Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Finance and Economics

at University of Hertfordshire - De Havilland Campus United Kingdom

Our BA English Language and Journalism degree introduces you to the scientific study of the English Language and allows you to examine human communication in different contexts. You’ll develop a range of journalistic skills while exploring the ways language reflects society and how it is used for different purposes.

In your first year you’ll be introduced to the practical craft of journalism and explore the law and ethics surrounding journalism 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.

Our journalism team are highly experienced practitioners, who’ll help you develop the skills to produce work in different styles and for diverse markets. You’ll learn how to source stories and get hands-on experience as part of a vibrant student community and through work placements. You’ll take part in News Lab workshops, conduct interviews, write features and join lively group discussions.

Core modules in your second year focus on English grammar and the sounds of English. You can explore theories of how and why language developed and study language-related real-life problems such as plagiarism and crime investigation in forensic linguistics. You’ll also have the opportunity to specialize in news or feature writing, radio journalism or social media.

In your final year you can follow modules in different topics, including child language and communication, clinical linguistics, gender and language, and formulaic language, informed by our academics’ own research specialisms. You’ll also develop your journalism skills portfolio, examine journalism, government and the people.

Our BA History and Philosophy gives you the opportunity to study two subjects that will help you to make sense of the world around you. 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 beliefs, magic and medicine, campaigns for freedom and equality, Africa and the world, and America from Hamilton to Trump.

In your philosophy modules, you will be introduced to a variety of philosophical issues ranging from the nature of reality, knowledge and mind, to questions about how we should live, what we should value, and what would be the best way of organizing society.

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 Philosophy you’ll assess the arguments of others, arriving at your own conclusions on deep, important issues. 

These analytical skills, honed over the course of your studies, will benefit you in the final year, if you choose to write a dissertation. This extended piece of work, available either in History or in Philosophy, will grow out of a topic that interests you. Previous students have been inspired by their year of study abroad. 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.  And Philosophy students have worked on the ethical issues of playing video games, the nature of the imagination, and environmental philosophy and the obligations of the state.

We give you: 

• An exceptional History team, conducting world-leading research (REF 2014), and a Philosophy team ranked in the 100 best Philosophy departments worldwide (2017 QS rankings). 
• Stimulating, innovative courses - History students reported almost 94% overall satisfaction with their course (2018 National Student Survey)
• A flexible program of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting and the scope to write a dissertation on a topic about which you are passionate
• The opportunity to expand your horizons by studying abroad at the end of your second year
• CV-building potential through work placements and extra-curricular activities

An understanding of the world from social, economic, political and environmental perspectives has never been more critical. A geography degree will give you an in-depth understanding of our rapidly changing world by combining elements of both physical and human geography. Fieldwork learning, and practical application are at the heart of this course, and you'll develop skills using our own field station, specialist laboratories and geographical information analysis facilities whilst also benefitting from our unique location in terms of planning and urban design. Your studies include two fully-funded field trips in the UK and Switzerland. Throughout the course you can explore topics such as sustainability, globalisation, climate change, food scarcity, earth surface processes and landforms, natural hazards, glaciology, environmental problem solving, demography, migration, urban place making, transport, future mobility, planning and development, leisure, tourism and identity, marginalisation, exclusion and geopolitics.

• No additional charges for compulsory UK and overseas residential field courses in Year 1 and Year 2
• Outstanding employability levels after graduation
• High student satisfaction, a vibrant student society and a strong staff-student community
• Regular opportunities for students to assist staff with field research and to undertake fieldwork in pursuit of final year dissertations in locations that have included Iceland, Switzerland and the High Arctic
• Excellent work placement and study abroad opportunities and strong links with local and national employers
• Opportunities to get involved in ecology activities at Bayfordbury such as beekeeping, bat watching, coppicing, etc.

You can find out more about our staff in Geography, Environment and Agriculture here.

• Digital Media Arts provides an opportunity to study one or more digital specialisms including video, kinetics, animation, sound, games, photography, social and interactive media.
• Experiment and explore emerging technologies and develop innovative and effective combinations of practices and media.
• Develop high-level skills in your chosen specialisms or areas of interest supported by expert tutors.
• Project-based work where the emphasis is on the creative, informed application of new technologies and devices to produce compelling user experiences.
• You will be able to produce a substantial self-initiated digital media project supported by excellent resources and expertise

Digital Media are everywhere in the modern world, affecting all aspects of our lives, our work, leisure and social and personal relationships. The MA Digital Media Arts award allows students to gain practical experience and knowledge of the ways that a range of contemporary digital media are produced and used, both alone and in combination. Working in one or more specialisms which can include video, kinetics, animation, games, photography, social and interactive media, students are encouraged to experiment with combinations of media through digital ‘sketches’ and then, through developing more extended works informed by their individual interests, to pursue a substantial, practical enquiry into an original creative application of digital media in a major project.

Students typically explore areas such as interactive advertising, responsive objects and environments, networked information and social-media systems, interactive video, live performance technology and digital art installations.

Our sports coaching degree gives you the opportunity to explore coaching theory, research and practice. You’ll focus on contemporary areas of sports coaching study, including coach education, learning and practical skills. You’ll also develop your own specialised coaching knowledge, attributes and abilities through a whole range of theoretical and hands-on experiences. Throughout, we’ll encourage you to shape your own professional development journey and achieve the appropriate vocational coaching qualifications to take your career in the direction you want. We’ll also emphasise the importance of developing your academic and research strengths, improving your confidence, credibility and critical writing skills.

This specialist degree focuses on game audio and film music, covering creative, technical and business. You’ll compose, produce, and implement music and sound for a huge variety of film, animation and game audio titles, and be part of networking and collaboration within the school of creative arts. With the support of industry professionals, you’ll analyse the styles of different composers and genres, understand film/ game workflows, explore middleware, and develop a critical understanding of how musical parameters affect visuals. You’ll also study the business aspects of this sector, pursue work experience and build the skills to become a creative, technical and entrepreneurial musician/ audio professional.

• You are fascinated by the potential of technology in the creative process and wish to explore the likes of Unreal Engine, Unity, WWise, FMOD, Logic, and Pro Tools.
• Involvement from our alumni, providing their experiences of how the course has helped them into employment.    
• You wish to understand and explore current trends in film music and game audio.
• Gain a BSc – because we genuinely explore the art and science of music composition/ audio design.
• You wish to be taught by current practitioners and exponents in the art of writing film and games.
• You wish to be part of a department within a school that includes filmmaking, animation and game design.
• The Music Composition and Technology for Film and Games degree is a unique and distinctive degree award in the UK.
• We have some of the best resources in the UK, including the £38 million Forum Hertfordshire, state-of-the art music studios and specialist film, animation and game design facilities. ?

Data is the currency of all but the most theoretically-based scientific research, and it also underpins our modern world, from the flow of data across international banking networks and the spread of memes across social networks, to the complex models of weather forecasting. The constant generation of data from our digital society feeds into our everyday lives, affecting how we receive healthcare to influencing our shopping habits. In order to handle, make sense of, and exploit large volumes of available data requires highly skilled human insight, analysis and visualisation. The professionals working in this field are called ‘data scientists’, who blend advanced mathematical and statistical skills with programming, database design, machine learning, modelling, simulation and innovative data visualisation. These professionals are in high demand in both public and private sectors in the UK and worldwide. This programme aims and learning outcomes are built around two guiding principles:

• To provide comprehensive understanding of the fundamental mathematical and statistical concepts underlying data science, and how they are implemented in algorithms and machine learning techniques to solve a variety of data processing and analysis problems.
• To provide training in the practical skills relevant to data science, central of which is the ability to write clean and efficient code in industry-recognised languages (in particular, Python and R), but also includes data handling, manipulation, mining and visualisation techniques.

Why choose this course?

• This programme is distinctive in its philosophy of widening participation and provides a route to gain skills and training in data science to those from a background not traditionally associated with the STEM-themes of mathematics, statistics and programming. The programme is designed to be appealing to a broad range of students who are seeking training or up-skilling in data science.
• You will benefit from the expertise of astrophysicists, physicists, mathematicians and computer scientists with international research profiles. Their day-to-day research involves application of, and in some cases the development of new, data science skills, from fundamental statistical analyses, the use of distributed high-performance computing, and research into novel artificial intelligence algorithms.
• We aim to make the programme distinctive in terms of the mixture of hard and soft skills, and the close personal relationship that we are developing with employers, which will feed into the programme through continuous assessment of the latest industry-relevant tools, which are continually evolving as new technology and software becomes available.
• You will experience a multidisciplinary approach to data science by experiencing challenges in computer science, creative arts, medical and business environments.
• You will have the opportunity to attend a wide range of research-focused seminars to excite and spark your intellectual curiosity.

Graphic Design is a very broad subject, with students increasingly able to choose a wide variety of career paths after they graduate. This pathway, based around the current successful BA (Hons) Graphic Design course, allows students to gain the specialist skills required for advertising and branding projects. Workshops will introduce art direction, copywriting, campaign development, brand strategy and how to design dynamic visual identities. Dedicated modules will give a thorough grounding and understanding of the commercial applications of both subjects, as well as exploring creative applications of emerging technologies

Our location on the doorstep of London means we’ve been able to develop relationships with some of the world’s biggest and best agencies and brands. In recent years our students have worked on live briefs with the likes of Prada, Lacoste, Sky, and Mini. We’ve also partnered with design and creative agencies that include Droga 5 (named D&AD’s ‘Best Agency 2019’ and Campaign Magazine’s ‘Agency of the Year’ 2019) and DesignStudio (the designers of the Premier League, Airbnb and Deliveroo branding). Students on the Graphic Design & Illustration programme have a phenomenal record in the highest-profile award schemes, including winning a prestigious D&AD New Blood pencil every year since 2011.

• Outstanding connections to industry, including high profile live briefs.
• A forward-thinking curriculum which prepares our graduates for a career in rapidly evolving industries.
• A reputation for success in the most-coveted student award schemes.

This dynamic two year course gives you the knowledge, skills and placement experiences to become a contemporary physiotherapist with a masters qualification. The contemporary curriculum considers the care settings primary, secondary and tertiary to reflect modern patient centred healthcare. Research will underpin practice including a focus on leadership and innovation. You’ll be exposed to seven different placements, usually starting from the first semester, providing you the opportunity of gaining hands-on experience and practical knowledge.

Biochemistry is the study of the fundamental processes of life. Biochemists seek to answer questions about life, health, disease, the natural environment, and materials and compounds, using scientific techniques developed in chemistry and biology. After an initial grounding in chemistry, genetics, cell biology, microbiology and human physiology, you’ll learn the complex biochemical processes that underpin the very latest discoveries. Explore how biochemistry affects the quality of people’s lives, from the discovery of new drugs and the design of medical treatments to the industrialisation of laboratory processes. Our strong links with industry offer you fantastic opportunities to gain valuable experience during your placement year. This degree is accredited by the Royal Society of Biology.

• Biochemistry is the scientific study of the chemistry of living cells, tissues, organs and organisms.
• On this degree programme you will study how biochemistry affects our lives, from the discovery of new drugs and the design of new medical treatments , to the industrialisation of laboratory processes.
• Our links with industry provide you with fantastic opportunities to gain valuable experience in the biosciences industry during the placement year.