Course Catalogue

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Lists are foundational genres of human written expression: the first examples of cuneiform writing from 3300 BCE are lists and over 5300 years later, we live surrounded by lists each time we search Google, scroll Instagram, or shop Amazon. But this practical, utilitarian genre of writing is also philosophical and literary: Homer's description of Achilles' shield, Novalis's transcendental idealism, and Whitman's Leaves of Grass are each expressed in lists. This course will examine the list as a multifaceted genre of writing, considering how and why people use lists, what authors want to achieve by listing, and how our list-based media platforms are affecting individual and collective memory, thought and cognition.

1x2hr seminar per week over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus. This is one of the Honours options in English Literature and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Successful completion of Junior Honours in English Literature, 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: 

■ Set exercise: 1500-word description and analysis of textual list (40%) 

■ Final Project: 2500-word design analysis and proposal (60%) 

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

■ There are no alternatives to the assessments, but flexible 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.  

■ Introduce students to a range of list types and situate them in their historical and cultural contexts

■ Prepare students to analyze literary texts in relation to commercial and cultural documents like museum and gallery catalogues, sale catalogues, advertising lists, and inventories

■ Train students to use literary-critical methods to assess archival and digital texts and documents

■ Train students to assess and use secondary sources from multiple disciplines to make arguments about the cultural, social and ideological work of lists

■ Provide opportunities for practice-based learning and enhanced graduate employability through targeted assessments and workshops in Archives and Special Collections and the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery

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

■ Map and compare the function of lists across different areas of culture and different media

■ Critically appraise scholarship from multiple disciplines to extract arguments and assess evidence

■ Apply concepts and methods from different disciplines to analyse textual, visual and digital lists

■ Make connections between historical print and manuscript sources and modern digital platforms

■ Practice and reflect on transferable skills through practice-based learning with archival materials and digital platforms and skill-based formative and summative assessments