All Tutorials

National Identity in Ancient Greece and Rome (tutorial) [Autumn]

Beginning with The Iliad, we discuss how far Greeks and Trojans represent different national styles and how gender issues are interrelated with racial. Looking at Greek tragedy, and especially Aeschylus' Persians, we discuss the concept of 'Orientalism' and how far it is constructed and challenged within the play. Herodotus' depiction of the Greek triumph over the Persian invader in 490 and 480 is also analysed. Greek identity is then contrasted with Roman through a study of Virgil's Aeneid which questions how much the Roman culture of military success cost its victims. The last few weeks will be devoted to a detailed study of one of the texts covered, or an extension of the approach to one of a number of other works: for instance, other Greek tragedies; or the treatment of other 'barbarian' races such as the Germans or British in Tacitus; or Plutarch's Antony, and its treatment of Cleopatra and Egypt. For general information on ASE's Oxford-style tutorials, please visit The Tutorial Programme.

Subject areas: Classical Studies and History
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Women in Medieval Europe (tutorial) [Spring]

This tutorial explores the representation and condition of women in literary and historical sources, beginning with the idea of 'woman' inherited from classical and Judeo-Christian thinking, and progressing to representations of women in western Europe between 500 and 1500. Students will have the opportunity to explore in detail the roles played by religion, learning and artistic production in the lives of women, and will be given scope to write on any aspect of women's achievements as artists, thinkers, and writers in the Middle Ages. For general information on ASE's Oxford-style tutorials, please visit The Tutorial Programme.

Subject areas: Medieval Studies, History, English and Women's Studies
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Post-Colonial Literature (tutorial) [Spring]

This course provides an opportunity to study the finest writers of post-colonial poetry, drama, and fiction in English, considering themes of exile, hybridity, cultural translation, race, exoticism, and other forms of difference. The explosion of superb writing by authors from nations formerly colonized by the British enriches contemporary literature in English with a diversity of perspectives, explored in depth in this course of readings. The writers studied on the course will vary, but likely to be included are Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Vikram Chandra, Anita Desai, VS Naipaul, Jean Rhys, Derek Walcott and Zadie Smith.

Subject areas: English and Women's Studies
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Britain and the African Slave Trade (tutorial) [Spring]

This tutorial examines the writing and the lives of some of the people most profoundly touched by Britain’s role in the African slave trade. Making full use of the excellent resources available at the nearby British Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol - one of the main ports used in the trade – and reading stories, essays, and poetry by black and white writers of the period, we will consider the rise of the abolition movement and its backlash, and examine the legacy of this history for contemporary Britain. The representation of the slave trade in recent films and novels, such as Amazing Grace and Philippa Gregory’s A Respectable Trade, will also be studied.

Subject areas: History.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

From the Modern to the Post-Modern (tutorial) [Autumn & Spring]

Taking as its starting point some of the canonical works of fiction of the Modern period, such as James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist and Virginia Woolf's Mrs.Dalloway, this course will examine a range of twentieth-century novels and short fiction. How have authors from Britain, Europe and beyond worked to develop, challenge, and generally make mischief with the efforts of their Modernist predecessors? Considerable scope will be allowed for students to examine authors and works in which they have, or acquire, a specific interest. For general information on ASE's Oxford-style tutorials, please visit The Tutorial Programme.

Subject areas: English
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Twentieth-Century Reputations: Historical Biography Reconsidered (tutorial) [Autumn]

This tutorial compares the biographies of five pairs of public figures whose place in modern British history remains the subject of hot debate: the prime ministers Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill; the political activists Millicent Fawcett and Emmeline Pankhurst; the poets Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen; the Antarctic explorers Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton; and the royals, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. The close study of specific historical biographies will allow varied insight into twentieth-century Britain, as well as fostering greater awareness of the philosophical underpinnings of historical research.

Subject areas: History.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Advanced Creative Writing (tutorial) [Autumn & Spring]

This tutorial enables students with considerable experience in creative writing to work intensively on any project of their choice, whether a succession of shorter pieces or a single longer project, whether poetry or prose. The teaching format allows for almost limitless flexibility, based on the individual's requirements, and will include plentiful opportunities for drafting and revision, with the tutor suggesting different approaches, techniques and reading. Students within the group will have ample chance for frank and constructive comment on each other's work. Students should submit a short example of their work with their application. For general information on ASE's Oxford-style tutorials, please visit The Tutorial Programme.

Subject areas: English
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Politics and Society in Georgian England 1714-1832 (tutorial) [Autumn & Spring]

Central to this tutorial will be an examination of Britain’s response to the three great Revolutions which, collectively, ushered in the modern world. The Industrial Revolution led to new patterns of living, new consumerisms, new working practices and new opportunities for leisure. The French Revolution presented Europeans for the first time with the challenges of universal suffrage and social equality. The American War of Independence led to a re-evaluation of the worth of Empire, and to a rethinking of how Empires should be governed. Yet the British monarchy, the aristocracy and the Church of England all survived. How did Georgian Britain absorb change without being overwhelmed by it?

Subject areas: History, Political Sciences, Social Sciences.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Northern Ireland Since the Good Friday Agreement (tutorial) [Spring]

The context and content of the Good Friday (or Belfast) Agreement of 10 April 1998 will be explored, together with the positions and expectations of the main political 'actors' in the process. Each student will then choose an aspect of the developing political scene in Northern Ireland for closer examination. Much of the material will be accessed from the internet, using media archives as well as academic, government and political party web sites. For general information on ASE's Oxford-style tutorials, please visit The Tutorial Programme.

Subject areas: Political Sciences, Social Sciences, History, Government and International Relations
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

The Development of Modern Poetry (tutorial) [Autumn]

This tutorial charts the development of modern poetry, from its roots in Wordsworth's epic of the individual consciousness, through the Parnassian silvered speech of Tennyson and the disruptive rejoicing clangour of Hopkins, to the revolutions, or further developments, of modernism. It moves beyond to our contemporaries or nearcontemporaries: the hard-to-fool empiricism of Larkin, the pinings for lost glory of Hill, and Heaney's Wordsworthian resolution with nature. The tutorials centre on careful close reading of poems, with scope for students to imitate poets in verse if they so wish.

Subject areas: English.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.

Other Single Semester Tutorial Courses: The Independent Study [Autumn & Spring]

In special circumstances, for instance where a student has a specific requirement that is not met by any of the seminar courses on offer, ASE may be able to arrange a single semester independent study in other subjects. Please contact us directly with details of the course of study you require. For general information on ASE's Oxford-style tutorials, please visit The Tutorial Programme.