Faculty of Arts
English

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Faculty of Arts

1. Time commitment to study
2. Prerequisites
3. Diploma in Arts (English)
4. Requirements for a major in English literary studies
5. Honours entry
6. Honours requirements
    6.1. Pure honours
    6.2. Combined honours
7. Further study
8. Career opportunities
9. For more information
Subject Lists
    First-year subjects
    Second/third-year subjects
    Third/fourth-year subject
    Fourth-year subjects
    Publishing and communications subjects

The Department of English was inaugurated in 1854 as one of the first departments in Australia to offer studies in English literature. The department is recognised nationally and internationally as one of the most exciting and progressive departments of its kind. Academic staff maintain a strong commitment to scholarly values and actively encourage and support students in their passion for literature and writing. Staff are dedicated to fostering learning experiences students will remember their whole lives. In recent decades the department has been at the forefront of disciplinary innovation and current theoretical approaches to critical literary studies. Whether undertaking a major in English literary studies or in the popular creative writing program, students of English have an excellent and flexible preparation for careers in the media and publishing, advertising, education and professional writing. Students who are interested in expanding their interests and knowledge in English are provided with an articulated structure of higher degree study options at the University of Melbourne.

English is the study of literary texts written in the English language from the medieval to the modern era. Traditional ways of thinking, writing and talking about texts have been transformed in recent decades by heightened awareness of the assumptions underlying literary criticism. English subjects may be oriented towards the texts themselves, the historical and cultural contexts in which such texts are produced, or the theoretical issues involved in reading texts. A number of subjects approach the task of criticism from methodologies which originate in Marxist, feminist, postcolonial, historicist or psychoanalytic thought.

1. Time commitment to study

As well as scheduled contact hours for lectures, tutorial and seminars a considerable additional time committment is needed to complete the academic requirements of each subect.

A subject-specific time commitment to study will be provided by your lecturer or tutor at the beginning of semester to help you schedule your workload and successfully manage your time during the semester. In addition, general estimates of the total time commitment required to study a 12.5-point single semester subject in the Faculty of Arts can be found on Time commitment to study.

2. Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for first-year subjects in English.

The prerequisite for a second/third-year subject in English is usually the completion of two first-year subjects in English (25 points). Students who have completed suitable alternative first-year subjects are advised to consult with the department for permission to enrol. Exemptions may also be granted where subjects are taken as part of an approved interdepartmental program with its own entry requirements.

3. Diploma in Arts (English)

The Diploma in Arts (English) is only available to students who are currently enrolled in a degree course at the University of Melbourne. It consists of a three-year sequence of study, and adds one year to the duration of your degree.

Students must complete 25 points of first-year subjects in English and 75 points of second/third-year subjects selected from the list of English literary studies subjects below. Alternatively, students who have completed appropriate background studies at first year may complete 100 points of second/third-year subjects from the list of English literary studies subject below.

4. Requirements for a major in English literary studies

A major in English literary studies usually consists of nine 12.5-point subjects, totalling 112.5 points. It comprises:

two first-year subjects in English (25 points); and
seven second/third-year subjects in English (87.5 points). At least four of these subjects must be taken from the following list of English literary studies subjects. The remainder can consist of any second/third-year subjects offered in the English Department.

Subjects for the major

First year subjects		Semester
	106-101 Contemporary Culture and Media	1
	106-102 Modern Literature	1
	106-106 Contemporary Culture and Everyday Life	2
	106-109 Shakespeare's Theatre	1
	106-110 Contemporary Global Literature	2
	106-120 Literature, Culture, History	2
	106-186 Creative Writing 1: Autofictions	2

Second/third year English literary studies subjects
	106-013 Beowulf	Not Offered
	106-015 Backgrounds to English Literature	Not Offered
	106-019 Blake	2
	106-024 Introduction to Old English A: Prose	1
	106-029 Introduction to Old English B: Poetry	2
	106-032 Novel and Film	2
	106-033 Writing After Empire	2
	106-034 Imagining the City: Dream, Fact, Style	1
	106-035 Popular Fiction	2
	106-036 Postmodernism	2
	106-037 Shakespearean Worlds	1
	106-038 Medievalism in Contemporary Culture	Not Offered
	106-039 Literary Classics	2
	106-043 The Victorian 'Supernatural'	2
	106-045 Aboriginal Writing	1
	106-046 Australia and the Colonial Imaginary	Not Offered
	106-047 Art/Pornography/Blasphemy/Propaganda	Not Offered
	106-048 Travel Writing: Zones of the Imagination	2
	106-049 American Liberals and Moderns	1
	106-050 Australian Authorship	2
	106-052 Gothic Fictions	1
	106-053 Chaucer and the Canon	1
	106-056 Character and the Novel	2
	106-058 Scandal, Sex and Sentiment	2
	106-060 Decadence	1
	106-061 American Voices	Not Offered
	106-077 Poetry in the Making	1
	106-210 Elizabethan Texts	1
	106-211 Restoration Writing	2
	106-213 Art, Ideology and Doctrine, 400-1000	Not Offered
	106-214 The Enlightenment and its Others	1
	106-215 Imperial Fiction	Not Offered
	106-216 Victorian Crime Writing	1
	107-221 The Epics of Homer	2
	107-231 Greek and Roman Theatre	Not Offered

5. Honours entry

The prerequisites for entry to fourth year honours in English literary studies are:

completion of all the requirements for the BA;
completion of a major in English literary studies;
an average grade of H2B or higher over the second/third-year subjects within the major.

For information on how to apply see Applying for Honours. If the student intends enrolling in an English honours thesis the application must include a 200-word thesis proposal. Students admitted to the honours program will be interviewed by the honours coordinator to discuss the thesis proposal and appointment of a supervisor.

6. Honours requirements

Honours coordinator: to be advised

6.1. Pure honours

Students undertaking pure honours in English literary studies must complete:

106-509 English Thesis (37.5 points); and
five honours subjects in English (62.5 points) including 106-401 Research Principles and Practices (12.5 points).

6.2. Combined honours

Students undertaking combined honours in English literary studies and another area of study must complete:

106-509 English Thesis (37.5 points); and
two honours subjects in English (totalling 25 points), including 106-401 Research Principles and Practices (12.5 points).
three honours subjects in the combined area of study (37.5 points).

honours thesis in the combined area of study (37.5 points); and
two honours subjects in the combined area of study (25 points); and
three honours subjects in English (37.5 points), excluding106-401 Research Principles and Practices.

Honours subjects

	106-401 Research Principles and Practices	1, repeat 2
	106-402 Cultural Policy and Power	1
	106-403 Reading the Subject: Freud/Fiction/Lacan	2
	106-404 Memory and Contemporary Culture	2
	106-405 The Exeter Anthology	Not Offered
	106-406 Contested Sites	Not Offered
	106-407 Pope and His Enemies	Not Offered
	106-408 The Novel & the Invention of the Modern	Not Offered
	106-409 Stardom, Media, Culture	1
	106-411 Contemporary Historical Fictions	2
	106-412 Modernism, Fascism, Communism	Not Offered
	106-413 Reading Suburbia in Post-War Australia	Not Offered
	106-414 Medieval Representations	1
	106-415 Material Texts	Not Offered
	106-421 Advanced Theatre/Performance Writing	Not Offered
	106-422 Poetry: The Versatile Imagination	2
	106-423 Romanticism and Modernity	2
	106-426 Post-War American Fiction	Not Offered
	106-427 Writing: Before and Beyond the Image	1
	106-428 Media, Politics and Cultural Diaspora	Not Offered
	106-430 Subcultural Studies	Not Offered
	106-431 Bohemia and the Nineteenth Century Novel	1
	106-432 Cultural Studies in Asia	2
	106-433 Genre Interventions	1
	106-434 Revolution, Reform & the Victorian Novel	1
	106-436 Queer Theory Ten Years On	Not Offered
	106-443 Body Cultures	Not Offered
	106-444 Global Culture: History and Theory	Not Offered
	106-448 Theorising the Spectator	Not Offered
	106-455 Urban Entertainments 1700-1800	Not Offered
	106-456 Colonial/Postcolonial Visual Cultures	Not Offered
	106-459 Postcolonial Writing and Theory	2
	106-467 Latin Paleography and Codicology	Not Offered
	106-472 Writing Genealogies of Place	Not Offered

7. Further study

The Department of English offers a number of graduate diplomas and degrees at different levels in a wide range of literary studies subjects: Graduate Certificate in Arts (English Literary Studies); Graduate Diploma in Arts (English Literary Studies); Postgraduate Certificate in Arts (English); Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (English); Postgraduate Certificate in Arts (Editing and Communications); Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Editing and Communications); an MA and the PhD. There is also the Master of Arts (Editing and Communications) and Master of Arts (Publishing and Editing). Details of these courses are available in the Faculty of Arts Postgraduate Handbook and from the Department of English.

8. Career opportunities

A degree with a major in English literary studies is an excellent and flexible preparation for careers in journalism and the media, public service, publishing, education, librarianship, information management, and many other roles, public and private, in the communications and service industries.

9. For more information

The Department of English
Second Floor, John Medley Building
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Tel: +61 3 8344 5506/7/8
Web: http://www.english.unimelb.edu.au

First-year subjects

106-101 Contemporary Culture and Media
106-102 Modern Literature
106-106 Contemporary Culture and Everyday Life
106-109 Shakespeare's Theatre
106-110 Contemporary Global Literature
106-120 Literature, Culture, History
106-186 Creative Writing 1: Autofictions

Second/third-year subjects

106-003 Media and Cultural Difference
106-009 Media Histories and Cultural Studies
106-012 Television Cultures
106-013 Beowulf
106-014 Hong Kong Cinema
106-015 Backgrounds to English Literature
106-019 Blake
106-020 Reading Sexuality
106-022 City Cultures: Urban Stories
106-024 Introduction to Old English A: Prose
106-025 Creative Writing 2: Across the Genres
106-026 Writing Extended Fiction
106-027 Writing Scripts
106-028 Writing Poetry
106-029 Introduction to Old English B: Poetry
106-032 Novel and Film
106-033 Writing After Empire
106-034 Imagining the City: Dream, Fact, Style
106-035 Popular Fiction
106-036 Postmodernism
106-037 Shakespearean Worlds
106-038 Medievalism in Contemporary Culture
106-039 Literary Classics
106-043 The Victorian 'Supernatural'
106-045 Aboriginal Writing
106-046 Australia and the Colonial Imaginary
106-047 Art/Pornography/Blasphemy/Propaganda
106-048 Travel Writing: Zones of the Imagination
106-049 American Liberals and Moderns
106-050 Australian Authorship
106-052 Gothic Fictions
106-053 Chaucer and the Canon
106-055 Cybercultures
106-056 Character and the Novel
106-057 From Rock to Rave: Cultural Formations
106-058 Scandal, Sex and Sentiment
106-060 Decadence
106-061 American Voices
106-062 Writing Literary Non-Fiction
106-063 Aboriginal Cultural Studies
106-064 Contemporary Cultural Studies
106-068 Imagining Hollywood
106-077 Poetry in the Making
106-091 Writing for Performance
106-203 Sports, Entertainment and the Media
106-210 Elizabethan Texts
106-211 Restoration Writing
106-212 Principles of Editing and Publishing
106-213 Art, Ideology and Doctrine, 400-1000
106-214 The Enlightenment and its Others
106-215 Imperial Fiction
106-216 Victorian Crime Writing
107-221 The Epics of Homer
107-231 Greek and Roman Theatre

Third/fourth-year subject

106-467 Latin Paleography and Codicology

Fourth-year subjects

106-509 English Thesis
106-401 Research Principles and Practices
106-402 Cultural Policy and Power
106-403 Reading the Subject: Freud/Fiction/Lacan
106-404 Memory and Contemporary Culture
106-405 The Exeter Anthology
106-406 Contested Sites
106-407 Pope and His Enemies
106-408 The Novel & the Invention of the Modern
106-409 Stardom, Media, Culture
106-411 Contemporary Historical Fictions
106-412 Modernism, Fascism, Communism
106-413 Reading Suburbia in Post-War Australia
106-414 Medieval Representations
106-415 Material Texts
106-421 Advanced Theatre/Performance Writing
106-422 Poetry: The Versatile Imagination
106-423 Romanticism and Modernity
106-426 Post-War American Fiction
106-427 Writing: Before and Beyond the Image
106-428 Media, Politics and Cultural Diaspora
106-430 Subcultural Studies
106-431 Bohemia and the Nineteenth Century Novel
106-432 Cultural Studies in Asia
106-433 Genre Interventions
106-434 Revolution, Reform & the Victorian Novel
106-436 Queer Theory Ten Years On
106-443 Body Cultures
106-444 Global Culture: History and Theory
106-448 Theorising the Spectator
106-455 Urban Entertainments 1700-1800
106-456 Colonial/Postcolonial Visual Cultures
106-459 Postcolonial Writing and Theory
106-472 Writing Genealogies of Place

Publishing and communications subjects

106-471 Structural Editing
106-473 Editorial English
106-474 The Contemporary Publishing Industry
106-475 Business and Professional Communications
106-476 Technical Writing and Editing
106-477 Writing and Editing for the Internet