English Department
Through English language and literature, we interpret history and engage with philosophical ideas and social issues. We learn to appreciate the expressive range of language and literary forms, and we develop critical faculties. English fosters an awareness of the ways that particular institutions and social values are questioned, or given added legitimacy, through linguistic and literary conventions and representations. The close examination of language and literature helps to expose the ways in which ideas of race, gender, and ethnicity are socially constructed. The study of English, therefore, helps to make us more self-reflective about the political and social implications of stereotypes and other linguistic and literary structures.
English graduates will take an analytical view of the culture that surrounds us. They will have gained critical skills in close reading, an ability to analyse a wide range of texts, and the research skills necessary for independent enquiry. They will have become sensitive to the emotive impact of language and to the ways in which the production and reception of literature varies within different social and cultural contexts.
In the 2011 National Student Survey, 90% of students said the course was intellectually stimulating, and that staff are enthusiastic about the courses they teach
Contact Us
Head of Department's Office
Dr Cynthia Hamilton
Associate Professor and Head of English
Tel: 0151 291 3270
Email: hamiltc@hope.ac.uk
Room 075, Alexander Jones Building
Department Office
Mrs Karen Quinn
Academic Administrator - English
Tel: 0151 291 3992
Email: quinnk@hope.ac.uk
Room: 065, Alexander Jones Building
Department Librarian
Ms Fiona Hair
Department Librarian
Tel: 0151 291 2007
Email: hairf@hope.ac.uk
Room: First Floor, Sheppard-Worlock Central Library
You will be taught by academics who are actively engaged in research and have published in their specialist fields. Members of the English department have significant international research publications in specialist areas such as Chaucer, popular literatures, travel writing, and American literature. The Department has links with a range of research networks such as the Collegium for African American Research, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society, the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, the Liverpool Travel Writing Seminar, and the Liverpool Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.
In Language, your tutors are members of linguistics organisations including the British Association for Applied Linguistics and the International Society of World Englishes. The department has hosted events for the British Association of Applied Linguistics Special Interest Group on Language and Gender and for the English Subject Centre. English tutors belong to a thriving research group on popular culture.
Exposure to different cultures is essential in truly understanding language. The English team has international links with institutions abroad including Sun Yat-sen University, China, the Catholic University of South Korea and Ateneo de’Manila in the Philippines. Students studying English at Hope have the opportunity to spend time at institutions in Malta, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Bremen.Students from China, Korea, the United States and Europe come to Hope to study English in the Department. The cultural diversity and interaction generated by these links greatly enhances the programme.
Students will also have the opportunity to participate in the English Society and the Creative Writing Society. The English Society organises social events and peer mentoring. The Creative Writing Society runs poetry evenings and produces the English Literary Magazine, which is published annually. The Magazine provides students with a forum for publishing their creative work. We provide opportunities for field trips to libraries and museums. Student trips have recently been organised to the British Library’s Evolving English exhibition, the Merseyside Maritime Museum, and the Walker Art Gallery.