Faculty of English Language and Literature

The Faculty of English Language and Literature is by far the largest English Department in the UK, with over 75 permanent postholders, a further 70 Faculty members, 900 undergraduates and 300 postgraduates. The Faculty has a very distinguished research and teaching record, covering all periods of English Literature. Oxford’s English Faculty is one of the most illustrious Schools of English in the world. Established in 1894, it has numbered among its members some of the most important critics and scholars in the field, including J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Edmund Blunden, Nevill Coghill, Helen Gardner, Richard Ellmann, Terry Eagleton, and many others. We are now home to nearly eighty Professors, Readers, and Lecturers, with about the same number again of Tutors and Research Fellows based in Colleges. At any one time, there are roughly a thousand students studying within the Faculty at undergraduate level, and another three hundred at graduate level in the largest English graduate school in the country. Traditionally teaching and research in the Faculty has covered the entire history of literature in English from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present day, along with language studies. More recent growth areas include world literature and film studies.

All episodes

Title	Description	People	Date
Hand-press printing	A demonstration of and discussion about hand-press printing with the Bodleian's Dr Paul Nash.	Paul Nash, Adam Smyth	25 September, 2014
Edmund Blunden	Margi Blunden, daughter of Edmund Blunden, talks about her father and his work.	Margi Blunden	23 September, 2014
Impact of the 1914 – 1918 Poets	Adrian Barlow looks at the impact of World War One poets in the years immediately following the War, in late 20s and early 30s, and as we embark on the 100 year anniversary of the conflict.	Adrian Barlow	23 September, 2014
Poetry of the Empire	World War One was a conflict of empire, not of nation. In this lecture Dr Simon Featherstone looks at four distinctive poets who provide a version of empire that is much more nuanced than the imperial rhetoric of the established canon.	Simon Featherstone	22 September, 2014
Siegfried Sassoon	Meg Crane looks at the war poems of Siegfried Sassoon, framed by the first and last (non-war) poems of his literary career.	Meg Crane	22 September, 2014
'Earth Voices Whispering’: Reading Ireland’s Poetry of WWI: An Introduction	Professor Gerald Dawe relates the Irish poetry of World War One to the history of Ireland itself and explores why the first anthology of Irish WW1 Poetry was only published in 2008.	Gerald Dawe	22 September, 2014
David Jones	Often overlooked, Dr Stuart Lee introduces David Jones and his seminal work 'In Parenthesis'.	Stuart Lee	22 September, 2014
Wilfred Owen	Professor Jon Stallworthy, editor and biographer of Wilfred Owen, introduces one of the most notable poets of World War One.	Jon Stallworthy	22 September, 2014
Isaac Rosenberg: ‘Fierce Imaginings’ – the Private and the Poet	Author and editor, Jean Liddiard, presents the life and work of Isaac Rosenberg.	Jean Liddiard	20 September, 2014
Ivor Gurney: A Poet born out of War	Dr Philip Lancaster presents the life of literary musician Ivor Guney, and introduces some the key themes in his poetry.	Philip Lancaster	20 September, 2014
Manuscripts	In this short talk Dr Stuart Lee introduces some of the primary sources of World War One poetry: manuscripts.	Stuart Lee	20 September, 2014
Poetry vs. History	What place do the poets and their work have in the historical analysis of the War? Dr Stuart Lee takes a look at the debate.	Stuart Lee	20 September, 2014
‘On your lips my life is hung’: Robert Graves and War	Dr Charles Mundye takes a look at how Robert Graves' experiences and feelings about War that influenced his poetic career.	Charles Mundye	18 September, 2014
Women Poets	Dr Jane Potter looks at a range of women poets who wrote during, and in the years that followed, World War One.	Jane Potter	18 September, 2014
Edward Thomas: Edwardian War Poet	Dr Guy Cuthbertson takes an in-depth look at the poet Edward Thomas.	Guy Cuthbertson	15 September, 2014
Popular Poetry	Dr Stuart Lee discusses the popular poetry of the War years and the formation of the canon in the years that followed.	Stuart Lee	15 September, 2014
Georgians and Others	Dr Stuart Lee gives a short introduction to the poetry movements that led up to the War.	Stuart Lee	15 September, 2014
The Early Poets	Dr Alisa Miller looks at the popular poets in the early years of the War and the way that the press and publishing worlds created a commercial culture in support of the conflict.	Alisa Miller	14 September, 2014
War Poetry	Dr Mark Rawlinson explores the relationship between War and War Poetry using Owen's famous 'Preface' as the starting point.	Mark Rawlinson	14 September, 2014
Love and Math	A public lecture given by Edward Frenkel, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, talking around his best-selling book "Love and Math" followed by a conversation with Marcus du Sautoy and Q&A.	Edward Frenkel, Marcus du Sautoy	12 July, 2014
Scribal correction and literary craft: English manuscripts 1375-1510	Adam Smyth talks to Professor Daniel Wakelin about his new book on cultures of correction in later medieval manuscripts.	Daniel Wakelin, Adam Smyth	8 July, 2014
'Almost Identical': Copying Books in England, 1600-1900	Henry Woudhuysen joins Adam Smyth to discuss the history of facsimiles.	Henry Woudhuysen, Adam Smyth	19 June, 2014
The History of Oxford University Press	Adam Smyth is joined by Professor Ian Gadd to discuss his just-published collection on the history of OUP.	Adam Smyth, Ian Gadd	17 March, 2014
Peter D McDonald in conversation with Daljit Nagra	Peter D. McDonald talks to the poet Daljit Nagra about cultural diversity, the contemporary life and history of the English language, the canons of English literature, and translation.	Peter McDonald, Daljit Nagra	17 March, 2014
Bibliography in Bits	Adam Smyth talks to Professor Will Noel about the potentials of digital technology for the study of manuscripts.	Will Noel, Adam Smyth	23 February, 2014
Early modern plays in bits and pieces	Professor Tiffany Stern joins Dr Adam Smyth to discuss her current research on the materiality of the early modern play text. What happens to our thinking about plays when prologues, epilogues and songs become mobile pieces, detached from the whole?	Tiffany Stern, Adam Smyth	3 February, 2014
5. Wilde's Plays	Fifth lecture in the Osar Wilde series. Sos Eltis talks about Oscar Wilde's plays including an Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Ernest and A Woman of No Importance.	Sos Eltis	12 November, 2013
4. Wilde and Sexuality	Fourth lecture in the Oscar Wilde series. Looking at Wilde's sexuality and how it influenced his literature.	Sos Eltis	11 November, 2013
Why should we study Old English Literature?	Dr Francis Leneghan of St Cross College, Oxford, discusses his current research around Beowulf and proposes why we should still study Old English Literature.	Francis Leneghan	7 November, 2013
Victorian Realism and the Implied Reader	Michael Whitworth, English Faculty, Oxford University, gives a lecture at the English Faculty Open day around Victorian literature.	Michael Whitworth	6 November, 2013
3. Art and Morality	Sos Eltis gives the third lecture in the series on Oscar Wilde, focussing on Wilde's concept of morality shown in his works including the Picture of Dorian Gray, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and The Devoted Friend.	Sos Eltis	29 October, 2013
2. Wilde, Victorian and Modernist	Sos Eltis gives the second lecture in her series on Oscar Wilde, focussing on his place in the modernist tradition.	Sos Eltis	22 October, 2013
1. The Art of Biography and the Biography of Art	First lecture in the Oscar Wilde series in which Sos Eltis talks about Wilde's life and his work, De Profundis.	Sos Eltis	14 October, 2013
Love and Sex in Victorian Fiction	Victorian fiction is commonly thought of as treating love sentimentally and lacking all reference to sex. In this talk drawing on material from a book he is writing, Dr David Grylls, Fellow of Kellogg College, will contest such a view.	David Grylls	4 October, 2013
Smallpox in poetry	Smallpox was rife in the eighteenth century, leaving its mark both on its sufferers, and on the literature of the period. This podcast explores its history in verse.	Elizabeth Atkinson	16 September, 2013
The poetry of war	Explores the aesthetics and impact of war poetry in the early eighteenth century, focussing on Joseph Addison's poem, The Campaign.	Abigail Williams	16 September, 2013
The Ladle: a comic poem	Matthew Prior's The Ladle was one of the most popular poems of the eighteenth century. This podcast explores its appeal.	Louise Curran	16 September, 2013
Music in miscellanies	Much popular music of the eighteenth century is found in poetic miscellanies. But how was it performed?	Giles Lewin	16 September, 2013
Pastoral Poetry	Introduces the poetry of rural life, and its debt to classical sources.	Kathleen Lawton-Trask	16 September, 2013
Politics in poetry	This podcast explores the culture of Jacobitism in the eighteenth century, using a popular ballad.	John McTague	16 September, 2013
The life of epigrams	This podcasts introduces the popular eighteenth century epigram.	Dianne Mitchell	16 September, 2013
Petticoats and fashion	An introduction to the world of fashion and the politics of the petticoat, seen through the poetry of the time.	Elizabeth Atkinson	16 September, 2013
Information about Great Writers Inspire	Further information about the educational resource: http://writersinspire.org.	Sarah Wilkin	29 August, 2013
Why should we study Elizabethan Theatre?	Professor Tiffany Stern of University College, Oxford, discusses her current research and proposes why we should still study Elizabethan Theatre.	Tiffany Stern, Ilana Lassman	19 August, 2013
Why should we study medieval romance?	Dr Nicholas Perkins of St Hugh's College, Oxford, discusses his current research and proposes why we should still study medieval romance.	Nicholas Perkins, Sarah Wilkin	12 August, 2013
Why should we study the humanities?	For those wanting a further challenge, Professor Helen Small of Pembroke College, Oxford, discusses the difficulties facing the study of the humanities today.	Helen Small, Ilana Lassman	31 July, 2013
Why should we study Johnson?	Professor Ros Ballaster of Mansfield College, Oxford, discusses her current research and proposes we should still study Samuel Johnson.	Ros Ballaster, Sarah Wilkin	31 July, 2013
Why should we study Postcolonial Literature?	Professor Elleke Boehmer of Wolfson College, Oxford, discusses her current research and proposes why we should study Postcolonial writers such as Achebe.	Elleke Boehmer, Sarah Wilkin	31 July, 2013
Why should we study Chaucer?	Dr Laura Ashe of Worcester College, Oxford, discusses her current research and proposes why we should still study Chaucer.	Laura Ashe, Ilana Lassman	31 July, 2013
Why should we study Shakespeare?	Dr Emma Smith of Hertford College, Oxford, discusses her current research and proposes why we should still study Shakespeare.	Emma Smith, Ilana Lassman	31 July, 2013
Why should we study Dickens?	Dr Robert Douglas-Fairhurst of Magdalen College, Oxford, discusses his current research and proposes why we should still study Dickens.	Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Ilana Lassman	31 July, 2013
Achebe and the African Writers Series	A special seminar held at the Postcolonial Writing and Theory Seminar at Wadham College on 2nd May 2013.	James Currey, Becky Ayebia Clarke, Ruth Bush, Asha Rogers	10 July, 2013
'The Village in the Jungle' as colonial memoir: Woolf writing home	Victoria Glendinning, biographer of Leonard Woolf, offers her insights from extensive archival research into the life of Woolf in Ceylon and Britain.	Victoria Glendinning	18 June, 2013
'The Village in the Jungle' Roundtable Discussion	This Roundtable Discussion offers several ways into the life and work of Leonard Woolf from the perspectives of several academics.	Hermione Lee, Anna Snaith, Elleke Boehmer, Nisha Manocha, David Trotter, Susheila Nasta	18 June, 2013
Sri Lankan Traditions and the Imperial Imagination: Leonard Woolf's 'The Village in the Jungle'	Novelist and academic, Chandani Lokuge, gives her keynote at the symposium. She brings Sri Lankan linguistic and cultural traditions to Woolf's The Village in the Jungle.	Chandani Lokuge	18 June, 2013
Book as Object; Panel Discussion for Oxford English Graduate Conference 2013	Panel discussion talk on 'Book as Object' for the Oxford English Graduate Conference 2013.	Paul Nash, Nick Cross, Stephen Walter	17 June, 2013
Acting Masterclass: "Lend me your ears"	A second Masterclass on how Shakespeare spins rhetoric for the actor, with Sam Leith, journalist and writer, and author of 'You Talkin' to Me'. Students from Oxford University Drama Society will take part in the masterclass with an audience.	Gregory Doran, Sam Leith	7 June, 2013
Acting Masterclass: 'Pyramus, you begin'	A practical Masterclass with Greg Doran from the Royal Shakespeare Company looking at what clues Shakespeare puts into the verse for the actor. Students from Oxford University Drama Society rehearse Romeo and Juliet in front of an audience.	Gregory Doran	7 June, 2013
Peter D McDonald in conversation with Amit Chaudhuri	Peter D. McDonald talks to Amit Chaudhuri about his work as a novelist, critic and musician, focusing on his interest in the specificity of the many media he uses and on the challenge of thinking about cultural interconnectedness in new ways.	Peter McDonald, Amit Chaudhuri	5 June, 2013
Peter D McDonald in conversation with Derek Attridge	Peter D. McDonald and Derek Attridge reflect on their different approaches to the questions of literature and public value, and on the bearing this has for teaching and research today.	Peter McDonald, Derek Attridge	4 June, 2013
Peter D McDonald in conversation with Antjie Krog	Peter D. McDonald talks to Antjie Krog about her relationship to Afrikaans, English and African languages, about the promise and perils of translation, and about the challenges of and for writing in a multilingual democracy.	Peter McDonald, Antjie Krog	4 June, 2013
Peter D. McDonald in conversation with Arvind Krishna Mehrotra	Peter D. McDonald talks to Arvind Krishna Mehrotra about his work as a poet, critic and translator, focusing on the idea of triangulation and his interest in the intersections between languages and literary traditions.	Peter McDonald, Arvind Mehrotra	23 April, 2013
Oriental Tales and Their Influence	Prof. Warner and Prof. Ballaster begin their conversation with Antoine Galland's translation into French from Arabic of the 'Alf Layla wa-Layla' as the first two volumes of 'Les Mille et Une Nuit' in the first decade of eighteenth century.	Ros Ballaster, Marina Warner	26 March, 2013
The Merchant of Venice	This lecture on The Merchant of Venice discusses the ways the play's personal relationships are shaped by models of financial transaction, using the casket scenes as a central example.	Emma Smith	20 November, 2012
Taming of the Shrew	Emma Smith uses evidence of early reception and from more recent productions to discuss the question of whether Katherine is tamed at the end of the play.	Emma Smith	9 November, 2012
A Midsummer Night's Dream	This lecture on A Midsummer Night's Dream uses modern and early modern understandings of dreams to uncover a play less concerned with marriage and more with sexual desire.	Emma Smith	5 November, 2012
Language and History	Prof. Simon Horobin examines how the English language has changed over time, addressing such vexed questions as whether Jane Austen could spell, the fate of the apostrophe and whether people who 'literally' explode with anger are corrupting the language.	Simon Horobin	30 October, 2012
Much Ado About Nothing	Emma Smith asks why the characters are so quick to believe the self-proclaimed villain Don John, drawing on gender and performance criticism to think about male bonding, the genre of comedy, and the impulses of modern performance.	Emma Smith	30 October, 2012
Hamlet	The fact that father and son share the same name in Hamlet is used to investigate the play's nostalgia, drawing on biographical criticism and the religious and political history of early modern England.	Emma Smith	23 October, 2012
As You Like It	Asking 'what happens in As You Like It', this lecture considers the play's dramatic structure and its ambiguous use of pastoral, drawing on performance history, genre theory, and eco-critical approaches.	Emma Smith	23 October, 2012
Kipling, the Elton John of his age?	Professor Elleke Boehmer discusses why Kipling's writing, and his poetry of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in particular, launched him to international fame across the British Empire.	Elleke Boehmer, Dominic Davies	8 October, 2012
Postcolonial Women Writers	Professor Elleke Boehmer notes the distinct lack of women writers on the Post/Colonial Writing page of the Great Writers website, and explores why this is the case.	Elleke Boehmer, Dominic Davies	8 October, 2012
Oscar Wilde's Women	Sophie Duncan introduces Oscar Wilde by setting him in an accurate historical context.	Sophie Duncan	19 September, 2012
Great Writers Inspire Great Writing	Alex Pryce considers how writers are readers, influenced and inspired by the works of other writers.	Alex Pryce	19 September, 2012
Julian Thompson on Rudyard Kipling	Dr Julian Thompson considers a writer described by Kingsley Amis as 'our greatest writer of short stories'.	Julian Thompson	19 September, 2012
DH Lawrence: A Postcolonial Writer?	Professor Peter McDonald draws on the work of Indian novelist and literary critic, Amit Chaudhuri, to open up new ways of how we can think about D.H. Lawrence, not only as a Modernist, but also as a Post/Colonial writer.	Peter McDonald	28 August, 2012
Joseph Conrad and Postcoloniality - Part 2: Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim	Professor Peter McDonald talks to Great Writers Inspire about the Post/Colonial aspects of Joseph Conrad's writing.	Peter McDonald	28 August, 2012
Joseph Conrad and Postcoloniality - Part 1: Conrad and Chinua Achebe	Professor Peter McDonald talks to Great Writers Inspire about the Post/Colonial aspects of Joseph Conrad's writing. In this first part, Peter takes Chinua Achebe's 1975 critique of Conrad as a starting point.	Peter McDonald	28 August, 2012
Aime Cesaire and Derek Walcott	Jason Allen offers a comparative discussion of two important Caribbean poets and playwrights, Aime Cesaire and Derek Walcott, to emphasize the impact of Caribbean literature upon the postcolonial world.	Jason Allen, Dominic Davies	24 August, 2012
The language of Shakespeare	Actors and the director talk about how they have approached and worked with their student production of the Shakespeare play - Two Gentlemen of Verona. They discuss some of the challenges of the text and what they have done to overcome these.	Kate O'Connor	23 August, 2012
Understanding Shakespeare	The actor Nick Lyons talks about the challenge of the language barrier and how he dealt with it for his role in the student production of the Shakespeare play Two Gentlemen of Verona.	Nick Lyons	23 August, 2012
Two Gentlemen of Verona: The view from the Director	The director talks about how she adapted the script and directed the student Shakespeare production of Two Gentlemen of Verona. She describes what makes the play great, and discusses issues related to editing and direction.	Kate O'Connor	23 August, 2012
The Tempest: For you am I this patient log-man	The director and actors talk about the log-scene in The Tempest and how they interpret and perform it. Includes scenes from rehearsals and performance.	Archie Cornish, Dylan Townley	23 August, 2012
The Tempest: Our revels now are ended	The famous Shakespeare scene from The Tempest, performed by actors from an Oxford student drama society.	Dylan Townley	23 August, 2012
The Tempest - Our revels now are ended: Conveying Shakespeare's meaning	The actor Dylan Townley talks about the language of Shakespeare. He describes how understanding and using the meter can help an actor or reader to bring out the poetry in a text. Includes a scene from The Tempest.	Dylan Townley	23 August, 2012
The Tempest: Prospero	Actor Dylan Townley talks with director Archie Cornish about the character Prospero. They describe how they have chosen to portray him in this Oxford student performance of The Tempest, and discuss on what they base their interpretation.	Archie Cornish, Dylan Townley	23 August, 2012
The Tempest: Direction and interpretation	Director Archie Cornish and actor Dylan Townley - Prospero - talk about adapting, directing and performing a student Shakespeare production of The Tempest.	Archie Cornish, Dylan Townley	23 August, 2012
Teaching Shakespeare in Schools	A teacher talks about how she teaches Shakespeare in school, using video clips and references from contemporary culture to get the students to understand, relate to, and engage with the text.	Joyti Chandegra	23 August, 2012
The Tempest - Our revels now are ended: Bringing a scene to Life	The director Archie Cornish, and actor Dylan Townley, introduce the Revel speech in The Tempest. They also discuss the context in which it appears.	Archie Cornish, Dylan Townley	22 August, 2012
Shakespeare and the Stage	Professor Tiffany Stern gives a short talk on William Shakespeare and how his plays were performed in Elizabethan England.	Tiffany Stern	22 August, 2012
Julian Thompson on Sir Walter Scott	Dr Julian Thompson introduces 'the least read great writer in our literature'. He describes the popularly of Walter Scott in his own time and suggests some highlights of the 'living Scots' of his fiction.	Julian Thompson	1 August, 2012
Shakespeare and Voice	Linda Gates, Professor of Voice at Northwestern University (USA) discusses how Shakespeare's poetry and plays lend themselves to vocal performance by discussing how breath can be used to 'punctuate the thought'.	Linda Gates	1 August, 2012
Shakespeare and Voice	Linda Gates, Professor of Voice at Northwestern University (USA) discusses how Shakespeare's poetry and plays lend themselves to vocal performance by discussing how breath can be used to 'punctuate the thought'.	Linda Gates	1 August, 2012
What is a Classic? English Graduate Conference 2012 Panel Debate, Talk 3	Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, draws on her experience as a trustee of the Booker Prize and as a judge for many other literary prizes to offer a response to the question, 'What is a Classic?'.	Helena Kennedy	19 July, 2012
What is a Classic? English Graduate Conference 2012 Panel Debate, Talk 3	Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, draws on her experience as a trustee of the Booker Prize and as a judge for many other literary prizes to offer a response to the question, 'What is a Classic?'.	Helena Kennedy	19 July, 2012
What is a Classic? English Graduate Conference 2012 Panel Debate, Talk 2	Judith Luna, the Senior Commissioning Editor at Oxford World's Classics, draws on her practical involvement in re-launching the Oxford World's Classics series in 2008 to give a publisher's take on the question, 'What is a Classic?'.	Judith Luna	19 July, 2012
What is a Classic? English Graduate Conference 2012 Panel Debate, Talk 2	Judith Luna, the Senior Commissioning Editor at Oxford World's Classics, draws on her practical involvement in re-launching the Oxford World's Classics series in 2008 to give a publisher's take on the question, 'What is a Classic?'.	Judith Luna	19 July, 2012
What is a Classic? English Graduate Conference 2012 Panel Debate, Talk 1	Dr Ankhi Mukherjee, Wadham college, Oxford, speaks to the question 'What is a Classic?' by examining the residual influence of the Eurocentric literary canon in the age of world literature and emergent formations of canons and classics.	Ankhi Mukherjee	19 July, 2012
What is a Classic? English Graduate Conference 2012 Panel Debate, Talk 1	Dr Ankhi Mukherjee, Wadham college, Oxford, speaks to the question 'What is a Classic?' by examining the residual influence of the Eurocentric literary canon in the age of world literature and emergent formations of canons and classics.	Ankhi Mukherjee	19 July, 2012
Shackled by Language: The Representation and Self-Representation of English-Speaking Black Voices in Black Atlantic Writing	Cecilia Bennett considers the use of the English language in black Atlantic narratives.	Cecilia Bennett	18 July, 2012

Faculty of English Language and Literature

Related

Series in this collection

Writers in Dialogue

Staging Shakespeare

Interviews on Great Writers

English Graduate Conference 2012

Literature and Form

D.H. Lawrence

Samuel Johnson

Great Writers Inspire

George Eliot

MSt English Language

All episodes