B.A. seminars 2025–2026 in the extramural programme in English Philology

What is this list?

This is a list of B.A. seminars we intend to launch in our extramural B.A. programme in English Philology (filologia angielska) whose third year of study is the academic year 2025–2026; that is, the seminars are planned to start in 2025 and end in 2026, at the end of the three-year B.A. programme. This list is intended for:

  1. Students at the Faculty of English who are about to enter the third year of their extramural B.A. programme: this is your reference point before B.A. seminar interviews;
  2. Candidates for our full-time programmes: this list gives you a snapshot of what seminars were on offer for the study cycle that started two years earlier, that is in 2023.

What about these seminars?

Part of the third year of study at a B.A. programme is about preparing a B.A. paper (B.A. thesis, if you like) under the supervision of the teacher whose B.A. seminar you are in. Seminar groups are subject to formal limits as to the minimal and maximal number of students who can enrol in each seminar. As we cannot tailor the list of seminar to the exact needs of all the students—how could we know?—we may need to ask you to through an interview with your prospective B.A. thesis supervisor.

At some point before the start of the academic year you may be asked about your preferred B.A. seminar—please stay tuned to your e-mail inbox and the Faculty of English intranet. Your task is easy: browse this list in search of seminars which are offered for the programme in which you are a student and let us know, when asked, which seminar is your favourite. We will take note of it and ensure your interview is with the right teacher and their committee.

Please note: We do not guarantee that you will be able to join the preferred seminar. Enrolment into a particular seminar is subject to conditions such as the total number of students in the third year of study, the result of your interview, and others. In particular: if there are more students interested in a given seminar than the number of students the seminar can accept, your interview may decide if you enrol in the seminar you would prefer or are offered a seat in a different seminar.

How to navigate the list?

The list is sorted by the name of teacher. The format is the following: title of the seminar, the name of the teacher, and the description of the seminar.

Writing and Reading the World: British and Irish Literature as Reflections on Identity, Culture and History

dr Katarzyna Bronk-Bacon

Garry L. Hagberg (2016: 1) offers a terrifying prospect: “If, to consider for a moment a frightening thought, we were to suddenly lose all of literature, we would (…) lose a great deal more—indeed profoundly more—than mere opportunities for entertainment or diversion.” Literature, indeed, is a multimodal matrix where revolutionary ideas are proposed, ideological truths confirmed or contested, life lessons perpetuated and existential scenarios theoretically tested. Literary works – regardless of genre or historical period – help to imagine worlds that may appear familiar in either mimetic, utopian or dystopian ways. They introduce us to people, as well as non-humans, who mirror aspects of ourselves. To read literature is to look at the world, and our place and function within it, through imaginative, realistic, propagandistic, gothic, scientific and philosophical lenses.

This BA seminar invites students who wish to explore the ways in which British and Irish literature anatomises who we were, who we are and who we might yet (un-fortunately) become. During the classes we will discuss themes such as: fear, monstrosity and evil, femininity, masculinity, rites of passage, normativity and transgression, physical and mental health, and more. The student must are ready to actively engage with both fictional and theoretical texts on a regular basis, and deliver required chapters on time. Prior study of British literary history is welcome, but general knowledge of historical and cultural periods will also be beneficial. Note: This seminar will not cover postcolonial theory. If this is your area of interest, please consider Dr. Frątczak-Dąbrowska’s seminar instead.

Bibliography

  • Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome, ed. 1996. Monster Theory: Reading Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.
  • Essed, Philomena, David Theo Goldberg and Audrey Kobayashi (eds.). 2009. A Companion to Gender Studies. Mailden, MA: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Felski, Rita. 2011. Uses of Literature. Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Hagberg, Garry L. 2016. Fictional Characters, Real Problems: The Search for Ethical Content in Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Metaphor and/in Discourse

dr Tomasz Dyrmo

When Donald Trump called Iran “the bully of the Middle East,” he used a deliberately chosen metaphorical expression to refer to a country, and did so with clearly calculated political intent. When Greta Thunberg warned, “The moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity,” she employed a metaphor that conceptualizes humanity as a precious object that can be lost. Interestingly, in the Dark Souls video game series, Humanity (with a capital H) is one of the most important resources that can be earned throughout the game. When healthcare workers talk about cancer, they often describe it in terms of fighting or losing to it. When we talk about sexual orientation, we sometimes use the term straight to refer to heterosexuality. In all these cases, metaphors show how we think and talk about the world.

The aim of this BA seminar is to show you how to spot and analyse metaphors in discourse. The analysis will focus primarily on written and/or spoken language, but multimodal approaches (such as gesture and visuals) may also be explored. We will learn how to identify metaphors, observe recurring patterns, and understand how these patterns influence discourse.

If you are passionate about the most important political and social debates on the table right now, join the seminar! A keen interest in language and communication is a welcome prerequisite.

Selected readings

  • Augé, A. (2023). Covid-19 as a framing device for environmental protest: The ecosystem health metaphor. Environmental Communication, 17(3), 230–244.
  • Charteris-Black, J. (2012). Shattering the bell jar: Metaphor, gender, and depression. Metaphor and Symbol, 27(3), 199–216.
  • Lakoff, G. (2009). Metaphor and war: The metaphor system used to justify war in the Gulf. Cognitive Semiotics, 4(2).
  • Littlemore, J., & Turner, S. (2020). Metaphors in communication about pregnancy loss. Metaphor and the Social World, 10(1), 45–75.
  • Musolff, A. (2017). Truths, lies and figurative scenarios: Metaphors at the heart of Brexit. Journal of Language and Politics, 16(5), 641–657.

Postcolonial con-texts: literatures in English

dr Marta Frątczak-Dąbrowska

This BA seminar is designed for students interested in broadly defined postcolonial studies. Participants will be introduced to key literary and cultural theories, develop critical reading and text analysis skills, and engage in class discussions. In this way, students will prepare for conducting research and writing their BA thesis.

Possible areas of investigation include:

  • colonial legacies and their echoes in literature and culture,
  • postcolonial identities,
  • discourses of race, racism, slavery, and emancipation in postcolonial contexts.

Regular reading of assigned texts, active class participation, and meeting deadlines are mandatory requirements for passing the course.