The aim of this module is to provide a general knowledge of the breadth and diversity of censorship on both a local and global scale, across a range of disciplines, time periods, and cultures. Learners will use this knowledge to engage in debates exploring the controversy surrounding censorship, and how this has continued to grow in intensity. The module will inspire discussions on why literature is banned or censored. Is censorship ever justified or realisable? Does censorship inhibit and impose a dictatorship? Who defines the moral values that govern society? How do standards of morality and immorality, obscenity and non-obscenity, differ widely from culture to culture? Can a system of censorship be established which will protect the moral values of a community without infringing upon freedom of expression? Can we ever obtain freedom of expression? Learners will use these discussions to facilitate their analysis and understanding of the reading.

Roxanne Ellen Bibizadeh is a Doctoral Researcher in the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at The University of Warwick. Her research focuses on representations of Islam and “Race” in Anglo-Iranian and Anglo-Arab Diasporic Literature. She was a winner in The Warwick Awards for Teaching Excellence for Postgraduate Research Students in 2013-14.

For more information on her research or teaching, please visit her websites: www.warwick.ac.uk/rebibizadeh or www.roxannebibizadeh.com.