BRIT 220 offers students an historical perspective on the emergence of modern Britain. The central theme of the course is the development of a sense of national identity within the British Isles and the problems associated with a British national identity. Students are encouraged to reflect on the issues and stereotypes that emerge out of competing national identities and contested borders in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.  UE Outcome 3.

This course introduces students to a range of literary perspectives in relation to the development of modern Britain. The central theme of the course is the development of a sense of national identity within the British Isles and the ways in which literature has both shaped and questioned British identity. We will consider how national identity intersects with other key themes including gender, race, class and belonging. Moving broadly chronologically, the course will examine a variety of literary styles and genres (including plays, poetry, novels and slave narratives) to explore how different writers responded to a changing Britain and sense of what it means to be British. We will look at a selection of literary works including some classic British literature alongside texts and voices previously marginalised or left out of the canon. These include writers such as William Shakespeare, Aphra Behn, William   Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth, Mary Shelley, Virginia Woolf and Benjamin Zephaniah. How have these different writers articulated what it means to be British? How were these works shaped by, and how did they respond to, the changing historical, political and cultural contexts in which they were written? UE Outcome 2.