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Undergraduate Programme Specification

BA English with Creative Writing

Academic Year 2021/22

A programme specification is required for any programme on which a student may be registered. All programmes of the University are subject to the University's Quality Assurance processes. All degrees are awarded by Queen's University Belfast.

Programme Title BA English with Creative Writing Final Award
(exit route if applicable for Postgraduate Taught Programmes)
Bachelor of Arts
Programme Code ENG-BA-CW UCAS Code Q3W8 HECoS Code 100320 - English studies - 100
ATAS Clearance Required No
Mode of Study Full Time
Type of Programme Single Honours Length of Programme Full Time - 3 Academic Year(s) Total Credits for Programme 360
Exit Awards available

Institute Information

Teaching Institution

Queen's University Belfast

School/Department

Arts, English and Languages

Quality Code
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code

Higher Education Credit Framework for England
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code/higher-education-credit-framework-for-england

Level 6

Subject Benchmark Statements
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements

The Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/quality-code/qualifications-frameworks.pdf

English (2015)

Accreditations (PSRB)

Regulation Information

Does the Programme have any approved exemptions from the University General Regulations
(Please see General Regulations)

N/A

Programme Specific Regulations

Each stage requires 120 CATS in English and Creative Writing.

Stage 3 includes a compulsory dissertation (ENH3000) only in Creative Writing.

At Stage 2 a student may substitute up to 20 CATS of optional modules with the equivalent number of CATS from a list of approved modules beyond those listed.

At Stage 3 a student may substitute up to 20 CATS of optional modules with the equivalent number of CATS from a list of approved modules beyond those listed.

A student who has transferred onto this Single Honours Programme having only completed 60 CATS at Level 1 in the Single Honours subject may at Stage 2 or Stage 3 substitute up to 20 CATS of optional modules with the equivalent number of CATS from a list of approved modules beyond those listed.

On completing Stage 1 a Joint Honours student who has passed 60 CATS at Stage 1 in English modules may be admitted to this Single Honours Programme having obtained the approval of the Adviser of Studies for the Programme.

A student who wishes to proceed to Stage 2 on the English with Creative Writing pathway, must pass ENG1001, ENG1002, ENL1001 and ENG1090.

The English subject entry requirement may be waived on a case-by-case basis in discussion with the English subject lead or Adviser of Studies.

Students will be notified each academic year of the optional modules being offered in the following academic year. Students are advised that not all optional modules will necessarily be offered in each academic year. Also, the delivery of a module may be subject to a minimum number of enrolments as well as unforeseen circumstances (eg illness of a member of staff). The range and content of optional modules will change over time as degree programmes develop and students' choice of optional modules may also be limited due to timetabling constraints.

Students with protected characteristics

N/A

Are students subject to Fitness to Practise Regulations

(Please see General Regulations)

No

Educational Aims Of Programme

This BA programme is designed to provide students with:

• the opportunity to acquire core knowledge and critical understanding of creative writing, within the context of a degree in English language, literature and creative writing that accords with the national English benchmarking statement;

• to enable students to develop an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the prevailing genres and practices of contemporary creative writing through intellectual and interactive enquiry;

• to encourage sophisticated intellectual enquiry and debate through practice-based collaboration with fellow students and academics from a range of creative disciplines;

• to provide a grounding in creative writing that will equip students with skills and knowledge appropriate to undertaking further vocational or academic study;

• to equip students to use their literary talents to the best of their ability, to develop as independent writers and self-reflective lifelong learners, entrepreneurs and employees;

• to encourage future generations of new writers;

• a university curriculum, in accordance with the national English benchmarking statement, that reflects the chronological, cultural, and generic diversity of English literary and language studies, drawing, where applicable, on the unique character of Northern Ireland, and taking advantage of a variety of critical and pedagogical approaches;

• a flexible curriculum that develops new areas of teaching in response to advances in scholarship, interests and abilities of staff members, and student feedback.

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes: Cognitive Skills

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

recognise and appreciate the varying effects of different literary and linguistic forms of expression;

respond to, and differentiate between, different ideological and theoretical positions;

analyse and interpret material from different geographical, cultural, and temporal contexts;

think independently, laterally, creatively, originally, and self-reflexively;

critically analyse and judge their own performance, and that of others, in a range of creative contexts;

summarise and synthesise theoretical and experiential learning, drawing on a range of evidence, media and perspectives;

demonstrate a capacity for critical reflection and judgment in the light of evidence and argument;

discriminate between substantive and peripheral concerns in their understanding of literary and linguistic issues;

identify, collate and organise relevant data and information from a variety of primary and secondary sources in support of their argument;

understand complex tasks and an ability to present appropriate solutions in written form;

work autonomously, manifested in self-direction, objective-setting, prioritising and time-management;

reflect on their own learning, seeking and making use of constructive feedback;

produce intellectually coherent academic analysis within word limits and time deadlines;

apply requisite referencing and presentation formats in the production of written analyses.

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Class discussion in which analysis and interpretation of texts takes place allows the students to develop a comparative understanding of different approaches to material. It allows for both tutor- and student-led opportunities for the discussion and comprehension of directed reading and secondary source information.

Feedback is provided on formative and assessed work, enhanced by the opportunity for individual consultation with a tutor. On the Creative Writing Minor programme there is also feedback from and to peers in workshop environments.

Analytical literary-critical exercises – both formative and summative – test students’ ability to engage with, contextualise, and interpret texts. The ability to collate and obtain information is developed through introductory training in the use of libraries and online resources.

Extended essays test their ability to order and shape information, and to recognise ways in which the presentation and prioritisation of material is conducive to its rhetorical effect.

At stage 3 dissertation work is individually supervised.

In all modules, students are encouraged to refer to current critical and theoretical debate in order to form their own judgement of the text or data in question. They work towards a number of deadlines for formative and summative work, and for class presentation, thereby learning to prioritise assignments and objectives, and in doing so hone their time management skills.

Methods of Assessment

Progress through the degree is one in which the autonomous learning undertaken by students is gradually increased, from lecture/tutorial based teaching at stages 1 and 2, to student-centred learning, through 2- or 3-hour seminars, at stage 3.

Extended essays and the dissertation test students’ ability to order and shape information, and to recognise ways in which the presentation and prioritisation of material is conducive to its rhetorical effect. In all modules, students are encouraged to refer to current critical and theoretical debate in order to form their own judgement of the text or data in question.

Class discussion, in which analysis and interpretation of texts takes place, allows students to develop a comparative understanding of different approaches to material.

Analytical literary-critical exercises – both formative and summative – test students’ ability to engage with, contextualise, and interpret texts.

The dissertation, examinations and essays require students to demonstrate coverage of material, appropriate methods of analysis, the ability to discriminate between arguments, and the ability to form an independent argument.

Feedback is provided for each type and instance of assessment and students may seek dedicated feedback sessions with course tutors.

The Personal Tutor system facilitates student reflection upon academic performance and assists in developing strategies for improvement.

Learning Outcomes: Knowledge & Understanding

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

analyse critically creative processes, projects and interactions from a range of perspectives;

begin to develop a distinctive voice and perspective through the application of creative writing craft and technique;

begin to tailor their creative writing for practical applications;

display a broad knowledge of a range of periods in literary history, including literature before 1660, and an understanding of the social and political contexts in which texts are both written and read;

have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of particular periods, movements and authors according to individual progression through the degree;

demonstrate knowledge of English, American, Irish and postcolonial writing, and familiarity with debates surrounding the shaping of individual and cultural identity;

understand the rhetorical, stylistic and aesthetic strategies of the different genres of prose fiction, drama and poetry;

display familiarity with a range of theoretical approaches to literature and language, and with the key critical debates that form and inform the disciplines themselves;

exhibit an awareness of major structural levels of linguistic organisation in speech and writing;

demonstrate familiarity with major periods in the development of the English language and of contexts of language production and variation.

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Knowledge and understanding are developed through lectures, tutorials, seminars (many of which will be enhanced by learning aids such as hand-outs, and key readings available online through Queen’s Online) and through the assessment and feedback process.

Lectures and tutorials together provide knowledge and the opportunity to discuss, evaluate and apply that knowledge to texts.

Seminars offer the more sustained opportunity to debate and evaluate a breadth of knowledge gained independently from directed reading and from the sharing of resources and information.

Extensive background reading is required throughout the pathway, developing students’ specialist knowledge of particular genres and periods of literature in addition to a broad base of knowledge about literary history.

Feedback is provided on formative and assessed work, enhanced by the opportunity for individual consultation with a tutor. Students on the Minor Creative Writing programme will also obtain feedback from peers in workshop environments.

Methods of Assessment

A range of assessment methods ensures that these skills are evaluated in different ways.

Formative written work assists the development of understanding, critical judgment, and independent thought, both through the feedback given, and through the process of writing itself.

The dissertation, examinations, essays and seminar presentations and language project work require that students demonstrate coverage of material, appropriate methods of textual and linguistic analysis, the ability to discriminate between arguments, and the ability to form an independent argument.

Creative Writing portfolios and the stage 3 dissertation project in the genre (poetry, prose, or scriptwriting) of the student’s choice.

Learning Outcomes: Subject Specific

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

able to read and respond to the work of other writers with a greater understanding of formal and structural properties;

apply their learning about the craft of writing to their own work;

present their own work in accordance with established norms of presentation of creative writing for a range of purposes and readers;

undertake practice-based research and development; and develop as independent writers and learners;

read texts with a developed awareness and appreciation of their formal, structural and generic properties;

assess critical interpretations of the ways in which different cultural and historical contexts inform the reading and writing of texts;

analyse the forms, function, and development of language;

utilise a critical vocabulary and engage with different critical perspectives in the analysis of texts;

be aware of key debates concerning the development of the discipline of literary criticism;

write coherent, structured and relevant essays in answer to specific questions on literature and language;

select and utilise primary quotation and secondary critical material in the formulation of an argument;

display familiarity with bibliographic convention and should be able to research, reference and present written work according to the requirements of the subject area.

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Knowledge and understanding are developed through lectures, tutorials, seminars (many of which will be enhanced by learning aids such as hand-outs, and key readings available online through Queen’s Online) and through the assessment and feedback process.

Lectures provide specific contextual and theoretical information as well as offering practical examples of different critical approaches.

Tutorials and seminars allow for close reading of texts in a group situation, while developing students’ ability to formulate their own arguments and responses.

Formative work – both written and oral – enables students to combine the knowledge and skills developed through lectures and tutorials, and to formulate, and receive feedback on, their own independent arguments.

Module and programme information and style sheets guide students in their choice of, access to, and citation of relevant secondary materials.

Methods of Assessment

Assessment is by a variety of methods, including timed unseen written examinations, essays, a compulsory dissertation, portfolios, self-reflective commentaries, individual and group presentations, and seminar reports and contributions. While these teaching and assessment methods deliver information to students and test their knowledge of that information in each subject, students are encouraged to assimilate and apply knowledge on their own terms and to become independent, self-reflective learners.

Assessment methods vary in accordance with the specific learning outcomes of particular modules as detailed below or in the Arts, English and Languages Handbook.

All assessment methods, whether the dissertation, essays or oral presentations, aural tests or examinations, require students to demonstrate the English subject skills which are detailed in the Marking Criteria and the English Assessment and Feedback Policy made available in Module Resources.

Learning Outcomes: Transferable Skills

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

manage time efficiently and effectively;

demonstrate basic word-processing and IT skills;

collate and process information from a variety of sources;

use libraries and online resources;

respond positively and productively to feedback on work;

think both creatively and maturely in diverse intellectual situations;

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Class presentations and student interaction hone communication and rhetorical skills. Student centred learning situations encourage and test the ability to present and summarise knowledge to their peers in a coherent, structured form, and inter-personal skills are developed in seminars and tutorials.

In some language modules, students undertake directed lab work in addition to lectures and tutorials, acquiring skills in analysis and in the manipulation of speech and language data.

Methods of Assessment

Writing skills tutorials and lectures develop essay writing on stylistic, rhetorical and bibliographical levels. The ability to source and collate information is developed through introductory training in the use of libraries and online resources. IT courses are available through the university and can be used to develop computing skills as required. All students are required to word-process essays, thus testing their acquisition of IT skills.

In keeping with the Education Strategy’s focus on ‘digital literacies’ module convenors have been asked to factor the acquisition and development of digital literacies in their modules.

display interpersonal skills and the ability to work productively in a group context;

demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills.

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

At all stages there are modules which offer a mix of individual and collaboratively produced presentations.

Erasmus programme and Exchange programmes with international universities.

Methods of Assessment

Individual and group presentations; learning portfolios and coursework projects are embedded in modules across the programme.

For most international exchanges, students enrol on the host institution’s undergraduate programme.

understand the role and use of feedback in assessing and improving performance;

respond constructively to criticism.

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Students receive online feedback on their uploaded assignments and may seek further feedback in one-to-one meetings with tutors.

Engagement with Personal Tutors promotes student reflection upon academic performance. Personal Tutors also discuss career options with students; and the Schools work closely with the Careers Liaison Officer to present students with information on possible careers.

Methods of Assessment

Feedback (on Queen’s Online, on draft materials, or in class) provides students with an ongoing feedback experience throughout their degree.

Each student is allocated a Personal Tutor in stage 1 and meets with him/her throughout the duration of the degree programme.

The stage 3 dissertation is the final result of a year-long drafting process in consultation with an individual supervisor.

Module Information

Stages and Modules

Module Title Module Code Level/ stage Credits

Availability

Duration Pre-requisite

Assessment

S1 S2 Core Option Coursework % Practical % Examination %
English in Transition ENG1001 1 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
English in Context ENG1002 1 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Introduction to English Language ENL1001 1 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Introduction to Creative Writing ENG1090 1 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Adventures in the History of Ideas ENG1008 1 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Reading the Modern City ENG1005 1 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Mapping the Anglo-Saxon World ENG2003 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Foundations for Speech Analysis: The Phonetics of English ENL2001 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 50% 30% 20%
Language and Power ENL2002 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 80% 0% 20%
History of English: Studying Language Change ENL2004 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Shakespeare and Co ENG2050 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Irish Literature ENG2081 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Creative Writing Drama ENG2091 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Creative Writing Poetry ENG2092 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Creative Writing Prose ENG2093 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
An Introduction to Critical and Cultural Theory ENG2000 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Havoc and Rebellion: Writing and Reading Later Medieval England ENG2041 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Inventing America ENG2172 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 80% 20% 0%
Modernism and Modernity ENG2060 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Fiction and the Novel (1660-1820) ENG2061 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Utopia / Dystopia: The Future in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Literature ENG2065 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Romantic Poetry, 1789-1832 ENG2063 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Dickens and the Cult of Celebrity ENG2066 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Radio Drama DRA2014 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Gender, Culture, and Representation – Backwards & in Heels AEL2001 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 60% 40% 0%
Adaptation as Interdisciplinary Practice AEL2002 2 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Women's Writing 1680-1830 ENG3020 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 80% 20% 0%
Shakespeare on Screen ENG3087 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Speech Worlds: Phonology in Acquisition and Disorder ENL3003 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Televising the Victorians ENG3069 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Language in the Media ENL3004 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 70% 10% 20%
Literature and Science in the Nineteenth Century: Evolution, Degeneration, and the Mind ENG3097 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Contemporary US Crime Fiction: the Police, the State, the Globe ENH3008 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Double Dissertation Creative Writing ENH3000 3 40 YES YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Marvels, Monsters and Miracles in Anglo-Saxon England ENG3011 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Contemporary Indian Literature in English ENG3070 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Special Topic in Creative Writing ENH3019 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Special Topic in Irish Writing Creative Resistance in Contemporary Irish Women’s Literature ENH3020 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Renaissance Performance, Gender, Space ENG3181 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
The Structure of English ENL3110 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Representing the Working Class ENG3064 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Further Adventures in Shakespeare ENG3182 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 90% 10% 0%
Contemporary Literature: Poetry and Precariousness in the Twenty-First Century ENG3184 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Irish Gothic ENG3330 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Stevens & Bishop ENG3333 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Writing Africa: The Colonial Past to Colonial Present ENG3185 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Stylistics: Analysing Style in Language ENL3011 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 80% 20% 0%
Work-based Learning AEL3001 3 20 YES YES 24 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%
Restoration to Regency in Contemporary Fiction ENG3090 3 20 YES 12 weeks N YES 100% 0% 0%

Notes

Stage 1 Students at Stage 1 must take the 4 core modules (80 CATS) plus 40 CATS of electives from an approved range of Faculty optional modules across subject areas.

Stage 2 Students at Stage 2 must take at least two of the core modules - ENG2091, ENG2092, ENG2093 plus 60/80 CATS from the optional modules.

Stage 3 Students at Stage 3 must take ENH3000 (40 CATS) plus 80 CATS of optional modules from those listed.