LSH Magazine Issue 4 (PDF) - University of Lincoln

ProfessorNorman CherryPro Vice ChancellorHead of the College of ArtsWelcome to this latest editionof lsh, the magazine of theLincoln School of Humanities.We are very proud of thework which we do here atthe University of Lincoln andthis publication is one ofthe ways in which we canshare at least some of ourachievements with you.The University of Lincoln is one ofthe most successful and dynamicHigher Education institutions in thecountry right now and the Schoolof Humanities is an important partof its success. One of six Schoolswithin the College of Arts, our strongcommitment to teaching which isinformed by research and scholarshipis a major reason for the popularityof our programmes of study.The School offers programmes atBachelors, Masters and PhD levelin History and English. Our studentsare taught by an experienced anddedicated team of lecturers someof whom were part of the originalgroup of academics which helpedto establish the University. Othershave joined more recently, attractedby our investment in staff and otherresources, drawn here, like ourstudents, by the atmosphere ofinnovation and adventure.History students are invited toexplore a range of periods from themedieval to the modern. English issimilarly broad in its scope, offeringengagement with a diversity of periodsand literary forms. Research in theSchool reflects this rich diversity: ouracademics are highly respected asteachers, but also in their fields ofstudy, contributing books, papers,and broadcasts on the national andinternational stages. In recent yearsthe School has also hosted a numberof major conferences, drawingrespected and well known scholarsto Lincoln from across the world.Our waterfront setting on the RomanHarbour known as Brayford Pool andthe towering presence of the city’smedieval Cathedral make Lincoln aunique place to study and to live.I very much hope that you will enjoyreading lsh and that it will give yousome insight into our varied activitiesand the opportunities which theUniversity provides for its studentsand staff.WHYCHOOSELSH?The Lincoln School of Humanities consists of English and History.These two subjects not only develop vital employment andprofessional skills but have also become an essential way of exploringour humanity – of questioning and debating our idea of who orwhat we are and how our values and attitudes have been formed.CONTENTS4 BA (Hons) English... 5 English Joint Degrees... 6 Conference Scene... 8 BA (Hons) History...9 History Joint Degrees...10 Meet the team... 12 MA Historical Studies...13 MA Medieval Studies...14 MA English Studies... 15 MA 21st Century Literature... 16 MA Creative Writing... 17 Trip to Newstead Abbey...18 Staff Publication... 19 Graduation Ceremonies...Lincoln, though situated in an ancientcity, is a young university. In the yearssince our courses were launched atthe university they have gone fromstrength to strength. We now havenearly 300 undergraduates a yearon our programmes and a strongand enthusiastic group of staff.Our members of staff areunquestionably our greatest asset.We in the Humanities subjects atLincoln have always prided ourselveson our attention, openness andcommitment to our students, andthat is a commitment that will notchange. This is confirmed by ourconsistently high National StudentSurvey results and by recent dramaticadvances up the university leaguetables. We have recently been joinedby new members of staff and planto appoint more in the coming year.Despite being a new university and arelatively small School we also havean increasingly strong research profile.History achieved an excellent resultin the last round of the government’sResearch Assessment Exercise; thissuccess has helped promote theestablishment of a rapidly-expandinggroup of medieval historians, withclose links to Lincoln’s city andmedieval Cathedral. English hashighly research active staff in areasas diverse as Shakespeare andhis contemporaries, environmentalliterature, 21st century fiction, traumatheory, life writing and utopian drama.One of the advantages of being anew university is the ability to adaptand innovate. The undergraduateprogrammes we run are all the resultof innovative thinking about oursubjects and combine academicrigour with an engaging and livelyapproach to contemporary study ofthe humanities. Our postgraduateprogrammes offer radically distinctiveintroductions to scholarship andresearch in our subjects. We havelong established MA programmesin English Studies, Creative Writingand in Historical Studies, and twonew ones in Medieval Studies and21st Century Literature. You canread about these on pages 12-16.All our courses are well knownsubjects that are recognized andrespected by employers. The skillswe develop - writing, communication,analysis, research, organization,group work – are more vital thanever in professional employment.2 3