Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Philosophy and English Literature

at University of Hertfordshire - De Havilland Campus United Kingdom

A degree in English Literature and Media will help you grow from passionate reader into a critical thinker and literary scholar, while learning how to apply similar skills of analysis to other representations of the world, through cinema, television, magazines, the internet, and the ways in which people communicate with each other.

On a degree in English Literature and Media, we’ll introduce you to writers who will open doors to contemporary worlds and cultures remote from your own, and also help you explore more familiar literature in ways that challenge your preconceptions. This means you’ll study literature written in English by writers from all parts of the globe, whose voices are relevant and important in our modern world. We’ll also develop your critical awareness of the media, sharpen your practical skills and get your career off to a flying start. In a fast-paced, multifaceted media world, people with the ability to write, design and harness new technologies are in high demand.

You’ll be taught by academic staff who bring fresh thinking to our accessible, engaging courses. Some are active researchers of international standing who bring their own passion for their discipline into the classroom; others are dynamic teachers with extensive industry experience.

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 18th 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.

Your study of English Literature will enhance your ability to analyse and synthesise complex ideas, and to express yourself clearly in both written and spoken English. These skills will be hugely beneficial to your study of Media, especially when coupled with practical skills which help to prepare you for your future career. Design your own app proposal, create a hard-hitting ad campaign, build a brilliant website and craft an inspiring feature article -- all supported by our industry- experienced team. Working across different platforms and for different audiences, you’ll develop a packed portfolio that will demonstrate your skills, adaptability and ambition.

But you’ll need more than practical know-how to get published. So, we’ll develop your understanding of the global media industry, its influence on society, the legal and ethical contexts of your work and the impact of emerging technologies.

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. ?

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.

The MSc Management is designed to provide you with a multidisciplinary approach to management. Upon graduation, you’ll be equipped with the personal and professional skills needed to be competent and successful managers in modern businesses.

You’ll develop a strong foundation of understanding of the role of management and its implementation across different industries. From developing an understanding of the role of management in the wider international economy, to the responsibilities of management to society, sustainability, and the planet, you’ll explore management from a range of perspectives.

With ever-changing developments in social media and technology, companies are shifting from traditional print-based marketing to more dynamic and multi-faceted targeted digital marketing practices. The course will prepare you for management within this exciting, new arena and study the future of digitalised business environments. From exploring the use of data mining and artificial intelligence in business operations, you’ll be able to bring innovation and value to any future employers.

So, whether you’re a graduate looking for a broad management qualification, or a professional who is looking to progress into management through a formal qualification, the MSc Management will provide you with an exciting learning journey.

Like the BEng, this course specialises in aircraft design, especially aircraft structures, materials and aerodynamics. You’ll follow the same pathway as the BEng programmes, but in your extra year you’ll deepen your knowledge and understanding of aerospace topics. You’ll also sharpen your business and management skills. The team project is multidisciplinary and involves applying your skills to solve an unusual and challenging problem, for example the design of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for surveillance on Mars. You can also participate in competitions such as BMFA Heavy Lift competition, where you and your fellow students have the chance to design and build your own UAV and compete against teams from across Europe.

• This MEng degree in Aerospace Engineering has an excellent, long-established reputation with the aerospace industry
• The University of Hertfordshire has produced aerospace engineers with practical experience of design and development for future aerospace systems
• Our MEng Aerospace Engineering students have previously completed work placement years at companies including: Marshall Aerospace, Virgin Atlantic Engineering, and Rolls Royce plc
• You will have access to the best equipment: flight simulator, wind tunnels, specialist laboratories and CAE software
• You will be offered a flying experience at a local flying school with one-to-one instruction on fixed wing aircraft
• 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 Ministry of Defence, Shell UK, and Telefonica

Motorsport’s not just exciting entertainment, but also an important part of automotive development. It challenges engineers to be innovative in using the latest technologies to design high-performance vehicles. You’ll find most modules on this course are common with those on our general automotive engineering degree. However, you’ll also learn about aerodynamics of high- speed vehicles and high-performance engine design, testing and mapping. In your MEng year, you’ll deepen your understanding of the industry. One of the big highlights is to get involved in designing, building and racing a car at the IMechE Formula Student events. This course is accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and is the first step towards chartered engineer status.

• This MEng in Automotive Engineering with Motorsport gives you the opportunity to design, build and race a single-seater race car in the UK Formula Student Competition and can get involved from your first year onwards, if you wish
• You will have use of our excellent facilities within the Automotive Centre i.e. advanced engine test cells and a vehicle ride simulator for the testing of car suspension systems, plus the latest software packages for CAD/CAM
• You will benefit from studying at a very well established university within the automotive industry as we have been running automotive degree programmes for some forty years
• Our MEng Automotive Engineering with Motorsport students have previously completed work placement years at companies including: McLaren Automotive, Mercedes-Benz Grand Priz Limited and Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains;
• Your MEng studies involve an extra year and will provide you with a broader and deeper understanding of the subject;
• Recent Automotive Engineering graduates have gone on to work at organisations including: Williams Grand Prix Engineering, McLaren Racing Limited, and Renault Sport.

Through this BA English Language with English Language Teaching you’ll learn about the English Language but you will also learn about teaching English as an integral part of your course. And you’ll be taught by research-active academics working in cutting-edge areas such as language and gender, formulaic language, corpus studies, bilingualism, bilingual processing and codeswitching.

This combined programme of English Language and English Language teaching will give you an excellent grounding if you plan to teach English as a foreign language following postgraduate teacher training.  Alternatively you could be teaching children in primary or secondary schools whose second language is English.

In your first year, alongside core English Language modules, you’ll study language and mind, where you’ll analyse child speech transcripts and consider language acquisition. 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. In addition, you’ll take two English Language Teaching (ELT) modules each year.

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 also have the option to take a language competencies module leading to a work placement. This could involve field work or observing teaching and learning methods in a college setting.

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. In addition, you’ll study Global Englishes and take a compulsory project looking at a particular aspect of English Language teaching.

We give you:

• An understanding of applied language, to underpin a career in teaching English to non-native speakers
• A supportive, research-active academic team
• A flexible programme of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting
• Access to huge online databases to underpin your original research projects
• CV-building potential through work placements and extra-curricular activities
• A guaranteed post-graduation interview with the School of Education

This award is designed to enable students to focus on their own individual interests and professional priorities in any of the modules studied. This award enables experienced professionals to demonstrate the breadth of their experience and professional interests in creative and innovative ways. Less experienced professionals are supported in developing their professional interests in creative and innovative ways.

The MA Education is offered as part of a suite of awards available through the MA Education Framework.

The programme supports you in developing your knowledge and understanding of issues and practice through enquiry and research. The programme provides a range of module choices, but you are encouraged to bring your own ideas and focus on your own particular professional interests.

Through this programme you will

• Develop and deepen your knowledge and understanding of issues relating to education practice through critical reflection, analysis and enquiry
• Develop your ability to critically analyse educational theory and how it links to practice
• Become a member of a supportive learning community and learn from professionals from a range of educational settings
• Become a successful practitioner researcher

This degree is accredited by the Association for Nutrition (AfN) and explores in detail the scientific basis of nutrition, health promotion and disease prevention. On graduation you will become a Registered Associate Nutritionist (ANutr) and you can play an influential role in educating the public, promoting healthy eating and developing healthier food. In the first year you’ll study basic nutrition, food science and psychology concepts and develop a fundamental understanding of human physiology, biochemistry and cell biology. You’ll then move on to study more specialised areas such as disease pathophysiology, metabolism and how nutrition can play a key role in health and disease prevention throughout the lifecycle. You will also study modules related to food industry and employability including the role of the nutritionist in foodservice. In your final year you will undertake a two-week work experience and will study public health nutrition, sports nutrition, behaviour change and contemporary topics in nutrition. You will also undertake a final year research project. You’ll also have the exciting opportunity to choose from study abroad or take a year-long work placement in industry. 

• University of Hertfordshire was awarded TEF Gold (2018), the highest possible standard for teaching in the UK.  
• Active research community.
• Accredited by the Association for Nutrition. On graduation you become a Registered Associate Nutritionist and can use the ANutr qualification.
• Major focus on employability. All students undertake a 2-week work experience as part of their degree which contributes to academic credits.
• Optional 12-month industrial placement or study abroad overseas at one of our world partner universities as part of a 4-year degree.
• Practical experience in the brand new state-of the art Science, Diet and Sports Performance labs.

Other additional opportunities include

• Dedicated student support from the School of Life and Medical Sciences Academic Support Unit.
• Teaching is complemented by lectures from visiting lecturers from industry.
• Active student-led Nutrition and Dietetics Society.

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.

• 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.