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BA English Literature

BA English Literature

Undergraduate (Level 8 NFQ , Credits 240 )

Are you an enthusiastic reader and writer who wants to immerse yourself in literature ranging from Old English to new writing being published today? Do you want to explore the radical potential of novels, plays and poems to change lives? Would you like to analyse literary concepts and forms deeply, to creatively connect ideas across a wide range of cultures, periods, genres and media, and to develop your critical thinking and analytical skills to an advanced level? Would you like to study with world-class researchers and teachers, and develop your own unique research project? If so, the BA Humanities in English is for you.


For more information regarding this course, please click School of English, Drama and Film

How do I apply?


For EU students, please apply via MyUCD. The following entry route(s) are available:
Description ENTRY Duration Application Opening Date APPURL
BA English Literature(ENS5) Entry in
Sep 2024
Full Time - 4 Year(s) Apply From -
Oct 2023
Apply

You will study texts ranging from the Old English, medieval and early modern periods to the nineteenth and through to the twenty-first century – writing which extends across national boundaries and regions, from British to Irish to American to World Literature, and covering multiple genres. You will explore literary production, value and impact – how fiction, poetry and drama are inspired, shaped, released and received in particular historical and cultural contexts – learning how the meanings of literary texts change and renew across time and space.

First Year

Modules include:

  • Reading World Literature
  • Literature & Crisis
  • Contemporary Irish Writing
  • Literary Genre
  • How to Read Poetry
  • Writing the Body
  • Comics & Fantasy
  • Literature and the Marketplace.

Second Year

You will take an interdisciplinary core module based in UCD Special Collections archives and choose from other modules including:

  • Critical Theory
  • Reading Medieval Literature
  • Reading Old English
  • Spenser in Ireland
  • Irish Literature in English
  • Modern American Literature
  • Renaissance Literature
  • Romanticism
  • Victorian to Modern Literature
  • Twentieth-Century Drama.

For detailed information on subject content click here.

Third Year

You will choose from a range of options that will enable you to broaden your horizons and enrich your academic experience:

  • Apply for a competitive internship in an area that interests you and/or relates to your area of study.
  • Study abroad for a trimester/year to develop your language skills and immerse yourself in a new culture.
  • Deepen your knowledge by studying a dedicated range of English Literature modules in different literary fields, including: Literature & Science, Architecture & Narrative, Yeats & the Arts, Theatres of Change, Global Science Fiction, Masculinities & Manhood, Contemporary Irish Women’s Poetry, Global Eco-Literature, Making Shakespeare, and others.

Fourth Year

Modules include:

Modules include: Dissertation, World Literature in English, Advanced Medieval Literature, Plus specialised option modules on: Austen, Shakespeare, Joyce, McDonagh, Heaney, Chaucer, Synge, McPherson, Talking Animals, the Crime Novel, Post-War US Theatre, Canadian Fiction, and many others.

You may be interested in the following Blog posts: Here from a final year student studying English Literature. 

Click below to for all course modules:

BA English LiteratureENS5