Unit information: Introduction to Literature and Community Engagement 2 in 2015/16

Unit name	Introduction to Literature and Community Engagement 2
Unit code	ENGL10107
Credit points	10
Level of study	C/4
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Ms. LeFanu
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of English
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit is designed to enable each student to establish a reading group in the community or at their place of work, either on their own or in collaboration with another student. Students will be assisted in finding a suitable placement and will then complete a series of directed tasks related to publicity, finding and/or producing appropriate resources, managing a reading group session, and liaising with staff and/or volunteers within a community setting. Students will be offered training on managing difficult situations.

Aims:

This unit aims to enable each student to establish a reading group in a suitable placement (either on their own or in collaboration with another student), and to prepare for and encounter issues such as recruiting and retaining readers, choosing appropriate materials, running a session, and relating theoretical issues from literary study to the use of literature in a practical setting.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will have had an opportunity to establish a reading group in a suitable placement; to put the reflective ideas gathered in 'Introduction to Literature and Community Engagement 1' into practice; and to begin running sessions, assisted by a series of directed tasks.

Teaching Information

This unit will consist of hours undertaken at times appropriate to the placement and to be agreed with staff and/or volunteers within the particular community setting. Students will normally be expected to dedicate up to 90 hours across the year to the reading group, including preparation time and reflection. In addition, students will normally have at least three review meetings with the unit director and at least one reading group session will be observed by a tutor from the course.

Assessment Information

Students will be assessed through a reflective diary (normally of 3,500 to 5,000 words). This should record the process of establishing the group; respond to individual sessions and to challenges arising; and reflect on the literature used and readers' responses to it. A series of directed questions will be set to help students to structure this diary.

Reading and References

A range of relevant materials will be provided, some from external partners; for example, information on reading groups in the region produced by Bristol Libraries and materials for use in such groups produced by the Get Into Reading Project in Liverpool. Additional reading may include:

• Susan Danielson and Ann Marie Fallon, Community-Based Learning and the Work of Literature (Wiley, 2008)

• Amy Scott-Douglass, Shakespeare Inside: The Bard Behind Bars (Continuum, 2007)