Team

Helen Cousins – I am the Programme Leader for English and will also be your Academic Personal Tutor in your first year. I will be teaching some of your classes in Semester 1 and seeing you for one-to-one tutorials.

My interests in English are in contemporary writing including writing from other cultures, experimental fiction, literature and Animal Studies. I am keen to support students to become better writers and develop their academic skills.

Louise McDonald – I am a Senior Lecturer in English specialising in film studies, Victorian literature including text to film adaptations of Victorian novels, and early 20th-century literature. I will be teaching you in Semester 1 and Semester 2 of your first year helping you to focus on textual analysis and critical thinking. I am the Academic Personal tutor for third year students.

Kerry Myler – I am a Senior Lecturer in English Literature and specialise in postwar and contemporary women’s writing with an interest in environmental literature, short story, and weird fiction. I encourage students to develop their digital skills and how to work together effectively. I am the Academic Personal tutor for second year students, and I also lead the MA in Applied Humanities.

You may be taught by some other tutors including Jai Mackenzie who specialises in teaching linguistics and Juliette Harrisson who teaches creative writing.

Brief Summary

In Semester 1 of your first year, you will take 2 modules:

• How to Read: Textual Analysis
• Open to Interpretation: Introduction to Critical and Cultural Theory

WHAT?

How to Read explores a range of strategies used in English studies to analyse texts from a variety of written, visual, digital, and spoken texts. This will build on the analytical skills that you have been developing throughout your school and college studies. Strategies will range from close reading to contextual readings.
In Open to Interpretation, you will develop your ability to think critically. It introduces you to the notion of critical theory and considers how a range of critical frames can be employed in reading, writing, performance and reflection, including feminism, psychoanalysis, Marxism.

HOW?

You will be working in a small group of English students for How to Read to focus on your transition into university and to develop your capability to be successful academically in English. In Open to Interpretation, you will be working with first year students on other degrees to enhance your learning by understanding the crossovers into cognate subject areas; you will learn important skills of communication and working collaboratively in this module. We teach in a seminar-style way with lots of opportunities for discussion, activities and exploratory learning.

ASSESSMENT

Both modules will be assessed by coursework.

Pre-Course Reading

The books you will need to buy for your first year of university studies in English are listed below. You can get these as paperbacks, eBooks (where available) or second-hand. If you get a second-hand copy, make sure it is the correct edition if that is specified.

It would be good if you read these in advance of starting your course:

1. Antonia Fraser ed. (2015) The Pleasures of Reading.
2. Helen Oyeyemi (2006) The Icarus Girl.
3. Shakespeare (any edition) Titus Andronicus.

We also suggest that you buy and start to look through the following non-fiction books:

1. Robert Eaglestone (2017) Doing English (4th edition).
2. Jeanne Godfrey (2022) Writing for university (3rd edition).

You will also be studying these films, which you can watch in advance if you have access:

1. Jennie Livingstone dir. (1990) Paris is Burning (available on YouTube).
2. Catherine Hardwicke dir. (2008) Twilight.

Planned Online Meetings

Helen Cousins, the Programme Leader, will be available on Teams every Friday in September (1st, 8th and 15th) between 11.00-12.00.

Please drop in if you have any questions or concerns about starting your university course.

Join this meeting.

Timetable information

Semester 1

Mondays 11.00 – 14.00 and 15.00 – 17.00 or 10.00 – 15.00 (for last five weeks of semester 1)
Tuesdays 12.00 – 15.00

Full details of your individual academic timetable will be available via your university email calendar after you have completed online enrolment and set up your student login.

Subject Sessions

Here are the dates and times during our welcome week when your teaching team will be expecting you on campus for welcome activity. Come to main reception and the welcome mentors will get you to the correct rooms:

• 19.09.23 12-3 ST008
• 20.09.23 11-1 EL109b

Even if your course team are not expecting you to be in during Welcome Week on Tuesday 19th September, we strongly encourage you to come in and participate in our Student Union Fresher’s Fair.

Running between 10am and 3pm, it will give you a great insight into the Student Union, its societies and its engagement with community groups and employers. You can find out more at Newman Students’ Union – Your Voice.