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BA (Hons) English Literature
Key information
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Typical offer:
Entry requirements -
Fees: See below
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UCAS code: Q350
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Institute code: H36
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Study abroad option
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Work placement option
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Entry requirements
The University of Hertfordshire is committed to welcoming students with a wide range of qualifications and levels of experience. The entry requirements listed on the course pages provide a guide to the minimum level of qualifications needed to study each course. However, we have a flexible approach to admissions and each application will be considered on an individual basis.
UCAS points A Level BTEC Access Course Tariff IB 112-120 BBC-BBB DMM-DDM Overall merit profile in 45 credits at Level 3 112-120 points Additional requirements
GCSE: Grade 4/C in English Language and Mathematics
All students from non-majority English speaking countries require proof of English language proficiency, equivalent to an overall IELTS score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each band.
If you do not have the required IELTS or equivalent for direct entry on to your degree programme, our Pre-sessional English and International Foundation courses can help you to achieve this level.
For more details on the University of Hertfordshire's entry requirements, please visit our Undergraduate Entry Requirements page.
Find out more about International Entry Requirements.
UCAS points A Level BTEC Access Course Tariff IB 112-120 BBC-BBB DMM-DDM Overall merit profile in 45 credits at Level 3 112-120 points Additional requirements
GCSE: Grade 4/C in English Language and Mathematics
All students from non-majority English speaking countries require proof of English language proficiency, equivalent to an overall IELTS score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each band.
If you do not have the required IELTS or equivalent for direct entry on to your degree programme, our Pre-sessional English and International Foundation courses can help you to achieve this level.
For more details on the University of Hertfordshire's entry requirements, please visit our Undergraduate Entry Requirements page.
Find out more about International Entry Requirements.
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- English Literature has a 94.2% overall student positivity* score (National Student Survey, 2023)
- Specialise in the literature genre and period of your choice
- Optional foreign language pathways from beginner to advanced
- A fresh take on traditional writing and the opportunity to study contemporary works that speak directly to our everyday lives
- An expert academic team to support you and build your confidence as you develop into a literary scholar
- A flexible programme of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting
- CV-building potential through work placements and extra-curricular activities
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Level 4
Module Credits Compulsory/optional Texts Up Close: Reading and Interpretation 15 Credits Compulsory This core module aims to encourage and develop your enjoyment of the processes and practices of reading literary texts. It is also intended that the module help you transition from secondary education to university study and equip you with a strong foundation in some important skills needed throughout your university career: close textual analysis, independent learning, critical thinking, and advanced academic writing. The module aims to encourage you to think about literary genres and styles, as well as a range of approaches to literary criticism. We will focus on a small number of primary texts written at different times, as well as a selection of literary criticism. Typical examples include: Zadie Smith's Swing Time, Caryl Churchill's Cloud 9 and a range of poems. `Texts Up Close' will also complement your work on other modules in the first year, and prepare you for the next steps in your degree. Make it New: Literary Tradition and Experimentation 15 Credits Compulsory This module builds on your work in the first semester and focuses on the ways in which, in the Twenty-first century, literary texts continue to undergo transformation. In studying examples from the three main genres: prose (novels), poetry, and drama. You will examine how texts either conform to, or break away from, literary conventions and traditions. The module emphasises recent material to give you a sense of the writing around us now, but we will also look at some older ~classic' texts. We will seek to question how the ingredients of different genres (character, plot, and narration in the novel; dialogue and structure in drama; language, metre and rhyme in poetry, for example) are re-examined and questioned over time. Authors studied may include, for example: Ali Smith, Mike Bartlett, Max Porter, Simon Stephens, Terence Hayes, Ocean Vuong, Rita Dove, Sophie Meyer, Adrienne Rich. Journeys and Quests: Adventures in Literature 15 Credits Compulsory From ancient Greek poems about mythic heroes, to the search for the Holy Grail, and recent stories about returning home, the quest narrative has been central to literary texts across time-periods and cultures. They have been used in reactionary and revolutionary formats. This module is interested in the narrative traditions, conventions and motifs of the quest, and we will pay close attention to literary form and content. We will also think how certain narratives are recycled and re-used by writers and filmmakers. We will move from ancient texts such as Homer's epic The Odyssey to more contemporary re-writings of this story, such as Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad (2005). Students are asked to think about how adaptations of both the form and specific narratives engage with current social, political and cultural debates around identity, heroism and the notion of 'home'. Border Crossings: Modern Literature from around the World 15 Credits Compulsory This module focuses on literary texts from around the world. You will explore texts from a diverse range of countries and cultures (either written in English, or translated into English), helping you to think of 'English Literature' as more than just writing produced in Britain. You will study a selection of significant international works that have sparked particular debate or represent literary innovation. We will discuss themes such as: identity; belonging; migration; heritage; diaspora; indigeneity; and environment. The module will build on the work done in the first semester, continuing to help you develop ways of comparing and analysing different texts and their contexts. We will read works from countries as varied as Australia, Guyana, India, Ireland, Nigeria, Palestine and the USA. These will typically include novels, graphic novels, films, poetry and plays. Identity and Contemporary Writing 15 Credits Compulsory This creative and critical module explores a range of contemporary poetry and prose about identity. Broadly, the module examines material written in the late-twentieth and twenty-first-century about identity positions, from race and gender, to sexuality, dis/ability, class and so on. We will consider, both creatively and critically, how one writes about one's own life, whether marginal or otherwise. You will think about these concerns as both creative writers and literary scholars: you will be analysing poetry and prose as well as writing in these forms on a fortnightly basis. Each critical week, exploring a topic, theme or author, will be followed by a creative week, where you put into practice the things you've learned. In all, this module helps develop you as both a writer and a scholar of contemporary literature. Writers studied may include: Emily Berry, Danez Smith, Justin Torres, Mary Jean Chan, Andrew McMillan, Claudia Rankine, and others. American Voices: Introduction to US Literature and Culture 15 Credits Compulsory This module will introduce you to some key works of US literature, from the founding of the nation until the present day, and explore how they intersect with important aspects of American history, culture and society. We will study works in a range of forms and genres, from varied historical moments, developing your understanding of recurring motifs in American culture and your skills of critical analysis. The module will suggest different ways of conceptualising -- and making connections between -- alternative literary interpretations of the American experience. These approaches may be thematic (e.g. revolution, modernity, isolation), stylistic (e.g. Gothic, realism, naturalism) or spatial (e.g. city, plantation, frontier, small town). The module will lay the foundations for the more in-depth, period-based study of American literature at Level 5 and 6 by giving you a sense of the dazzling diversity of American writing over the last two centuries and more Romantic Origins & Gothic Afterlives 15 Credits Compulsory This module interrogates Romanticism's intersection with the Gothic in an era of revolution, innovation and social change. It explores a number of themes around innocence and experience, liberty and enslavement, terror and romance, together with new ways of thinking about the world, through theories of the sublime and the picturesque. The emphasis on origins invites us to investigate the development of genres and modes of writing from Romantic fragments to revolutionary feminist essays, fairy tale narratives and Gothic romances, and to give special prominence to childhood. We interrogate a range of narratives that focus on the peculiar responsiveness of children to nature and the revolutionary promise of the child. We also investigate childhood as a less than idealised state: tales of primitives, 'savages', feral children, and 'monsters'. The module will conclude with an exploration of the dark 'other' of the beautiful Romantic child through the Gothic afterlife of Frankenstein's creature. History on the Page, Stage, and Screen 15 Credits Compulsory From the Assassin's Creed video games to the enormously popular Bridgeton series historical events, people, and scenarios dominate our cultural landscape. They are presented in novels, on television, on film, and on the stage. The past is the source of inspiration for societies around the world. Writers use it as the setting for their stories; governments use it to justify their policies; businesses use it to sell their products or services. This module explores how history is represented in popular culture and provides students with an understanding of how historians are involved in shaping these depictions. It asks students to question the extent to which contemporary depictions tell us more about our own times than about the past and to consider the extent to which popular representations of the past connect with debates amongst academic historians. French Stage 1A - General language for work and leisure 15 Credits Optional Have you ever wanted to be able to speak French? Would you like to be able to introduce yourself to new people and use your skills to order a coffee, ask for directions or go shopping whilst travelling in a French-speaking country? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Starting from scratch, you will learn how to exchange simple information and then hold useful, everyday conversations in French. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in French. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in France and/or other francophone countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning French for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. French Stage 1B - General language for work and leisure 15 Credits Optional German Stage 1A - General language for work and leisure 15 Credits Optional Have you ever wanted to be able to speak German? Would you like to be able to introduce yourself to new people and use your skills to order a coffee, ask for directions or go shopping whilst travelling in a German-speaking country? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Starting from scratch, you will learn how to exchange simple information and then hold useful, everyday conversations in German. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in German. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Germany and/or other German-speaking countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning German for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. German Stage 1B - General language for work and leisure 15 Credits Optional Do you speak a little German already and want to learn more? Would you like to be able to talk to others about what you did last weekend, tell someone about a holiday or describe where you live? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on basic prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in German. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in German. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Germany and/or other German-speaking countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning German for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Spanish Stage 1A - General language for work and leisure 15 Credits Optional Have you ever wanted to be able to speak Spanish? Would you like to be able to introduce yourself to new people and use your skills to order a coffee, go shopping or describe your family whilst travelling in a Spanish-speaking country? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Starting from scratch, you will learn how to exchange simple information and then hold useful, everyday conversations in Spanish. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in Spanish. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Spain and/or other Spanish-speaking countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Spanish for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Spanish Stage 1B - General language for work and leisure 15 Credits Optional Do you speak a little Spanish already and want to learn more? Would you like to be able to talk to others about what you did last weekend, compare towns and cities or discuss your future plans? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on basic prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in Spanish. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in Spanish. / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Spain and/or other Spanish-speaking countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Spanish for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Japanese Stage 1A - General language for work and leisure 15 Credits Optional Are you interested in Japanese culture, and would you like to learn to speak the language? Would you like to be able to introduce yourself to new people, read the menu in a restaurant or understand what you can buy in the shops in Japanese? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Starting from scratch, you will learn how to exchange simple information and then hold useful, everyday conversations in Japanese. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in Japanese. / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Japan you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Japanese for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Japanese Stage 1B - General language for work and leisure 15 Credits Optional Do you speak a little Japanese already and want to learn more? Would you like to be able to understand what is said in a TV programme or a J-pop song, talk to others about your family or what you did last weekend? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on basic prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in Japanese. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in Japanese. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Japan you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Japanese for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Mandarin Stage 1A - General language for work and leisure 15 Credits Optional Are you interested in Chinese culture, or would you like to learn to speak Mandarin Chinese for your future career? Would you like to be able to introduce yourself to new people and use your skills to find out about others? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Starting from scratch, you will learn to meet and greet, talk about nationalities and occupations, order food and make arrangements, progressing towards holding useful, everyday conversations in Mandarin. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will exchange ideas and express your opinions. You will also learn to write simplified Chinese characters used by the majority of Chinese speakers. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in China and/or other Chinese-speaking communities you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Mandarin Chinese for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Mandarin Stage 1B - General language for work and leisure 15 Credits Optional Do you speak a little Mandarin Chinese already and want to learn more? Would you like to be able to talk to others about your free time activities, go shopping, use public transport or discuss your holiday plans? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on basic prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations Mandarin. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions. You will also learn to write simplified Chinese characters used by the majority of Chinese speakers. / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in China and other Chinese-speaking countries and communities you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Mandarin Chinese for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Advanced French C4a - Francophone society and culture 15 Credits Optional Do you have a keen interest in learning advanced French, and would you like to find out more about French culture and society and discover the wider francophone world? Would you like to discuss why France is so popular as a tourist destination, or talk about topical issues such as sustainable tourism, the green economy or equality in the workplace? This module will enable you to engage in discussions and develop the confidence and competence to use your language skills in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular class discussion you will deepen your knowledge, exchange ideas and express informed opinions in the language. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in France and the francophone world you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning French for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Advanced French C4b - Francophone society and culture 15 Credits Optional Do you have a keen interest in learning advanced French, and would you like to find out more about French culture and society and discover the wider francophone world? Would you like to find out about sport and the economy, the significance of secularism in France, or talk about topical issues such as immigration and integration? This module will enable you to engage in discussions and develop the confidence and competence to use your language skills in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular class discussion you will deepen your knowledge, exchange ideas and express informed opinions in the language. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in France and the francophone world you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning French for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Advanced Spanish C4a - Culture and Society in Spain 15 Credits Optional Do you have a keen interest in learning advanced Spanish, and would you like to find out more about Spanish culture and society? Would you like to explore some of the current economic, social, political and territorial challenges that Spain faces and find out about some key historical periods that have shaped the country? This module will take you from the early twentieth century to the beginning of the twenty-first so you can learn about the Second Republic, the Spanish Civil War, Franco s dictatorship, and the transition to democracy. Building on your prior knowledge, you will learn how to engage in discussions and develop the confidence and competence to use your language skills in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular class discussion you will deepen your knowledge, exchange ideas and express informed opinions in the language./ / / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in the Spanish-speaking world you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness./ / / Whether you are interested in learning Spanish for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers./ / / / Spanish Route C4b - Advanced Spanish - Challenges in Spanish Society 15 Credits Optional Do you have a keen interest in learning advanced Spanish, and would you like to find out more about Spanish culture and society? Would you like to explore more of the current social challenges that Spain faces today and engage in discussions about topical issues such as sustainable tourism, data privacy or the environment? If so, this module will enable you to build the confidence and competence to do so and use your language skills in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular class discussion you will deepen your knowledge, exchange ideas and express informed opinions in the language. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in the Spanish-speaking world you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Spanish for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. -
Level 5
Module Credits Compulsory/optional Ways of Reading: Literature and Theory 15 Credits Compulsory Ways of Reading is an introduction to literary critical approaches which call into question apparently common sense interpretative concepts such as 'intention', the 'author' and 'character'. The module will offer a survey of twentieth-century trends in critical thinking about literature, including Marxism, psychoanalysis and feminism, together with later developments such as deconstruction and Postmodernism. The emphasis will be on learning to apply concepts which are characteristic of these approaches within the context of your own critical writing about literature. This module is compulsory for students intending to take an independent project module or dissertation in Literature at Level 6. Age of Transition: the Victorians and Modernity 15 Credits Compulsory The Victorians recognized their own period (1837-1901) as a time of extremely rapid social change - an "age of transition". In this module, we will study representative Victorian genres (novels, poems, plays, journalism), which respond to this sense of upheaval and the emergence of the modern world. Against this, we will read novels by writers working today who choose to set their work in the Victorian period. These so-called "neo-Victorian" novels re-write the Victorians from the perspective of our 21st century. They also ask us to reflect on our own preconceptions about the Victorian period and our sense of living in a more "enlightened" society. Texts for study will thus typically include examples of Victorian writing (Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Mary Braddon) but also recent bestsellers by writers such as Sarah Waters, John Fowles and A.S. Byatt and films such as Wilde (1997) which present the Victorians in a different light. A Nation of Readers: British Identity and Enlightenment Culture 15 Credits Compulsory This module focuses on British literature first published between 1640-1740 and is designed to build on your ongoing close-reading and analytical skills. The module considers many key cultural themes relevant to this turbulent period of history, including power and political authority, national identity, class hierarchies, print culture, gender and sexuality, and religion, and encourages students to consider texts from a historicist approach. Texts are likely to include works by Dryden, Marvell, Milton, Gay, Pope and Swift as well as lesser-known female authors such as Mary Chudleigh and Mary Wortley Montagu. Prose works are likely to include Behn's "Oroonoko" and Defoe's "Moll Flanders". You will therefore be looking at both the work of writers whose works are often identified within the canon of great English literature as well as others who have, until more recently, often been excluded from literary histories. Revisiting the Renaissance 15 Credits Compulsory This module takes a historicist approach to British literature first published between 1550 and 1642 and is designed to build on your ongoing development of close-reading and analytical skills in relation to many key cultural themes relevant to this turbulent period of history, including power and political authority, national identity, class hierarchies, print culture, gender and sexuality, and religion. Texts are likely to include plays by Shakespeare, Marlowe and Jonson, and poetry by Wyatt, Sidney, Spenser and Donne as well as lesser-known female Renaissance authors such as Whitney, Wroth and Lanyer. Prose works such as Sir Thomas More's "Utopia" and the Tilbury speech of Queen Elizabeth I will also be considered. We will therefore be looking at both the work of writers whose works are often identified within the canon of great English literature as well as others who have, until more recently, often been excluded from literary histories. Twentieth-Century US Literature and Culture 15 Credits Compulsory This module will survey twentieth-century literature and culture from the United States. We will investigate key texts (literature, film, visual culture) from the period alongside historical and cultural contexts, and theoretical frameworks. Among other things, we will discuss: the broad movement in US culture from realism modernism to postmodernism and beyond; the impact of events like the World Wars and the Depression as well as legacies of slavery and indigenous removal; and also the more general notion of the 'American Century'. By examining a range of diverse texts, we will think about race, gender, sexuality, disability and other identity positions against the backdrop of US cultural history. Possible authors studied: Nella Larsen, Toni Morrison, Louise Erdrich, Tony Kushner, William Faulkner; possible artists studied: Mark Rothko, Carrie Mae Weems; possible filmmakers studied: Victor Fleming, Julie Dash, Spike Lee. Studies in Twentieth Century Literature, 1900-1945 15 Credits Optional Early twentieth century literature was a site of significant experimentation and change, laying the foundations for the 'rules of writing' that influence authors today. This module will examine some key texts published in the period 1900-1945 and offer an historical and theoretical framework in which they can be read including the importance of Modernism. The course will make clear that the chronological division indicated here does not imply that all texts of this period can be called Modernist and will include other genres, styles and modes of writing. Attention will also be given to such common thematic motifs such as urban ambience, changing social mores, the presence of the past, social class, race, nationality and sexual politics. The writers studied will include key figures such as Nella Larsen, Jean Toomer, Djuna Barnes, Virginia Woolf, May Sinclair, Jean Rhys and T.S. Eliot. American Literature to 1900 15 Credits Optional This module traces the development of American literature from the colonial period through to 1900, examining texts from multiple genres (autobiography, captivity narrative, political propaganda, novel, poetry, short story). It will examine how writers responded to the American environment and sociopolitical events to create a distinctively American literary tradition. Attention will be paid to issues such as New England Puritanism; the treatment of Native Americans; slavery; the War of Independence; America's relationship with England; Manifest Destiny, expansionism and the frontier; transcendentalism; the Civil War; industrialization and the growth of the city; gender and sexuality. Authors who may be studied include: William Bradford, Mary Rowlandson, Phylis Wheatley, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Brockden Brown, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allen Poe, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Henry James, Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, Stephen Crane, Sarah Orne Jewett. Images of Contemporary Society: British Literature and the Politics of Identity 15 Credits Optional Drawing on a wide variety of writing produced since the Second World War, this module focuses on the changing situations of both writers and readers of British fiction. At the centre of the module will be an examination of realism in post-war writing through the texts of a wide range of authors. Students will be asked to consider the cultural representations of the period as they are evinced in both fiction, drama, and poetry including those of the late 1950s and early 1960s, a time of unprecedented change in British Society. The module provides examples of this writing by investigating such authors as for example-, Sam Selvon, Pat Barker, Alan Sillitoe, Tony Harrison and Jeanette Winterson, Zadie Smith, Irvine Welsh and Kazuo Ishiguro. As well as considering the ways in which the set texts deal with such issues as class antagonisms, race and ethnicity, masculinity and femininity and differing sexualities, students will be invited to consider the extent to which the set texts can be seen to be representative of contemporary society. Literature at Work 15 Credits Optional This module enables you to incorporate practical experience into your study of English Literature and/or Creative Writing. It focuses on how literature (the writing process, the marketing and retailing of texts, their critical analysis, or literary history) is encountered by an audience outside academia. To take this module, you must find a suitable work placement by the end of the previous semester, with guidance from the module leader. Suitable sites for work experience might include: a school, or further education college; a heritage site associated with a writer; a literary festival; a publishing company; a bookshop; a funding body or arts organisation; a theatre. Your time spent on placement should total up to at least 24 accumulated hours, though in practice you may spend longer. In seminars, you will reflect on your experiences, explore related conceptual issues and develop a broader appreciation of how literature is engaged with outside higher education. The module will be assessed by a presentation and portfolio of materials including the development of a new curriculum vitae. Employability Skills 15 Credits Optional Producing graduates who are highly employable is a key aim of the University of Hertfordshire. This module aims to help you bridge gaps between your specialist academic studies and the world of graduate employment. As well as allowing you to reflect on and further develop your employability skills we will explore the changing nature of employers' needs. Using case studies, we will consider a range of issues (legal, gender, equality) that can arise in recruitment and the workplace. The module will also focus on career planning and job searching, as well as recruitment and selection processes including the work of assessment centres and psychometric testing. Overall the intention is that you will be able to develop your job-market awareness and identify and explore potential career pathways. The module is worth 15 credits and may be chosen in place of a 15-credit subject module at Level 5, or as an additional module at Level 6, alongside 120 credits of modules in your subject(s). French Stage 2A - Technology, networking and the future 15 Credits Optional Do you have a basic grounding in French already and want to learn more? Would you like to feel more confident holding conversations with native speakers about topics such as technological developments, learn to network professionally, apply for a job and talk about the future? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in French for both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in French. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in France and other francophone countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning French for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. French Stage 2B - Wellbeing, sustainability, internationalism 15 Credits Optional Do you have a firm grounding in French already and want to learn more? Would you like to be able to speak more confidently and be able to discuss topic such as your wellbeing, sustainability initiatives, or prepare for study or work abroad? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in French for both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in French. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in France and other francophone countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning French for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. German Stage 2A - Culture, education & study abroad 15 Credits Optional Do you have a basic grounding in German already and want to learn more? Are you interested in learning to speak German as one of the top 10 most used languages in international business? Would you like to be able to find out more about German-speaking countries and talk about studying or working abroad? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in German for both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in German. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Germany and/or other German-speaking countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning German for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. German Stage 2B - Living and working in German-speaking countries 15 Credits Optional Do you have a firm grounding in German already and want to feel more confident using your language skills? Are you interested in using your German to enhance your career prospects? Would you like to find out more about politics and society, or talk about topics such as the environment, or health and wellbeing? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in German for both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in German. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Germany and/or other German-speaking countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning German for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Spanish Stage 2B - Food, study abroad and job applications 15 Credits Optional Do you have a firm grounding in Spanish already and want to learn more? Would you like to find out about traditional food, learn how to apply for a job or prepare for study abroad? If so, this module will help you to gain the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in Spanish for both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in Spanish. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Spanish for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Japanese Stage 2A - Daily life, travel and culture 15 Credits Optional Do you have a passion for Japanese culture? Do you have a basic grounding in the language already and want to learn more? Would you like to find out about Japanese folk tales, or feel able to have real conversations with native speakers about your daily life or talk about your travel plans? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in Japanese for both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in Japanese. / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Japan you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Japanese for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Japanese Stage 2B - Jobs, business and accommodation 15 Credits Optional Do you have a firm grounding in Japanese already and want to learn more? Would you like to find out more about traditions and customs in Japan? Would you like to feel able to hold conversations with native speakers about topics such as your accommodation, apply for jobs or understand more about businesses in Japan? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in Japanese for both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in Japanese. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Japan you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Japanese for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Mandarin Stage 2A - Language, culture & history 15 Credits Optional Are you fascinated by Chinese culture, or are you interested in enhancing your career prospects by learning to speak Mandarin Chinese as one of the top 10 most used in international business? If you have a basic grounding in the language already, then this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to discuss topics such as student life, your reasons for learning the language and travel. You will also find out about aspects of Chinese culture and history. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in Mandarin for both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in Mandarin. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in China and Chinese-speaking countries and communities you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Mandarin for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Mandarin Stage 2B - Language, culture & history 15 Credits Optional Do you have a firm grounding Mandarin already and want to learn more? Would you like to build your confidence further in using your language skills and be able to discuss work and future plans, studying and living abroad with native speakers? If so, then this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so, as well as explore further aspects of Chinese culture and historical contexts. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in Mandarin for both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in Mandarin. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in China and Chinese-speaking countries and communities you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Mandarin for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Advanced French C5a - Francophone society and culture 15 Credits Optional Do you have an advanced level of French already and want to develop your language skills further? Would you like to find out more about contemporary life in France? If so, then this module will enable you to improve your linguistic competence through the in-depth study of cultural, linguistic and economic topics such as France's regional identities as well as its luxury goods sector and gastronomy. Building on your prior knowledge, you will learn how to engage in discussions and develop the confidence and competence to use your language skills in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular class discussion you will deepen your knowledge, exchange ideas and express informed opinions in the language. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in France you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning French for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Advanced French C5b - Francophone society and culture 15 Credits Optional Do you have an advanced level of French already and want to develop your language skills further? Would you like to prepare for study abroad, a work placement or even a future career in a French-speaking country? If so, then this module will enable you to understand more about key aspects of society such as the French political and educational systems and modern family life. It will also enable you to respond appropriately to job adverts and talk about your skills and experience in an interview in French. Building on your prior knowledge, you will learn how to engage in discussions and develop the confidence and competence to use your language skills in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular class discussion you will deepen your knowledge, exchange ideas and express informed opinions in the language. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in France you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning French for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Advanced Spanish C5a - Latin American Society and Culture 15 Credits Optional Do you have an advanced level of Spanish and want to develop your language skills further? Would you like to find out more about some selected Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America? If so, then this module will enable you to improve your linguistic competence through the in-depth study of political, cultural, linguistic and economic topics. / Building on your prior knowledge, you will learn how to engage in discussions and develop the confidence and competence to use your language skills in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular class discussion you will deepen your knowledge, exchange ideas and express informed opinions in the language./ / / / / / / / / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in the Spanish-speaking world you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness./ / / / / / / / Whether you are interested in learning Spanish for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Advanced Spanish C5b - Spanish at Work 15 Credits Optional Do you have an advanced level of Spanish and want to develop your language skills further? Would you like to prepare for study abroad, a work placement or even a future career in a Spanish-speaking country? If so, then this module will enable you to understand more about key aspects of society such as the education system and the economy. It will also enable you to respond appropriately to job adverts and talk about your skills and experience in an interview in Spanish. Building on your prior knowledge, you will learn how to engage in discussions and develop the confidence and competence to use your language skills in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular class discussion you will deepen your knowledge, exchange ideas and express informed opinions in the language. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in the Spanish-speaking world you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Spanish for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. -
Level 6
Module Credits Compulsory/optional Literature and the Visual Arts 15 Credits Optional This module considers how literature relates to paintings, sculptures, prints, video artworks, and photographs. Examining cultural movements from Romanticism to the present, it discusses 'ekphrastic' works (poems about paintings) and intermedial movements sharing approaches to literary/artistic production. Avant-garde, modernist, and contemporary movements are explored alongside industrialisation, war, and equal rights. Reading may include work from Auden, Dante and Christine Rossetti, William Blake, Wyndham Lewis, Turner, Augusta Savage, Hilda Doolittle (H. D.), Elaine de Kooning, Frank Bowling, Cy Twombly, Georgia O'Keefe, Frank O'Hara, Frankenthaler, and Lerner. Renaissance Tragedy 15 Credits Optional This course considers a range of tragic drama produced during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. It aims to introduce students to the diversity of the tragic drama written during this period and to its classical heritage and contemporary critical context. It will consider why tragedy dominated the Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre and consider the ways in which the genre developed over time. It will examine the popularity of revenge tragedy during this period and seek to locate the contemporary fascination with revenge in political developments and debates of the period. Plays to be studied may include Kyd's 'The Spanish Tragedy', Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', Webster's 'The White Devil', and Middleton's 'The Revenger's Tragedy'. Eighteenth Century Bodies 15 Credits Optional Gender and sexuality have histories; this module will explore some of the ways in which they were constructed in the shifting social contexts of the long eighteenth century and their intertwining with concepts of power, class, nationhood, and ethnicity. By examining a generically broad range of textual materials - plays, poems, novels, philosophical and political discourses, advice books and biographies - this module will analyse a variety of models of sexual behaviour and gendered identity, paying close attention to the historical moment in which the text was written. Possible themes and authors might include: Restoration libertinism and bourgeois sexuality; the shifting cultural position of marriage over the period from transactional economic exchange to companionate union; the cultural nexus between versions of 'fiction' and 'authenticity' in contemporary print culture as seen in novelistic forms and early journalism. Literature Project 30 Credits Optional The Literature Project is intended to give you the opportunity to carry out a substantial up-to-date research project based on a topic or author of particular interest. As well as enabling you to follow up particular enthusiasms, the module aims to further develop skills in planning, research, time-management and presentation. The module is taught via a programme of one-to-one tutorials with a designated supervisor. You may choose a topic from any area of literary studies but the choice of a topic must be agreed with the module leader before the end of Semester B preceding the next academic year in which the work will be undertaken. If you are taking 120 credits or more in English Literature at Level 3 (i.e. you are intending to graduate with a Single Honours degree in English Literature) your programme of study should include this module or 3HUM0231, the Independent Study and Research Project, but not both. Between the Acts: Late Victorian and Edwardian Literature 1890-1920 15 Credits Optional This module studies texts written between 1890 and 1920 in order to consider the period of transition between the end of the Victorian age and the end of the First World War. Students will be invited to consider ways in which the set texts challenge 'Victorian' ideas of stability and respectability as well as their engagement with such concepts as heroism, the `monstrous', suburbia, marriage and sexuality, trauma, class and nationhood. The texts studied will include a range of different genres and styles, from the so-called `problem play' of the 1890s and 1900s, to the horror story; from the best-selling exotic romance to the literature of World War One. Authors studied may include Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, Elizabeth Robbins, E.M. Forster, Ford Madox Ford, Rebecca West, Henry James, Elinor Glyn and Rudyard Kipling. Postmodern Genders 15 Credits Optional This module focuses on representations of gender in twentieth and twenty-first century literature. Of particular interest will be a selection of texts which mount innovative challenges to conventional understandings of gender difference as fixed and natural, treating gender instead as a variable and unstable cultural production. So, for example, primary texts may include: Virginia Woolf s Orlando and Angela Carter s The Passion of New Eve (both texts where the protagonist changes sex); Jeanette Winterson's Written on the Body (whose narrator-protagonist never reveals whether s/he is a woman or a man); Iain Banks's The Wasp Factory (which interrogates hypermasculinity), Jackie Kay s Trumpet (about a woman who successfully passes as a man), Jeffrey Eugenides Middlesex (whose protagonist is a hermaphrodite), and Carol Ann Duffy's The World's Wife (which offers playful new perspectives on gender relations). The module will also offer sessions which explore recent theoretical approaches to sex, gender and sexuality. Children's Literature:Growing up in Books 15 Credits Optional This module critically analyses works of children's literature published since 1950. Primary texts will range from picture books designed for very young children to works of cross-over fiction which aim to bridge the gap between the child and the adult reader. This will enable us to consider the ways in which children's literature works on the page and in culture to interpret the process of ~growing up' in modern society. We will engage in close critical analysis of the primary material (considering, for example, questions of genre, narrative conventions and the relationship between words and illustrations) - and this will be linked at to a consideration of the ways in which literature for children interacts with wider cultural and historical contexts. Authors studied might include Maurice Sendak, Judith Kerr,Tom Percival, Ibthihaj Muhammad, Dr Seuss, Roald Dahl, C. S. Lewis, Michael Morpurgo, J.K.Rowling, Malorie Blackman and Philip Pullman. Native American Literature 15 Credits Optional This module will focus on literary works produced by the indigenous peoples of North America. The highly diverse linguistic, ethnic and tribal groups who inhabited the North American continent at the time of the earliest European settlement had one thing in common: the oral transmission of tradition, history and culture. Without a written language, and in the face of continual displacement, extermination, and disenfranchisement, Indians writers have faced unique challenges to articulate their culture and identity in the language of their oppressors, and to respond to modernity without betraying their heritage. You will consider their responses to these difficulties, employing varied theoretical approaches to texts from the eighteenth century to the present day. Writers who may be studied include: Samson Occom, William Apess, Black Hawk, Zitkala-`a, D'Arcy McNickle, N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Gerald Vizenor, Joy Harjo, Louise Erdrich, James Welch, Sherman Alexie, and Thomas King. East End Fictions: Interdisciplinary Studies of London's East End 15 Credits Optional The East End of London has a rich cultural heritage. This module will examine literary, filmic and dramatic texts from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that were written in or inspired by this area. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, it draws on diverse literary texts, historical sources, pictorial representations and film. It questions the validity of the beliefs that underlie depictions of the area and its people. It will explore the concept of psychogeography, which seeks to analyse the effects of the physical environment on the psychology of those that live there. By focusing on the themes of class, community, crime and the immigrant experience, the course will trace how these reflect the social, cultural, historical and geographical context. The chosen texts may include fiction by Charles Dickens, Israel Zangwill, Peter Ackroyd, Iain Sinclair and Monica Ali and drama by George Dibdin Pitt, Arnold Wesker, Steven Berkoff and Tunde Ikoli. Worlds Apart 1: Utopian & Dystopian Writing 15 Credits Optional In this module you will study some of the fantastic, futuristic worlds created by writers to reflect upon their own societies and analyse the implications of these utopian or dystopian visions. The module will consider the set texts' engagement with major political and cultural movements of the late nineteenth century and twentieth century such as industrial capitalism, imperialism, fascism, totalitarianism, mass production and feminism. You will study a selection of late nineteenth-century and twentieth-century utopian and dystopian writings. These may include writers such as Edward Bellamy, William Morris, H.G.Wells, George Orwell, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Aldous Huxley, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Octavia Butler, Ursula Le Guin, Anthony Burgess, Margaret Atwood and Marge Piercy. Texts and Screens: Studies in Literary Adaptation 15 Credits Optional Literature and film have had a close and complex relationship since the beginning of the twentieth century when silent cinema adopted the novel as a fruitful source for its own stories. The cinema is still one of the most frequent ways by which we first encounter literary texts. By using a number of case studies this module aims to introduce you to some of the key issues involved in adapting literary texts for the cinema, including questions of narrative technique, concepts of genre, questions of representation and notions of 'fidelity' and 'authorship'. As well as close readings of the set texts (both written and cinematic) the module will also engage with recent theoretical approaches to film and literary studies. The texts chosen for study will vary from year to year but might include such notable examples as Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare; Zeffirelli; Lurhmann); Goldfinger (Flemming/Hamilton) and Trainspotting (Welsh/Boyle). The Golden Age: Victorian Children's Literature 15 Credits Optional This module will examine the development of children's literature as a clearly defined genre during the so-called "golden age of children's literature", a period extending from the mid nineteenth century until the early twentieth century. Students will be invited to consider nineteenth-century children's literature in a historically contextualized way, as responding to debates about the nature of reading as a mass medium and its effect on young readers, a group regarded as particularly susceptible to its influence. Students will be encouraged to consider the disciplinary function of writing for children in relation to gender roles and class positioning. Generation Dead: Young Adult Fiction and the Gothic 15 Credits Optional All over the country in the world of young adult fiction teenagers who die aren't staying dead. This module will interrogate the new high school gothic, exploring the representation of the undead or living dead (werewolves, vampires and zombies) in dark or paranormal romance. Texts range from Twilight, Vampire Diaries and Daniel Waters's zombie trilogy to Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies and Eden Maguire's The Beautiful Dead. We'll also look at examples of werewolf fiction (Shiver) and at the folklore inspired novels of Marcus Sedgwick. Y.A.F. has attracted some of the most gifted writers who address these themes as a means of confronting death or discrimination or to engage with Christianity or Mormonism and embrace the enduring power of love. We will be theorising folklore, investigating the ethics of writing for young adults, and grappling with undead issues such as the notion of free will, damnation and redemption, the sexualisation of early teens, the effects of prejudice and the politics of difference. Twenty-first Century American Writing 15 Credits Optional This module will survey contemporary American literature from the twenty-first century. We will investigate key literary texts and cultural movements from the period alongside historical contexts and new theoretical frameworks. Examining works of narrative, drama and poetry, we will look at a variety of textual strategies that contemporary authors use to investigate the contemporary world. Structured through key themes, for example, the transcultural, sexuality and race, the module will provide students with the change to explore new and diverse literary material that attempts to explore America in today's globalized world. Texts studied will vary but typically will include novels (Philip Roth's The Human Stain), poetry (Claudia Rankine's Citizen) and drama (Moises Kaufman's The Laramie Project). Euro-Crime on Page and Screen 15 Credits Optional The twenty-first century has seen a resurgence of interest in crime fiction, and screen dramas ranging from renewed interest in the "who-dunnits" of Agatha Christie to the more explicit violence of contemporary "Nordic Noir". This module examines European crime writing from popular detective fiction in the early twentieth century before looking at how successive European writers have modified the form, often using the crime at the centre of their narratives as a starting point for exploring questions of national and cultural identities. The written and filmed texts studied will take us to different European countries (read in translation). Typical examples include, but are not limited to, stories from Britain's "Golden Age" (1920s and 1930s), novels and film adaptations of work by Graham Greene (Brighton Rock), Leila Slimani (Lullaby; France), Stieg Larsson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Sweden), and films such as Marshland (Spain) and Dance with a Stranger (UK). The Literary Professional 15 Credits Optional This module enables you to incorporate practical experience, and critical understanding of the workplace, into your study of English Literature and/or Creative Writing. It focuses on students' understanding of how 'literature' (the writing process, the marketing and retailing of texts, their critical analysis, or literary history) is encountered by a non-academic audience. You must find a suitable work placement by the end of the previous semester, with guidance from the module leader. Placements should be for a minimum of 24 accumulated hours. Please note a) students must source their own work placement with the assistance of the module leader; b) students may not take this module at Level 6 if they have already completed the Level 5 ~Literature at Work' module. French Stage 3A - Modern families, cybersociety & heritage 15 Credits Optional Do you have some knowledge of French already and want to learn more about French and/or francophone culture? Would you like to find out more about heritage and tourism, or be able to hold a conversation with native speakers about topics such as modern family life or the technological society we live in? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to feel more confident in sustaining conversations in French in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas, and express your opinions in French./ / / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in France and/or other francophone countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness./ / Whether you are interested in learning French for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. French Stage 3B - Culture, multiculturalism & challenges in society 15 Credits Optional Do you have some knowledge of French already and want to learn more about French and/or francophone culture? Would you like to find out more about French cinema and francophone music, or discuss trends and challenges in modern French society? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to feel more confident in sustaining conversations in French in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas, and express your opinions in French./ / / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in France and/or other francophone countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness./ / Whether you are interested in learning French for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. German Stage 3A - Historical contexts and the world of work 15 Credits Optional Do you have a firm grounding in German already and want to learn more? Would you like to find out more about the significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall and German re-unification or the world of work today in a German-speaking country? Would you like to be able to hold a conversation about current issues such as the environment and sustainability or what the future holds? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to feel more confident in sustaining conversations in German in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas, and express your opinions in German. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Germany and/or other German-speaking countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning German for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. German Stage 3B - Changes and challenges in society 15 Credits Optional Do you have a firm grounding in German already and want to learn more? Would you like to watch and discuss a film with your peers or native speakers? Would you like to be able to exchange ideas about current issues such as globalisation, migration, wealth and poverty? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to feel more confident in sustaining conversations in German in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas, and express your opinions in German./ Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Germany and/or other German-speaking countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning German for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Spanish Stage 3A - Family life and leisure 15 Credits Optional Can you speak some Spanish already and want to learn more? Would you like to find out about some Spanish and Mexican festivals and explore regional identities? Would you like to be able to hold a conversation about modern family life? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to feel more confident in sustaining conversations in Spanish in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas, and express your opinions in Spanish./ / / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Spain and/or other Spanish-speaking countries. you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness./ / Whether you are interested in learning Spanish for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Spanish Stage 3B - Immigration & integration, cultural heritage and citizens of 15 Credits Optional Can you speak some Spanish already and want to learn more? Would you like to find out more about young people and their futures in Spain and Latin America? Would you like to be able to hold a conversation about contemporary issues such as immigration in Spain or Mexican immigration to the United States? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to feel more confident in sustaining conversations in Spanish in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas, and express your opinions in Spanish. / / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Spain and/or other Spanish-speaking countries. you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. / Whether you are interested in learning Spanish for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Japanese Stage 3A - People and society 15 Credits Optional Are you a fan of Japanese culture with good competence in the language, wanting to learn more? Would you like to be able to understand the different Japanese communication styles, and learn how to converse appropriately with native speakers in a business environment, as well as with your peers? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations for both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in Japanese. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Japan you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Japanese for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Japanese Stage 3B - Traditions and trends 15 Credits Optional Are you a fan of Japanese culture with good competence in the language, wanting to learn more? Would you like to develop your understanding of the different Japanese communication styles further and feel more confident communicating in different contexts? Would you like to get more creative with the language by dipping into Japanese fables or samples of modern fiction? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in Japanese for both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in Japanese. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Japan you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Japanese for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Mandarin Stage 3A - Business Chinese & the world of work 15 Credits Optional Do you have a passion for Chinese culture and want to achieve a sound command of the language? Would you like to find out about the world of work to prepare for a future international career? Would you like to gain cultural tips on how to do business in China, or with Chinese-speaking business partners? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to feel more confident in sustaining conversations in Mandarin in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas, and express your opinions in Mandarin. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in China and other Chinese-speaking countries and communities you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Mandarin for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Mandarin Stage 3B - Business Chinese & the world of work 15 Credits Optional Do you have a passion for Chinese culture and want to be able to have a conversation with native speakers about social and cultural matters? Would you like to find out more about the world of work to prepare for a future international career? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to feel more confident in sustaining conversations in Mandarin in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas, and express your opinions in Mandarin. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in China and other Chinese-speaking countries and communities you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Mandarin for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. French Stage 4A - Francophone society and culture 15 Credits Optional Do you have a keen interest in learning advanced French, and would you like to find out more about French culture and society and discover the wider francophone world? Would you like to discuss why France is so popular as a tourist destination, or talk about topical issues such as sustainable tourism, the green economy or equality in the workplace? This module will enable you to engage in discussions and develop the confidence and competence to use your language skills in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular class discussion you will deepen your knowledge, exchange ideas and express informed opinions in the language. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in France and the francophone world you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. / / / Whether you are interested in learning French for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. French Stage 4B - Francophone society and culture 15 Credits Optional Do you have a keen interest in learning advanced French, and would you like to find out more about French culture and society and discover the wider francophone world? Would you like to find out about sport and the economy, the significance of secularism in France, or talk about topical issues such as immigration and integration? This module will enable you to engage in discussions and develop the confidence and competence to use your language skills in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular class discussion you will deepen your knowledge, exchange ideas and express informed opinions in the language. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in France and the francophone world you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning French for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. German Stage 4A - Society and culture in German-speaking countries 15 Credits Optional Do you have a sound knowledge of German already and want to become more fluent? Would you like to find out more about socio-economic topics such as the economy, business and the car industry in Germany and/or other German-speaking countries? Would you like to be able to hold a conversation with native speakers about health and wellbeing, the media and current affairs? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in the language for both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in German. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in the German-speaking countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning German for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. German Stage 4B - Society and culture in German-speaking countries 15 Credits Optional Do you want to become more confident and fluent in German, or even use your language skills in a professional context? Would you like to find out more about life in the former GDR by studying a film and explore themes such as national identity? Would you like to be able to hold a conversation with native speakers about topics such as politics, globalisation or current affairs? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in German for both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in German./ / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in the German-speaking countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning German for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Spanish Stage 4A - Culture and Society in Spain 15 Credits Optional Do you have a keen interest in learning advanced Spanish, and would you like to find out more about Spanish culture and society? Would you like to explore some of the current economic, social, political and territorial challenges that Spain faces and find out about some key historical periods that have shaped the country? This module will take you from the early twentieth century to the beginning of the twenty-first so you can learn about the Second Republic, the Spanish Civil War, Franco s dictatorship, and the transition to democracy. Building on your prior knowledge, you will learn how to engage in discussions and develop the confidence and competence to use your language skills in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular class discussion you will deepen your knowledge, exchange ideas and express informed opinions in the language. / / / / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in the Spanish-speaking world you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. / / / Whether you are interested in learning Spanish for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Spanish Stage 4B - Challenges in Spanish Society 15 Credits Optional Do you have a keen interest in learning advanced Spanish, and would you like to find out more about Spanish culture and society? Would you like to explore more of the current social challenges that Spain faces today and engage in discussions about topical issues such as sustainable tourism, data privacy or the environment? If so, this module will enable you to build the confidence and competence to do so and use your language skills in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular class discussion you will deepen your knowledge, exchange ideas and express informed opinions in the language. / / / / / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in the Spanish-speaking world you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. / / / / Whether you are interested in learning Spanish for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Japanese Stage 4A - Japanese culture and society 15 Credits Optional Are you a fan of Japanese culture and would you like to improve your language skills further? Would you like to find out more about food culture, sports or literature, or would you like to be able to discuss important topics such as history, politics or the environment? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in Japanese in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in Japanese. / / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Japan you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. / Whether you are interested in learning Japanese for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Japanese Stage 4B - Japanese culture and society 15 Credits Optional Are you a fan of Japanese culture and would you like to improve your language skills further? Would you like to find out more about contemporary culture in Japan such as music, art, or animé and manga films? Would you like to learn more about business in Japan and the use of technology and AI, or be able to discuss contemporary social issues? If so, this module will help you to build the confidence and competence to do so. Building on prior knowledge, you will learn how to hold useful, everyday conversations in Japanese in both personal and professional contexts. Through regular conversation with your peers, you will find out about each other, exchange ideas and express your opinions in Japanese. / / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in Japan you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness./ / Whether you are interested in learning Japanese for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Advanced French C6a - Francophone society and culture 15 Credits Optional Do you have an advanced level of French and want to develop your language skills further? Would you like to find out more about culture and society in some selected francophone countries, or key historical events that have shaped modern France, such as the Algerian war of independence? Would you like to be able to discuss contemporary issues such as identity in French? If so, then this module will enable you to do so. Building on your prior knowledge, you will research your own materials and present them in discussions, analysing them and reflecting upon them collectively. You will use these resources to analyse complex, more subtle grammatical points used I these specialised contexts. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in France and the francophone world you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning French for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Advanced French C6b - Francophone society and culture 15 Credits Optional Do you have an advanced level of French and want to develop your language skills further? Would you like to find out more about contemporary life in France through the study of key historical events, such as the May 1968 protests? Or find out more about modern French culture and society through the Arts and current affairs? If so, then this module will enable you to do so. Building on your prior knowledge, you will research your own materials and present them in discussions, analysing them and reflecting upon them collectively. You will use these resources to analyse complex, more subtle grammatical points used I these specialised contexts. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in France and/or other francophone countries you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning French for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Advanced Spanish C6a - Current Affairs in Spain and Latin America 15 Credits Optional Do you have an advanced level of Spanish already and want to develop your language skills further? Would you like to find out more about culture and society in Spanish-speaking countries? Or would you like to be able to discuss contemporary issues such as business and politics in Spanish? If so, then this module will enable you to do so. Building on your prior knowledge, you will research your own materials and present them in discussions, analysing them and reflecting upon them collectively. You will use these resources to analyse complex, more subtle grammatical points used I these specialised contexts. / / / / / / Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in the Spanish-speaking world you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness./ / / / / / / / / / Whether you are interested in learning Spanish for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Advanced Spanish C6b - Current Affairs in Spain and Latin America 15 Credits Optional Do you have an advanced level of Spanish already and want to develop your language skills further? Would you like to find out more about culture and society in Spanish-speaking countries? Or would you like to be able to discuss contemporary issues such as business and politics in Spanish? If so, then this module will enable you to do so. Building on your prior knowledge, you will research your own materials and present them in discussions, analysing them and reflecting upon them collectively. You will use these resources to analyse complex, more subtle grammatical points used I these specialised contexts. Language learning is both challenging and rewarding and provides an opportunity to enhance your sense of self. By gaining insights into cultural aspects of life in the Spanish-speaking world you will broaden your perspectives and develop your intercultural awareness. Whether you are interested in learning Spanish for travel, work, family reasons or purely for pleasure, this module encourages personal growth and fosters the development of professional soft skills that are highly valued by employers. Ecological Futures: Utopias, Dystopias and Nature 15 Credits Optional This module examines how 'nature' has been depicted in utopian and dystopian visions, asking students to reflect upon the implications of these depictions and their relationship to social, political, and cultural ideas, such as industrial capitalism, imperialism, fascism, totalitarianism, mass production and feminism. Students are enabled to consider constructions of 'nature' from benign to antagonistic and their potential ideological impact. Set texts will range from the late nineteenth-century to the present reflecting the changing relationship between humans and the natural world. -
Study abroad
An opportunity for an amazing experience, which will help make you stand out from the crowd. With more and more companies working internationally, experience of living in another country can make a great impression on future employers.
This course offers you the opportunity to enhance your study and CV with a sandwich year abroad. The University has partnerships with over 150 universities around the world, including the USA, Canada, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America and closer to home in Europe.
If you study abroad between your second and third year of study, you’ll pay no tuition fee to the partner university and no tuition fee to us either. We’ll ask you to make your decision in your second year, so there is plenty of time to think about it.
Find out more about Study abroad opportunities
Please note Erasmus+ funding is only available until May 2023. For students starting their course in September 2022 and wishing to study abroad in 2023-24 or 2024-25, please refer to the Turing Scheme.
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Work placement
Graduate with invaluable work experience alongside your degree and stand out from the crowd.
This course offers you the opportunity to enhance your study and CV with a work placement sandwich year. It’s a chance to explore career possibilities, make valuable contacts and gain sought after professional skills.
Our dedicated Careers and Employment team are here to help guide you through the process.
If you take up a work placement between your second and third year of study, at the University of Hertfordshire you’ll pay no tuition fee for this year. We’ll ask you to make your decision in your second year, so there is plenty of time to think about it.
Why choose this course?
We give you:
What's the course about?
Study English Literature with us and we’ll help you grow from passionate reader into critical thinker and literary scholar.
You’ll be taught by research-active academics who bring fresh thinking to our accessible, engaging courses. This means you’ll study literature written in English by writers from all parts of the globe, whose voices are relevant and important in our modern world.
We’ll introduce you to writers who will open doors to contemporary worlds and cultures remote from your own, and also help you explore more familiar literature in ways that challenge your preconceptions.
Whatever your taste in literature, our courses will interest and provoke you. From The Tiger Who Came to Tea to Jane Eyre, from Paradise Lost to Zadie Smith’s Swing Time, we’ll broaden your literary horizons and hone your critical thinking.
A core module in your first year will equip you to read and interpret both traditional and contemporary literary texts critically as a scholar of English literature. Alongside this you can choose to study international and American literature or revisit Shakespeare and consider his cultural relevance today through fictional, cinematic and TV adaptations.
In your second year you’ll focus on period-based literature from the Renaissance onwards and gain an understanding of literary history, from Elizabethan verse and drama, via Augustan poetry and the emergence of the novel in the 18th century, to the radical transformations of the Victorian age, and the emergence of modernity in the 20th century. You’ll also have the opportunity to consider ways of reading that go beyond textual analysis or historical context, such as understanding literature through the political or ideological lens of Marxism, feminism and post-colonial theory. Our English Literature students can choose a work experience module, Literature at Work, which explores English in the classroom and aspects of the literary heritage industry. The module is centred around a six-week work placement where you’ll gain valuable transferable skills. Our students have worked as school classroom assistants, in publishing houses or attractions such as London’s Charles Dickens Museum and Dr Johnson’s House.
Work placement/study abroad option: Between your second and final year, you’ll have the option to study abroad or do a work placement for up to a year. Not only will this give you an amazing experience to talk about but will also give your CV a boost. If you’d rather go straight to your final year, that’s absolutely fine too.
You’ll have the chance to specialise in your final year, tailoring your degree to reflect your own interests. Themed options include children’s literature, young adult fiction, Renaissance tragedy, 21st century American literature, European crime fiction, literary adaptations and the culture of print in the 18th century.
If you have a particular interest or independent research idea you can choose to work with a supervisor to write an extended dissertation. Previous dissertations have focused on subjects as diverse as anthropomorphism in Beatrix Potter’s animal tales; Black British identity in young adult fiction and grime music; women in Shakespearean tragedy; and slavery and the frontier in early American gothic short stories.
Your main campus is College Lane
This is where the creative arts, science and health-related subjects are based. This means you’ll share the campus with future nurses, scientists, artists and more. You can use the common rooms to relax with friends, work out in the 24-hour gym or have a drink in our on-campus pub or cafes. We also have restaurants for you to eat in or grab something on the go. Our Learning Resources Centres are open 24/7, which means you can study whenever suits you best. Want to pop over to the other campus? You can take the free shuttle bus or walk there in just 15 minutes.
Check out our student blogs
Alumni Stories
April Wilson
Meet April Wilson, who used the diversity of her course to gain new experiences and learn. She is currently an Alumni Relations Coordinator at the University of Sussex.
Read more stories BA (Hons) English Literature with FilmCurrent job role | Alumni Relations Coordinator |
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Year of graduation | 2017 |
Course of study | BA(Hons) English Literature with Film |
MA Journalism with Media Communications |
University life and experience
April initially decided to go to the University of Hertfordshire due to our close proximity to London. She liked that it was easy to commute into the city for shopping and concerts, but that Hatfield wasn’t as expensive to live in!
While studying, April gained valuable experience which helped her develop essential skills for her current role which meant she was able to start ‘armed with the knowledge’ she needed.
However, the most useful thing she learnt from her postgraduate course was having confidence in herself and her ideas, especially when presenting. She credits this to ‘the support of my peers and lecturers who made me feel more confident in my abilities.'
She adds that her undergraduate degree helped her develop the writing and research skills which she applies daily to her current role and her approach to work.
Not only did April gain experience from her studies, but the extra-curricular activities she took part in also helped develop her skills. She says, ‘The writing and video editing experience I was able to gain from my time volunteering for societies at the University was also essential in helping me to have the skills that are valuable within my role.’
Future aspirations
April is also willing to try new experiences to help her gain valuable work experience in a variety of roles. She has previously, done everything from fundraising for charity to running my own online magazine.
In the future, April hopes to continues her studies and complete a PhD in Film Studies. She is particularly interested in looking at representation in films and how this is interpreted through social media.
Alumni Stories
Adelina Iacurto
Meet Adelina. Adelina was able to secure her first job whilst working as a Careers and Employment Student Ambassador at Herts.
Read more stories BA (Hons) English LiteratureCurrent job role | Social Media Executive |
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Year of graduation | 2021 |
Course of study | BA (Hons) English Literature with American Studies and Media Cultures |
Steps to success
Whilst Adelina was studying for her degree, she also worked as a Careers and Employment Student Ambassador for the Careers and Employment Service at Herts. Adelina used this as an opportunity to look for any graduate jobs that appealed to her or were a good fit for her degree. She applied for her current role as Social Media Executive at Tonic Agency in London during her final year and started soon after graduating.
She says, ‘I found my job through the University's careers service. The main interview was by video, and I felt well prepared to script, create slides for, and record a presentation for the interview because I had experienced doing similar things for my assignments.
‘Studying English Literature at Herts involved lots of writing, proofreading, and communicating with different audiences. It taught me to have a critical eye – perfect for reviewing analytics – and I became used to engaging with complex theoretical approaches. These skills have been integral to my current role working for an employer branding agency. I do a lot of copywriting and I can quickly look at a headline and understand whether it works or not.’
The role of a social media professional
So, what does Adelina’s role entail on a day-to-day basis? What does a social media executive do?
Adelina explains, ‘My role involves managing anything social media. One of my clients is Currys, and I manage their Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn presence. I’m involved in briefing the content for their social media, arranging copywriting, and managing any interactions throughout the day. I also arrange paid advertising and targeted content, as well as processing analytics and noticing trends that are emerging.’
Life at Herts and understanding diversity
Adelina has fond memories of her time at Herts and loved studying for her degree. She says, ‘I really enjoyed the theoretical approaches and the impact they’ve had on how I view the world. During my degree, we looked at feminist theory and queer theory, for example, and these are ideas that I still use today. During Pride Month in June, I could explain to my clients what ‘rainbow-washing’ was, and the importance of understanding the meaning of Pride authentically and not marginalising LGBTQ+ people.’
Advice to students
As a recent graduate, Adelina’s key piece of advice to current students studying similar subjects is, ‘Don’t be put off by all the reading! You’re going to read books you dislike, so use that passion to have an answer about why you dislike that book and convince people of your reasoning. Make the people reading your assignments believe what you are saying. It’s all about being persuasive.’
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Further information - includes assessment method
Course fact sheets BA (Hons) English Literature (Revised 2024) Download Programme specifications BA (Hons) English Literature Download Additional information Sandwich placement or study abroad year
Optional
Applications open to international and EU students
Yes Course length
- Full Time, 3 Years
- Part Time, 6 Years
- Sandwich, 4 Years
Location
- University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield
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How to apply?
International/EU applicants without pre-settled status in the UK
Apply through our international/EU application portal
Home and EU applicants with pre-settled/settled status in the UK
Apply using the links below:
2024
Start Date End Date Link 23/09/2024 31/05/2025 Apply online (Full Time) 23/09/2024 31/05/2025 Apply online (Part Time) 23/09/2024 31/05/2025 Apply online (Full Time/Sandwich) 23/09/2024 31/05/2025 Apply online (Full Time/Sandwich) 2025
Start Date End Date Link 23/09/2025 31/05/2026 Apply online (Full Time) 23/09/2025 31/05/2026 Apply online (Part Time) 23/09/2025 31/05/2026 Apply online (Full Time/Sandwich) 22/09/2025 31/05/2026 Apply online (Full Time/Sandwich) 2026
Start Date End Date Link 21/09/2026 31/05/2027 Apply online (Full Time) -
Fees and funding
Fees 2024
UK Students
Full time
- £9250 for the 2024/2025 academic year
Part time
- £1155 per 15 credits for the 2024/2025 academic year
EU Students
Full time
- £15500 for the 2024/2025 academic year
Part time
- £1940 per 15 credits for the 2024/2025 academic year
International Students
Full time
- £15500 for the 2024/2025 academic year
Part time
- £1940 per 15 credits for the 2024/2025 academic year
*Tuition fees are charged annually. The fees quoted above are for the specified year(s) only. Fees may be higher in future years, for both new and continuing students. Please see the University’s Fees and Finance Policy (and in particular the section headed “When tuition fees change”), for further information about when and by how much the University may increase its fees for future years.
View detailed information about tuition fees
Read more about additional fees in the course fact sheet
Other financial support
Find out more about other financial support available to UK and EU students
Living costs / accommodation
The University of Hertfordshire offers a great choice of student accommodation, on campus or nearby in the local area, to suit every student budget.