8xav��������

• Course title: Life Linguistics. An Introduction to Language and Its Scientific Study
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-1
• Module(s): I. Introductory Lectures
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Understand the central role language plays for human culture.


• Know central concepts and approaches of linguistics to the analysis of language.


• Identify and analyse aspects of everyday language use with linguistic methods.

This course provides an accessible introduction to the basic principles and approaches of linguistics, beginning with the central role of language in everyday life. Not only is language the primary tool for organizing social practice, it is also a universal symbol system for ordering and making sense of the chaotic world that surrounds us. The fundamental importance of language for human culture will be explored from a variety of thematic perspectives to show participants how many aspects of our daily lives are mediated or even made possible by language. At the same time, the course introduces the central concepts and analytical perspectives of structural linguistics as the scientific study of language.

The course is based on a multilingual approach, taking the situation in Luxembourg as a starting point for the development of topics and using several languages for illustration. In addition, teaching materials will be developed and made available in all official languages of the BCE.��

Reading will be provided on Moodle.

• Course title: Reading and Writing about Literature 1
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-3
• Module(s): II. Critical Practice
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• CREATE connections between specific literary features (e.g., narrative patterns, rhetorical figures) and the themes they convey.
  


• COMPLICATE initial responses by integrating textual and contextual evidence into your analysis.
  


• COMBINE distinct critical perspectives into a coherent and nuanced line of argument.

For literary scholars and students of literature, text constitutes both the central object of analysis and the medium through which they construct understandings and interpretations of reality. Critical practice is a central feature of this process and relationship. It is less concerned with making value judgments or judgments of quality, than with reading as an active process during which each individual reader negotiates between a text’s generic features, its language, style, and themes, its historical and cultural contexts, and the critical dialogues and perspectives it generates. In short, the purpose of a literary or critical analysis is to reveal the complexity of a topic or text in its relation to the world, and, as a student of literature, you will find that ‘complicating’ your initial response to a text is one of the central skills (or reflexes?) you will be required to acquire and develop.

Reading and Writing about Literature 1 is the first in a series of introductions to critical practice. The seminar concentrates on the practice of in-depth reading and thematic engagement with text and emphasises the importance of careful contextualisation in the process of interpretation. Readings do not ‘just exist’: they are produced or crafted. In this introduction to the fundamental approaches to the study of literature, you will be provided with the analytical tools required to elicit viable interpretations from a text and to craft these into convincing and original lines of argument.

READING

Course materials will be provided on Moodle.

Assessment Components

– Attendance: mandatory, non-graded (CA-RNP)
– Preparation Tasks: mandatory, non-graded (CA-RNP)
– Discussion Paper: 20% (CA-RNP)
– Critical Case Study Presentation + Report. Graded individually: 30% (CA-RNP)
– Final Written Exam: 50% (ET-RP)

Assessment Mode:��ET��(= end-of-term assessment).��CA��(= continuous assessment). Retake an exam or assessment component:��RP��(= retake possible).��RNP��(= retake not possible)

Reading and Writing about Literature 1 is a “fundamental course” in the English Studies specialisation track of the Bachelor en Cultures Européennes.

This means that:

1. the course cannot be compensated: students must obtain 10/20 to validate this course;


2. students have a maximum of two (2) attempts at passing the course;


3. the grade 10/20 must be obtained by the end of semester 4 at the latest.��

Furthermore, this course is a prerequisite for all courses in Modules VII and VIII.

The above applies to students majoring in English Studies only.

• Course title: Grammar 1
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-5
• Module(s): III. English Language
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

• Label instances of English grammatical usage using terminology
  


• Describe and explain instances of English grammatical usage using linguistic terminology
  


• Reflect critically on English grammatical usage issues

This course provides an overview of the main grammatical rules of Standard British English. It will enhance your insight into English grammar and introduces you to key grammatical terminology so that you can describe, explain and critically discuss English grammatical usage.

Reading:

Simon-Vandenbergen, A. M., & Taverniers, M. (2016). English grammatical usage: a study guide. Gent: Acco. ISBN 9789462927643

��

• Course title: Academic Writing (group A)
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-214
• Module(s): IV. Academic Writing
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• RECOGNISE the structures of academic writing;


• ORGANISE and EXPRESS your thoughts in a logical order;


• EVALUATE your own writing.

• Course title: Academic Writing (Group B)
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-220
• Module(s): IV. Academic Writing
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

• RECOGNISE the structure of academic writing;


• ORGANISE and EXPRESS your thoughts in a logical order;


• EVALUATE your own writing.

��

• Course title: Popular Literature
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-9
• Module(s): VI. Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• IDENTIFY the different participants in and factors of literary reception and consumption


• DIFFERENTIATE between historical and contemporary audiences and their notion of taste


• ANALYSE and EXPLAIN the construction of authorship and literary fame in different period

Reading:

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth, Lady Audley’s Secret (Oxford: Oxford 8xav�������� Press, 2012). ISBN-13: 9780199577033��

Conan Doyle, Arthur, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Oxford: Oxford 8xav�������� Press, 2008). ISBN-13: 978-0199536955��

Kinsella, Sophie, The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic (London: Black Swan, 2000). ISBN-13: 978-0552773461

Roehmer, Sax, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu (London: Titan Books, 2012). ISBN: 978-0857686039��

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: Critical Case Study (in class) (Continuous Assessment) – 25% (retake possible)
Assessment Component 3: Written Component (Continuous Assessment) – 25%��(retake possible)
Assessment Component 4: Exam (End-of-Term Assessment) – 40%��(retake possible)
Assessment Component 5: Workshop Participation (Continuous Assessment)�� – 10%��(retake not possible)

NOTE: Assessment purpose and instructions are provided separately.

• Course title: Speculative Fiction
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-6
• Module(s): VI. Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• EXPLAIN the function of literary devices such as ‘terror’ and ‘horror’ in speculative fiction.
  


• SHOW how speculative fiction represents the impact of different forms of order (natural, social, scientific) on humans and human agency.
  


• EVALUATE the ways in which speculative fiction both expresses and shapes cultural anxieties.
  

Speculative fiction is anchored in the real, extrapolated from lived experience in specific cultural moments at specific points in time. As a genre, speculative fiction draws on a confrontation with the unknown or the Other to disrupt the comfortable fictions of stability and order that shape our relationship to ourselves and to the material conditions of our lives.��

We look specifically at cultural anxieties that are manifested in literary forms of terror and horror, and we investigate what happens to notions of the human and human agency in confrontation with other worlds, other norms, and other forms of knowledge. Ultimately, the monsters, ‘mad scientists’, and the utopian and dystopian ‘realities’ explored in the texts on the syllabus prompt us to ask uncomfortable questions of ourselves and about ourselves.

READING

• Atwood, Margaret, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985; any edition)
• Le Guin, Ursula K., The Left Hand of Darkness (1969; any edition)
• Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein; or, The New Prometheus (any edition, but please make sure you read the 1818 version of the text)
• Stevenson, R.L., The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886; any edition)

MOVIES/FILMS

• Frankenstein, dir. by James Whale (Universal, 1931) [on DVD]

Assessment Components

– Attendance: mandatory, non-graded (CA-RNP)
–��Debate + Report. Graded individually: 30% (CA-RNP)
– Class Activities + Reflection: 10% (CA-RNP)
– Final Written Exam: 50% (ET-RP)

Assessment Mode:��ET��(= end-of-term assessment).��CA��(= continuous assessment). Retake an exam or assessment component:��RP��(= retake possible).��RNP��(= retake not possible)

Winter (available in Semesters 1, 3 or 5)

Grades of 5.1/20 and above for the different assessment components may be compensated within the course. Failure to attempt an assessment task will result in an unjustified absence on the transcript of records. Please consult the BCE Study Guide for information about extensions and general rules about assignment submissions and completion.

• Course title: Early Modern Drama
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-199
• Module(s): VI. Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Read and analyse a set of early modern plays by different authors.
  


• Identify the main elements of the different early modern dramatic genres and apply them to the plays discussed in this course.
  


• Locate each play discussed in this course within its own specific historical, cultural and generic context.

The theatre played an important part in early modern English culture. London had a vibrant and highly competitive theatrical scene, with several outdoor and indoor theatres commissioning plays from a large number of authors and catering to spectators from across the social spectrum. This course is meant to introduce you to early modern English theatrical culture in general and to early modern drama in particular. We will discuss three different early modern plays: William Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It (c 1599), John Webster’s tragedy The Duchess of Malfi (1612-13), and Richard Brome’s tragicomedy The Queen and Concubine (1635-36). We will read these plays closely and locate each of them in its own specific generic, historical and cultural context.��

READING

It is important that we all use the same editions of the plays we discuss in this course. Please make sure that you use only the editions listed below:

• Richard Brome, The Queen and Concubine, ed. by Lucy Munro, Richard Brome Online (2010), https://www.dhi.ac.uk/brome/viewTranscripts.jsp?play=QC&act=1&type=BOTH (open access)��
• William Shakespeare, As You Like It, ed. by Michael Hattaway, third edition (Cambridge: Cambridge 8xav�������� Press, 2021) – ISBN 978-1108969192.
• John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, ed. Karen Britland, new edition (London: Methuen Drama, 2021). ISBN: 978-1474295673.��

• Course title: Sociolinguistics
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-61
• Module(s): I. Introductory Lectures
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

• ANALYSE and EXPLAIN the multiple links between language, identity and migration.


• CONNECT theoretical concepts to ‘real life’ situations and issues.


• EXAMINE and EVALUATE contemporary debates about multilingualism, education and globalization.

This course will provide an introduction to the area of sociolinguistics. We will study the function of language in the real world, grappling with such issues as the nature of meaning; accent, dialect, and language; language and gender; linguistic landscapes; language change, and language ideologies. Students will also explore the key issues of multilingualism, migration and language policy in the age of late modernity.

No essential textbook is set for this course. Texts will be handed out or provided on Moodle.

• Course title: English Literature: A History
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-182
• Module(s): I. Introductory Lectures
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

• Have an overview of and be able to identify the different epochs of English literary history.��


• Have an overview of and be able to identify the main literary genres of English literary history.


• Have an overview of and be able to identify a selection of literary works (and their authors) from all epochs of English literary history.

Reading:��Greenblatt, Stephen, ed, The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 10th edition, volumes A-F (New York: Norton, 2018)

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: Written Exam (End-of-Term Assessment​) – ​​100​ %​ (retake possible)

Eligibilty to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:
��you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13)

• Course title: Reading and Writing about Literature 2
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-62
• Module(s): II. Critical Practice
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

• ​​DESCRIBE and DISCUSS the impact of common literary and poetic devices on meaning.​
• ENGAGE with literary texts in a precise, text-centred, and productive manner.​
• FORMULATE concise, critically informed statements on the role of form and performance in the production of meaning.​��

Assessment Components:

• 
  Attendance: mandatory, non-graded (CA-RNP)


• 
  In-Class Participation (Engage! Activities): 10%��(CA-RNP)


• 
  Mid-Term: Annotation Exercise: 50 % (CA-RP)


• 
  Group Project (Perform! Activity):��30% (ET-RNP)


• 
  Final Report (Personal Reflection): 10% (CA-RNP)

Assessment Mode: ET (= end-of-term assessment). CA (= continuous assessment).��Retake an exam or assessment component: RP (= retake possible). RNP (= retake not possible)
Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:�� you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Grammar 2
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-64
• Module(s): III. English Language
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

• Label instances of English grammatical usage using terminology


• Describe and explain instances of English grammatical usage using linguistic terminology


• Reflect critically on English grammatical usage issues

This course is a continuation of Grammar 1 and provides an overview of the main grammatical rules of Standard British English. We will study the remaining chapters of our textbook. The course will enhance your insight into English grammar and introduces you to key grammatical terminology so that you can describe, explain and critically discuss English grammatical usage.

Bibliography

• Simon-Vandenbergen, A. M., & Taverniers, M. (2016). English grammatical usage: a study guide. Gent: Acco. ISBN 9789462927643

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: ​​Seminar Tasks (​​Continuous Assessment)​ – ​​20​% ​​​ (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Final written exam ​​(End-of-Term Assessment​) – ​​80% ​​(retake possible)

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Sociolinguistics Methods and Analysis
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-221
• Module(s): V. Language and Linguistics
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

• UNDERSTAND and EVALUATE methods of sociolinguistic data collection and analysis;


• APPLY sociolinguistic methodology to key topics of sociolinguistic research, such as multilingualism, social interaction, language attitudes, reginal variation, code switching, social media


• PLAN and EXECUTE a sociolinguistic research project (collecting and analysing data and presenting the results of your research)

This course provides a hands-on introduction to empirical methods in sociolinguistics.�� The course will familiarize you with basic methodological approaches and analytical frameworks in sociolinguistic research using different domains of application as examples. This includes topics like multilingualism, social interaction, language attitudes, regional variation, code switching, or social media analysis.�� You will read texts about basic theoretical considerations underlying the different methods, analyse methodological approaches as for their strengths and weaknesses, and apply empirical methods to sample data. As part of the assessment for the course, you will participate in a class research project in which you will collect and analyse data focusing on one domain of sociolinguistic research.

Although this course is part of an English major programme, being a course on methods and analysis it focuses on basic competencies required for sociolinguistic field work.�� Students of other majors (e.g. French, German, history) are also warmly encouraged to enrol.
No textbook is assigned to this course. Weekly readings will be made available to you on Moodle.

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment – MANDATORY) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: ​​Data collection report (​​Continuous Assessment)​ – ​​30​% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Data processing report ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​30% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4: Data analysis Report ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​30% ​​(retake not possible)
Assessment Component 5: Participation ​​ (NON-GRADED Assessment – MANDATORY)�� – ​​10% (retake not possible)

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Pics, Politics, and Poetics – Photography, Modernist Lyrics, and the Aesthetics of Critical Everydayness
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-320
• Module(s): VI. Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

• assess and demonstrate the critical uses and functions of different literary and visual arts discourses.​��


• analyse the aesthetic and political potential in the historical interaction of photography with other visual and literary studies concepts.��


• evaluate critically the relation between visual, aesthetic, and political discourses within 20th and 21st century U.S. American and global culture.
  

​​Combining and exploring the interconnections between visual and literary studies discourses in historical and global terms, this cultural and media studies class specifically introduces students to the photography, exhibition designs, and political projects of Edward Steichen, a versatile, transnational modern artist with a truly global reach. Born in Luxembourg and raised in Milwaukee, Steichen actively engaged with the modern art world as a photographer, curator, and editor in Paris, London, and New York. We will explore his various creative contributions, particularly his utopian and innovatively immersive photography masterpiece, “The Family of Man” (MoMA, 1955; UNESCO World Heritage, 2003; permanent display in Clervaux, Luxembourg). We will discuss it in the context of early modernist forms of poetry and photography.

The class will also study the historical contexts of Steichen’s contributions to 20th-century Anglophone and U.S.-American arts and letters, highlighting how issues of culture, class, race, and gender have shaped his work. Special attention will be given to the critical aesthetics of everyday life and the search for, in the words of the German philosopher Max Horkheimer—one of the founders of critical theory—the traces of the “known unknown” in the visual arts.​

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: active participation, read all texts, short written tests (2x10min) (Continuous Assessment) – 50% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: final written exam 60 min (End-of-Term Assessment) – 50% (retake possible)

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

Bibliography:

• Course title: English Phonetics
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-210
• Module(s): III. English Language
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• IDENTIFY the parts of the vocal tract;


• CLASSIFY English vowels and consonants and DESCRIBE their production


• 
  ANALYSE English phonetic and phonological phenomena using precise terminology; and TRANSCRIBE words phonemically��
  

This course provides a grounding in phonetics (the study of speech sounds) and phonology (the study of sound systems) with a focus on English. You will be introduced to the general principles of phonetic description and analysis as well as basic phonological concepts. We will also look at factors affecting the precise realization of sounds and you will learn the basics of phonemic transcription.
Reading
Carley, P., Mees, I. M., & Collins, B. (2018). English phonetics and pronunciation practice. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN: 978-1-138-88634-6 (paperback); ISBN: 978-1-315-16394-9 (e-book)

Please make sure you have bought this textbook before we start the course.
Additional course materials will be provided in class or made available on Moodle

Assessment Component 1:��MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADES Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: Written exam (End-of-term Assessment) – 80% (retake possible)
Assessment Component 3: In class tests (Continuous Assessment) – 20% (retake not possible)

• Course title: Popular Literature
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-9
• Module(s): VI. Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• IDENTIFY the different participants in and factors of literary reception and consumption


• DIFFERENTIATE between historical and contemporary audiences and their notion of taste


• ANALYSE and EXPLAIN the construction of authorship and literary fame in different period

Reading:

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth, Lady Audley’s Secret (Oxford: Oxford 8xav�������� Press, 2012). ISBN-13: 9780199577033��

Conan Doyle, Arthur, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Oxford: Oxford 8xav�������� Press, 2008). ISBN-13: 978-0199536955��

Kinsella, Sophie, The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic (London: Black Swan, 2000). ISBN-13: 978-0552773461

Roehmer, Sax, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu (London: Titan Books, 2012). ISBN: 978-0857686039��

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: Critical Case Study (in class) (Continuous Assessment) – 25% (retake possible)
Assessment Component 3: Written Component (Continuous Assessment) – 25%��(retake possible)
Assessment Component 4: Exam (End-of-Term Assessment) – 40%��(retake possible)
Assessment Component 5: Workshop Participation (Continuous Assessment)�� – 10%��(retake not possible)

NOTE: Assessment purpose and instructions are provided separately.

• Course title: Speculative Fiction
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-6
• Module(s): VI. Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• EXPLAIN the function of literary devices such as ‘terror’ and ‘horror’ in speculative fiction.
  


• SHOW how speculative fiction represents the impact of different forms of order (natural, social, scientific) on humans and human agency.
  


• EVALUATE the ways in which speculative fiction both expresses and shapes cultural anxieties.
  

Speculative fiction is anchored in the real, extrapolated from lived experience in specific cultural moments at specific points in time. As a genre, speculative fiction draws on a confrontation with the unknown or the Other to disrupt the comfortable fictions of stability and order that shape our relationship to ourselves and to the material conditions of our lives.��

We look specifically at cultural anxieties that are manifested in literary forms of terror and horror, and we investigate what happens to notions of the human and human agency in confrontation with other worlds, other norms, and other forms of knowledge. Ultimately, the monsters, ‘mad scientists’, and the utopian and dystopian ‘realities’ explored in the texts on the syllabus prompt us to ask uncomfortable questions of ourselves and about ourselves.

READING

• Atwood, Margaret, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985; any edition)
• Le Guin, Ursula K., The Left Hand of Darkness (1969; any edition)
• Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein; or, The New Prometheus (any edition, but please make sure you read the 1818 version of the text)
• Stevenson, R.L., The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886; any edition)

MOVIES/FILMS

• Frankenstein, dir. by James Whale (Universal, 1931) [on DVD]

Assessment Components

– Attendance: mandatory, non-graded (CA-RNP)
–��Debate + Report. Graded individually: 30% (CA-RNP)
– Class Activities + Reflection: 10% (CA-RNP)
– Final Written Exam: 50% (ET-RP)

Assessment Mode:��ET��(= end-of-term assessment).��CA��(= continuous assessment). Retake an exam or assessment component:��RP��(= retake possible).��RNP��(= retake not possible)

Winter (available in Semesters 1, 3 or 5)

Grades of 5.1/20 and above for the different assessment components may be compensated within the course. Failure to attempt an assessment task will result in an unjustified absence on the transcript of records. Please consult the BCE Study Guide for information about extensions and general rules about assignment submissions and completion.

• Course title: Early Modern Drama
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-199
• Module(s): VI. Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Read and analyse a set of early modern plays by different authors.
  


• Identify the main elements of the different early modern dramatic genres and apply them to the plays discussed in this course.
  


• Locate each play discussed in this course within its own specific historical, cultural and generic context.

The theatre played an important part in early modern English culture. London had a vibrant and highly competitive theatrical scene, with several outdoor and indoor theatres commissioning plays from a large number of authors and catering to spectators from across the social spectrum. This course is meant to introduce you to early modern English theatrical culture in general and to early modern drama in particular. We will discuss three different early modern plays: William Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It (c 1599), John Webster’s tragedy The Duchess of Malfi (1612-13), and Richard Brome’s tragicomedy The Queen and Concubine (1635-36). We will read these plays closely and locate each of them in its own specific generic, historical and cultural context.��

READING

It is important that we all use the same editions of the plays we discuss in this course. Please make sure that you use only the editions listed below:

• Richard Brome, The Queen and Concubine, ed. by Lucy Munro, Richard Brome Online (2010), https://www.dhi.ac.uk/brome/viewTranscripts.jsp?play=QC&act=1&type=BOTH (open access)��
• William Shakespeare, As You Like It, ed. by Michael Hattaway, third edition (Cambridge: Cambridge 8xav�������� Press, 2021) – ISBN 978-1108969192.
• John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, ed. Karen Britland, new edition (London: Methuen Drama, 2021). ISBN: 978-1474295673.��

• Course title: Victorian Literature
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-67
• Module(s): VII. Advanced Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

• DEMONSTRATE an understanding of a variety of themes in Victorian literature, art and popular culture;


• QUESTION views of the Victorian age as generally associated with structural social discipline and emotional repression;


• ANALYSE and EXPLAIN the relation between literary works and the context of their production.

Reading

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0 %��(retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: Oral component (Continuous assessment) – 30% (retake possible)
Assessment Component 3: Written component (Continuous assessment) – 30 % (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4: Exam (Continuous assessment) – 40% (retake not possible)

• Course title: Text and Context
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-8
• Module(s): VII. Advanced Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

• ANALYSE the influence of historical, cultural, and economic contexts on the production and reception of literary texts.��
  


• COMBINE key scholarly perspectives into a coherent and critically informed collaborative literature review.��
  


• DEMONSTRATE your ability to perform a critical and contextually informed close reading in both oral and written formats.��

This course examines the significance of context in the process interpretation. It is designed to encourage you to situate your own reading in relation to the conditions in which texts are produced, published, read, assessed, and re-imagined. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, for instance, was published in 1813, and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in 1899. How relevant is this information? What does it reveal about the novels, their authors, and the worlds they depict? How remote – in space, time, and culture – do they seem to you? Why are they still read and debated? This course invites you to explore these issues and to reflect on whether what you know or do not know about texts and their contexts ultimately matters, and why.��

The course draws on and develops the approaches to critical practice introduced in Reading and Writing about Literature 2 and aims to teach you how to work with scholarly sources critically and independently

READING

• Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, ed. by Donald Gray and Mary A. Favret, 4th edn (New York and London: Norton, 2016). ISBN: 978-0393264883
• Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, ed. by Paul B. Armstrong, 4th edn (New York and London: Norton, 2006). ISBN: 978-0393926361
  

MOVIES

• Apocalypse Now, dir. by Francis Ford Coppola (United Artists, 1979) [on DVD]
• Pride and Prejudice, dir. by Simon Langton (BBC, 1995) [on DVD]
• Bridget Jones’ Diary, dir. by Sharon Maguire (Universal, 2001) [on DVD]
  

Further reading and additional materials are available on Moodle. The Norton Critical Editions of the novels cited above provide contextual information as well as critical essays.

Assessment Components

– Attendance: mandatory, non-graded (CA-RNP)
– Preparation Tasks: mandatory, non-graded (CA-RNP)
– Critical Case Study Presentation + Report. Graded individually: 40% (CA-RNP)
– Critical Source Assessment (2 sources): 10% (CA-RNP)
– Final Written Exam: 50% (ET-RP)

Assessment Mode:��ET��(= end-of-term assessment).��CA��(= continuous assessment). Retake an exam or assessment component:��RP��(= retake possible).��RNP��(= retake not possible)

��

• Course title: Postcolonial Literature
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-140
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

UNDERSTAND the historical context of colonialism, the evolution of postcolonialism and the concepts that inform postcolonial theory.
ANALYSE literary texts through a postcolonial lens.
EVALUATE the significance of postcolonial criticism for literary and cultural studies.

Please obtain a copy of the following works, which we are going to work with closely throughout the semester:

• Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (Penguin Classics, 2000). ISBN 978 0 141 18285 8.��
• John McLeod, Beginning Postcolonialism (Manchester 8xav�������� Press, 2010). ISBN 978 0 7190 7858 3
  

All other texts will be made available on Moodle.

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: Oral Participation (Continuous Assessment) – 10% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3:��Bibliography Exercise (Continuous Assessment) – 15% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4:��Annotated Bibliography (Continuous Assessment) – 15% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 5: Research Proposal (End of term Assessment) – 60% (retake possible)

• Course title: British Theatre from the Postwar Era to the 21st Century
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-300
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

IDENTIFY the different movements and forms within post-1945 British theatre and their characteristics.����
FORMULATE a research question/hypothesis to ANALYSE the form and content of a play by drawing on its socio-political and historical context.�� ��
TRANSFER the knowledge acquired to other plays and be able to understand their agenda.��

We are going to read and discuss the following plays:

– John Osborne, Look Back in Anger
– Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
– Sarah Kane, Blasted
– Jasmine Lee-Jones, seven methods of killing kylie jenner
Please make sure to obtain a copy of each of the four plays; you are free to choose the format and edition. Make sure to bring along the text to the respective seminar session(s).
The performances of plays that we are going to watch are all available on Youtube; more information can be found in the syllabus.

Secondary texts (see syllabus) will be provided on Moodle.

Assessment Component 1:��MANDATORY Attendance (NON GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: Oral Participation (Continuous Assessment) – 10%��(retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Short Written Statement (Continuous Assessment) – 20% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4: Thesis Statement and Annotated Bibliography (Continuous Assessment) – 20% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 5: Oral Exam (End-of-term Assessment) – 50 % (retake possible)

• Course title: History of the English Language (ca. 400 – ca. 1600)
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-65
• Module(s): V. Language and Linguistics
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

• RECOGNISE the major developments of the English language in the medieval period


• SHOW how linguistic developments are linked to political and social contexts��


• IDENTIFY what hides behind many common references to the medieval period in English-language culture, from Shakespeare’s plays to current popular media

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: ​​2 Multiple Choice Tests (​​Continuous Assessment)​ – ​​30​% ​(retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Final Oral Examination ​​(End-of-term Assessment​) – ​​70% ​​(retake possible)

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

Reading :��

• Course title: Language Acquisition
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-163
• Module(s): V. Language and Linguistics
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course you should be able to:

• Comment on first and multilingual language acquisition theories


• Conduct and write up a semi-structured interview


• Summarize and present literature on language acquisition in a way that demonstrates and promotes an understanding of the key points

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: ​​Micro-teaching (​​Continuous Assessment)​ – ​​40​% ​​​ (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Case study child bilingual language acquisition ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​40% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4: In-class texts (Continuous Assessment​) – ​​20% (retake not possible)��

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Sociolinguistics Methods and Analysis
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-221
• Module(s): V. Language and Linguistics
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

• UNDERSTAND and EVALUATE methods of sociolinguistic data collection and analysis;


• APPLY sociolinguistic methodology to key topics of sociolinguistic research, such as multilingualism, social interaction, language attitudes, reginal variation, code switching, social media


• PLAN and EXECUTE a sociolinguistic research project (collecting and analysing data and presenting the results of your research)

This course provides a hands-on introduction to empirical methods in sociolinguistics.�� The course will familiarize you with basic methodological approaches and analytical frameworks in sociolinguistic research using different domains of application as examples. This includes topics like multilingualism, social interaction, language attitudes, regional variation, code switching, or social media analysis.�� You will read texts about basic theoretical considerations underlying the different methods, analyse methodological approaches as for their strengths and weaknesses, and apply empirical methods to sample data. As part of the assessment for the course, you will participate in a class research project in which you will collect and analyse data focusing on one domain of sociolinguistic research.

Although this course is part of an English major programme, being a course on methods and analysis it focuses on basic competencies required for sociolinguistic field work.�� Students of other majors (e.g. French, German, history) are also warmly encouraged to enrol.
No textbook is assigned to this course. Weekly readings will be made available to you on Moodle.

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment – MANDATORY) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: ​​Data collection report (​​Continuous Assessment)​ – ​​30​% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Data processing report ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​30% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4: Data analysis Report ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​30% ​​(retake not possible)
Assessment Component 5: Participation ​​ (NON-GRADED Assessment – MANDATORY)�� – ​​10% (retake not possible)

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Pics, Politics, and Poetics – Photography, Modernist Lyrics, and the Aesthetics of Critical Everydayness
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-320
• Module(s): VI. Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

• assess and demonstrate the critical uses and functions of different literary and visual arts discourses.​��


• analyse the aesthetic and political potential in the historical interaction of photography with other visual and literary studies concepts.��


• evaluate critically the relation between visual, aesthetic, and political discourses within 20th and 21st century U.S. American and global culture.
  

​​Combining and exploring the interconnections between visual and literary studies discourses in historical and global terms, this cultural and media studies class specifically introduces students to the photography, exhibition designs, and political projects of Edward Steichen, a versatile, transnational modern artist with a truly global reach. Born in Luxembourg and raised in Milwaukee, Steichen actively engaged with the modern art world as a photographer, curator, and editor in Paris, London, and New York. We will explore his various creative contributions, particularly his utopian and innovatively immersive photography masterpiece, “The Family of Man” (MoMA, 1955; UNESCO World Heritage, 2003; permanent display in Clervaux, Luxembourg). We will discuss it in the context of early modernist forms of poetry and photography.

The class will also study the historical contexts of Steichen’s contributions to 20th-century Anglophone and U.S.-American arts and letters, highlighting how issues of culture, class, race, and gender have shaped his work. Special attention will be given to the critical aesthetics of everyday life and the search for, in the words of the German philosopher Max Horkheimer—one of the founders of critical theory—the traces of the “known unknown” in the visual arts.​

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: active participation, read all texts, short written tests (2x10min) (Continuous Assessment) – 50% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: final written exam 60 min (End-of-Term Assessment) – 50% (retake possible)

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

Bibliography:

• Course title: Dragons, Knights, and Pilgrims: Making Sense of Literature in Medieval England
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-145
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

• CONTEXTUALISE major pieces of medieval literature from England within larger European currents


• ​​​EXPLAIN with the help of concrete examples how these pieces express cultural values or attitudes ​��


• ​​IDENTIFY and ANALYSE major medieval literary topoi​

​​This course will look in more depth at some topics from History of the English Language (ca. 400 – ca. 1600) and at works mentioned in English Literature: A History. It will explore a multi-lingual selection of literary pieces from medieval England that were heard or read by its Anglo-Saxon settlers, Scandinavian invaders, Norman aristocrats, and English merchants. The class will study these works in their political, cultural, and socio-linguistic contexts, paying particular attention to how they fit into larger European currents.����

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0%�� (retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 2: ​​Active Participation (​​Continuous Assessment)​ – ​​20​% ​​​ (retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 3: In-class presentations ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​30%​​ (retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 4: Written Examination ​​(End-of-term Assessment​) – ​​50% ​​(retake possible)

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

Reading:

• Course title: Literary Theory and Criticism
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-68
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:����

• ​​PRESENT and DISCUSS the theoretical debates that have shaped how critics approach literature since the 1950s..​��


• ​​CONDUCT critically informed conversations about the interaction(s) between texts, writing, and reading.​��


• ​​EVALUATE the relationship between literary texts and constructions of ‘reality’ from a critically informed perspective.​��

This course provides a critical introduction to the major developments in literary theory and criticism since the 1950s. You will engage in (student-led) conversations about key theoretical concepts and positions and explore the ways in major schools of thought frame and shape both how we read and how we conceptualise and interact with the worlds we are a part of. Ultimately, this course aims to inspire students to experiment with different critical lenses and to consciously seek out ways of reading that challenge their initial interpretations.��

Self Reading:

• ​Bennett, Andrew, and Nicholas Royle, An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory, 6th edn (Routledge, 2023).����
  �� �� ​
• Barthes, Roland, ‘The Death of the Author’, in Modern Criticism and Theory:  A Reader, ed. by David Lodge and Nigel Wood, 3rd edn (Routledge, 2013), pp. 311–16��

• ​Baudrillard, Jean, ‘Simulacra and Simulations’, in Modern Criticism and Theory:  A Reader, ed. by David and Nigel Wood, 3rd edn (Routledge, 2013), pp. 421–32��

Recommended Reading:

• Barry, Peter, Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, 4th edn (Manchester 8xav�������� Press, 2017)��
  �� �� ​
• Murfin, Ross C., and Supriya M. Ray (eds), The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms, 4th edn (Bedford/St Martin’s, 2018)​��

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 2: ​​Annotated Timeline (NON-GRADED Assessment – MANDATORY) ​ – ​​0​%​​​ (retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 3: Debate and Report ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​50% ​​(retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 4: Final Written Exam (Open-Book 4 hours) ​​(End-of-term Assessment​) – ​​50% ​​(retake possible)����

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

��

• Course title: Auto/biography
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-70
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: ​​Discussion Facilitation��​​(Continuous Assessment​) – 40% ​​(retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 3: Exam��​​(End-of-term Assessment​) – ​​50% ​​(retake possible)��
Assessment Component 4: Workshop participation ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​10% ​​(retake not possible)����

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Creative Writing
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-72
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

• Perceive, discuss, and assess pieces of your own creative writing in concrete terms, e.g.�� source(s) of tension, narrative perspective, structure, and what risks it takes.��


• Read another writer’s draft, recognize what it is trying to do, and provide feedback that helps them better hit that goal.��


• Produce creative written work, incorporate outside perspectives on it, and edit it to improve it.��

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: ​​Workshop submission 1 (​​Continuous Assessment)​ – ​​10​% ​​(retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Workshop submission 2 ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​10% ​​(retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4: Peer feedback (written) ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​20% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 5: Portfolio (End-of-term Assessment) – ​​60% ​​(retake not possible)��

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Comics and Graphic Novels
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-319
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

• ​​systematically describe key formal and narratological features of comics;​��
  


• ​​demonstrate, using selected examples, how contemporary comics engage with current social issues through narrative and aesthetic strategies;​��
  


• interpret comic scenes in your own words, attending to the medium’s specific visual and ver-bal dimensions.��
  

• Course title: Research Seminar
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-154
• Module(s): IX. Research Seminar
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• IDENTIFY and SELECT credible and relevant scholarly sources.


• PRESENT the arguments, relevance, and limitations of key scholarly works.


• DOCUMENT the research process through continuous, reflective writing.
  

The Research Seminar is designed to help you develop the skills and strategies you will need to plan and complete a Bachelor thesis in English Studies. Through hands-on workshops and in-class activities, you will collaboratively explore how to develop a (mock) research topic while also beginning to formulate your own thesis ideas. The preparatory tasks play a central role in this process and guide you through evaluating and selecting source materials (critical source assessment), engagement critically with scholarship (annotated bibliography), and outlining initial ideas for your own study (abstract and research proposal).��

Reflection is essential for getting the most out of these activities. Your Researcher’s Journal provides a space to document your thoughts, insights, and the challenges you encounter throughout the course. It also allows you to trace how your ideas evolve over time, strengthening your awareness of your own learning process. By giving you room to test interpretations, articulate uncertainties, and refine emerging arguments, the journal will support the development of your academic voice and your confidence as a researcher.

Assessment Components:

• Attendance (mandatory, non-graded, CA-RNP)


• Preparation Tasks (mandatory, non-graded, CA-RNP)


• Researcher’s Journal (mandatory, minimum 4 entries): 80% (CA-RNP)


• In-Class Tasks (mandatory): 20% (CA-RNP)


• Abstract (mandatory, non-graded, ET-RP)

Assessment Mode: ET (= end-of-term assessment). CA (= continuous assessment). Retake an exam or assessment component: RP (= retake possible). RNP (= retake not possible)

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Popular Literature
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-9
• Module(s): VI. Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• IDENTIFY the different participants in and factors of literary reception and consumption


• DIFFERENTIATE between historical and contemporary audiences and their notion of taste


• ANALYSE and EXPLAIN the construction of authorship and literary fame in different period

Reading:

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth, Lady Audley’s Secret (Oxford: Oxford 8xav�������� Press, 2012). ISBN-13: 9780199577033��

Conan Doyle, Arthur, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Oxford: Oxford 8xav�������� Press, 2008). ISBN-13: 978-0199536955��

Kinsella, Sophie, The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic (London: Black Swan, 2000). ISBN-13: 978-0552773461

Roehmer, Sax, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu (London: Titan Books, 2012). ISBN: 978-0857686039��

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: Critical Case Study (in class) (Continuous Assessment) – 25% (retake possible)
Assessment Component 3: Written Component (Continuous Assessment) – 25%��(retake possible)
Assessment Component 4: Exam (End-of-Term Assessment) – 40%��(retake possible)
Assessment Component 5: Workshop Participation (Continuous Assessment)�� – 10%��(retake not possible)

NOTE: Assessment purpose and instructions are provided separately.

• Course title: Speculative Fiction
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-6
• Module(s): VI. Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• EXPLAIN the function of literary devices such as ‘terror’ and ‘horror’ in speculative fiction.
  


• SHOW how speculative fiction represents the impact of different forms of order (natural, social, scientific) on humans and human agency.
  


• EVALUATE the ways in which speculative fiction both expresses and shapes cultural anxieties.
  

Speculative fiction is anchored in the real, extrapolated from lived experience in specific cultural moments at specific points in time. As a genre, speculative fiction draws on a confrontation with the unknown or the Other to disrupt the comfortable fictions of stability and order that shape our relationship to ourselves and to the material conditions of our lives.��

We look specifically at cultural anxieties that are manifested in literary forms of terror and horror, and we investigate what happens to notions of the human and human agency in confrontation with other worlds, other norms, and other forms of knowledge. Ultimately, the monsters, ‘mad scientists’, and the utopian and dystopian ‘realities’ explored in the texts on the syllabus prompt us to ask uncomfortable questions of ourselves and about ourselves.

READING

• Atwood, Margaret, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985; any edition)
• Le Guin, Ursula K., The Left Hand of Darkness (1969; any edition)
• Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein; or, The New Prometheus (any edition, but please make sure you read the 1818 version of the text)
• Stevenson, R.L., The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886; any edition)

MOVIES/FILMS

• Frankenstein, dir. by James Whale (Universal, 1931) [on DVD]

Assessment Components

– Attendance: mandatory, non-graded (CA-RNP)
–��Debate + Report. Graded individually: 30% (CA-RNP)
– Class Activities + Reflection: 10% (CA-RNP)
– Final Written Exam: 50% (ET-RP)

Assessment Mode:��ET��(= end-of-term assessment).��CA��(= continuous assessment). Retake an exam or assessment component:��RP��(= retake possible).��RNP��(= retake not possible)

Winter (available in Semesters 1, 3 or 5)

Grades of 5.1/20 and above for the different assessment components may be compensated within the course. Failure to attempt an assessment task will result in an unjustified absence on the transcript of records. Please consult the BCE Study Guide for information about extensions and general rules about assignment submissions and completion.

• Course title: Early Modern Drama
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-199
• Module(s): VI. Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Read and analyse a set of early modern plays by different authors.
  


• Identify the main elements of the different early modern dramatic genres and apply them to the plays discussed in this course.
  


• Locate each play discussed in this course within its own specific historical, cultural and generic context.

The theatre played an important part in early modern English culture. London had a vibrant and highly competitive theatrical scene, with several outdoor and indoor theatres commissioning plays from a large number of authors and catering to spectators from across the social spectrum. This course is meant to introduce you to early modern English theatrical culture in general and to early modern drama in particular. We will discuss three different early modern plays: William Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It (c 1599), John Webster’s tragedy The Duchess of Malfi (1612-13), and Richard Brome’s tragicomedy The Queen and Concubine (1635-36). We will read these plays closely and locate each of them in its own specific generic, historical and cultural context.��

READING

It is important that we all use the same editions of the plays we discuss in this course. Please make sure that you use only the editions listed below:

• Richard Brome, The Queen and Concubine, ed. by Lucy Munro, Richard Brome Online (2010), https://www.dhi.ac.uk/brome/viewTranscripts.jsp?play=QC&act=1&type=BOTH (open access)��
• William Shakespeare, As You Like It, ed. by Michael Hattaway, third edition (Cambridge: Cambridge 8xav�������� Press, 2021) – ISBN 978-1108969192.
• John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, ed. Karen Britland, new edition (London: Methuen Drama, 2021). ISBN: 978-1474295673.��

• Course title: Victorian Literature
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-67
• Module(s): VII. Advanced Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

• DEMONSTRATE an understanding of a variety of themes in Victorian literature, art and popular culture;


• QUESTION views of the Victorian age as generally associated with structural social discipline and emotional repression;


• ANALYSE and EXPLAIN the relation between literary works and the context of their production.

Reading

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0 %��(retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: Oral component (Continuous assessment) – 30% (retake possible)
Assessment Component 3: Written component (Continuous assessment) – 30 % (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4: Exam (Continuous assessment) – 40% (retake not possible)

• Course title: Text and Context
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-8
• Module(s): VII. Advanced Literary Studies
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

• ANALYSE the influence of historical, cultural, and economic contexts on the production and reception of literary texts.��
  


• COMBINE key scholarly perspectives into a coherent and critically informed collaborative literature review.��
  


• DEMONSTRATE your ability to perform a critical and contextually informed close reading in both oral and written formats.��

This course examines the significance of context in the process interpretation. It is designed to encourage you to situate your own reading in relation to the conditions in which texts are produced, published, read, assessed, and re-imagined. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, for instance, was published in 1813, and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in 1899. How relevant is this information? What does it reveal about the novels, their authors, and the worlds they depict? How remote – in space, time, and culture – do they seem to you? Why are they still read and debated? This course invites you to explore these issues and to reflect on whether what you know or do not know about texts and their contexts ultimately matters, and why.��

The course draws on and develops the approaches to critical practice introduced in Reading and Writing about Literature 2 and aims to teach you how to work with scholarly sources critically and independently

READING

• Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, ed. by Donald Gray and Mary A. Favret, 4th edn (New York and London: Norton, 2016). ISBN: 978-0393264883
• Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, ed. by Paul B. Armstrong, 4th edn (New York and London: Norton, 2006). ISBN: 978-0393926361
  

MOVIES

• Apocalypse Now, dir. by Francis Ford Coppola (United Artists, 1979) [on DVD]
• Pride and Prejudice, dir. by Simon Langton (BBC, 1995) [on DVD]
• Bridget Jones’ Diary, dir. by Sharon Maguire (Universal, 2001) [on DVD]
  

Further reading and additional materials are available on Moodle. The Norton Critical Editions of the novels cited above provide contextual information as well as critical essays.

Assessment Components

– Attendance: mandatory, non-graded (CA-RNP)
– Preparation Tasks: mandatory, non-graded (CA-RNP)
– Critical Case Study Presentation + Report. Graded individually: 40% (CA-RNP)
– Critical Source Assessment (2 sources): 10% (CA-RNP)
– Final Written Exam: 50% (ET-RP)

Assessment Mode:��ET��(= end-of-term assessment).��CA��(= continuous assessment). Retake an exam or assessment component:��RP��(= retake possible).��RNP��(= retake not possible)

��

• Course title: "American" Narratives: Key Texts and Debates
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-12
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:
EXAMINE the claims to universality embedded in the founding documents of the United States of America.
ASSESS the hegemonic power of dominant ‘American’ narratives in a set of key texts and debates.
CONTEXTUALISE and EVALUATE the diachronic and synchronic features of literary and non-literary sources methodically and critically.

��

This course focuses on the narratives and ideas that shape contemporary perceptions of the United States of America. By looking at a selection of key literary and non-literary texts, we will examine and test preconceived beliefs about ‘America’ and the multifaceted web of signification the term evokes against the historical, social, and cultural complexities of ‘American’ realities. Starting with The Declaration of Independence and selected defining moments in the history and culture of the United States of America, we will explore the variety of meanings associated with the idea of ‘America’ and the narratives that produce and/or disrupt them. The coursework and the class activities combine factual enquiry with debates and traditional literary criticism. This combination should allow you to develop a better understanding of some of the difficult conversations that shape contemporary ‘American’ identities and concerns.

• Beecher-Stowe, Harriet, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ed. by Elizabeth Ammons, 2nd edn (New York: Norton, 2010). ISBN: 978-0393933994 [Excerpts]
• Douglass, Frederick, ‘Independence Day Speech’, in J. T. Skerrett, Literature, Race, and Ethnicity: Contesting American Identities, The Longman Literature and Culture Series (New York: Longman, 2002), pp. 43-48.
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter, ed. by Leland S. Person, 4th edn (New York: Norton, 2005). ISBN: 978-0393979534
• Jacobs, Harriet A., Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, ed. by Jean Fagan Yellin (Cambridge: Harvard 8xav�������� Press, 2000). ISBN: 978-0674002715 [Excerpts]
• Miller, Arthur, The Crucible (London and New York: Penguin, 2000). ISBN: 978-0141182551
• Thoreau, Henry David, ‘Civil Disobedience’ and Other Writings, ed. by William Rossi, 3rd edn (New York: Norton, 2008). ISBN: 978-0393930900

��

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: Reader’s Journal (Continuous Assessment) – 20% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Trial Simulation + Report (Continuous Assessment) – 30% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4: Final Essay (Topic proposal + 2000 words essay) – 50% (retake possible)

• Course title: Postcolonial Literature
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-140
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

UNDERSTAND the historical context of colonialism, the evolution of postcolonialism and the concepts that inform postcolonial theory.
ANALYSE literary texts through a postcolonial lens.
EVALUATE the significance of postcolonial criticism for literary and cultural studies.

Please obtain a copy of the following works, which we are going to work with closely throughout the semester:

• Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (Penguin Classics, 2000). ISBN 978 0 141 18285 8.��
• John McLeod, Beginning Postcolonialism (Manchester 8xav�������� Press, 2010). ISBN 978 0 7190 7858 3
  

All other texts will be made available on Moodle.

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: Oral Participation (Continuous Assessment) – 10% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3:��Bibliography Exercise (Continuous Assessment) – 15% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4:��Annotated Bibliography (Continuous Assessment) – 15% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 5: Research Proposal (End of term Assessment) – 60% (retake possible)

• Course title: British Theatre from the Postwar Era to the 21st Century
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-300
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

IDENTIFY the different movements and forms within post-1945 British theatre and their characteristics.����
FORMULATE a research question/hypothesis to ANALYSE the form and content of a play by drawing on its socio-political and historical context.�� ��
TRANSFER the knowledge acquired to other plays and be able to understand their agenda.��

We are going to read and discuss the following plays:

– John Osborne, Look Back in Anger
– Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
– Sarah Kane, Blasted
– Jasmine Lee-Jones, seven methods of killing kylie jenner
Please make sure to obtain a copy of each of the four plays; you are free to choose the format and edition. Make sure to bring along the text to the respective seminar session(s).
The performances of plays that we are going to watch are all available on Youtube; more information can be found in the syllabus.

Secondary texts (see syllabus) will be provided on Moodle.

Assessment Component 1:��MANDATORY Attendance (NON GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: Oral Participation (Continuous Assessment) – 10%��(retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Short Written Statement (Continuous Assessment) – 20% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4: Thesis Statement and Annotated Bibliography (Continuous Assessment) – 20% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 5: Oral Exam (End-of-term Assessment) – 50 % (retake possible)

• Course title: Postcolonial Literature
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-140
• Module(s): IX. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

UNDERSTAND the historical context of colonialism, the evolution of postcolonialism and the concepts that inform postcolonial theory.
ANALYSE literary texts through a postcolonial lens.
EVALUATE the significance of postcolonial criticism for literary and cultural studies.

Please obtain a copy of the following works, which we are going to work with closely throughout the semester:

• Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (Penguin Classics, 2000). ISBN 978 0 141 18285 8.��
• John McLeod, Beginning Postcolonialism (Manchester 8xav�������� Press, 2010). ISBN 978 0 7190 7858 3
  

All other texts will be made available on Moodle.

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: Oral Participation (Continuous Assessment) – 10% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3:��Bibliography Exercise (Continuous Assessment) – 15% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4:��Annotated Bibliography (Continuous Assessment) – 15% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 5: Research Proposal (End of term Assessment) – 60% (retake possible)

• Course title: History of the English Language (ca. 400 – ca. 1600)
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-65
• Module(s): III. English Language
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

• RECOGNISE the major developments of the English language in the medieval period


• SHOW how linguistic developments are linked to political and social contexts��


• IDENTIFY what hides behind many common references to the medieval period in English-language culture, from Shakespeare’s plays to current popular media

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: ​​2 Multiple Choice Tests (​​Continuous Assessment)​ – ​​30​% ​(retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Final Oral Examination ​​(End-of-term Assessment​) – ​​70% ​​(retake possible)

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

Reading :��

• Course title: Language Acquisition
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-163
• Module(s): III. English Language
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course you should be able to:

• Comment on first and multilingual language acquisition theories


• Conduct and write up a semi-structured interview


• Summarize and present literature on language acquisition in a way that demonstrates and promotes an understanding of the key points

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: ​​Micro-teaching (​​Continuous Assessment)​ – ​​40​% ​​​ (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Case study child bilingual language acquisition ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​40% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4: In-class texts (Continuous Assessment​) – ​​20% (retake not possible)��

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Language Acquisition
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-163
• Module(s): V. Language and Linguistics
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course you should be able to:

• Comment on first and multilingual language acquisition theories


• Conduct and write up a semi-structured interview


• Summarize and present literature on language acquisition in a way that demonstrates and promotes an understanding of the key points

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: ​​Micro-teaching (​​Continuous Assessment)​ – ​​40​% ​​​ (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Case study child bilingual language acquisition ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​40% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4: In-class texts (Continuous Assessment​) – ​​20% (retake not possible)��

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Sociolinguistics Methods and Analysis
• Number of ECTS: 4
• Course code: BCE-221
• Module(s): V. Language and Linguistics
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

• UNDERSTAND and EVALUATE methods of sociolinguistic data collection and analysis;


• APPLY sociolinguistic methodology to key topics of sociolinguistic research, such as multilingualism, social interaction, language attitudes, reginal variation, code switching, social media


• PLAN and EXECUTE a sociolinguistic research project (collecting and analysing data and presenting the results of your research)

This course provides a hands-on introduction to empirical methods in sociolinguistics.�� The course will familiarize you with basic methodological approaches and analytical frameworks in sociolinguistic research using different domains of application as examples. This includes topics like multilingualism, social interaction, language attitudes, regional variation, code switching, or social media analysis.�� You will read texts about basic theoretical considerations underlying the different methods, analyse methodological approaches as for their strengths and weaknesses, and apply empirical methods to sample data. As part of the assessment for the course, you will participate in a class research project in which you will collect and analyse data focusing on one domain of sociolinguistic research.

Although this course is part of an English major programme, being a course on methods and analysis it focuses on basic competencies required for sociolinguistic field work.�� Students of other majors (e.g. French, German, history) are also warmly encouraged to enrol.
No textbook is assigned to this course. Weekly readings will be made available to you on Moodle.

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment – MANDATORY) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: ​​Data collection report (​​Continuous Assessment)​ – ​​30​% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Data processing report ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​30% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4: Data analysis Report ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​30% ​​(retake not possible)
Assessment Component 5: Participation ​​ (NON-GRADED Assessment – MANDATORY)�� – ​​10% (retake not possible)

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Dragons, Knights, and Pilgrims: Making Sense of Literature in Medieval England
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-145
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

• CONTEXTUALISE major pieces of medieval literature from England within larger European currents


• ​​​EXPLAIN with the help of concrete examples how these pieces express cultural values or attitudes ​��


• ​​IDENTIFY and ANALYSE major medieval literary topoi​

​​This course will look in more depth at some topics from History of the English Language (ca. 400 – ca. 1600) and at works mentioned in English Literature: A History. It will explore a multi-lingual selection of literary pieces from medieval England that were heard or read by its Anglo-Saxon settlers, Scandinavian invaders, Norman aristocrats, and English merchants. The class will study these works in their political, cultural, and socio-linguistic contexts, paying particular attention to how they fit into larger European currents.����

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0%�� (retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 2: ​​Active Participation (​​Continuous Assessment)​ – ​​20​% ​​​ (retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 3: In-class presentations ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​30%​​ (retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 4: Written Examination ​​(End-of-term Assessment​) – ​​50% ​​(retake possible)

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

Reading:

• Course title: Literary Theory and Criticism
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-68
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

By the end of this course, you should be able to:����

• ​​PRESENT and DISCUSS the theoretical debates that have shaped how critics approach literature since the 1950s..​��


• ​​CONDUCT critically informed conversations about the interaction(s) between texts, writing, and reading.​��


• ​​EVALUATE the relationship between literary texts and constructions of ‘reality’ from a critically informed perspective.​��

This course provides a critical introduction to the major developments in literary theory and criticism since the 1950s. You will engage in (student-led) conversations about key theoretical concepts and positions and explore the ways in major schools of thought frame and shape both how we read and how we conceptualise and interact with the worlds we are a part of. Ultimately, this course aims to inspire students to experiment with different critical lenses and to consciously seek out ways of reading that challenge their initial interpretations.��

Self Reading:

• ​Bennett, Andrew, and Nicholas Royle, An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory, 6th edn (Routledge, 2023).����
  �� �� ​
• Barthes, Roland, ‘The Death of the Author’, in Modern Criticism and Theory:  A Reader, ed. by David Lodge and Nigel Wood, 3rd edn (Routledge, 2013), pp. 311–16��

• ​Baudrillard, Jean, ‘Simulacra and Simulations’, in Modern Criticism and Theory:  A Reader, ed. by David and Nigel Wood, 3rd edn (Routledge, 2013), pp. 421–32��

Recommended Reading:

• Barry, Peter, Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, 4th edn (Manchester 8xav�������� Press, 2017)��
  �� �� ​
• Murfin, Ross C., and Supriya M. Ray (eds), The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms, 4th edn (Bedford/St Martin’s, 2018)​��

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 2: ​​Annotated Timeline (NON-GRADED Assessment – MANDATORY) ​ – ​​0​%​​​ (retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 3: Debate and Report ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​50% ​​(retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 4: Final Written Exam (Open-Book 4 hours) ​​(End-of-term Assessment​) – ​​50% ​​(retake possible)����

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

��

• Course title: Auto/biography
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-70
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: ​​Discussion Facilitation��​​(Continuous Assessment​) – 40% ​​(retake not possible)��
Assessment Component 3: Exam��​​(End-of-term Assessment​) – ​​50% ​​(retake possible)��
Assessment Component 4: Workshop participation ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​10% ​​(retake not possible)����

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Creative Writing
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-72
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

• Perceive, discuss, and assess pieces of your own creative writing in concrete terms, e.g.�� source(s) of tension, narrative perspective, structure, and what risks it takes.��


• Read another writer’s draft, recognize what it is trying to do, and provide feedback that helps them better hit that goal.��


• Produce creative written work, incorporate outside perspectives on it, and edit it to improve it.��

Assessment Component 1: MANDATORY Attendance (NON-GRADED Assessment) – 0% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 2: ​​Workshop submission 1 (​​Continuous Assessment)​ – ​​10​% ​​(retake not possible)
Assessment Component 3: Workshop submission 2 ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​10% ​​(retake not possible)
Assessment Component 4: Peer feedback (written) ​​(Continuous Assessment​) – ​​20% (retake not possible)
Assessment Component 5: Portfolio (End-of-term Assessment) – ​​60% ​​(retake not possible)��

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Comics and Graphic Novels
• Number of ECTS: 6
• Course code: BCE-319
• Module(s): VIII. Electives
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: No

• ​​systematically describe key formal and narratological features of comics;​��
  


• ​​demonstrate, using selected examples, how contemporary comics engage with current social issues through narrative and aesthetic strategies;​��
  


• interpret comic scenes in your own words, attending to the medium’s specific visual and ver-bal dimensions.��
  

• Course title: Research Seminar 2
• Number of ECTS: 3
• Course code: BCE-195
• Module(s): IX. Research Seminar
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:��

• 
  DEFINE a productive and viable research area and topic
  
  
  


• CONSTRUCT a clear and persuasive academic argument supported by evidence.
  


• PRESENT a research question/thesis, methodology, and preliminary results in a clear and engaging manner.

The purpose of this Research Seminar is to provide students with general guidance in the development and writing of their Bachelor thesis in the field of English Studies. The course proposes a series of collaborative workshops, in which you will be introduced to the main aspects of research in English literature and linguistics.

Research Seminar 2 (Semester 6)

The second part of the Research Seminar (Semester 6) combines regular sessions on advanced academic writing, an off-campus writing retreat and ad-hoc workshops on topics such as formatting large documents or preparing for your defence. During this period, you will carry out your research and develop your study, work closely with your supervisor, and complete and submit your thesis. The three mandatory meetings with your supervisor are part of the attendance requirement and count towards the completion of this course. You may arrange more supervisory meetings if needed.��

Assessment Components:

• Attendance, including Writing Retreat (mandatory, non-graded, CA-RNP)


• Draft Component (mandatory, non-graded, CA-RNP)


• Project Design (=Final Research Proposal + Feedback Discussion with your assigned supervisor): 100% (CA-RNP)

��

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

• Course title: Portfolio – Semester 6
• Number of ECTS: 0
• Course code: BCE-309
• Module(s): X. Portfolio
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

​Attend academic events, connect English Studies and European Cultures, develop your academic competences, and document the experiences and insights you have gained this semester in your portfolio.����

​Detailed instructions are available in the Portfolio on Moodle.����

​Minimum Assessment Requirements:��

​Attendance: mandatory, non-graded. You may manage your academic event and workshop attendance independently throughout your studies. Attending 2-3 academic events per semester will ensure a reasonable workload distribution.��

​Advisory Meeting: mandatory non-graded. You may set up an appointment with your academic adviser any time you need. General rule: one appointment per year.����

​Reflection Paper: mandatory, non-graded.

Eligibility to participate in the (end-of-term) examination:����you must be enrolled in the course and officially registered (via the Student Portal) and you must complete all continuous assessment tasks to participate in (end-of-term) exams. This includes attendance. (See: Student Assessment directive, Version 3 (03/06/2025), pp 12-13).

��

• Course title: Bachelor Thesis and Defence
• Number of ECTS: 16
• Course code: BCE-181
• Module(s): XI. Bachelor Thesis
• Language: EN
• Mandatory: Yes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• 
  Formulate��a clear working thesis or research question grounded in literary criticism or linguistic theory.


• 
  Identify��appropriate methods to analyse texts or language data.


• 
  Engage��critically with relevant scholarly literature and debates.


• 
  Develop��a coherent and well-structured academic argument.


• 
  Demonstrate��mastery of academic writing conventions and referencing.


• 
  Communicate��your findings and insights succinctly and effectively, in both written and oral formats.

The Bachelor thesis (10.000–15.000 words) marks the culmination of your Bachelor studies in English literature and/or linguistics. It is designed to assess your ability to formulate a research question or working thesis, apply appropriate methodologies, and engage critically with scholarly literature. Under the guidance of a supervisor, you will independently plan and execute a research project to demonstrate your critical thinking, analytical skills, and academic writing proficiency.

This thesis offers an opportunity to explore a specialised topic of your choice, develop a sustained argument independently, and present your findings and insights clearly and concisely.

If carried out successfully, this final project confirms your disciplinary competence, prepares you for postgraduate study, and equips you for professional applications of the skills and expertise acquired during your studies.��

The oral defence requires you to present your research effectively and to explain how work demonstrates independent inquiry and academic rigour.��

Please note that refer to the��BCE Study Guide��and the��English Studies Thesis Guide��for further details (Moodle login required).��

Assessment Components:

• Attendance: min. 3 supervisory meetings (mandatory, non-graded, CA-RNP)


• Bachelor Thesis (10.000-15.000 words): 80% (CA-RNP)


• Presentation and Defence (oral): 20% (ET-RNP)


• Compensation is not enabled for this course.��