Course Details in 2026/27 Session

Module Title	LH Single Author: Virginia Woolf
School	Eng, Drama, & Creative Studies
Department	English Literature
Module Code	09 37163
Module Lead	Chris Mourant
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-10 hours Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-170 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	This module explores the work of one of the most iconic and important writers of the early twentieth century, Virginia Woolf. The module will address Woolf’s works chronologically in order to explore the complex development of her writing across the span of her career. Reading all nine of Woolf’s novels alongside selected short stories, essays and forms of auto/biography, we will consider the full range of literary genres Woolf adopted and adapted as a writer. Paying close attention to Woolf’s formal and stylistic innovations, the module will also consider the various political, historical and social contexts that influenced her writing, and you will become familiar with the kinds of conceptual and theoretical questions that Woolf’s work has provoked in subsequent criticism. Discussion will cover topics as diverse as war and violence, pacifism, the visual arts, gender and sexuality, the city and everyday life, race and empire, science and nature, class and social inequality. Across the course of this module, students will gain a broad yet intimate knowledge of Woolf’s writing, as well as a developed understanding of the place this work occupies within wider cultural and critical debates.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the fiction, essays and other critical writings of Virginia Woolf; Analyse and evaluate the works of Virginia Woolf in relation to modernist form, genre and style; Analyse and evaluate the works of Virginia Woolf in relation to the cultural and historical contexts of the early 20th Century; Demonstrate an understanding of the critical reception of the works of Virginia Woolf in the 20th and 21st Century.
Assessment	37163-01 : 4,000 Word Essay : Coursework (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 4000-word essay (100%). Reassessment: No resits are permitted in final year. If students miss the assessed task owing to extenuating circumstances, the failed task would be rescheduled at a later date.
Other
Reading List