Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Philosophy and Media

at University of Hertfordshire - De Havilland Campus United Kingdom

Our Graphic Design BA (Hons) program is driven by a desire to develop graduates that are ready for employment. The course is committed to teaching you how to generate brilliant concepts and the skills required to execute them beautifully. Briefs will allow students to explore the widest definitions of contemporary graphic design by encouraging them to explore their own interests, be experimental and push the boundaries of the subject. Projects will focus on creating typographic and image-based solutions including posters, books, websites and films as well as packaging, identity and typeface design.

We have an enviable record of success. In recent years our students have won over 100 awards in all of the most prestigious national and international design competitions. These include: at least one D&AD pencil every year since 2011; Designer of the Year at New Designers; countless other ISTD, YCN and agency competitions; and various runners-up/finalists’ places in other competitions such at the Penguin Random House Design Award.

Clever, original ideas are vital for a successful career working at the top end of the profession and our course is committed to teaching students how to generate brilliant concepts. We foster a fun yet demanding atmosphere that encourages our students to think independently, question the world around them and be opinionated. Our proximity to London allows us to easily bring in high-quality visiting tutors, all of whom have worked for renowned agencies, and inspiring guest speakers.

• Outstanding connections to industry, including high profile live briefs and visiting speakers.
• A forward-thinking, ideas-driven curriculum which prepares our graduates for a wide range of careers.
• A flexible approach which encourages exploration and experimentation in a wide variety of formats.
• A reputation for success in the most-coveted student award schemes.

What is it for sounds, gestures and marks on paper to have meaning? What are the various uses to which we can put language, and how does it manage to have the effects it has? How do we learn language? And how does the language we use reflect society, the nature of our thoughts, and what we take reality to be like?

Our BA Philosophy and English Language degree allows you to examine the nature of language, through two distinct approaches. You’ll develop a range of skills in analysing the structure of the English language and how it is used in a variety of situations, while exploring and challenging the assumptions about the nature of language, its limits and how it functions.

In your first year, alongside core linguistics modules, you’ll learn to think critically by examining how language may be used – and misused – in reasoning and persuasion. You’ll also study social and political philosophy, covering topics such as freedom of speech, and examine the nature of mind and reality.

All our philosophy lecturers are active researchers, so you’ll share the excitement of doing original work in a supportive and highly-rated academic community. Our Philosophy team is in the top 15 in the Guardian League Table 2019 and rates as one of the 100 best Philosophy departments worldwide in the 2017 QS rankings.

Our English language lecturers are research-active academics working in cutting-edge areas such as language and gender, formulaic language, corpus studies, bilingualism, bilingual processing and codeswitching.

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. In Philosophy, you may explore a wide variety of topics, including the option to learn some languages of logic.

One final-year option is corpus studies in English language, which will develop your research skills through your use of Sketch Engine, a text analysis tool that allows you to search vast samples of language, or corpora. In Philosophy, there is the option to study more advanced contemporary themes and theories in the philosophy of language, and also to take a module which focuses in particular on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s influential work on the nature of language.

• A flexible programme of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting
• An exceptional academic team, conducting internationally renowned research
• Stimulating, innovative courses that allow you to make rewarding connections between two disciplines
• CV-building potential through extra-curricular activities

The School has a strong international reputation for research in this area and this expertise influences this course which explores current research and practice in data science and analytics, extending your knowledge and understanding of the principles and practice of obtaining data from various sources, the essential methods for pre-processing and cleaning data, data analytics and modelling. This MSc can lead to a career such as a data scientist.

Graduates obtaining this award will be equipped to pursue research to PhD level, or to enter specialist employment in technically advanced and unpredictable working environments requiring sound judgment and the exercise of personal responsibility and initiative.

If you want a career in photography, this is the course for you. Through a range of projects, you’ll explore and evolve your vision and practice in photography. Through practical workshops, you will learn technical expertise and through feedback and group sessions you will critique and expand your visual language. You’ll also study the theoretical side of photography, including its fascinating history and contemporary practices. Experimentation, creativity and collaboration are encouraged and facilitated throughout the course. The course has a clear industry focus that aims to develop your professional awareness. A key part of your Final Year is learning how to operate as a freelancer, interact with clients and approach potential employers. This culminates in the presentation of your final portfolio to employers and public-facing graduate shows.

The friendly and supportive course encourages you to explore and evolve your photographic vision and practice through a programme of workshops, seminars, lectures and work experience opportunities. Through a sequence of practical projects, you gain a range of technical skills and professional knowledge. Experimentation and risk-taking are encouraged together with the critical study of photographic histories, theories and contemporary practices.

The photography programme emphasises professionalism and industry relevance. The tutors and visiting lecturers are practising photographers or potential employers from the media industries such as working photographers, agents, artists, art directors, marketing professionals and curators.

• This Photography degree is designed for those that want to work towards a career as a professional photographer or in related media professions.
• The degree prepares you for employment in a range of photography-related professions.
• You'll explore and evolve your individual photographic vision and practice, specialising in your chosen genre.
• Our tutors and visiting lecturers are practising photographers or potential employers.
• Our student work is increasingly getting recognised within the photographic world. Our industry partners are high profile and recent student work placements include the prestigious photography agency Magnum. In addition, we have a number of interns working for the BBC.
• Our lively talks programme also allows students to show and discuss current work-in-progress and receive direct feedback from key figures. Our recent visitors include Tereza Cervenova, Matthew Finn, Alexandra Lethbridge, Carl Bigmore, Sebastian Edge from The North London Darkroom and contemporary photographic agency Together Associates.

Fashion impacts upon all aspects of our lives and shapes our appreciation and understanding of the world around us. This course offers a commercially informed, creative and innovative design experience for tomorrow’s generation of fashion professionals. You’ll learn vital pattern-cutting skills in 2D and 3D as well as core manufacturing abilities. You’ll also enhance your freehand and technical drawing and illustration skills using traditional and computer-aided design methods.

As well as technical skills, you’ll explore the history of fashion and exciting innovations in contemporary design. Optional study trips, fashion shows, exhibitions and competitions will enrich your educational experience, while live industry projects could lead to your designs going into production and open up employment opportunities.

If you've already completed an Undergraduate degree, why not take a look at our Postgraduate degree and specialise in MA Fashion?

• We support freedom of expression and individuality and help our students to be industry informed, socially responsible and creatively prepared
• Our Fashion Design award offers an exciting balance of creativity, innovation and technical design helping to develop the next generation of fashion professionals in a rapidly changing industry
• Strong industry relationships with a number of leading brands and designers collaborating through live projects, work placements, competition sponsorship and graduate employment opportunities
• A great spacious contemporary environment including industry standard resources for you to thrive in
• A highly experienced and dedicated academic and technical team putting your learning at the centre of the programme

Nurses are the largest profession working in mental health services. With a quarter of the population thought to have some form of mental health issues, it's clear that nurses have an essential role in supporting people. As a mental health nurse, you’ll have the vital and challenging role of establishing therapeutic relationships with individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and age groups. This pre-registration course gives you the essential skills to make evidence-based interventions and provide care, while respecting and valuing the aspirations of individuals with mental health challenges.

As with our other nursing courses, you’ll spend half your time on placements in clinical settings, putting what you’ve learned into practice.

Mental Health nurses have a vital and challenging role in establishing therapeutic relationships with individuals who experience mental health problems.

These include

• Providing support to families, relatives and carers
• Responding to changing needs
• Promoting mental and physical health recovery and general wellbeing

This highly specialised branch of nursing focuses on caring and supporting individuals of all age groups living with mental health problems in different care settings including:

• Individuals’ homes
• Inpatient
• Outpatient
• General hospitals
• Community and rehabilitation units

You will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team including GPs psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, occupational therapists, arts therapists and healthcare assistants.

100% of our Mental Health Nursing graduates went on to employment or further study within 6 months according to the latest national Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey.

The MSc Transport Planning 180 credits will provide you with both the theoretical grounding and practical skills that you’ll need to satisfy the requirements of employers both now and in the future.

Driven by the demand for the delivery of zero carbon interventions, poor air quality and wider social exclusion problems, there is an increasing demand for highly skilled and multi-disciplined professionals within transport planning.  

The climate change imperative has shaken central and local government. It has caused authorities to declare climate emergencies and seek practical solutions to these new and important challenges.

Many have introduced transport policies and invested significant funding for transport programmes. They’re also rethinking how transport is delivered to include projects focussed specifically on achieving zero carbon and intelligent transport networks.

So, whether you have an interest in transport planning, or if you’re a professional who wants to gain a transport planning qualification, it’s an exciting time to explore transport planning and discover the impact you can have on communities for years to come.

• This BEng Honours degree course in Aerospace Engineering with Pilot Studies places is a particular emphasis on the flying qualities from a pilot's point of view;
• You will get the opportunity to gain a UK National Private Pilot's Licence whilst doing your degree;
• The flying is offered locally at an attractively discounted rate.
• Our BEng Aerospace Systems Engineering with Pilot Studies students have previously completed work placement years at companies including: Rockwell, Eads Astrium, and MBDA
• Recent Aerospace Engineering graduates have gone on to work at organisations including The Royal Air Force, Martin-Baker Aircraft Company, and Chester Hall Precision Engineering

This unique course gives you the flexibility to pursue an engineering career designing aircraft from a pilot’s perspective, or to take the first step to become a commercial pilot. The compulsory flying element is mainly in the Fourth Year and is provided by a nationally recognised flight centre either in the UK or the US. There are additional fees for this, but with at an attractively discounted rate compared to other flight centres. There are also opportunities to fly in the First and Second Years as an extracurricular activity, including the chance to use various flight simulators.

More about the course

The aerospace industry is increasingly in need of Systems Engineers with the skills to integrate modern communication systems with conventional aerospace systems to enhance aircraft performance.  This variation to our Aerospace Systems Engineering degree can be the first step for those wishing to become professional pilots.  It combines the multidisciplinary nature of the Aerospace Systems Engineering degree with pilot studies to a National Private Pilot’s Licence level and beyond. 

The compulsory flying experience is mainly in the Fourth Year, provided locally by a nationally recognised flight centre either in the UK or the USA. There are additional fees for this, but with an attractively discounted rate compared to other flight centres. There are also opportunities to do some flying in the First and Second Years as an extracurricular activity, including use of various flight simulators.

This course has been developed in accordance with industry guidelines to give you a professionally grounded, challenging and creative education, focusing on architecture, principles of urbanism, landscape and building construction. You’ll work within a professional, studio-based architectural environment on a variety of industry projects, including houses, shops, museums, public buildings, squares, cities and civic centres.You’ll also visit and analyse places and engage with the social, political and economic factors that influence architecture and society. By working individually and in multidisciplinary teams, you’ll gain an understanding of cultural and urban conditions, learn how to improve the built environment and develop a sharp commercial awareness of the architecture industry.

The BA (Hons) Architecture award will provide graduates with a professional network to facilitate early career development after graduation.

The School of Creative Arts prides itself on providing our students with a strong technical and professional design education, and we place significant value on the preparation of our students for the world of work.  

The Architecture programme has a range of world-class industry partners who engage with us in teaching and learning and in providing current and future thinking on contemporary practice.

We place our students in a unique position to understand, explore, and intervene in the changing landscape as it evolves from the ideal social settlement of the Garden Cities of the early twentieth century to the post-war New Towns and future cities.

Our students are creative technologists, wanting to produce their own music, enhanced by the very best sound production values. You'll work on a range of musical projects and portfolios centered around music creation. You'll hone technical skills, and also develop an understanding of a wide range of musical styles, musical theories and cultures, and apply these skills and understanding to the creation of music products.You'll also work with others, including engineers and musicians in order to craft an overall music ‘production’ vision. Core modules studied alongside practice modules develop your techniques and approaches using a range of sound technologies. They also foster professional and industrial contextual immersion and awareness, and experience with specialisms within connected musical fields.

• Building on the University’s long-standing and highly successful Music, Sound Design and Audio Recording and Production courses, the BSc (Hons) in Music Production course is designed for students who see themselves as creative technologists wanting to produce their own music, enhanced by the very best sound production values.  
• Students work on a range of musical projects and portfolios centred around music creation, they hone technical skills, and also develop an understanding of a wide range of musical styles, musical theories and cultures, and apply these skills and understanding to the creation of music products.  Students also work with others, including engineers and musicians in order to craft an overall music ‘production’ vision.  
• Core modules studied alongside music production practice modules develop students’ techniques and approaches using a range of sound technologies, as well as fostering professional and industrial contextual immersion and awareness, and experience with specialisms within connected musical fields.
• Our programme is Industry Accredited by JAMES, who represent the Association of Professional Recording Services (APRS), the Music Producers Guild (MPG) and Associate Industry Bodies.
• Develop excellent technical skills over the course of your degree, and benefit from our high quality studio, listening room, venue and sound resources including those by SSL, Yamaha, Avid, Focusrite, Quested, Genelec, Neumann, TLA, Lexicon and Drawmer to name but a few.
• Excellent industry input is built into the design of the degree awards from a huge number of areas within the wider music industry.
• The degree awards within the programme are designed to expose you to areas of music, sound and audio technology that you might not even know exist yet.  "Coming to this course has really given my brain the kick-start it needed, and I'm beginning to see near endless possibilities with where I can go." - Glenn Osborn, second year student
• We have a strong record of students from the programme securing placement years between years 2 and 3 of their studies.  Placement destinations include Focusrite,  Sound Technology (a leading distributor of high profile brands for the Music Retail and Professional Audio industries), The Famous Company, and a number of recording studios.
• Every year, organisations and companies approach us to recommend our graduating students.
• Music business is woven into your degree study at every year giving you the skills to slot into the music industry (or create your own business).
• Organise and Participate ‘live’ projects, and our ‘JamJar’ showcase live events.
• Benefit from studying in creative arts school and collaborate with filmmakers and animators in realising fully featured, professional standard media projects.
• We have some of the best resources in the UK, including the 39 million pound entertainment venue – the Forum where our students perform, and engineer every month, and state-of-the art music studios and film and TV facilities in our 12 million pound building for Music, Film and media.