Burns course takes a fresh new look at the Bard
Published: 16 September 2016
A fresh approach to the life and works of Robert Burns is the aim of a new interdisciplinary online course offered by the University of Glasgow.
Robert Burns is revered the world over with his prolific work being a source of interest to generations of readers few authors have rivalled.
Famous in his own lifetime, he has achieved a literary celebrity which still endures 220 years after his death.
A fresh approach to his life and works is the aim of a new interdisciplinary online course, offered by the University of Glasgow.
‘Robert Burns Online’ is developed and taught by the Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow, the world’s foremost research grouping on Scotland’s national poet. The course launches online on Monday (September 19) and will run for 10 weeks.
This course has been developed by researchers at the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Robert Burns Studies, who are widely considered to be the world-leaders in this area.
Professor Gerard Carruthers, Co-Director of the Centre for Robert Burns Studies, commenting on the BOLD course, said: “The online course offers a multi-disciplinary look at the life, work, and legacy of the Ayrshire Bard.
“It aims to instruct students in key themes and areas for understanding the poet, including religion, politics, biography, and material culture, and it also introduces students to some of his major poems, songs, letters and prose.”
Dr Ronnie Young, course co-ordinator, said: “Robert Burns Online will build on our extremely successful 3-week ‘MOOC’ course to reveal Burns and his works in a more detailed light, examining the poet in relation to his cultural and social context.
“We look at Burns and Religion; Burns and Politics; The Making of the Bard; Burns' Scottish Tours; Burns as Songwriter; Burns and Bawdry; Burns and his Biographers; and The 'Afterlife' of the Poet.”
The course is suitable for learners from a wide variety of backgrounds, and is aimed to appeal to anyone with an interest in Burns or in Scottish poetry or culture in general, bursary places are also available.
The course is pitched towards Glasgow's 'level 1' - those new to University study or entering Glasgow University for the first time. Learners may either choose to undertake assessments, and qualify for 20 undergraduate credit points, or may just wish to take the course for their own enjoyment. Graduates are equally welcome.
Applicants will be supported in your learning by staff from the Centre for Robert Burns Studies, who will be on hand to answer enquiries and to advise students on learning and assessment.
Each learning block will be taught through a range of online reading, discussions, exercises, and activities and each week students will be introduced to a range of online materials, including video, song recordings, archive material, original publications and manuscripts by Burns himself. Students will also be able to access digital materials from the University of Glasgow’s world famous library collection.
More information contact Jane Chilton, Communications and Public Affairs Office. Tel: 0141 330 3535 / email jane.chilton@glasgow.ac.uk
First published: 16 September 2016
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