Program Overview

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English Program Details

The English program at the University of Limerick is a four-year course that can be taken as part of the UL Arts Degree as a joint honours combination.

About the Course

The program enables students to develop critical thinking skills through an appreciation of the wide world of literature in English, and by analyzing the social and historical contexts through which that literature emerged. Students will learn about the art of writing and shaping narrative by exploring literary genres and history from the 700s on.

What You Will Study

English at UL has four main components that run throughout the four years of the program:

• Literary analysis and theory, critical practice
• Historical schools/eras in literature
• Specialist electives in Irish Literature
• Specialist electives in Creative Writing and in World Literatures

Course Structure

The course structure includes the following modules:

Year 1

• English Literature 1: Novels and Short Fiction
• English Literature 2: Early Modern Poetry and Plays

Year 2

• Introduction to Literary Theory
• Cooperative Education Work Placement
• Students select one of the following:
  • Augustan and Romantic Literature
  • The New World: American Literature to 1890
  • Irish Literary Revolutions
  • Gothic Literature in Ireland

Year 3

• Erasmus/Exchange placement with a partner institution abroad
• Victorian Texts and Contexts
• Students select one of the following:
  • State of the Union: American Literature since 1890
  • Colonial/Postcolonial Literature in English
  • Irish Literature

Year 4

• Literary Modernism
• Students select two of the following:
  • Contemporary Irish Literature
  • Colonial/Postcolonial Literature in English
  • Study of a Major Irish Author
  • Contemporary African Literature in English
  • Contemporary Women's Writing
  • Introduction to Creative Writing
  • Feminist Theory and Literary Texts
  • British Literature 1945-Present Day

How to Apply

Irish students must apply to UL via the CAO. Students who have completed their A-Levels can apply to UL via the CAO. EU Students can apply to UL via the CAO.

Fees and Funding

Student course fees are broken into three components - Student contribution, Student Levy, and Tuition Fees. The student contribution is 2,500, the student levy is 104, and tuition fees vary depending on residency and citizenship.

Your Future Career

Careers open to you with a degree in English include:

• Journalist
• Editor
• English Teacher (Professional Master of Education required)
• Communications and public relations
• Media production, media research
• Publishing and Advertising
• Research and teaching at third level
• Development and research in voluntary organisations

Follow-on Study

Follow-on study options include:

• MA English
• MA Comparative Literature & Cultural Studies
• MA Creative Writing
• MA Journalism
• MA Technical Communication and E-learning
• MA TESOL (Teaching English to Students of Other Languages)