Course description

This distinctive, diverse and challenging programme provides a strong English Literature core to your degree, whilst offering options in English Language throughout.

• English and Creative Writing at Derby has been ranked Top 30 in the Guardian University Guide 2023
• The programme’s distinctive core of engagement with literary, critical and cultural theory will enable you to develop a highly nuanced and sophisticated approach to the analysis of literature, language and culture.
• You will explore fascinating aspects of the subject, including the evolution of fantasy, the representation of crime, the legacy of Empire, cultural politics, existentialist writing, classical myth and the 19th-century realist novel. Alongside the literature modules, you can also explore key areas in linguistics, including sociolinguistics, psycholingistics and the relationship between language and identity.
• This degree will change the way that you think: you will encounter a wide range of literature from across the globe, studied in the context of perspective-altering theories concerning identity, desire, cultural politics and the nature of reality itself.
• The course equips you with the skills and knowledge you need for excellent career prospects in fields which include (though are not limited to) teaching, journalism, publishing and arts administration.
• Our teaching team is made up of experts who are passionate about the subject and dedicated to your success.
• There is the opportunity to broaden your experience with work-based learning projects, study visits to cultural and heritage institutions, as well as lectures and seminars delivered by guest speakers.
• Our assessment strategy is designed to produce confident, articulate and independent graduates. There are no exams. As well as essays, you will be assessed on your participation in seminars and your ability to lead them. We also place great emphasis on developing your research skills, with conference papers and independent projects forming a key part of the second and third year.
• You can choose to study for a semester in one of our American partner universities.

A broad perspective

English at Derby is an exciting, diverse and challenging course that not only incorporates the close analysis of literature, but also considers the situations in which literature is produced and read. This means your studies will include the intellectual and cultural history of art, film, philosophy, linguistics and sociology, as well as contemporary cultural politics. You will be introduced to a range of cultural expression from across the globe and from diverse historical periods.

The range of options will gradually allow you to acquire a degree of specialisation in a particular area. They include many aspects of literature and literary criticism as well as topics in English language and linguistics which range from the globalisation of the English language to the role language plays in the construction of categories of race, gender, and social class.

Literature asks questions about who we are, why we are here, and the nature of the world in which we find ourselves, and the BA (Hons) English reflects the vibrancy, dynamism and profundity of the subject at large.

Inspirational teaching

You will be taught by an enthusiastic team with research expertise covering a broad range of areas in both literature and language. We place emphasis on discussion and active engagement with the material. We aim to challenge you to achieve your best, and offer substantial tutorial support in addition to scheduled classes.

Tailored to suit you

The flexibility of the English degree means you can choose from a wide range of thought-provoking options in stages two and three so that you can focus on your own literary and language interests.

The ideal setting

You could not have a better backdrop to your studies than Derbyshire. One of the centres of the British Enlightenment during the eighteenth century, the county has a strong literary heritage and inspired many great writers including Jane Austen, Walter Scott, Charlotte Bront?, George Eliot and Henry James.

A career focused degree

We will provide you with the skills to engage critically with the world in which you live, as well as developing your understanding of cultural difference and of the capacity of language to produce unintended effects and meanings. Such awareness is hugely valuable to employers.

An English degree will open up a range of career options. However, we also recognise the importance of supporting you to develop the skills sought by employers to maximise your employability.

You will regularly meet with your Personal Academic Tutor throughout your degree. In addition to offering academic guidance, your tutor will help you explore career aspirations and advise you on developing and articulating your transferable skills.

We offer the opportunity for applied study in several modules, which can give you experience of working with various cultural institutions. There is also a programme of employability workshops and talks.

Not just lectures and classrooms

In addition to the lectures and seminars, we offer study visits to cinemas, theatres, museums, galleries and heritage centres.

Study in America

You can choose to study part of your degree at one of our partner universities in America:

• Eastern Michigan University
• Keene State College in New Hampshire
• Longwood University in Virginia
• Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis

How you will learn

Teaching and learning

You will learn through lectures, seminars and tutorials. You will be taught in interactive and varied ways, with plenty of opportunity for you to discuss and debate ideas, so your course stays stimulating and thought-provoking. You will be able to test your ideas, clarify points and develop arguments based on your reading of primary and secondary sources. This will help you develop excellent communication skills, something that employers really value. You’ll also have the opportunity to write, market and deliver a conference paper in the second year, building a broader range of skills.

Real-world learning

You will have opportunities to undertake work-based learning projects and placements at cultural institutions as well as study visits to art galleries, cinemas, heritage centres, museums and theatres. We work closely, for instance, with the Derby-based 1623 Theatre Company, giving students the chance to try their hands at directing play scenes.

Assessment

Our assessment strategy is designed to produce confident, articulate graduates with a broad set of skills. There are no exams and forms of assessment include seminar debates, group presentations and conference papers alongside essays and longer research projects. We place great emphasis on developing your research skills, with independent projects playing a key part in the second and third year of the programme.

Supporting you all the way

We pride ourselves on being approachable and supportive. You'll have a personal tutor to help and advise you throughout your degree, providing an exceptional level of support.

Who you will meet

You will be taught by our team of engaging, passionate and inspiring subject experts.

Dr Alice Haines is a Lecturer in English Language with expertise in literary linguistics, including stylistics, cognitive poetics, narratology and pragmatics. Her research focuses on how readers recognise and appreciate humour in fiction and poetry.

Dr Cara Penry Williams is a Senior Lecturer in English Language. She completed her PhD in Linguistics at the University of Melbourne. Her specialisms include language and identity, global Englishes, research methods, discourse analysis and sociolinguistics. She has published on folklinguistics and social meaning, Australian English, pragmatic markers, intercultural communication and other topics related to her various research projects.

Dr Robin Sims is the Programme Leader for BA (Hons) English. He studied English and American Literature at the University of East Anglia before completing a Masters and PhD at Cardiff University’s Centre for Critical and Cultural Theory. His specialisms include literary theory, modernism and postmodernism, and he has published on psychoanalytic approaches to literature and on the construction of the Green Man in twentieth-century culture.

Professor Samuel Kasule is a Professor of Post-colonial Theatre and Performance. He studied Drama and English at Makerere University (Kampala) before completing an MA in Theatre Studies and a PhD in English at Leeds University. His specialisms include drama, postcolonial literatures and postcolonial theory. He has published on Black British theatre, postcolonial writing, and postcolonial performance and drama.

Dr Paul Whickman is a Lecturer in English. He was awarded a PhD from the University of Nottingham in 2013. He specialises in eighteenth and nineteenth-century literature, particularly the Romantic period and the work of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Having published on Byron and Shelley, Paul’s particular research interests are in literary blasphemy, eighteenth-century conceptions of press freedom, copyright and the aesthetics of dissent.

Dr Anna Burton is a Lecturer in English Literature. Her research is concerned with environmental perception and writing about nature in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. She also co-leads the 'Romantic Trees: The Literary Arboretum, 1740-1840' project and the interdisciplinary 'Tree Talks' seminar series with Dr Amanda Blake Davis.

Dr Amanda Blake Davis is a Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Derby. Amanda specialises in eighteenth and nineteenth-century literature and culture with an emphasis on Romantic poetry and particularly Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Dr Aled Ganobcsik-Williams is a Senior Lecturer in English. He was awarded a PhD in English at the University of Warwick in 2001. His specialisms include Romanticism, nineteenth-century literature, and modern and contemporary poetry. He has published on Romantic-period literature, contemporary poetry, and on student writing development in higher education.

Personal academic tutoring

Your personal academic tutor will work with you to help you get the most out of your time at university. Having someone to talk to about your academic progress, your university experience and your professional aspirations is hugely valuable. We want you to feel challenged in your studies, stretched but confident to achieve your academic and professional goals.

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