The Romantic age produced a peerless range of outstanding literature and art. This course gives you an accessible introduction to some of the greatest poetry, fiction, and painting of British Romanticism.

This 10-session course will explore the work of major figures such as Blake, Wordsworth, and Constable alongside more neglected writers such as Barbauld, Robinson and Clare, and the cultural theories of Burke and Wollstonecraft. A common theme in the authors' varied work is the relationship between human activity and the natural world, a theme reflecting the rapid social transformations shaping the long eighteenth century. Participants will be encouraged to close read key texts to discover how each artist engaged with these changing natural and political landscapes.

Through class discussions and written assignments, responses to the provocative work of the British Romantics will be developed, and you'll discover how this work illuminates the social concerns of the present.