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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nFrom Monday 28 September you\u2019ll be able to access our Induction programme on Canvas – our Virtual Learning Environment. All information and activity will be offered online and we\u2019ll send you full instructions on how to access Canvas the week before term starts. Some activities may include on-campus opportunities, but these will be dependent on physical distancing requirements at the time and will follow Covid-19 safety guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll also receive school-specific induction information in the near future, designed to introduce you to the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics and your degree programme. This will include everything you need to know before starting, including selecting optional modules, accessing your timetable and reading lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Frequently asked questions and COVID-19 <\/strong> Pre-arrival activities<\/strong> General: why we read, and how we frame arguments<\/strong> Thinking about pre-modern race<\/strong> 1. Geraldine Heng’s The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages (2018)<\/em><\/strong> is an important text which questions the common assumption that concepts of race and racism only began in the modern era. For a shorter introduction, you can read this exhibition<\/strong><\/a> by Heng. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. For an excellent demonstration of how two twentieth-century writers (J.R.R. Tolkein and Toni Morrison) approached the issue of race in Beowulf (one of the texts we study in Introduction to Literary Studies 2),read this short article<\/strong><\/a> by Dorothy Kim (2019). Self-aware history<\/strong> These suggestions are intended to make you think about the relevance of studying earlier historical texts and periods today. My colleagues and I would love to hear more from you about what you discover, so please do feel free to get in touch with us through email<\/strong><\/a> or social media, for example on the Twitter<\/a><\/strong> hashtag #NCLReady. Hello Everyone, Congratulations on your offer of a place at Newcastle University! Following the UK government announcement regarding 2020 Exam results on Monday 17 August, we wanted to reassure you that your offer still stands and we are looking forward to welcoming you to the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics in September. If you do want … <\/p>\n
Your Induction<\/strong>
Our flexible and enhanced University Induction programme for new students will provide you with a warm welcome and introduction to Newcastle University and Newcastle University Students\u2019 Union (NUSU). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re regularly updating both our COVID-19 FAQs<\/strong><\/a> and our Student Experience 2020 guide<\/strong><\/a> with all the latest information you need about starting your course as the Covid-19 situation continues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I thought it would be useful here to suggest some more general reading and listening that you can do now in order to get to grips with some of the conversations we\u2019re going to be having throughout your undergraduate degree. You by no means need to look at all of these!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studying literature is not just about encountering new books, it is also about learning how and why we read them. If you have the time, I recommend that you look at Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle\u2019s An Introduction to Literature, Criticism, and Theory (5th edition, 2016) at some point this summer. It is a highly readable guide to literary criticism, with short chapters focusing on themes (e.g. narrative, ghosts, the colony) with concrete examples of how each theme can be applied to a certain text. You can browse a copy on Google Books<\/strong><\/a> (which, by the way, is a useful resource for finding academic books online) or you can try searching for this title as a PDF online, before deciding if you want to buy a copy. There are numerous editions of this book: the more recent have some additional chapters, but most of it is the same whichever edition you use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the main questions that we will be exploring in \u2018Introduction to Literary Studies 2\u2019 is as relevant to the study of literature as to history: how can we meaningfully engage with texts which seem culturally and aesthetically distant from our own context? Part of the way that we practice this is not just by learning about the historical contexts and literary genres of the past, but also by learning how to spot the way literary critics and historians frame their interpretation of a text.
This summer we have seen how important it is for all of us to confront our colonial legacy in Britain and beyond, and there are renewed calls on universities to decolonise their curriculums. The next few resources are ones that I have found helpful in educating myself about how we can examine earlier historical periods through this critical lens:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. For another great introduction to the topic of studying Shakespeare and race, listen to this podcast from the Globe Theatre with Farah Karim Cooper, Ayanna Thompson and No\u00e9mie Ndiaye. In this podcast<\/strong><\/a> they focus on one of the texts we will be studying on ILS2 (Titus Andronicus<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As students of both English and History, you should find Natalie Zemon Davis’ The Return of Martin Guerre (1983)<\/em><\/strong> a great way into thinking about the relationship between literature and history, women\u2019s history, and the fine line between fabrication and trial records. She was the consultant on a film of the same title (released 1982), and her book was written to fill in the uncertainties that were inevitably left out of the film\u2019s more stream-lined narrative. This book provoked a famous discussion between Zemon-Davis and her main detractor, Robert Finlay, about the methods historians use to interpret women\u2019s history. If you do not want to read the full book, this blog post<\/strong><\/a> by Claire Potter (2018) is worth reading as it explains why this book and the discussion around it are so important for students. It includes links to that original exchange between Finlay and Zemon Davis too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the best, and I look forward to welcoming you to Newcastle soon!
Kate De Rycker
Lecturer in Renaissance Literature
School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"