EN4350 Women and Authorship in Renaissance England

Academic year

2025 to 2026 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

Not automatically available to General Degree students

Planned timetable

2pm Monday and 2pm Tuesday

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr H A R Archer

Dr H A R Archer
This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Harriet Archer

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

This module examines sixteenth- and seventeenth-century writing by or attributed to English and Scottish women, belonging to a range of secular and devotional genres, in prose and verse, including original compositions and translation. Spanning roughly two hundred years, the texts considered will develop insights into the changing position of women of diverse socio-economic statuses in relation to the evolving category of the author, and the professionalization of print culture. The module will also pay attention to the paratextual framing of authorial voice, influence, patronage and collaboration, to consider the roles women played in early modern cultural production, broadly conceived. The required reading will be set in dialogue with gendered narratives of artistic generation and agency in contemporary Renaissance writing by more canonical figures, as well as printed ephemera, manuscripts and marginalia, and other media.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS EN2003 AND PASS EN2004

Assessment pattern

2 hour Written Examination = 50%, Coursework = 50%

Re-assessment

exam = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1x1-hour lecture (x11 weeks), 1x1-hour tutorial (x11 weeks). 2 office hours (x11 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours

44

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

264

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Demonstrate knowledge about the gendered material conditions of cultural production in early modern England across a variety of literary, political and social contexts
  • Understand how language and genre shape meaning in early modern poetry, prose and drama
  • Demonstrate knowledge of contemporary scholarly debates around Renaissance women's authorship and the range of forms it might take
  • Demonstrate high-level analytical and argumentative skills through close reading and essay-based assessments