School of English
Module manager: Dr Richard De Ritter
Email: r.deritter@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Though Jane Austen is no longer thought of as a writer who was indifferent to the political concerns of her time, it can be easy for modern readers to miss the ways in which her novels engaged with urgent contemporary debates. This module provides the opportunity to study Austen in terms of those debates. By reading her work alongside other contemporary writings, we will explore the cultural and political meanings of Austen’s fiction.
This module aims to provide you with an understanding of Jane Austen’s fiction and its cultural and critical contexts. Through lectures, seminar discussions, and written feedback on formative work, this module will enable you to read Austen’s work informed by relevant contexts.
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1. Analyse Austen’s writing in a detailed and critically aware manner;
2. Understand relevant historical, political and social contexts and reflect critically on their relationship with Austen’s writing;
3. Evaluate a range of different critical and scholarly approaches to the work of Austen.
Skills Learning Outcomes
4. Conduct independent research, gathering information from a range of sources, engaging in good academic practice in referencing their sources.
5. Produce independent arguments demonstrating advanced proficiency in critical thinking and writing skills.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Film Screenings | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| seminars | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Lecture | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Private study hours | 180 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Students will receive feedback through: dialogue within their weekly small-group seminars; one-to-one meetings in the module leader’s weekly support hours; individual written feedback on the mid-semester formative submission; opportunities to meet with departmental Writing Mentors.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Summative essay | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
In addition to the assessed essay, students are asked to submit a formative mid-semester essay. Students will receive written feedback and invited to seek verbal feedback on this work, which can then be developed into the final assessed essay.
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 30/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team