Program Overview

English Studies BA (Hons)

Overview

This degree in English Studies develops your knowledge of classic and contemporary texts, genres, and periods ranging from 18th-century and Victorian literature to modern, postmodern, and 21st-century literature and culture, from British and international contexts.

Course Details

Year 1 Core Modules

• Literature Now: Writing and Audience
  • Explore and analyze professional writing, including online articles, reviews, and live texts using augmented reality technologies.
  • Develop your own writing portfolio.
• On and Off the Page: Critical and Creative Skills in Practice
  • Introduce critical and creative skills and techniques to support your reading and writing.
  • Analyze a range of texts and voices across different forms, genres, and global perspectives.
• Romantics to Victorians: Literature, Culture, and Society
  • Examine how romantic and Victorian literature is influenced by historical and cultural factors.
  • Critically write about class, gender, and race in late 18th and 19th-century literature.
• Words Matter: Writing for Social Change
  • Investigate key writers who have played a role in social change.
  • Address questions about why studying literature and creative writing matters.
  • Write your own manifesto and personal development plan.

Year 2 Core Modules

• Colonial and Postcolonial Writing: Global Voices in Context
  • Examine colonial-era and postcolonial literary texts, including poetry, fiction, and drama.
  • Consider different historical perspectives on empire and its legacies.
• Future Directions: Research, Careers, and Development in the Humanities
  • Develop graduate skills in preparation for further study, employment, or lifelong learning.
  • Gain insight into career pathways and explore opportunities available to humanities graduates.
• Make it New: Experimental Writing
  • Explore modernism as an innovative and artistic movement of the 20th century.
  • Examine your own experimental writing practices.
• Representation and Cultural Identity: Student Conference
  • Examine key theoretical perspectives on the representation of identity in contemporary culture.
  • Investigate these ideas in relation to a contemporary cultural text of your choosing and present your research as a paper at a student conference.

Final-Year Core Modules

• Doing Research: Developing Your Specialism
  • Gain skills and knowledge to devise, develop, and execute an extended independent research project.
  • Develop advanced research skills, including reflective practice, critical research, and self-management.
• English Studies Dissertation
  • Study literary genres and movements and their historical, social, and political contexts.
  • Focus on the 19th century to the present, including aestheticism and decadence, black, Asian, and minority ethnic writing, and contemporary historical fiction.
• Genres, Movements, Histories, Cultures
  • Examine literary genres and movements and their historical, social, and political contexts.
  • Focus on the 19th century to the present, exploring aestheticism and decadence, black, Asian, and minority ethnic writing, and contemporary historical fiction.
• Present Tense: Writing for the Twenty-First Century
  • Explore the current state of literary culture and the impact of the internet, e-books, and self-publishing.
  • Determine the focus of your project and the selection of texts you choose to study.

How You Learn

• Discussion-based seminars
• Independent research
• Small group work
• One-to-one meetings
• Workshops

How You Are Assessed

• No formal examinations
• Essays
• Portfolios
• Reports
• Presentations
• Manifestos
• Dissertation

Entry Requirements

• A typical offer is 96-112 tariff points from at least two A levels, T level, or equivalent.
• International applicants can find out what qualifications they need by visiting the university's website.

Career Opportunities

• Journalism
• Media and communication
• Retail management
• Local government
• Creative and cultural industries
• Arts administration
• Civil service
• Education
• Performing arts
• Law

Tuition Fees

• Full-time: £9,535 a year (UK applicants), £17,000 a year (international applicants)
• Part-time: £4,635 (120 credits) (UK applicants)

Other Course Routes

• BA (Hons) English Studies (with Foundation Year)
• English and Creative Writing BA (Hons)
• English Studies (with Foundation Year) BA (Hons)
• English and Creative Writing (with Foundation Year) BA (Hons)