Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English Language and Journalism

at University of Hertfordshire - De Havilland Campus United Kingdom

Study with a top history department and be taught from the cutting edge of historical research. We are ranked first among all History departments in the country for the social and cultural impact of our research and fifth for the overall quality of our research. Our world leading experts have published widely, won prizes for their work, and contribute to national and international television and radio. Our publications include a contribution to Harry Potter: A History of Magic, the companion book to the recent exhibition of the same name at the British Library.

Through our diverse and inclusive curriculum students will learn about an array of cultures and identities. Topics range from magic and witchcraft, to propaganda and popular protest, to health and family life.

What links our work is our focus on people’s history and everyday lives. This is represented strongly in our first year programme, which will give you an insight into the making of the modern world through exploration of faith, magic and medicine, campaigns for freedom and equality, Africa and the world, and America from Hamilton to Trump.

The modules you take in your second and third year allow you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting; you might focus on a region, such as Europe, or a particular period, such as the twentieth century. Whichever path you choose, you will find challenging and stimulating courses.

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 the history of jiu jitsu, women code breakers at Bletchley Park, the Notting Hill riots, and vice and sexuality in 17th-century London. One of the recent presidents of the University’s Students’ Union wrote her dissertation during her final year of study with us on changing perceptions of the devil, while one of our final year students won the British Commission for Maritime History Prize in 2016 for his dissertation on the East India Company.

We give you: 

• An exceptional academic team, conducting world-leading research
• Stimulating, innovative courses - our students reported almost 94% overall satisfaction with their course (2018 National Student Survey)
• A flexible programme of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting
• The opportunity to write a dissertation on a topic about which you are passionate
• CV-building potential through work placements and extra-curricular activities

With a reputation for academic excellence, practical value and intellectual rigour, our BPS-accredited psychology degree is one of the most respected courses of its kind in the UK. This fascinating degree gives you a grounding in all major areas of psychology and our graduates are thoroughly prepared for employment, postgraduate research and professional training. Our Psychology department is one of the largest of any British university, offering a stimulating environment with high-profile, research-active staff and exceptionally well-equipped labs and computer facilities. In addition to covering core psychology topics, there are a number of specialist modules including individual differences, cyberpsychology, non-verbal behaviour, and forensic and clinical psychology.

This programme will be for you if you would like to become a graduate practitioner in the early childhood sector or if you have an interest in working with children and families. The programme focuses on young children’s education, development and care from conception to the age of 7 years. Students will have the opportunity to become confident, self-aware, reflective graduates able to operate as professionals in multi-agency contexts. The programme content draws on international research and practice, including global perspectives of children, different early childhood curricula and established, as well as emerging, theory.

You will learn from lecturers with many years of experience in early childhood settings and related professions including; primary teaching, nursing, health visiting and children’s centre management.

Get to know one of the team, Michael Young a lecturer in Early Childhood Education.

Placement for work-related learning:
The programme makes strong links between theory and practice through a placement in an early childhood setting in Year 2. The placement is a result of ongoing consultation with employers and students. It will enable you to graduate with valuable work related skills and experience.

Early Childhood Education graduates are well placed to seek employment as professionals in early childhood settings. They will also have transferrable skills applicable to a variety of careers related to working with children and families.

Transferrable skills:
Research skills will be embedded throughout the program, and you will investigate an issue of your choice related to early childhood education in a research project.
As well as knowledge gained throughout the program, students will develop critical thinking and other transferable skills which can enhance their employability.

Tailor your studies to suit you:
The course can be studied both full and part time, making it suitable for students who have recently completed A levels, as well as early childhood practitioners who are already in employment and wish to enhance their level of qualification.

Explore the full range of modern mathematics as you gain fundamental knowledge and advanced mathematical and statistical skills. Mathematics holds the key to advances in virtually all areas of our lives, from finance to computing, logistics to medicine and travel to weather forecasting. If you’re looking for a career that involves shaping technological or scientific progress, mathematics is an ideal degree for you. What’s more, our flexible course allows you to specialise in whichever area of mathematics interests you most. You will find our friendly and personalised approach in the small group tutorial besides your day to day lectures. We have particular teaching expertise in various areas of numerical modelling, financial mathematics, algebra, statistics, optimisation and mathematical physics. You can even choose to take a year out to study abroad or undertake a placement.

Our Mathematics degree is a highly flexible course that allows you to specialise in whichever area of Mathematics interests you the most.

• We take pride in our student-focused approach to teaching Mathematics. Our School is well regarded for its friendly and professional environment, which allows us to equip you with the skills and knowledge required to be a successful mathematician. We will support you throughout your degree so that you can achieve your full potential.
• We are a research-active department undertaking internationally excellent research in mathematics and mathematical physics. Take a look at the latest exciting research, which will underpin and inform your studies.
• You can always access additional support throughout your course with regular drop-ins at the University’s own Maths Support Service located in the Library and accessing specialised career support from the Career and Employment department.

With an increased scrutiny on eating and obesity, along with demand from both government and the public for nutritional and dietetic education, the role of dietitians has never been more important. Dietetics is the interpretation and communication of the science of nutrition, which enables people to make informed choices about food and lifestyle. Dietitians work with individuals with special dietary needs, inform the general public about nutrition, evaluate and improve treatments, and educate patients, doctors, nurses and other health professionals. This course covers the broad range of sciences that informs dietetics and is the first of its kind in the UK to award academic credit for practice placements.

• The first UK university to award academic credit for dietetic practice placements.
• Opportunities for practice placements in the NHS (acute and community) and, from 2019, in non-NHS settings.
• Offers undergraduate route to qualify as a dietitian in 3 years rather than 4 years.
• We welcome graduates who are changing direction and want to qualify as a dietitian.
• New science labs and dedicated diet laboratory
• Active student-led Nutrition and Dietetics Society (NADS).
• Encouragement to participate in extracurricular volunteering.
• Excellent record of graduates presenting at British Dietetic Association Research Symposia.
• Active research community

This course gives you a firm foundation for a career in finance. A degree in finance will give you the skills for a career in financial services such as banking, investment management, pension fund management and insurance. During the course you’ll develop the sharp evaluation and analytical skills needed to move into more functional and management roles.

The First Year introduces general business and finance agendas, including economics, quantitative methods and ethics. The Second Year explores employability and the business life cycle. The Final Year focuses on areas such as banking, current issues, and global finance and markets. You can also choose from several specialist options.

This course offers potential exemptions from the professional qualifications of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT).

You can also study a language with this course. You can be awarded the degree ‘with language’ in the title if you choose to study a foreign language in all years of study.

• Study for your degree at one of the UK’s leading business-facing university.
• Develop the skills and knowledge to work in the dynamic, high-reward finance industry.
• Learn from inspiring, supportive teaching staff with innovative research records and extensive professional experience.
• Benefit from Hertfordshire’s unique collaboration with the Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT), earning exemptions from professional exams.
• Gain incredible experience by going on a year-long, paid work placement or studying abroad.

Study with a top History department and be taught from the cutting edge of historical research. Further your skills with a unique film course which combines the study of film as an art form with learning the practical skills of film making.

Through our diverse and inclusive History curriculum you will learn about an array of cultures and identities. What links our work is our focus on people’s history and everyday lives. This is represented strongly in our first year programme, which will give you an insight into the making of the modern world through exploration of faith, magic and medicine, campaigns for freedom and equality, Africa and the world, and America from Hamilton to Trump.

Our expert colleagues in Film take a similar international approach. You will explore the fascinating world of Hollywood, World Cinema, European Cinema as well as the film industry in Britain, so you have insider knowledge of what makes a successful film and appreciate diverse genres, contexts, cultures and filmmaking techniques. 

Throughout your degree, the common link between the two disciplines will be the development of analytical skills. As historians you will learn to analyse historical documents and debates among historians, while in Film you’ll develop the ability to analyse visual material, understand the craft of film making and gain new perspectives on the world.

These analytical skills, honed over the course of your studies, will benefit you in the final year of History if you choose to write a dissertation. This extended piece of work will grow out of a topic that interests you. Previous students have combined their Film and History studies to explore issues of propaganda or the depiction of historical events in film.

We give you: 

• An exceptional History team, conducting world-leading research (REF 2014)
• Stimulating, innovative courses - our History students reported almost 94% overall satisfaction with their course (2018 National Student Survey)
• A flexible programme of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting
• The scope to write a History dissertation on a topic about which you are passionate, potential blending your interests in film and history
• A mixture of intellectual and practical skills.
• An expert film team with in-depth knowledge of the film industry plus the opportunity to get involved with local cinemas and our own bespoke film club.
• CV-building potential and practical experience through work placements and extra-curricular activities. Previous students in this department have had year long paid placements at Warner Brothers in London, Hatfield House and local museums.

Indicative course structure
The course looks in depth at a range of core business areas, including accounting, marketing, operations and human resources. At the same time, you’ll gain a specialism in tourism, in which you’ll explore career planning in the tourism industry, passenger tourism transport, visitor attraction management, strategic tourism planning and responsible tourism. There's also the chance to travel and experience different cultures and study tourism’s impact on domestic and international destinations.

• Gain the skills and expertise you need to start a career in the dynamic and challenging tourism industry.
• Develop a firm understanding of the role of organisations in society.
• Develop your knowledge in a broad range of business areas.

A degree in English Literature with Film will help you grow from passionate reader and film-fan into a critical thinker able to understand literary and cinematic works by applying a wide range of critical, theoretical, political and historical perspectives. The disciplines of Literature and Film Studies are highly complementary, and as you progress through your degree you will find many fruitful connections between them.

This fascinating degree is both geographically and historically wide-ranging. This means you’ll study literature written in English from the Renaissance to the present day, by writers from all parts of the globe; and alongside this, you’ll explore film and television from America, Asia, Britain and the rest of Europe, from the earliest days of moving images to some of the most exciting contemporary work being produced today.

In both disciplines, you’ll be taught by research-active academics who bring fresh thinking to our accessible, engaging courses. We’ll introduce you to writers and film-makers who will open doors to contemporary worlds and cultures remote from your own, and also help you explore more familiar works – both textual and visual – in ways that challenge your preconceptions.

Whatever your taste in literature, there will be something to 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 Literature 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 revisit Shakespeare and consider his cultural relevance today through fictional, cinematic and TV adaptations; or to deepen your understanding of Gothic writing by tracing its origins back to the Romantic era.

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 18 th century, to the radical transformations of the Victorian age, and the emergence of modernity in the twentieth 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. You’ll have the chance to specialise in your final year, tailoring your literary study to reflect your own interests. Themed options include children’s literature, young adult fiction, Renaissance tragedy, European crime fiction, literary adaptations and the culture of print in the 18th century.

At the same time, your minor in Film will further hone your analytical skills, and give you a sophisticated appreciation of the craft of filmmaking. You’ll look at how the film and television industry has evolved and adapted to new technologies, how novels are recreated in film and how film gives us fresh perspectives on the world. You’ll also have opportunities to design and run film programmes, write and produce your own short films and hear guest lectures by film, television and media professionals. Topics covered range from silent movies to the Golden Age of Hollywood, the birth of the blockbuster, the influence of European style on American film, the way digital technology has transformed the industry, and why franchises have proved so successful, from James Bond and Star Wars to the Marvel cinematic universe.

This new award in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence builds on existing research and teaching expertise in the School of Engineering and Computer Science and addresses a growing demand by government and employers for graduates with this range of knowledge and skills. The award is structured with a strong emphasis on practical work to build your skills and confidence in the usage and application of contemporary Robotics and AI technologies. You will learn the elements needed to build robots, from simple electronic circuitry, software engineering and control, to high-level robot intelligence and will learn how to develop robotic systems and bring the learning to life.