Master of Arts in Creative Writing

at Royal Holloway,University of London United Kingdom

From climate change, food and water security and sustainable urbanisation, to poverty, health inequality, and migration, responding to the world’s challenges as a global society is more important than ever, requiring new thinking that cuts across traditional subject boundaries.

This new interdisciplinary degree is designed to address 21st-century issues facing humanity and our planet. It will provide the theoretical knowledge and skillset about our environments and environmentalisms for motivated individuals to develop their careers, as policy-makers, environmental experts and scientists, and advocates for change across diverse fields.

A key feature of this innovative degree is the opportunity to take modules across the departments of Biological Sciences, Earth Sciences, Geography and Psychology, with further contributions from other disciplines including options in Politics and Business & Management. Students can choose to specialise through one of several pathways, for example, developing as skilled campaigners able to lead grassroots movements, policy-makers able to develop frameworks for governance, and scientists who are able to communicate state-of-the-art findings in accessible language and with contextual nuance.

You will be taught by international research leaders across a broad range of topics, with options to acquire real-world experience through placements as part of an embedded approach to developing your employability and transferable skills. Highlights include a social change toolkit, equipping you with practical skills and a research project, designed to apply knowledge to real-world problems, and develop your expertise to contribute to social change.

• Examine key questions about environmental challenges locally & globally
• Develop an understanding of how social change can be achieved to address these challenges
• Learn with internationally recognised experts in their fields
• Become versatile in synthesising diverse knowledge and how to communicate this effectively.

Study our dedicated digital marketing degree course in the centre of London. If you are a finalist or recent graduate (any subject) wanting to boost your employability this degree course should provide you with the knowledge and skills needed for the digital era.

Being one of a few specialist digital marketing Masters degree courses in the UK you will gain a 360 degree perspective of digital marketing from digital branding and advertising to the consumer journey and metrics.

On graduating you will be able to create and analyse digital strategies and make well informed tactical and strategic decisions, having studied in the context of Royal Holloway Marketing’s distinctive critical ideology. You will be confident in using acquired skills to communicate strategies to stakeholders at all levels.

You will enjoy studying in our historic University of London buildings in central London and work with our experienced academic staff to realise your full potential.

• Great career prospects in digital marketing and any other related discipline
• Flexible studies over two days a week, combined with extensive self-study

Our School of Business and Management has a fresh and intellectually challenging approach to research and education. Specialising in Accounting and Finance at Royal Holloway means that you will benefit from the in-depth knowledge of our academic experts.  You will study the core areas of financial accounting, management accounting and finance and obtain a thorough knowledge of both theory and practice. The valuable knowledge and understanding this degree will give you, combined with interpersonal and transferable skills, will lead to excellent career prospects.

Your studies will be grounded in the wider business environment, providing you with an understanding of international business, information systems, strategy, and ethical decision-making.  You will receive individual attention and the flexibility to take specialist options, such as business law, auditing and taxation.

This course is accredited by CIMA, CPA, CIPFA and ICAEW professional bodies. You may apply to the professional bodies for exemptions from some of their examinations. The number of exemptions depend on the options you choose and the marks you obtain on your modules.

As well as graduating with enhanced knowledge of accounting and finance, you will have commercial awareness, the ability to communicate clearly,work in a team, analyse and solve problems, and manage your time effectively. As a graduate you will be able to apply for exemptions and/or credit for prior learning from selected professional accounting bodies we have agreed exemptions with. The exemptions from examinations or credit for prior learning that students are granted will depend on courses chosen and the marks obtained on those courses.

• AACSB accredited - the longest-serving accrediting body and largest business education network worldwide.
• Examine the principles of financial decision-making.
• Understand the theory and techniques for appraising financing and investment decisions.
• Understand the basic components of financial statements.
• Understand information systems and the role they play in contemporary business.
• Accredited by CIMA, CPA, CIPFA and ICAEW

BA Politics and International Relations looks at political ideas and processes, as well as global issues such as war and security, diplomacy and development.

You will gain a solid foundation in politics, the history of international relations and IR theory, studying subjects such as democracy, decolonisation, democratisation, international organisations, foreign-policy making, human migration and human rights. As you progress through the degree, the flexible nature of the course allows you to specialise in those aspects of domestic politics, political theory and international relations that most interest you.

By combining Politics and International Relations, you will gain an advanced understanding of how individuals, groups and states interact across borders, and how political institutions and ideas differ around the world.  As you progress through your studies, you will engage with important contemporary challenges, including, for example, the recent global economic crisis, changes in the European Union, human migration and the threats posed by terrorists and new communications technologies.

The Department of Politics and International Relations has a strong commitment to high-quality, cutting-edge research, all of which informs our teaching. We are a research community that applies various theories and methods to the study of domestic, transnational, regional and global politics.  We have expertise in African, British, Chinese, European, Middle East, North American and South Asian politics, and our research covers areas such as security, democratisation, youth politics, international diplomacy and political communication, as well as contemporary and radical theories of democracy and power.

• Learn how to approach problems in a rigorous and analytical way.
• Gain a solid foundation in politics, the history of international relations and IR theory.
• Our graduates pursue roles in many sectors including the civil service, public affairs and law.
• Consider contemporary challenges, such as terrorism, climate change and refugees.
• Work placement opportunities at MPs’ offices, NGOs and local government.

This course allows you to develop your work as a writer to a professional level, going beyond the personal to write with an engaged sense of literary culture, its social role and contemporary practices. The MA is designed for students with an established writing practice who are intending to develop their creative writing beyond first-degree level. It is also designed for those students wishing to proceed to MPhil or PhD. This MA is taught in Bedford Square in Central London, in the heart of literary Bloomsbury, putting you within walking distance of publishing houses, bookshops, major UK libraries and all of the other cultural attractions of Central London.

You will take one of four distinct pathways:

• Fiction
• Literary Non-Fiction
• Poetry
• Poetic Practice

The MA ranks among the top creative writing courses in the country and is taught by leading writers whose work encompasses a wide range of approaches and styles.

• Sean Borodale’s Bee Journal was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize and Costa Book Award.
• Lavinia Greenlaw has received a Forward Prize for Poem of the Year, the Prix du Premier Roman, a Wellcome Engagement Fellowship and the Ted Hughes Award.
• Nikita Lalwani won the Desmond Elliot Award, and was shortlisted for the Costa Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker prize.
• Nadifa Mohamed, one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists 2013, has won the Betty Trask Prize and a Somerset Maugham Award.
• Redell Olsen has been Judith E. Wilson Fellow in Poetry at Cambridge.
• Anna Whitwham’s novel Boxer Handsome was a New Statesman and Guardian Book of the Year.
• Eley Williams’s Attrib. and other stories won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Republic of Consciousness Prize.

Our prizewinning, internationally successful alumni include the novelists Sarah Perry, Tahmima Anam, Jenni Fagan and Barney Norris; short-story writer and poet Eley Williams; and the poets Liz Berry, Kayo Chingonyi, Sam Riviere and Sophie Robinson.

Our Department of Law and Criminology has a reputation for high quality research and teaching. Whilst studying Law at Royal Holloway you will explore the fundamental principles of justice, equity and equality within the framework of English and European law. This degree is for anyone looking to start a career in law, whether as a barrister or a solicitor, it is also for those who are interested in the legal system and the ways in which laws are made and upheld. You will be equipped with a wide range of transferable skills which are highly sought after by employers in a wide variety of fields.

You will consider the different laws which apply to different legal problems within the legal system. This will enable to understand how the law regulates agreements between individuals and the relationship between the individual and the state. In addition to acquiring invaluable legal skills in research and oral presentation, you will have the opportunity to choose from a range of subjects in fields such as family law, medical law, company law and international law along with criminology options in terrorism, sentencing and penal policy and gender and crime.

Our balanced approach to research and teaching guarantees high quality teaching from subject leaders, cutting edge materials and intellectually challenging debates. You will receive individual attention and flexibility to acquire expertise within a specialist field

• Qualifying Law Degree, as defined by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board.
• Understand the key features of English and European law.
• Develop an understanding of doctrines and principles underpinning common law.
• Develop skills to evaluate legal developments, analyse legal texts and develop independent thinking.
• Develop key legal research and communication skills.

By combining the study of creative writing with English, you'll become an informed and critical reader as well as a confident and expressive writer - whether specialising as a poet, playwright, or author of fiction.

Studying at one of the UK's most dynamic English departments will challenge you to develop your own critical faculties. Learning to write creatively and critically analyse in tandem, you'll be exposed to a huge variety of literature while you develop your own writing practice. Studying English will allow you to place your writing within a wider cultural context of literature throughout history, considering key texts and acquiring a sound understanding of significant periods, genres, authors and ideas.

Modules are taught by nationally and internationally known scholars, authors, playwrights and poets who are specialists in their fields who write ground-breaking books, talk or write in the national media and appear at literary festivals around the world.  This means the course you take covers the most up-to-date ideas, whether in Creative Writing, Victorian Literature, Shakespearean studies or contemporary literature.

Find your voice as a writer and develop writing techniques, learn how to create, criticise and shape an artistic work: a valuable life skill with uses beyond writing poetry, plays or novels. From journalism and website creation to advertising and academic publishing – you'll be able to use the skills you pick up in character, voice, ambiguity, style and cultural context.

• Writing practice at the heart of your learning experience.
• Taught by high-profile, award-winning writers.
• Create and shape artistic work – ideal skills for a career in media or publishing.
• Choose one of three distinct pathways: fiction, poetry, or playwriting.
• Access to a thriving culture of creative writing.

This course is a rigorous, intensive, demanding training in theatre directing where you will work with professional actors to develop your directing skills. You will have the chance to direct in our new purpose-build performance space, the Caryl Churchill Theatre, a 150-seat flexible theatre on three levels, designed by award-winning theatre architects Foster-Wilson.

Royal Holloway's Department of Drama, Theatre and Dance is internationally recognised for the quality of its creative arts programmes. The Department has produced several theatre companies with a growing international reputation, including Ad Infinitum, Forest Fringe, non zero one and Analogue.

Electronic engineering is at the heart of many systems we use on a daily basis, including mobile communications, computers, transport systems, most domestic appliances, TV, radio, music studios and gaming devices.

Studying an MEng Electronic Engineering with a Year in Industry at Royal Holloway, University of London will equip you with the knowledge, practical skills, and confident verbal and written communication abilities that are key to successful industrial team working. The additional year in industry will provide extra insight and experience to embark on a fulfilling career creating technical solutions for an evolving world.

This five-year course will see you benefit from research-led teaching that encourages creative thought, helping you to realise and develop your ideas. You’ll study in our brand new, purpose designed Electronic Engineering building, where a £20 million investment is providing our students with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, including dedicated research and collaboration areas and renewable energy laboratory with wind turbine and solar panels on the roof.

Follow your passion for Electronic Engineering at Royal Holloway and you’ll become a part of our vibrant, international student community, studying at our beautiful Surrey campus within easy reach of London. This comprehensive course is geared towards giving you the advanced skills and experience you need to thrive in this exciting sector.

• Structured to develop ingenuity, invention and product development skills.
• Enjoy varied, practical project-led learning.
• Learn in a new building that is purpose-built to support electronic engineering processes.
• Gain real-world industry experience during your placement year.
• Graduate with a highly prized Masters in Electronic Engineering.

Psychology is the study of how people think, react and interact. It is concerned with all aspects of behaviour and the thoughts, feelings and motivations that underlie such behaviour. It is an important subject because it relates to the whole range of human experience, from visual perception to complex social interactions.

Join our three-year course and you will be able to customise your learning in your final year, selecting from a number of optional modules including Consciousness & Cognition, Human Neuropsychology and Criminal and Forensic Psychology.

Royal Holloway's Department of Psychology is among the best-equipped psychology departments in the country where post- and undergraduates may benefit from the department's advanced technology. This includes an on-site magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner for studying brain structure and activity, instruments for recording electrical changes in the brain (EEG) and other cutting-edge facilities to augment your learning.

Follow your passion for psychology, clinical psychology and mental health and you’ll graduate with excellent employability prospects in a variety of different fields. Notable alumni include the leading bioscience innovator Professor Jackie Hunter CBE, founder of the Terrence Higgins Trust Dr Rupert Whitaker, and Dr Christian Jarrett – author of The Rough Guide to Psychology.

• Study the most up-to-date and exciting findings in psychology.
• Learn with internationally recognised experts in their fields.
• Develop psychological research skills and practice how to think critically about research.
• Benefit from the department’s advanced research facilities.
• Customise your degree in your final year, selecting from a number of optional modules.