Teaching and Learning
Academic Year Structure
The academic year runs from October to June. There are three terms in an academic year at Lancaster University: Michaelmas, Lent and Summer. The term dates for 2019/20 are:
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Welcome Week: 30 September 2019 – 4 October 2018
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Michaelmas Term: 4 October 2019 – 13 December 2019
Lent Term: 10 January 2020 – 20 March 2020
Summer Term:
17 March 2020 – 26 June 2020
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Only new students attend welcome week. It gives them a chance to meet the Department, settle into their accommodation, and learn more about the University.
Lectures
All lectures are delivered by specialists from the Department. They take various forms and focuses. For English Literature they are used to introduce the text for the week and to discuss a range of issues that it raises. For Creative Writing the lectures will introduce students to the ideas of new genres, practical skills and first-hand experience from published writers. Lectures present models and suggestions for ways to approach the texts, genres, themes and ideas.
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ENGL100 English Literature
LEC Biology LT 1
Monday 1-2pm
Tuesday 2-3pm
CREW103 Creative Writing
Elizabeth Livingstone LT
Thursday 1-2pm
Friday 1-2pm
ENGL101 World Literature
Marcus Merriman LT
Tuesday 10-11am
Wednesday 11-12pm
Seminars
Seminars are led by a graduate tutor who will guide you through the course. The seminars offer a space for you to engage in detailed discussion. The effectiveness of seminars depends on your contribution and you will reap rewards from good preparation and interaction.
Each week in English Literature there will be a key literary or filmic text to study, but there will also be additional recommended reading. Some weeks you will have more or less time for extra reading, but you will be expected to follow your own interests and read books and articles beyond the reading lists provided, especially when working on essays.
For Creative Writing your seminars will be more about preparing work to be critiqued and preparing critiques of others' work.
ENGL100 Autonomous Learning Groups (ALG)
ENGL100 has an Autonomous Learning Group element. These consist of small subgroups within your seminar; there are normally 4-6 people in each. They are designed to help you meet people on the course outside of seminars and lectures. They help to focus your learning on subjects and get used to debating and discussing topics with your peers.
Students are expected to meet up or communicate with one another in order to complete the tasks; many of the tasks are preparation for your seminars.
Study Hours
All 40 credit Part I modules have total of 400 learning hours associated with them. These learning hours are made up of contact hours with the Department and study hours. Contact hours are lectures and seminars, as well as office hours with lecturers and tutors.
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Study hours are not the same as contact hours as they are for your own personal study time. This is time for you to complete your reading, creative writing or planning and writing assignments. Students are expected to have around 10 hours per week of study hours for each module they are studying.