Literature and Science offers an introduction to the study of the intersections between literary forms (the novel, poetry and drama) and scientific investigation and discovery. Covering a wide historical range, from the eighteenth century to the present day, the module will consider how writers engage with science, represent it in their work and ultimately reimagine and critique it for their readers. Uniquely, the module will also read scientific narratives using literary techniques: considering the work of some of the most important British scientists of the past two centuries, asking what literary qualities their writing reveals, and how engagements with literature influenced their science. 

• discuss the relationships between literary texts and scientific investigation
• compare specific texts, either literary or scientific, to illuminate the connections between literature and science
• undertake broad literary-historical analyses of the intersections between literary production and the sciences
• interpret the key issues in the two cultures debates that have dominated literature and science studies

This module will be delivered through a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous activities, as part of this programme’s blended provision, which will include on-campus and online teaching and support.

The precise mode of delivery and details – subject to Welsh Government and Public Health Wales guidance – of the teaching and support activities will be made available at the start of the semester via Learning Central.

Academic skills: students will develop their skills in close reading, particularly through the examination of texts perceived to be non-literary, and their abilities to offer critical assessment of the relationships between discrete texts and ideas. This requires careful scholarship, sensitivity to language through close reading and a broader historical awareness of social change.

Employability skills: students will practice the transfer of their literary skills into other arenas (here, the history of science and scientific writing), which is often seen as an essential employability criterion. Students will develop their understanding of the role of science in society and improve their cultural citizenship by enhancing their ability to question and critique one of the dominant modes of knowledge production in contemporary society. Student-led research will encourage skills of information collation, selection and synthesis. 

The methods of summative assessment for this module are detailed in the table below.

Formative work to be submitted before each summative assessment: you can choose between submitting, as appropriate, an essay plan/structure, synopses of essay topic options (if undecided) or sample paragraph/s; for creative assignments, you can submit working drafts of parts of your composition, as arranged with the workshop convenor.

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR REASSESSMENT IN THIS MODULE:
As with School policy, failed or unsubmitted assessments can be retaken during the August resit period.

Indicative Syllabus:

• Historical perspectives on the ‘two cultures’ debates
• The eighteenth century: the rise of science
• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818): electricity and ethics
• Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859) and the poetries of evolution
• Cold War poetry and atomic culture
• Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962): literature, science and the rise of modern environmentalism
• Zadie Smith’s White Teeth (2000): genetics and the human genome project
• Writing climate science: apocalypse, dystopia and radical hope

Content warning: please be aware that several of the books/topics discussed in this module deal with difficult themes (experiences of racism, and racist and misogynistic attitudes), which some students may find distressing. If you have any concerns about this, please contact the module leader for advice.