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 novels by Charlotte Bront%C3%AB and Charles Dickens; 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 also read contextual materials, which 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 pastThe condition of EnglandThe woman questionCommerce and the marketNationalism, imperialism, and global travelUrban life and the environmentScience, medicine and the artsThe bodyThe 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%E2%80"whether literary, visual, historical, philosophical, or other%E2%80"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.Key texts:Corinna Wagner ed., Gothic Evolutions (Broadview, 2014)Charlotte Bront%C3%AB, Villette (Oxford)Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend (Oxford)Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oxford)

Course leader
Dr Corinna Wagner

Target group
Undergraduate students with a GPA of 3.0 or above; postgraduate students with an interest in the subject are also welcome.

Course aim
To explore key Victorian texts, architecture and art in their historical, social, political and cultural contexts in classes, through visits to a number of museums and in the cities of Exeter, Bath and London.

Fee info
GBP 2445: Programme fees include tuition, accommodation, meals and a social programme including a weekend in London, events on campus and day trips to Bath and St Ives.

Scholarships
We offer a number of partial scholarships.

University of Exeter
Address: International Office, Laver Building, North Park Road Exeter
Postal code: EX4 4QE
City: Exeter
Country: United Kingdom
Website: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/international/summerschool/
E-mail: iss@exeter.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1392 722148