The Value of English and Theatre Studies (ENGL30052)

Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

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Semester 2
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This subject brings together English and Theatre Studies majors for a culminating experience that explores the value of these disciplines and their place within the humanities, while allowing students to explore an independent project of their own devising.  It will demonstrate the specific disciplinary skills and academic rigour that distinguish the study of literature and theatre, with an exploration of methods such as close reading, historicism and performance study. Each week students will engage with the history and future of our disciplines through a range of speakers and critical positions. Students will return to key genres, ideas, and approaches to studying literature and performance in ways that challenge and extend their knowledge and skills and inform their own independent projects. Informed by practical and methodological lectures, they will choose, plan and execute on a project, with guidance from staff, that showcases their investment in their major in original and exciting contexts, whether they be conceptual and research-based or practical and industry-facing. Students will decide on the most appropriate form for communicating their research to their desired audiences (essays, reviews, websites, podcasts, policy, etc.). An end-of-semester conference will offer the opportunity to share the results of the students’ projects and celebrate the completion of the major.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject, students should be able to:

  • Formulate a literary or theatre studies topic suitable for an independent research project, based on an understanding of the main periods and traditions in English and Theatre Studies
  • Demonstrate a familiarity with relevant scholarship
  • Perform critical analysis, using appropriate frameworks, to situate a literary/theatrical work in its intellectual and historical context
  • Communicate their understanding of literature and performance effectively in a format relevant to a specific readership or target audience
  • Locate themselves as participants within a community of scholars and reflect on their relationship to the broader public and professional contexts.

Generic skills

  • Be able to develop and apply research skills and critical methods to a sustained research inquiry
  • Be able to demonstrate critical thinking skills and independence in project management
  • Be able to communicate oral and written arguments and ideas effectively and articulately in a manner appropriate for the target audience/readership.

Last updated: 4 March 2025