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ENG41860

Academic Year 2025/2026

Queer Frictions: Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Literature & Culture (ENG41860)

Subject:
English
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
English, Drama & Film
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Anne Mulhall
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

In this module we will examine the representation of LGBTQ lives, communities and conflicts in contemporary literature, performance, and film, as well as an exploration of queer and trans aesthetic and representational modes. Focusing on key 20th and 21st-century cultural production and cultural politics, we will explore queer, feminist and trans theories and histories as well as fiction, performance, film, auto theory, memoir, autoethnography, media texts, documentary, and other textual and visual forms. We will focus on ‘flashpoints’ in 20th and 21st-century queer and trans politics and aesthetics, situating these in historical and global contexts. Key topics may include: genre, form, aesthetics, and queer/trans literary and cultural production; class, race, gender and the politics of queer representation; queer ecologies; queer world literature; technology, space, gender and the body; normativities and anti-normativity.

This module draws on expertise from across the School of English, Drama and Film, and is suitable for students from a range of the School’s MA programmes. Module lecturers for 2025-26 are Sharae Deckard, Kate Fama, Taylor Follett, Romeo Fraccari, and Anne Mulhall (module coordinator).

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

- Advanced knowledge of key concepts and critical approaches in queer, trans, critical sexuality and gender studies
- Ability to analyse literary, film, performance and other ‘cultural’ texts in terms of their formal, aesthetic aspects as well as in relation to political, historical, legal and media texts and contexts
- Ability to understand, analyse and critically evaluate cultural production and cultural theory in relation to gender and sexuality as well as in relation to other intersecting power structures, such as race, ethnicity, class and migration.
- Ability to understand and challenge current understandings of gender and sexuality by interrogating cultural identities
- Ability to synthesize a range of materials and perspectives in the production of a coherent, well-researched argument
- Ability to produce a cogent, high level piece of academic research/writing


Indicative Module Content:

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

76
Autonomous Student Learning

100
Seminar (or Webinar)

24
Total

200

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module is seminar-based, with a strong emphasis on group discussion and class participation. Approaches in this module may include:

Student-led discussion
Overviews, contexts, approaches etc outlined by lecturer
Discussion forums
Critical writing
Close reading
Group work and peer review

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
Assignment(Including Essay): Essay Plan for Final Essay. You will be asked to submit a 500 word essay plan and proposed essay title before the last week of term and attend a 1-to-1 essay consultation session for advice. Week 11, Week 12 Graded No
10
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Two posts of 200-250 words each for use as discussion springboards in seminars, posted before student's scheduled weeks. Sign up for scheduled weeks in week 1. Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11 Graded No
10
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Final Assignment - essay of 4000 words OR creative project on one or more of the primary course texts. Week 15 Graded No
80
 No

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

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

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Peer review activities
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback will be given in class to discussion posts. Feedback will also be given individually on essay proposals prior to completing the final essay, and post-assessment for the final essay. Feedback may include peer review and self-assessment exercises.

Name Role
Dr Ailise Bulfin Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Treasa De Loughry Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Assoc Professor Sharae Deckard Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Katherine Fama Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Taylor Follett Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Romeo Fraccari Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Paul Halferty Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Assoc Professor Anne Mulhall Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Cormac O'Brien Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Caleb O'Connor Lecturer / Co-Lecturer

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Tues 16:00 - 17:50
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