Undergraduate English and Creative Writing with Foundation Year BA (Hons)
| Program start date | Application deadline |
| 2023-04-17 | - |
| 2023-09-19 | 2023-07-04 |
| 2024-01-09 | - |
Program Overview
About this course
During your Foundation Year, you will undertake modules to enable you to enhance your academic skills and equip you with the tools you’ll need to study with confidence. You’ll carry out a personal project so you can study an area of interest related to your chosen future subject specialisation.
You’ll be introduced to various types of media, both in theory and practice, and will develop an understanding of the skills and concepts required by the creative industries. You’ll explore historical approaches towards images and the social power they embody and will undertake an individual or group project to produce work that reflects the culture of 'image'.
Following successful completion of the Foundation Year, you’ll progress onto the first year of our English and Creative Writing BA (Hons) degree.
This programme offers an opportunity to develop your creative writing skills, and imaginative flexibility, and study literary texts in English from different historical periods and a variety of genres.
You can develop your key skills in English and Creative Writing, with options to study English Language and Linguistics.
Working with published writers and subject specialists, you'll learn how to communicate and create for both professional purposes and pleasure. Our creative writing workshops will teach you how to give and receive constructive criticism about writing. And you’ll be introduced to speech-writing and the power of words, as well as learning how to write your own life story and the stories of others.
You will develop your knowledge of writing in English as you read, and discuss and respond creatively to a range of great literary texts. We’ll teach you how to read and analyse poetry and short stories, as well as how to compare past and modern texts in the same genres.
You'll have the opportunity to work with an experienced writer on a final-year writing project and, beyond the curriculum, you’ll be part of Leeds Trinity's acclaimed writing culture, taking part in events like our annual Writers' Festival and monthly open mic nights.
Why study with us?
Program Outline
Modules
You will study a variety of modules across your programme of study. The module details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Foundation Year
Core modules (students are required to take):
We'll help you develop core academic skills such as using electronic resources, planning and note-taking, communication skills related to essay and report writing and delivering presentations. You'll learn how to manage your time, how to prioritise and how to manage stress, and you’ll become more confident in engaging with collaborative learning, debates, discussions and critical reflection
.
You’ll study an area of interest related to your chosen degree. You’ll work individually on your project, whether that's a written report, a presentation and oral examination, a film or a series of blog posts. You’ll undertake problem-solving learning, and formative feedback and support will be provided throughout, helping develop your self-confidence.
This module will introduce you to various types of media, both in theory and practice. You’ll explore the role of 'story' in film and television, radio and the web that engages with audiences. You’ll develop an understanding of narrative structure, character development and idea generation, as well as understanding the skills and concepts required by the creative industries through lectures, workshops and practical exercises.
This module explores a range of historical approaches towards images and the social power they embody. From religious icons to celebrity glamour, fine art to selfies, you will develop an understanding of what humans have done and can do with images to shape attitudes and beliefs. As well as seminars, short lectures and workshops, you'll undertake an individual or group project to produce work that reflects the culture of 'image'.
Year 1
Core modules (students are required to take):
Read and analyse stories and poems, and then reflect on how academic skills are applied to employability, for example preparation, attention to detail, clear and precise communication.
Based on writing in prose and poetry, and reading different types of writing, you will develop into skilled manipulators of style, voice, structure, editing and presentation.
Students will acquire skills in how to create a character’s voice; in speaking; articulating argument; making a case; and the importance of language and style in persuasion.
Develop awareness of genre (e.g. detective fiction, fantasy, vampire novels, school stories) and analyse contemporary fiction in terms of particular genres and their historical development.
Year 2
Core modules (students are required to take):
Study a range of literary theories that address issues of empowerment, e.g. feminist theory, masculinities, postcolonial theory, intersectionality, and encourages you to apply these to a range of texts and to how this prepares you for graduate employment.
Explore ‘writing the self’ with a portfolio of original autobiographical writing, learn about writing the lives of others. All students, including BAME students, international students, students of different sexualities, students with disabilities, and students from different class backgrounds, will bring your experiences to autobiography and perspectives to biography.
Students will study, discuss and respond by writing creatively to a range of poetry and prose dealing with myth, childhood, love and loss.
Students are required to choose up to two option modules from:
Study language, gender and sexuality, key theories and approaches, applying this to e.g. education and the media, taking an informed and critical stance towards current issues.
Examine Chaucer, Beowulf, Jane Eyre and Sherlock Holmes, in relation to socio-cultural and political debates, and the continuity and appropriation of specific narratives.
Develop an understanding of postcolonialism as a political, critical, theoretical and literary concept, with literature from postcolonial countries after WW2 in relation to cultural identity and nationhood, political resistance, hybridity, liminality, diaspora, migration and exile, intertextuality.
Explore the beatniks, hippies, and the influence of the civil rights movement, thinking about diversity in American writing in the treatment of big social themes, literature as a means of countercultural, social protest.
Year 3
Core modules (students are required to take):
Drawing on your learning in other modules, work with tutor and peers on your own writing project, prose fiction, poetry, drama, a short film, a serious article or a blog post.
Experiment with innovations in prose and poetry and explores such techniques as chance, substitution, and fractured narrative and time structures, drawing on diverse writers outside the cultural mainstream.
Explore the modernist preoccupation with ‘newness’ and the development of literary forms that ‘break’ with earlier artistic conventions. Find out about experimentation and innovation found in postmodern literature, in relation to social, political and cultural upheavals of the twentieth century.
Students are required to choose one or two option modules from:
Develop your research skills by studying a substantial body and range of writings by Austen, the Brontës and Woolf, putting these into historical and biographical contexts, engaging with critical responses and theoretical approaches, and international reception.
Read fairy tales from around the globe, and then study contemporary novels drawing on the fairy tale.
Explore bilingualism and multilingualism as an individual and a social phenomenon by examining different situations around the world and related social and political issues, using key theoretical and methodological approaches.
Using an interdisciplinary approach, the course conducts a critical inquiry into the historical precedents and theoretical frameworks necessary to understand the role of sexuality in shaping personal, social, economic, and political life.
This interdisciplinary module uses texts, films and graphic novels to explore the genres of medieval fantasy and utopian/dystopian literature. Analysing fantasy texts alongside psychoanalytic and cultural theories will enable you to engage with questions in relation to ideological, cultural, and historical contexts.
Professional work placements
Experience matters. That's why we include professional work placements with every undergraduate degree.
How does it work?
Careers and Placements will work with you to find your perfect placement or help you arrange your own, whether that's in Leeds, another part of the UK or even abroad. You will be able to take part in a series of workshops, events and live ‘employer challenges’ to boost your confidence and prepare you for your placement.
During your placement, you will have an opportunity to gain degree-relevant work experience, build your knowledge of career sectors and secure valuable employer references and industry contacts. This experience will help you to shape your career decisions and find the right path for you.
You'll complete your placements in a variety of settings, including schools, museums, local councils, charities, and media outlets, experiencing the types of careers that your degree could lead to.
To find out how we can help you make your career ambitions a reality, visit:
Professional Work Placements
Learning and Teaching
At Leeds Trinity we aim to provide an excellent student experience and provide you with the tools and support to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional potential.
Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy delivers excellence by providing the framework for:
We have a strong reputation for developing student employability, supporting your development towards graduate employment, with relevant skills embedded throughout your programme of study.
We endeavour to develop curiosity, confidence, courage, ambition and aspiration in all students through the key themes in our Learning and Teaching Strategy:
To help you achieve your potential we emphasise learning as a collaborative process, with a range of student-led and real-world activities. This approach ensures that you fully engage in shaping your own learning, developing your critical thinking and reflective skills so that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and use the extensive learning support system we offer to shape your own development.
We believe the secret to great learning and teaching is simple: it is about creating an inclusive learning experience that allows all students to thrive through:
Programme delivery
Your time on campus, learning through in-person teaching, is at the heart of your academic experience and the way we deliver our programmes. This is supported and further enhanced by additional engagement activities and opportunities provided online and through digital teaching materials. This blended approach seeks to ensure a positive learning and teaching student experience.
Your programme of study has been carefully designed around a three-phase model of delivery:
- Preparation: You will be given clear tasks to support you in preparing for live teaching. This could include watching a short-pre-recorded lecture, reading a paper or text chapter or preparing other material for use in class.
- Live: All your live teaching will be designed around active learning, providing you with valuable opportunities to build on preparation tasks, interact with staff and peers, and surface any misunderstandings.
- Post: Follow-up activities will include opportunities for you to check understanding, for staff to receive feedback from you and your peers to inform subsequent sessions, and for you to apply learning to new situations or context.
Preparation, Live and Post teaching and learning and the digital materials used will vary by course, but will be designed to help you structure your learning, take a full and active part in your course, and apply and test your developing knowledge and skills.
Assessment
A variety of assessment methods are used, matched to the learning outcomes for your programme, allowing you to apply and demonstrate the full range of knowledge and skills that you have developed.
For more details on specific assessment methods for this course contact hello@leedstrinity.ac.uk