Yore Victorians aims to introduce students to the ideologies and aesthetics of the Victorian medieval revival, and to the conception of key terms such as “medieval” and “gothic”. Students will consider how Victorian literature constructs, represents and misrepresents ideas of the medieval past. Students will develop an understanding of the Victorian period through study of national and international writers and designers via the collections and material culture of Liverpool, and in doing so will consider Liverpool’s local and global impact during the nineteenth century. The module further aims to broaden students’ research skills by introducing them to archives, digital resources, and art collections, and to meet the hallmark criteria of Curriculum 2021.

(LO1) Students will have the ability to read, analyse, interpret and compare with competence and independence a wide variety of literary texts.

(LO2) Students will have an advanced knowledge and systematic understanding of the political and ideological aspects of literary texts and how they can be situated within appropriate cultural and social contexts.

(LO3) Students will have an advanced knowledge and systematic understanding of the political and ideological aspects of literary texts and how they can be situated within appropriate cultural and social contexts.

(LO4) Students will have an advanced knowledge and critical awareness of current and new literary, critical and theoretical debates.

(LO5) Students will gain new skills fostering continued independent learning and a critical appreciation of complex issues within the broader context of the Arts and Humanities.

(S1) Students will have a systematic knowledge and critical awareness of current debates and new insights within the field of literature and its contexts

(S2) Students will have advanced critical and analytical skills in relation to diverse forms of discourse

(S3) Students will have advanced literacy, interpersonal and communications skills, and the ability to present sustained and persuasive written and oral arguments to specialist and non-specialist audiences

(S4) Students will have the ability to comprehensively understand and apply a variety of theoretical approaches to literature

(S5) Students will have the ability to handle complex information and argument in a critical, creative and self-reflective manner

(S6) Students will have the ability to use IT and other relevant tools and resources to present written and oral work to a professional, scholarly standard

(S7) Students will have advanced skills and experience in selecting and using electronic and/or archival resources for planning and undertaking research and writing

(S8) Students will gain organisational skills in managing time and workloads, and in meeting deadlines

• Key topics might include: Victorian literary and cultural revivals i.e. medieval, gothic, classical; the influence of major medieval authors on Victorian successors; how medieval myths and ideologies are imagined in Victorian literature e.g. King Arthur and Camelot, courtly love and chivalry.
• Almost all literary texts will be available in print or electronic versions through the library or through the VLE, using the Reading Lists system; specific extra learning resources (maps, pictures, guides) will be made available through the VLE.
• Students will have a set amount of primary required reading for each seminar, and they will be expected to undertake further independent study as appropriate, both in preparation for seminars and for the assessment, which requires students to identify and analyse a medieval object compared with a Victorian object (the object in question might be a text).

Teaching on this module is undertaken through 2 hour seminars which take place fortnightly. Students will be expected to carry out extra preparation for seminars (beyond what is directly specified) and independent research towards their assessments (reading primary and secondary texts as part of independent research; exploration of Liverpool archives, collections and galleries). Attendance at seminars will be recorded in line with SotA policy on attendance.

The majority of teaching will be delivered face to face on campus. Online delivery will be used to complement the on campus delivery and where technology affords a better learning experience.