Course Information

Aims and outcomes

Aims and outcomes

The YorkCourse in English is an interdisciplinary programme specially designed to enable cultural immersion during your time in the UK. 

Upon successful completion of the YorkCourse, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a range of different topics across interdisciplinary English Studies.
• Read diverse texts closely and critically, and interpret them with reference to the period, place, language, and tradition in which they were produced and where they have cultural and political impact. 
• Show sensitivity and perceptiveness concerning aspects of social, cultural, and political realities where language plays an important role and be able to highlight the relevance of literature-, cultural- and linguistics-related issues in a globalized and interconnected world.
• Exercise independent thought and judgement and develop well-structured, evidence-based arguments by interrogating their own assumptions and those of others, through self-reflection, peer review, and advice and feedback. 
• Initiate, manage, and complete original projects of their own, by producing individually formulated essay topics for each of the different disciplines studied and finding suitable materials and literature to complete such projects.
• Demonstrate familiarity with and the use of recognised discipline-based methods of bibliography and citation.
• Engage in critical discussion and debate and demonstrate advanced oral communication skills, developed in small-group seminars and collaborative group projects.
• Write clearly, accurately, and persuasively to a deadline and to a professional standard, conveying complex ideas in an accessible way to expert and lay audiences

In addition to the above, students undertaking postgraduate level study should be able to do the following:

• Show knowledge and understanding of an appropriate area of research-led specialisation, developed in consultation with a supervisor.
• Design and carry out a theoretical and/or empirical study in a specialised area across different disciplines.
• Understand the challenges posed in carrying out a substantial piece of independent research.
• Demonstrate familiarity with and the use of a range of research methods and tools (for example, library and archival catalogues and online databases).
• Demonstrate the ability to present extended and complex arguments in writing.
• Develop the academic, personal and professional skills required to equip them to undertake their MA dissertation in Norway and to afterwards carry on to PhD research or make immediate impact upon employment in a relevant field such as teaching.

Teaching and support

Teaching and support

Teaching on the YorkCourse mirrors the wider approach taken across the University of York. Your tutors will generally deliver teaching via a mixture of lectures, seminars, workshops, and one-to-one tutorials. We place particular emphasis on the importance of small group seminar discussions. Participation in these is obligatory, and you will also be asked to give presentations from time to time (including in an assessed context on “Food, Glorious Food”). Relevant excursions will supplement your classroom learning.

Norwegian Study Centre staff pride themselves on the quality support they offer to students, whether in person or via email. You will be assigned a pastoral supervisor, responsible for providing you with support and guidance on personal matters and any issues relating to the overall course, but your module tutors will also give you sustained guidance in developing your assessed work. This includes feedback on draft material prepared during the semester. Additional academic supervision is also offered to anyone who opts to take a Research Extension Module whilst at York. 

The YorkCourse is a full-time programme of study and thus you will be expected to prepare rigorously for class in order to allow you to play a full part in discussions and activities. This means that you will need to take significant amounts of structured independent study outside of your time in class. Tutors will enable this by providing you with support via module Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), including module reading lists, and by providing you with extra support via email or in office hours as needed. 

Content

YorkCourse Content

All of our modules are available at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Students study three modules per YorkCourse semester, each worth 10 credits. While the modules will adopt different disciplinary approaches, they are all framed as part of the YorkCourse’s interdisciplinary English Studies programme and you do not require prior subject knowledge or specific disciplinary experience. 

For those who wish to specialise in one of the modules, we offer a Research Extension Module (REM) at BA and MA level. This can be taken with any of the below modules, except “Food, Glorious Food”, in either the Autumn or Spring semester. The REM will allow you to study 20 credits in one of these fields, whilst dropping one of the remaining two modules.  The REM is suitable for those who wish to complete their dissertation (oppgave) whilst in York, as well as those who want to conduct independent research or go on to a taught postgraduate (i.e., MA) or postgraduate research (i.e., PhD) programme. If you are staying in York for a full academic year then you will be expected to take an REM in a module of your choice during your time here. 

Year-Round

Food, Glorious Food (co-taught, convened by Dr Benjamin Bland)

Food is both a central area of life and integral for life. It is not just about sustenance, but is also tied to deeply rooted social structures in the form of identity, language, and culture. As a consequence, food provides us with a rich and multifaceted topic area through which we can explore the diversity of social meanings.  

This module provides an interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary analysis of food, borrowing from all the areas of study deployed on the wider YorkCourse. This analysis is intended to provide students with A) an appreciation of the wide breadth of knowledge possible through critically interrogating seemingly small subject areas and B) an intellectual flexibility derived from the module’s emphasis on using different disciplinary lenses to explore a single topic.

You can find more information on the module at BA level and MA level.

Autumn

Stories of Power (Dr Terry Hathaway)

Since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 we have collectively faced a much darker world. In several countries the politico-economic consensus of the last forty years has collapsed and, generally speaking, a drift to authoritarian and xenophobic politics has come in its place. This module helps explain how we got here, and starts to give an idea of the challenges we face in the future.

It does this from the perspective of institutional political economy. In short, institutional political economy is a framework that holds that politics (and the struggle for power inherent in politics) creates law, and law creates the economic system in which individuals act. The economy (or "market") then is not separate to politics and the state, but intimately entwined with both. The shape of the economy too will continually be subject to change, rather than running on universal laws. Thankfully, this position is in contrast to orthodox economics (so there's no need for number-crunching) and instead draws upon literature from political science, sociology, economics, history, and legal studies, among others.

You can find more information on the module at BA level and MA level.

The Twenty-First Century British Novel (Dr Gina Lyle)

We’re now a quarter of the way into the twenty-first century, and critics and theorists are carefully considering how we understand fiction published in this century so far. This course introduces and examines major themes in twenty-first-century British novels, investigating how authors respond to and reflect on what it is to inhabit this cultural era. By discussing a range of key texts across literary genres, students will explore several central preoccupations of contemporary fiction, including climate change, shifting political landscapes, and technological developments. This module will allow students to develop critical literary skills and an appreciation of twenty-first-century fiction through their analysis of key novels and engagement with relevant research and theory. Students will engage with significant debates around contemporary fiction and will investigate what it means to explore the literature of a period while still living in it.

You can find more information on the module at BA level and MA level.

Spring

A History of English: York’s Tale (Dr Beck Sinar)

This module critically explores the nature and causation of language variation and change throughout the history of English, using the sights, sounds and texts of, from and about the modern and historic city of York. This unusual and creative case study will allow us to systematically discover things for ourselves, to create original academic arguments, and to challenge the traditional narratives of the History of English. Throughout the module we will use a truly interdisciplinary approach, drawing on scientific linguistics as well as the traditional humanities and social sciences, which means the module should have broad appeal.

You can find more information on the module at BA level and MA level.

Modern Britain in a Global Context (Dr Benjamin Bland)

Since the Second World War (1939-45), Britain’s position in the world has changed to an extraordinary degree. The small island that was once at the centre of the largest empire in history is now widely considered a bit part player in international affairs, junior to the United States, awkwardly separate from the European Union, and perhaps forever compromised by its history of colonial expansion. Despite (or maybe because of) its apparent decline, Britain is uniquely positioned for explaining many of the unprecedentedly rapid changes that have occurred worldwide since the mid-twentieth century. This module thus uses the dramatic evolution in Britain’s international status to introduce and explore several major themes in contemporary global history, ranging from decolonisation and multiculturalism to climate change and the digital revolution. No previous knowledge of British history is required!

You can find more information on the module at BA level and MA level.

Assessment and grading

Assessment and grading

With the exception of “Food, Glorious Food”, all YorkCourse modules are assessed via written assignments with a maximum of 3500 words for each module at undergraduate/BA level and 4000 words for postgraduate/MA level. Mostly these are essays on a topic of your choice related to the course. If you have chosen to write a dissertation/oppgave via our REM then you will write a dissertation amounting to 7000 words for the relevant module. “Food, Glorious Food” is assessed by way of a 20 minute research presentation.

Grading Systems

All essays, presentations, and dissertations are written in draft form during the semester and you will be given oral and written feedback on draft material before your final submission and/or presentation date. All work will then be double-marked according to the grading systems used at the University of York. For undergraduate/BA students, the grading model can be tabulated like this:

Satisfactory performance in the YorkCourse in English at undergraduate/BA level will give general innpasning to postgraduate/MA studies in Norway, but universities in Norway may have individual entrance requirements depending on programmes.

For postgraduate/MA students, work is given a numerical mark between 1-100, in accordance with the University Mark Scale. No alphabetical marks scale is used. The Scale provides the following Grade Descriptors:

70-100: Distinguished Performance

60-69: Good Performance

50-59: Satisfactory Performance

0-49: Fail

Marking Criteria

On arrival in York, the YorkCourse Coordinator will provide you with a handbook which explains our marking procedures and the criteria by which your work will be marked.

Transcripts and Feedback

After the course is complete, you will be sent an academic transcript and written feedback by the University of York, detailing your grades for each module of the YorkCourse programme. If a failure is registered in one module, credit will still be given for the remaining modules. In the rare event of a failure, the Norwegian Study Centre’s Board of Examiners will decide whether or not a chance is offered to resubmit work for a passing grade.