Liberty and Horror (Q3331)

30 credits, Level 5

Autumn teaching

On this module, you’ll explore the commitment to liberation in the 18th and 19th centuries. This included liberation for enslaved people, women, and the middle and working classes, but existed alongside expanding empires and industrialised manufacturing.

Writers and artists imagined transformed worlds and new ways of experiencing the modern age, including the Gothic and horror. The texts were often engaged with:

• political debate
• legal reform
• popular culture
• debates around health, race, class and gender hierarchies.

You’ll study works from Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko, an early fiction documenting the horrors of slavery, to H. G. Wells’s dystopian science fiction novella The Time Machine. You’ll also gain access to rare archival and special collections materials. You'll use these to understand print and visual culture in the period, including illustration.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 53 hours of contact time and about 247 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses:

• American Studies and English (with a study abroad year) BA
• Drama and English BA
• English BA
• English and Art History BA
• English and Film Studies BA
• English and History BA
• English and Media Studies BA
• Philosophy and English BA