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ENG32580

Academic Year 2026/2027

Staging Conflict and Human Rights (ENG32580)

Subject:
English
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
English, Drama & Film
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Professor Emilie Pine
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This is a creative and critical module, where we read plays together and use creative and critical strategies to reflect on their meanings. Assessment includes both creative and critical options, and for the final assignment students can choose to write a play OR to do a critical essay.

The plays we study will focus on the risks to human rights and the consequences of conflict, with a particular focus on marginalised voices and gender. We read plays that address very difficult topics, including the impact of civil war on women's bodies through sexual violence, and the genocide in Palestine, but we will also talk about how we find hope for something better.

The teaching on this course is focussed on developing an open and supportive environment for talking about difficult things, and for accessing creative and critical vocabularies and skills to become better readers and thinkers.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of the module, students will:
Be familiar with the sense of a play as both a text and a live, collaborative event.
Have a knowledge of landmark plays and theatre companies of the 20th & 21st Centuries.
Be able to participate in discussion (in class and online).
Be able to access creative strategies for responding to external issues
Be able to write critically about a range of playwrights and texts, and be able to engage critically with a range of concepts of writing, staging and representing war.

Indicative Module Content:

This course will examine how theatre can respond to crisis as well as offering potential for hope. Please be aware that this is a challenging course that includes work on trauma, war, and the violation of human rights. We will also find positive things amidst the dark!

Plays will be situated in their original context and related to the development of modern drama. Each week we will read and discuss an individual play or look at the work of important theatre practitioners.

Plays are all available FREE through the Library and Brightspace resources. The reading list (tbc) may include:
The Suppliant Women by Aeschylus, in a version by David Greig
Tea in a China Cup by Christina Reid
Ruined by Lynn Nottage
Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman
Niqabi Ninja by Sara Sharaawi
Mad Forest by Caryl Churchill

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Seminar (or Webinar)

24
Specified Learning Activities

76
Autonomous Student Learning

100
Total

200

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This is an in-person module. Attendance is essential. Students are expected to read the plays in advance and to contribute to discussion. We aim to have an open and supportive class environment, where your points of view and questions are the most important guide.

I have organised the assessment to ensure that it doesn't build up, and it has a spread of solo work and group work. You can choose and design your own final assignment, either writing a creative play (and critical reflection) or writing a critical essay in response to a set question. I will help you to develop these during the second half of the semester.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Group Work Assignment: Your Group Work is a presentation on one play on the course. You will sign up for your presentation in Week One. The presentation is 5 minutes and full guidelines will be given. Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9 Graded No
15
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): The final assignment for the module is a choice between a 3000-word Critical Essay OR a Creative Project (2000-word play + 1000-word critical introduction) Week 14 Graded No
60
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Your mid-term assignment is a 400-word analysis / close-reading of a short scene from one of the plays on the module. Week 4 Graded No
15
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: Each week, every student will contribute a critical question for the class discussion. Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11 Graded No
10
 No

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

For all continuous-assessment and end-of-trimester assignments posted on Brightspace (writing exercises, essay plans etc) students will receive feedback in the Brightspace comments function. Students can also use my office hours for follow-up discussion.

Name Role
Justine Zapin Lecturer / Co-Lecturer

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Thurs 11:00 - 12:50
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