English Literature and Philosophy, BA (Hons)

The Joint Honours in English Literature and Philosophy offers a stimulating, interdisciplinary programme for those intrigued by diverse literary traditions and profound questions about existence and humanity. This degree equally balances both subjects, fostering skills in analysing philosophical and literary texts, concepts, and methods. Taught by experts whose research informs the curriculum, the programme begins with foundational modules in the first year, expands with optional choices in the second, and culminates in a personalised dissertation in the final year. Students may also opt for a placement year or study abroad, extending the course to four years.Core first-year modules include introductions to drama, the novel, poetry, ethics, knowledge, reality, and philosophical reading. These cover historical ranges from medieval to contemporary works, exploring critical debates, cultural contexts, and key philosophical issues. Assessment primarily involves essays and examinations, with the dissertation providing an opportunity for independent research in either discipline.

Year 1 Core modules: Introduction to Drama introduces the work of, and critical debate about, a wide historical range of drama and dramatists writing in English, typically covering work from the following areas: the medieval, early modern, Restoration and Augustan, Romantic, Victorian, and twentieth and twenty-first century: post-medieval dramatists to be covered might include, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Behn, Gay, Shelley, Wilde, Shaw, Beckett, Kushner and Butterworth. Introduction to the Novel introduces ways of reading English novels and various contexts for studying them. You will be familiarised with strategies for engaging with fictional texts formally as well as historically, by situating the novels studied in their distinctive cultural environments while also being taught the ways in which novelistic form and technique have changed over time. Introduction to Poetry introduces a wide range of poems by poets writing in English from the early modern to the contemporary periods including some American poetry. You will develop your understanding of traditional major verse forms, modes of organisation and genres (e.g. blank verse, the couplet, the stanza, lyric, elegy, sonnet, epic, pastoral, ode, open form). Ethics and Values provides a structured introduction to moral philosophy, including applied ethics, by exploring key moral concepts and showing how they influence moral practices and theories. Knowledge and Reality introduces philosophical problems in epistemology (the study of knowledge), and metaphysics (the study of reality and ourselves). Reading Philosophy allows you to acquire an understanding of the issues of interpretation and comprehension in reading primary authors, through a detailed study of four thematically related texts.