Reading Groups:

Gothic Reading Group
From Wednesday 28th October (week 4) join Dr Jen Baker (ECLS) and guests for an informal weekly (online) foray into the Gothic. We will discuss a mixture of very short primary representations of terror, horror, and wonder across various forms from antiquity to the present day, and from across the World and non-fiction and critical pieces that aid a wider discussion on the "Gothic" in cultural and society.

All are welcome: students from any level and from any degree subject, and all staff too.

Sessions will be held on Teams in Term Time from 4 - 5pm (not including Reading Week)

To be added as a member of the GRG Team on MS Teams at any time, please email J.Baker.5@warwick.ac.uk, or you can add yourself to the Teams group

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/research/gothicreadinggroup 

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 Feminist Reading Group

Are we feminists, or do we "do" feminism? How can we read, approach, or use feminism in the study of literature? Are critical texts on feminism always right? How has feminist criticism changed over time? These are some of the questions that we will be engaging with during this year's UG Feminist Reading Group.

This feminist reading group is aimed at any undergraduate who is interested in feminism, and is a friendly environment to engage with feminist literature. This is an open, safe, respectful, and inclusive space: all are welcome who wish to join.

Sessions will be held weekly from Term 1 Week 4 Thursdays 3pm - 4pm via Teams.

To sign up please email Roxanne (R.Douglas.2@warwick.ac.uk), or you can add yourself to the Teams group.

Decolonising the Curriculum

This project will start with a group of staff and students meeting once a term in the first instance to explore a topic that is at the heart of the department’s culture.

Decolonising the Curriculum is a movement that started about twenty years ago to ensure that all curricula across all subjects included the writings, knowledges, and practices of underpresented people. The National Union of Students led a campaign in 2015 called ‘Why is my curriculum white?’: https://www.nus.org.uk/en/news/why-is-my-curriculum-white/ that found that the Arts and Humanities in particular urgently needed to consider the authors and texts it taught in schools and universities.

We’d like to meet in a group of staff and students to discuss both the curriculum (what we teach) and pedagogy (how we teach, including the kind of language we use) in relation to the issues raised by Decolonising the Curriculum and Black Lives Matter. If you’d like a taster of the kinds of topics we’ll be discussing, please do read Shaminder Takhar’s article on Universities as allies in confronting racism: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/universities-can-be-allies-in-confronting-racism/ or Tré Ventour’s article on decolonising the poetry curriculum: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/to-decolonise-creative-writing-you-needs-to-embrace-its-activist-history/ If you’d prefer to watch something on the subject, the English Association recorded their recent debate on Establishing a Decolonising Network (of which our department is part) and posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVTNc_9SqPE&feature=youtu.be

There are lots of excellent resources we can draw on to discuss this subject: the above links are only examples. If you’re interested in joining our discussions, please email Prof. Emma Mason on either emma.mason@warwick.ac.uk or EnglishHoD@warwick.ac.uk. You're all very welcome!

Warwick Literature Society Families Scheme

As corona is making it pretty hard for you, as first years, to meet people, the Lit Soc wanted to remind you of this great opportunity. The families scheme basically puts two 2nd/3rd/4th year students (parents) with four first years (children) & it’s an amazing opportunity to make a group of friends for support with academia and general uni life! They also run lots of families events throughout the year such as pub quizzes & dinners (although of course this year all events depend on government guidelines!)

It’s an amazing opportunity to make friends across the English department & meet other literature lovers!

This is the link for the “children” sign up form https://forms.gle/9eUjz6v1Vw86Cq6z7 and they will be sending the full list of families out on the Warwick Literature Society Facebook in Week 5, so you will need to join the facebook group

Any questions, please get in touch with second-year student Tanisha Bhatara, who spoke at induction three in Welcome Week, at Tanisha.Bhatara@warwick.ac.uk