Course Catalogue

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This course is co-taught with curators of the Hunterian collections. It introduces students to the world of museums and exhibitions, with particular attention to the crucial role that storytelling plays in collecting, archiving, cataloguing and exhibiting. Through close reading of novels, it then discusses how authors engage with these concepts as they fictionalise museums and collections or create imaginary archives and exhibitions. It involves hands-on sessions at the Hunterian collections. 

10 x 2 hours seminar sessions (taught in conjunction with UG students) + 3 X 2h PG specific session taught by SMLC faculty as scheduled on MyCampus. Additional one-to-one essay consultation slot of 20 minutes per student.

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into one of the SMLC Honours programmes, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation

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The standard assessments for this course are: 

■ Blog entry on an object on the museum (1000 words) - 30% 

■ Essay (3000 words) - 70% 

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available: 

■ There is no alternative to the Blog entry nor to the Essay, but extensions to the deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustment (students should follow the usual process for extensions).

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.  

This course aims to:   

■ Develop students' skills in researching across disciplines, and in linking knowledge gained through hands on sessions to the analysis of literary texts 

■ Explore how practices such as archiving, collecting and exhibiting, both in 'real life' and literary texts, reflect issues of colonialism, gender, historical trauma

■ Hone students' skills in writing different types of texts (e.g. blogs, labels, essays) and diversity writing style in relation to readership

■ Increase students' employability by strengthening their knowledge of cultural institutions, writing in different genres and ability to work across disciplines 

By the end of this course, students will be able to: 

■ Develop original interdisciplinary research based on inquiry in the Hunterian archive and research on literary texts  

■ Formulate evaluations of the ideological and sociological implications of storytelling in archiving, collecting and exhibiting and of how these issues are reflected in literary texts

■ Adapt their writing style to different genres (labels, blogs, essay) and communicate their findings in a form suitable to the target audience 

■ Identify and analyse questions of gender, colonialism, trauma in museum practices and literary texts