ENGM5175 - Dissent I

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a representative selection of writings expressing religious dissent from one or more historical periods
2 Analyse with rigour and sensitivity the expressive strategies used in dissenting texts, drawing upon appropriate critical methodologies
3 Critically evaluate and discuss the idea of opposition to orthodoxy
4 Engage with relevant recent scholarship and debate in relation to the selected writings

Content:

Students will study the literature of religious dissent from two periods of intense debate in England: the late fourteenth / early fifteenth century and the seventeenth century. The first half of the course will address reformism and Lollardy in the later Middle Ages, and will consider issues including: use of the vernacular; lay literacy; anticlericalism;
iconography and iconoclasm; and audience. The second half of the course will address Puritanism at the time of the Reformation, through discussion of spiritual autobiography and allegory.

Learning and Teaching Information:

Seminars will make use of a number of learning and teaching methods including: short presentations by tutor; exercises in groups; informal presentations by students; plenary discussions.

6 x 2-hour seminars
Contact hours: 12
Number of Groups: 1

Individual tutorial
Contact hours: 20 minutes

Assessment: