#study opportunity

Are you looking to do a bit of study in 2026, but not sure where to start? If you're interested in Romance fiction, and the history thereof, there is a short online course running soon out of the University of Liverpool, by the fantastic Dr Sam Hirst.

Details from the page at the link:

Falling in love with love: A History of Popular Romance

10 weekly sessions online, on Wednesdays at 6 - 7.30pm, starting from Wednesday 21 January.

Overview

This course comprises a weekly 1.5 hour live online meeting (via Zoom) and online learning materials for you to engage with before and after each live session.

This module will explore the evolution of romance writing from the 18th century to the current day, looking not only at the novel but at the intertwined relationship between the romance novel and cinema. Romance is a much maligned genre but this module will seek to develop its rich history, a range of critical approaches to romance material, and give students insight into the way romance writing has influenced and been influenced by other genres in writing, on screen and beyond!

The course aims to offer students an overview of popular romance history. It will enable participants to use a variety of critical perspectives to explore romance. It will develop participants’ skills in close reading and in working with popular genres.

This course is aimed at romance readers and anyone who wants to explore the best-selling genre and most influential genre in publishing. Each week there will be a set text but extracts will also be provided as we are aware that participants will need to prioritise their reading.

Syllabus

Amatory Fiction: 18th-Century Women Writing Desire

Text: Eliza Haywood, Fantomina (1724)

The Society Romance: Austen and her Legacy

Text: Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)

Pride and Prejudice (BBC, 1995, dir. Simon Langton)

The Rise of the Byronic Hero

Text: Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847)

Orientalism and the Romance

Text: E. M. Hull, The Sheik (1919)

The Sheik (dir. Melford, US, 1921)

The Regency Romance

Text: Georgette Heyer, The Quiet Gentleman (1951)

The Reluctant Widow (Knowles, UK, 1950)

Mills and Boon, Category Romance and the 'Nursies'

Betty Neels, Tabitha in Moonlight (1972)

Race and Romance

Beverley Jenkins, Indigo (1996)

The Romantic Comedy and Second Chance Romance

Texts: The Philadelphia Story (dir. George Cukor, US, 1940)

The Lovebirds (dir. Michael Showalter, US, 2020)

Queering the Romance

Text: Olivia Waite, Hen Fever (2020)

Romantasy, Mixed Genres, and the future(s) of Romance

Text: Tasha Suri, The Isle of the Silver Sea (2025)

Course lecturer

Dr Sam Hirst completed their PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University and later turned this research into their first book Theology in the Early British and Irish Gothic, 1764-1834. They are currently working on a book on demonic representation in Gothic fiction. They have published and spoken widely on the Gothic, popular romance, and theologies of the supernatural. They run the weekly lecture programme Romancing the Gothic which invites expert speakers from around the world on all topics more or less Gothic. They are also a regular collaborator with Newstead Abbey, Byron's ancestral home, and the Bronte Parsonage. They have taught English at the universities of Liverpool. Sheffield, Manchester Metropolitan and Oxford Brookes and have conducted post-doctoral research on Byron's life and legacy at the University of Nottingham.

Course fee

Standard fee: £155

Concession fee: £80

Romancing Wuthering Heights

If a full course is too much, then Dr Hirst is also running a one-off lecture about Wuthering Heights, to line up with the release of the new film! Dr Hirst has worked with the Bronte parsonage, and has a wealth of knowledge about the topic

Standard ticket: £15

Concession ticket: £10

I very rarely promote external programming on this blog, but I think this is a very fun, interesting, and worthwhile course being run by Dr Hirst, and I know from other lecture series that their teaching is always top-notch.

If you can afford the course, or lecture, please do sign up, if you can't, then you can check out Dr Hirst's online education project Romancing the Gothic, through their Youtube channel, and watch a back catalogue of HUNDREDS of free lectures on a plethora of different topics in gothic fiction and related fields!

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