Program Overview

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On our four-year BA Philosophy and Literature (including foundation year), we work with you to develop your subject-specific knowledge, and to improve your academic skills. You receive a thorough grounding in these areas during your foundation year (known as Year Zero) to prepare you for a further three years of undergraduate study at Essex. Our five-year version of this course enables you to study abroad during your fourth year of study. This course includes a foundation year (Year Zero), followed by a further three or four years of study depending on whether you choose to study abroad for a year. During your Year Zero, you study three academic subjects relevant to your chosen course as well as a compulsory academic skills module, with additional English language for non-English speakers. After successful completion of Year Zero in our Essex Pathways Department, you progress to complete your course with our School of Philosophy and Art History. At Essex, our course enables you to study topics from both literature and philosophy, and to explore issues at the cross-sections of these two exciting disciplines. We provide a wide-ranging and flexible curriculum, embracing different traditions of philosophical thought, and English literature of several genres and periods. We also focus on the interrelations between the disciplines of philosophy and literature. You study topics including:

• Ethics
• Philosophy of religion
• European philosophy (including critical theory, phenomenology, and existentialism)
• Modernist cityscapes in literature
• Victorian literary realism

We are 7th in the UK for research impact in philosophy (Grade Point Average, REF2021). Why we're great.

• We equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed at Essex and beyond.
• Guarantee a place on your chosen course upon successful completion of your foundation year.
• Small class sizes allow you to work closely with your teachers and classmates.

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond our University campus. We support you extending your education by offering you an additional year. The five-year version of our degree allows you to spend your fourth year studying abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the four-year course. Studying abroad can allow you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. We have exchange partners in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, the Middle East, Hong Kong and Japan. If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university

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Our expert staff

We have some of the best teachers across the University in our Essex Pathways Department , all of whom have strong subject backgrounds and are highly skilled in their areas. In our School of Philosophy and Art History our courses are taught by world-class academics. We are 7th in the UK for research impact in philosophy (Grade Point Average, REF2021). Our open-minded and enthusiastic philosophy staff have an exceptionally broad range of research interests, so whatever questions in philosophy catch hold of your imagination, there is certain to be someone you can approach to find out more. Our Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies is committed to unlocking creative personal responses to literature. Our distinctive environment is possible because we are a community of award-winning novelists, poets and playwrights, as well as leading literature specialists. Our academic staff specialise in a range of areas including modernism, comparative and world literature, Shakespeare, the Renaissance, travel writing, nature writing, translated literature, cultural geography, Irish and Scottish writing, U.S. and Caribbean literature, and the history of reading.

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Specialist facilities

By studying within our Essex Pathways Department for your foundation year, you will have access to all of the facilities that the University of Essex has to offer, as well as those provided by our department to support you:

• We provide computer labs for internet research; classrooms with access to PowerPoint facilities for student presentations; AV facilities for teaching and access to web-based learning materials
• Our new Student Services Hub will support you and provide information for all your needs as a student
• Our social space is stocked with magazines and newspapers, and provides an informal setting to meet with your lecturers, tutors and friends

Our School of Philosophy and Art History and our Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies also offer excellent on-campus facilities:

• An exciting programme of research seminars, reading groups and mini-courses that help you expand your philosophical knowledge beyond what you learn on your course
• A comprehensive student support system which will direct you to the best source of advice and support in the case of personal or academic difficulties
• Meet fellow readers at the student-run Literature Society or at the department’s Myth Reading Group
• Learn from leading writers and literature specialists at weekly research seminars
• Our on-Campus, 200-seat Lakeside Theatre has been established as a major venue for good drama, staging both productions by professional touring companies and a wealth of new work written, produced and directed by our own staff and students

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Your future

Many employers want graduates with critical thinking skills who can think logically and creatively about practical problems. Our students are in demand from a wide range of employers in a host of occupations, including law, PR, project management, journalism and the media, teaching, librarianship, the Civil Service, banking, the police and fashion design. Our recent graduates have gone on to work for a wide range of high-profile companies. Philosophy develops your transferable skills, providing you with:

• The ability to understand all sides of a dispute objectively and without forming a premature opinion
• The ability to work in a team, taking a collaborative approach to problems
• The ability to interpret dense text and to communicate effectively
• Analytical and problem-solving skills

We also work with the university's Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.