European countries -Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland - as well as Canada, Hong Kong, Japan and the USA.
For further information on possibilities for study abroad visit the SRAS study abroad pages.
Students intending to proceed to honours in Literature in a World Context will be fully briefed on options for study abroad and the process of applying for student exchanges during the course of their second year.
There are a number of guides and handbooks relating to the programme in Literature in a World Context that are designed to help you with your academic work, and to explain university regulations. You can obtain paper copies of the programme handbook from the School Office, or access it and other detailed resources relating to individual courses (such as course guides, reading lists, internet resources) through MyAberdeen.
Course readers can be purchased from the University's Online Store
Documents
- Good Writing Guide (PDF)
- Guidance on Avoiding Plagiarism (PDF)
- Literature in a World Context Level 1 and 2 Handbook (PDF)
- Literature in a World Context Guide to Honours (PDF)
Links
All full-time academic staff contributing to Literature in a World Context are active researchers who regularly publish books, articles, and other scholarly works. Many are acknowledged leaders in their field, with international reputations. They share common interests in literary theory, comparative literature, and the relations between literature and other disciplines. Most are associated with the Centre for Modern Thought, which was created at Aberdeen in 2005 in order to foster dynamic and theoretically informed cross-disciplinary research. It was established as a forum for rethinking the key intellectual movements of modernity in the context of the most urgent questions of our time. The Centre has grown rapidly in the past two years, and has attracted significant attention on the global academic stage by reason of its distinguished participants and the breadth of its ambition. In its activities, it traverses the fields of literature, philosophy, theory of art, political and legal thought, and science studies. With a strong emphasis on intellectual history and philosophical foundations, it seeks to give a new impetus to contemporary theoretical research. It also aims to explore what is possible in the academy and to create a new interface between it and other sectors of cultural and political activity.
Postgraduates, staff and visiting scholars all contribute to the activities of the Centre for Modern Thought and other research centres housed in the School of Language and Literature, which organise numerous guest lectures, symposia and conferences throughout the year.
The degree in Literature in a World Context is intended to provide a foundation for further study. Taught MLitt programmes (lasting one-year full-time or two years part-time) provide research training for those intending to progress to MPhil or PhD, while also offering a self-contained Masters degree built around coursework and a final dissertation. The School of Language and Literature offers two MLitt qualifications in particular that would be of interest for graduates of Literature in a World Context: the MLitt in Comparative Literature, and the MLitt in Visual Culture. All three programmes are modular, allowing students the flexibility to tailor their study to meet their own needs and interests. Many of those teaching on the Literature in a World Context undergraduate programme are involved in the delivery of these MLitt programmes.
Events that are of interest to students of Literature in a World Context will be advertised on our facebook page
Information on other events for undergraduates, postgraduates and staff can be found via the Translating Cultures project