Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Business and Human Resources

at University of Hertfordshire - De Havilland Campus United Kingdom

Do you have a story to tell, or have you always wanted to be a writer? Perhaps you want to learn how to be a critical reader or gain a greater understanding of the craft or writing.

Through the BA English Language and Creative Writing you’ll gain a better understanding about the English Language, as well as the process of writing so that you can find your voice, whether as a poet, playwright or novelist.

We offer a stimulating and supportive environment in which you can explore your ideas, hone your craft and understand how to use language effectively. Our creative writing modules are taught by lecturers who are themselves award-winning practitioners and who bridge the gap between creative and academic approaches to literature. They include our poetry lecturer Wayne Holloway-Smith, winner of the Poetry Society’s Geoffrey Dearmer Prize and Seamus Heaney Prize nominee.

In your first year, alongside core English Language modules, you’ll also explore the diversity of use of the English language including regional variants, pidgin and creole English, language and ethnicity, and slang and street English. The core Creative Writing module, Becoming a Writer, will introduce you to genres and forms and examine the universalities of dialogue, plot and language. A second core module, Writing for the Screen, introduces you to the key principles of scriptwriting, while the optional module Identity and Contemporary Writing introduces you to some of the most exciting new writing as a model for your own work.

Core modules in English Language in your second year focus on English grammar and the sounds of English. You can explore theories of how and why language developed and also study language-related real-life problems such as plagiarism and crime investigation in forensic linguistics. For Creative Writing you can explore the practicalities of getting published or working in literary publishing in a creative writing module taught by a former editor of Granta, the renowned magazine of new writing.

In your final year you can follow modules in different topics in English Language, including child language and communication, clinical linguistics, gender and language, and formulaic language, informed by our academics’ own research specialisms. For Creative Writing, your particular creative interest can be channelled into a long piece of writing, which can be poetry, prose or drama.

• An understanding of English language, to underpin a career in writing or publishing
• An exciting and creative environment where you are taught by published writers
• The opportunity to hone your craft through supportive feedback from tutors and peers
• A platform for publishing your work and a springboard for your future life as a published author
• An inspiring programme of visiting writers, workshops, readings and masterclasses
• A flexible programme of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting

This multi-award-winning course will give you a thorough grounding and understanding of the commercial applications of illustration. Our aim is to develop creative thinkers and visual communicators who aren’t confined by the conventional boundaries of the industry. We encourage you to think imaginatively to develop engaging and purposeful ideas, and to execute them beautifully. The First Year is about core skills and finding the right pathway. Teaching guides you to be creative, generate ideas and solve problems, with workshops in software, typography and printmaking. Later, we focus on professional projects, emphasising commercial constraints and expectations. We also explore areas like digital design, interaction and motion graphics. In the Final Year you’ll produce a high-quality portfolio.

We have an enviable record of success. In recent years our students have won over many awards in all of the most prestigious national and international design and illustration competitions. These include: the overall winner of the Carmelite Prize, coveted D&AD pencils; various awards at New Designers; countless YCN awards; and many short listings and nominations in competitions such as the Penguin Random House Design awards, Folio Society, the London Transport and Lloyds TSB Illustration awards.

Clever, original ideas and excellent craftsmanship are vital for a successful career working at the top end of the profession and our course is committed to teaching students how to achieve these skills. We foster a fun yet demanding atmosphere that encourages our students to think independently, question the world around them and be opinionated.

Studying an MBA can transform the way you think and the way you work, change the way others see you and open up new leadership and management opportunities.

This full-time MBA enables you to develop the critical and reflective strategic leadership skills you need to succeed in an uncertain world, challenging your assumptions, cultivating flexible thinking, effective decision making and responsible management.

What will I study?

Our teaching and learning methods ensure you are able to actively engage with your own development. You’ll benefit from a blended learning approach which utilises web-based activities and reading, alongside simulations, reflective writing, discussions and live enterprise projects.

All of the teaching resources have been designed in a highly structured way and complementary way to take you progressively through business concepts and to give you confidence, enhance your skills and expertise when completing specific tasks.

A participative style is used throughout to enable you to learn from your fellow students, as well as from teaching staff. Experiential learning is central to our teaching philosophy.

There is a considerable emphasis on the utilisation of theory and knowledge to make sense of your own and fellow participants' experiences at work. Case study material is widely used alongside case histories developed by fellow participants.

The MBA at the University of Hertfordshire has multiple pathways for students:

• MBA
• MBA (Human Resource Management)
• MBA (Entrepreneurship)
• MBA (Digital Marketing)
• MBA (Finance)
• MBA (Healthcare)
• MBA (Public Services)
• MBA (Sustainable Industries)
• MBA (Data Analytics)
• MBA (Project Management)
• MBA (Management Consultancy)
• MBA (Information Systems)

Our Politics and History programme gives you the opportunity to study current challenges in national and international politics while gaining an understanding of the wider historical context of our modern world. 

The course brings together the two naturally close disciplines of Politics and History through a focus on political history. Studying history and politics in tandem will develop your ability to understand how people lived and thought in the past, and the ways in which they act politically in the present.

You’ll study with a top history department – we’re ranked first in the country for the social and cultural impact of our research - and be taught by political historians working at the cutting edge of their research disciplines.

Alongside core politics modules in your first year introducing you to contemporary British politics and international relations theory, you’ll study history modules that will give you an insight into the making of the modern world, such as campaigns for freedom and equality and America from Hamilton to Trump. 

Modules devised for this joint degree such as Political History: Milestones, Change and Continuity provide a bridge between history and politics. In your second year you’ll continue this interdisciplinary approach with a module on Nation and Identity, which examines the growth of new states and the political landscape of interwar Europe.

Just as an historical approach brings breadth and depth to your study of politics, the theories of political science you’ll study in our core politics modules will give you the analytical tools to explore the implications of major historical events, alongside their socio, economic and political impacts. 

In your final year, you demonstrate your research skills by producing a dissertation on a topic of your choosing. Previous students have been inspired by their year of study abroad, while others have worked on women code breakers at Bletchley Park, the Notting Hill riots, and vice and sexuality in 17th -century London. You’ll also have the option to follow an oral history project, or study modules ranging from the challenges and opportunities of Brexit, to terrorism and security, to the politics of gender.

Pharmacists are experts in medicines and a trusted source of advice and treatment. The role of pharmacists is developing in exciting new ways to support patients through medicine management and non-medical prescribing, as well as drug development. Using state- of-the-art facilities, you’ll gain the scientific knowledge to become a skilled and confident pharmacist. You’ll develop an understanding of normal and abnormal bodily functions and be able to apply what you’ve learned to the treatment of patients. You’ll also study the role of the pharmacist in healthcare and industry, and develop vital interpersonal skills. Work placements are essential and you’ll have opportunities in every year of the course.

• Excellent facilities including a simulated pharmacy and refurbished chemistry labs
• Placement visits in all years of the programme
• Regular promotion of work experience opportunities as well as workshops preparing you for working as a pharmacist including interview techniques, NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) evidence workshops, work placements, negotiating workplace politics, Q and A sessions for applying for pre-registration employment.
• Mentoring programme between students of all years
• Active Pharmacy Society
• Lecture series with bodies such as the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the BPSA
• Summer Scholarships/Summer Research Projects with researchers from the University.
• Accredited by the General Pharmaceutical Council
• We have strong links with local healthcare providers and pharmaceutical industries

While much of this course is common with BEng (Hons) Aerospace Engineering, this degree specialises in the design of space vehicles, with a particular emphasis on rocket propulsion, space flight control and satellite communication systems. For many of our students, the highlights of the course are the group design projects in the Third / Final Year, where you join with other aerospace students to design a complete aircraft. You’ll also work with astrophysicists to design a space vehicle in conjunction with a major space industry employer.

• This is a BEng degree course in aerospace engineering with a focus on space technology
• The University of Hertfordshire has produced aerospace engineers with practical experience of design and development for future aerospace systems
• Aerospace students from the University of Hertfordshire have previously completed work placement years at companies including: Airbus, Virgin Atlantic Engineering, and BAE Systems
• You will have access to the best equipment: flight simulator, wind tunnels, specialist laboratories and CAE software
• You will be offered a flying course at a local flying school with one-to-one instruction on both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters Our aerospace staff have a wealth of industrial experience which gives an applied approach to their teaching and their contacts prove invaluable to graduates seeking employment
• Recent Aerospace Engineering graduates have gone on to work at organisations including Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group, Martin-Baker Aircraft Compnay, and BAE Systems

Software engineering is a discipline that applies professional engineering techniques to the construction and evolution of large and complex software systems. This course adds a specialism in software engineering to a broad base in computer science. In the first two years there is an emphasis on software development, professional programming, the modelling and design of systems and data, the principles of networking and the user experience. Building on this foundation you’ll study software engineering in depth and learn how to analyse, design, develop and evaluate computer-based systems. You’ll also learn the application of engineering techniques, such as those relying on software metrics.

• Choose this course with an emphasis on Software Engineering building on a base of mainstream Computer Science, or change to one of the others in our flexible programme.
• Be taught by highly qualified staff, most with a PhD or other advanced degree plus research, teaching, or professional experience.
• Be part of a highly regarded well established computer science department with excellent facilities, a strong research background, and links to business and industry.
• Prepare yourself for a career in the IT sector through a mix of academic, professional and practical study, with opportunities for industry certifications and a paid placement year. Previous students have worked placements at companies including Intel, Microsoft, and Apple
• Recent graduates from Computer Science have gone on to work at amazing organisations including Ticketmaster, BAE Systems, and Ocado

Our BA History and English Literature gives you the opportunity to study two subjects that speak closely to each other.

Just as poems, plays and novels can offer historians different ways to look at the past, historical documents can also be read as texts to be interpreted as works of narrative.

For both English Literature and History we have modernized and diversified our curriculum to reflect our changing world. Within our research-led courses you’ll study canonical texts and periods of history familiar to a traditional English or History degree but also voices and histories that reflect our modern, globalized 21 st century experiences.

You’ll start this joint degree with a core module that will teach you the skills of close analysis of literary texts. Reflecting on poetry by Danez Smith and Sylvia Plath, Caryl Churchill’s play Cloud 9 as well as work by Shakespeare and Zadie Smith, you’ll discover new ways of thinking about what literature is, and how to read it.

Also in your first year you’ll work through the Historian’s Toolkit, which helps you make the transition from school to university-level study. You will be introduced to an array of primary sources. You’ll also gain insights into historiography, to understand what influences historians, why they write the way they do and how they interact with one another.

Throughout your course, the common link between the two disciplines will be your analysis and interpretation of texts. The skills you’ve learned in your close reading of fiction are in many respects the same as those you will apply to your analysis of historical documents.

One of your second-year core English Literature modules is period-based, focusing on the 18th century, and offers a good example of how English and History are complementary. Your study of 18th century print culture and the emergence of the novel will be enhanced by your understanding of the politics of the day.

In your final year your courses will cover themes aligned to our academics’ research interests. You’ll have the chance to follow your interests and shape your studies, which could include African American literature, young adult fiction, or literary adaptations. Your History modules may focus on a particular region, such as Europe, or period, such as the 20th century.

We give you: 

• A flexible program of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting
• Exceptional academic teams, conducting world-leading research
• Stimulating, innovative courses that allow you to make rewarding connections between two disciplines
• CV-building potential through work placements and extra-curricular activities
• Teaching rated excellent by 92.14% of our English students in the 2018 National Student Survey, with our History students reporting almost 94% overall satisfaction with their course

This course specialises in aircraft design, especially aircraft structures, materials and aerodynamics. You’ll learn CATIA, a computer-aided design package, as well as finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics. Once you have developed key skills, you’ll work with other students to design a complete aircraft. Modules along the way include aerospace technology and industry, engineering mathematics, materials and electrical science, mechanical science, fluid mechanics and thermodynamics, computer-aided engineering, structural mechanics, control systems, project management and product development. You’ll also have the exciting opportunity to study abroad or spend a year in industry, either of which will enhance your career prospects.

• This BEng Honours degree in Aerospace Engineering has an excellent, long-established reputation with the aerospace industry
• Experienced aerospace staff with a wealth of industrial know-how will teach you. We have an applied approach to teaching and our contacts prove invaluable to graduates seeking employment
• Our BEng Aerospace Engineering students have previously completed work placement years at companies including Airbus, Virgin Atlantic Engineering, and BAE Systems
• Excellent facilities at the School of Engineering include the best equipment: flight simulator, wind tunnels, specialist laboratories and CAE software
• Recent Aerospace Engineering graduates have gone on to work at organisations including The Royal Air Force, Jaguar Land Rover, and BAE Systems

Indicative course structure
A business degree is a powerful, career-launching qualification, and if you’re interested in a career in business, combining two subjects will give you sought-after skills, exciting experiences and a whole world of future career opportunities.

We’ve designed our course to get your career off to an incredible start. You’ll be able to study product innovation, consumer buyer behaviour, and marketing planning as well as key modules on managing media and communications and market and social research. Marketing is creative, strategic and hugely dynamic, spanning a whole range of jobs in advertising, social media, consumer insights, communications, market research, public relations, sales, brand management, product innovation, retail services and the creative industries.

Why choose this course?

• Open the door to a broad spectrum of careers in industry, commerce and the public sector.
• Develop your knowledge in a broad range of business areas.
• Learn the key elements of marketing and put theories into practice.