All Courses

In this course, we explore several aspects of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, thinking in particular about the play in performance. In the first module, we think about how Shakespeare manipulates, fuses, and pays with genre, before moving on to...

In this course Dr Allison Adler Kroll (PhD student, University of Oxford) explores Ian McEwan's 2001 novel, Atonement. The course begins with a discussion of the book's title – what is atonement? what is atoned for? – before moving on...

In this course, Professor Stephen Morton (University of Southampton) discusses Chinua Achebe's 1958 novel Things Fall Apart. The course begins by introducing the author himself and the publication on the novel, before moving on in the second...

In this course, Professor Robert Hampson (Royal Holloway, London) explores Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. We begin by providing some of the historical context of the novel, focusing both on Conrad's own experiences as a seaman, as well as on...

In this course, Professor John Cottingham (University of Reading) explores of the key issues in the philosophy of religion: the problem of evil. We begin by thinking about the attributes of god and the logical problem of evil. Is it...

In this course, Dr Rosie Wyles (University of Kent) explores Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus. In the first module, we think about where Sophocles chooses to start the story and how it proceeds, compared to other versions of the myth. After that,...

In this course, Professor Keith Hanley (University of Lancaster) explores the poetry of the great Romantic poet, William Wordsworth. In the first module, we think about Romanticism, the Romantic movement, and some of the leading themes of that...

In this course, Dr Martin Wiggins (The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham) explores Shakespeare's Coriolanus. We begin by thinking about the political circumstances in which the action of the play takes place, focusing in particular...

This course provides a comprehensive history of British India. After an introduction to the geography, climate, and people of the Indian subcontinent, we explore how a private company, the East India Company, came to administer a whole country. A...

In this course, Dr Dominic Davies (University of Oxford) explores Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel, Persepolis. We begin by thinking about what Persepolis is and what it's about, focusing in particular on the historical events that form the...

In this course, Professor Sir Drummond Bone (University of Oxford) discusses the life and poetry of Lord Byron. After a brief introduction to the man himself—once famously described as “mad, bad, and dangerous to know”—we then provide a brief...

In this course, Professor Marie Mulvey-Roberts (University of the West of England) explores Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber. We begin by providing an introduction to Carter herself, focusing in particular on the range of her literary output and...