(1a) Emma-Louise Silva will provide students with an introduction to life course studies and age studies, based on research by Lorraine Green and Susan Pickard. She will then delve into Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra from the perspective of age studies. The students will work on Michael Morpurgo's version of Antony and Cleopatra as well as the Folger Shakespeare Library edition.
(1b) Connecting with the department's guiding theme for 2026–2027 ('Cartographier des mondes' / 'Mapping worlds'), Lieven Vandelanotte will guide students through the discovery of 'maps' in linguistics, art, and poetry via readings, video clips, and the analysis of works of art.
(2) With Nathalie Borrelli, the students will study Shakespeare as a "living" author. The focus this semester will be on Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra.
Together with the course teachers, the students will attend a performance of Antony and Cleopatra by the Cambridge University European Theatre Group in Leuven on 9 December, organised by Emma-Louise Silva.
The course as a whole will further develop the students' literary and linguistic erudition, and further improve the students' knowledge of the English language in various stylistic forms. The course also aims to improve oral and written skills in English allowing students to competently present literary and linguistic pieces of academic argumentation (level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).
(1) Reading with comments of selected secondary sources on (1a) life course studies, age studies, and literary studies, and on (1b) 'cartography' in linguistics, in poetry and in visual art.
(2) Reading of Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra
Lorraine Greene, Understanding the Life Course (2017)
Susan Pickard, Age Studies (2016)
Michael Morpurgo More Tales from Shakespeare (2025)
Folger Shakespeare Library Edition of Antony and Cleopatra (2020)
For (1b), a selection of readings will be made available as the course progresses.
Antony and Cleopatra
Macbeth
The exercises correspond to the Shakespeare component of the course. For this module, students should be able to provide a detailed paraphrase in modern English of key passages in the original text.
(1) Reading, including of scholarly articles, and study of visual art, with the help of the teachers. Discussion of article contents with the students, and presentation of their own analyses or reflections.
(2) Reading of (fragments from) the plays with comments by teacher. Dramatic reading exercises. Video fragments. Presentation of selected fragments by the students (coached by instructor). Attending a performance of the Antony and Cleopatra. Personal reading.
Taking part in any activities organised by the department (whether intra muros or extra muros) as part of this course is considered to be part and parcel of the learning experience and is obligatory. In particular, class attendance is obligatory, as is presence at the Shakespeare performance on 9 December.
(1) Active class participation. For 1a, the students will teach a 20-minute class on Antony and Cleopatra to the first- and second-year students (outside of the exam session). For 1b, students will create a piece of work (written, artistic, or other) connected to the guiding thread in a format of their choice (essay, drawing, video, etc.), followed by an oral discussion in which they will comment on and situate their work.
(2) Continuous assessment. Test on Macbeth. Oral exam.
Use of AI tools to produce texts or content in either the formative or summative assessment phases will not be tolerated, unless explicitly stated.
Weighting of the different course components:
(1) 14/20
(2) 6/20
The expected level of written proficiency in the target language is C1 according to the CEFR (https://rm.coe.int/16802fc3a8), applied to an academic register.
(1a) Scholarly articles and other texts, in the "Anthology", available at "Réprographie"
(1b) Readings will be included in the slides used in class, and/or (whenever useful) distributed as photocopies in class
(2) Editions of the studied plays
The PowerPoints will be made available on WebCampus, and additional illustrations will be provided, for instance in the form of musical excerpts or video clips, which will illustrate the concepts and texts discussed.
| Training | Block | Credits | Mandatory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor in Modern Languages and Literatures: German, Dutch and English | 3 | 5 | No |