Course summary

Bring rigour to your thinking and advance your powers of engagement with both literary texts and the issues and contexts with which they engage. Develop your skills in analysing literature, learning how writers have responded to their situations, cultures, and the literature of their contemporaries, while gaining the tools and confidence to become an original and discerning critic of literature and wider world issues. The BA (Hons) English combines broad coverage of literature across periods and genres. Thematic concentrations range from ‘Satire, Feeling, Innovation’ to ‘Literature, Land and the Environment’, and regional concentrations include North America and the location of your studies – London. Throughout, there is a distinctive emphasis on how writing not only reflects but influences change in the world. Students are instructed in how to become more discerning, more sceptical and more appreciative readers of everything - from lyric poetry to literary criticism, and from newspaper articles to political speeches. The programme culminates in a Comparative Literature dissertation, which cultivates in students an ability to mediate, to compare impartially, to be culturally agile, and to be scrupulously alert to both the similarities and the differences between art works from across time and space. Students are both inducted in those skills which are central to literary study, and also encouraged to draw on subjects which connect with English, including History, Philosophy, Psychology, Art, and Languages. The programme is therefore rigorous both in its disciplinarity and its interdisciplinarity content. Our English graduates have strong oral and written communication skills. They combine planning and research with critical thinking, and can clearly evaluate competing perspectives and present ideas to a range of audiences. These fundamental strengths are highly sought after across sectors and, as such, open up a wide array of career possibilities upon graduation. Interdisciplinary Study This degree programme combines a rigorous English syllabus with a personalised elective pathway. Students can choose to deepen their focus on English through their elective courses, or they can further contextualise and broaden their studies with courses that match other interests and goals. Focus on one subject or study multiple subjects. Discipline Pathways include: Art & Design Business Computer Science Creative Writing Data Science Economics English History Law Philosophy Politics & International Relations Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE) Global Experience Northeastern University London offers students exciting global experience opportunities. By coming to study with us you have the opportunity to embrace a global mindset from day one, integrating yourself into a diverse community of more than 74 different nationalities, with students coming to study in London from across Northeastern University’s Global Campus Network. Semester Abroad Our degree programmes offer you the opportunity to spend a semester abroad studying at Northeastern University’s campus in either Boston, Massachusetts or Oakland, California. You’ll enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience, which includes opportunities to expand your horizons and network, engage with another culture, develop your independence, and experience learning in a different style and environment. Double Degree In addition to three-year UK degree programmes, Northeastern University London offers unique opportunities for students to study for two globally recognised degrees simultaneously over 4 years – a UK undergraduate degree awarded by Northeastern University London, and a US bachelor’s degree awarded by Northeastern University (Boston, MA.) Double degree students undertake their fourth year of study in the USA. There are also options to study for a UK undergraduate degree and a US masters degree over four years, or a UK undergraduate degree and UK masters degree.