Course summary

If you can get lost in a book for hours on end, and enjoy writing or even drama, English is a natural choice. Storytelling is part of every culture and reveals much about a person’s lived experience, values and aspirations within a given time. English BA at Brunel is the opportunity to uncover the richness of English literature history – its periods, genres and diverse storytellers – through a set of underlying themes. Your journey will commence with a module on ‘Reading Resilience’ to help equip you with the required skills and competencies relevant to literary studies, so you can approach any topic with confidence. After a first year of modules that pass through modern literature and formative texts to help develop your critical reading, your exploration in English is very much down to your own interests and choices. In years two and three a wealth of optional modules await you, covering every period and genre from Shakespeare to Jane Austen, postcolonial writing to the women’s movement, with plenty of choice in contemporary and genre fiction like comedy, science fiction and horror. Throughout your literature degree you will be encouraged to express your own thoughts and creativity in your coursework and seminars, which will help you to grow as a critic and writer. An English degree will equip you with personal skills employers’ prize in graduates – not just exceptional written and verbal communication, but also the ability to communicate collaboratively in a team towards an agreed goal. As part of your English BA you will learn to participate and present confidently in seminars, communicate your ideas effectively in writing, and to critically evaluate relevant themes within texts that frequently cross into other disciplines such as history and politics. Opt for a placement year and you will gain hands-on work experience while you study which will further increase your attractiveness to employers when you graduate. Outside of your classroom, you can look forward to events and activities organised by the Brunel Centre for Contemporary Writing, including the annual Hillingdon Literary Festival: a free weekend of literary performances from internationally renowned authors, writing workshops and lively debates right here on campus.