Explore UCD

UCD Home >

ENG42160

Academic Year 2026/2027

Material Girls (ENG42160)

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

Curricular information is subject to change.

‘Material Girls: Crafty Women across Literary History’ explores the material histories of women’s artistic labour in literary texts. Engaging with crafts history, thing theory, and new materialisms, students will study literary representations and the subversive potential of women’s crafts such as letter writing; needlework; textile arts; painting; the printed page; the Black garden and quilt; and scientific collecting. As a transhistorical and transatlantic module, students will study various forms and genres that may include: the eighteenth-century epistolary novel, nineteenth-century realism, modernist short stories, and contemporary neo-Victorian texts. Authors studied could include Jane Austen, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, Virginia Woolf, Jamaica Kincaid, Kabe Wilson, and Sarah Perry.

*Materials Note
Although a part of the materials costs are defrayed, we charge enrolled students a materials fee of 15 euro, to be paid at the start of term. This fee pays for shared art supplies (paper, paint, print equipment, embroidery silk, seeds). We reduce costs as much as possible by reusing materials annually.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this module, students will have developed:

- A critical reassessment of women’s artistic labour and production in literary texts
- A familiarity with a range of literary genres and forms from the eighteenth century onwards
- An ability to apply a range of critical and theoretical perspectives including crafts history, thing theory, and new materialisms
- An understanding of the relationships between material history and literary form
- An ability to research and write critically about a focal text, genre, and period from those covered in the course

Indicative Module Content:

Themes and subjects potentially covered in this module include: letter writing; needlework; textile arts; painting; the printed page; the Black garden and quilt; and scientific collecting. Texts studied may include: Lady Susan; Cranford; To the Lighthouse; the Essex Serpent; An Encyclopedia of Gardening; Of One Woman, or So

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
Specified Learning Activities

80
Autonomous Student Learning

100
Seminar (or Webinar)

20
Total

200

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module has a strong focus on class participation and creative engagement with material histories of women's labour.
Approaches to learning may include:
Group discussions
In-class making/crafting in response to texts
Peer and group work
Critical writing
Close reading
Reflective learning

*AI is not allowed in this module.
*Modules are moderated internally and by an extern

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 Component repeat (in-module) Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): Final Essay, Deadline set by Exams Officer Week 12, Week 14, Week 15 Graded No
50
 No
Individual Project: Midterm Assessment: Creative-Critical close-reading and small crafted design making Week 6 Graded No
30
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: Class participation and engagement Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10 Graded No
10
 No
Quizzes/Short Exercises: Essay Plan Week 9 Standard conversion grade scale 40% 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
Yes
 

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, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Assigned Texts for Purchase/ Long-term Borrowing

Jane Austen, Lady Susan (1794)

Elizabeth Gaskell. Cranford (1853)

Virginia Woolf, To The Lighthouse (1927)

Jamaica Kincaid & Kara Walker, An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children (2024)

Sarah Perry, The Essex Serpent (2016)

Name Role
Dr Katherine Fama 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) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 Thurs 10:00 - 11:50
Autumn Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 9 Thurs 10:00 - 11:50
Print this page
Fill in the following details:
Enter the body of your query here.

From time to time UCD would like to send you further information that we feel, based on your enquiry, would be of interest to you.