Victorian Decadents, Degenerates, Goths and Global Citizens
University of Exeter International Summer School
Key Information
Campus location
Exeter, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
4 weeks
Pace
Full time
Tuition fees
GBP 3,750 *
Application deadline
01 May 2024
Earliest start date
02 Jul 2024
* Programme fees include accommodation, social programme, all academic content and registration, and programme transport for the social programme and any field trips.
Introduction
This module explores a wide range of visual and literary texts, from gothic novels to Pre-Raphaelite paintings, which provide a sense of the extraordinary historical richness of the Victorian era.
In this module, we will study a series of major Victorian texts in detail, including a novel by Charles Dickens; some poetry by Tennyson and Browning; short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson, H G Wells and Mary Braddon; as well as art and architecture. We will place the literature and art in their historical, social, political and cultural contexts. The module is organized around the following significant themes, which galvanized the Victorians, as much as they concern us today:
- the uses of the past
- the condition of England
- the woman question
- commerce and the market
- nationalism, imperialism, and global travel
- urban life and the environment
- science, medicine and the arts
- the body
The sessions will be made up of lectures and seminar discussions, in which students are expected to participate. We will examine literary, visual and non-literary texts with issues of wider social, cultural, and historical context. In seminars we will read texts - whether literary, visual, historical, philosophical, or other - critically and in detail. We will also visit the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) to explore Victorian objects, architecture and art, and to the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum to look at various forms of Victorian visual entertainment.
- Self Catering Accommodation Provided
- 6 Day trip to London
- Social Programme including day trips and evening activities
- Application Deadline 1st May 2024
- £3,750
Curriculum
In this module, we will study a series of major Victorian texts in detail, including a novel by Charles Dickens; some poetry by Tennyson and Browning; short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson, HG Wells and Mary Braddon; as well as art and architecture. We will place the literature and art in their historical, social, political and cultural contexts.
The module is organized around the following significant themes, which galvanized the Victorians, as much as they concern us today:
- the uses of the past,
- the condition of England,
- the woman question,
- commerce and the market,
- nationalism, imperialism, and global travel,
- urban life and the environment,
- science, medicine and the arts,
- the body.
The sessions will be made up of lectures and seminar discussions, in which students are expected to participate. We will examine literary, visual and non-literary texts with issues of wider social, cultural, and historical context. In seminars we will read texts—whether literary, visual, historical, philosophical, or other—critically and in detail. We will also visit the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) to explore Victorian objects, architecture and art, and to the Bill Douglas, Cinema Museum to look at various forms of Victorian visual entertainment.
Gallery
English Language Requirements
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