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English Literature
English Literature is a popular programme with an excellent reputation. In the National Student Survey for 2010 typical feedback from graduating students was that ‘the tutors are brilliant, helpful, prepared, enthusiastic and knowledgeable’. Another student commented that ‘the tutors’ enthusiasm sparked my interest in things I would not have thought of. I am now considering a career as a lecturer due to my experience at university’. Overall student satisfaction levels for English Literature at Bath Spa have never dropped below 90%.
Quality of Teaching and Research
The Department scored highly in the latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), with some of our research being awarded a world-leading rating of 4*. Recent external assessment of the English Literature degree praised ‘the very imaginative connections between research and teaching [which offers] a real challenge and intellectual excitement for its students’. The high levels of support offered to our students were also commented on; in addition, it was remarked that ‘students are particularly encouraged towards employability skills’. The quality of the English Literature programme therefore reflects both staff expertise in research and scholarship and their commitment to excellence in teaching.
Our Undergraduate Courses
You can combine English Literature with a large variety of other subjects (such as Creative Writing or History) or take English as a single honours subject. We offer a diverse range of individual modules, most of which are optional and you can use the flexibility of our modular scheme to put together a programme of modules that suits your interests. The few compulsory modules provide a common framework for all students studying English Literature and help to develop advanced skills of literary analysis.
Our students are encouraged to explore literary texts from different genres, historical periods and different traditions. We have a large programme which covers well-known writers such as Shakespeare, Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood and the Brontës as well as more unusual modules on thematic topics such as ‘Writing and the Environment’ and ‘Film Adaptation’. We also run a number of study trips to venues as diverse as London, the Bodleian Library in Oxford, the Eden Project in Cornwall, or even Krakow, to enhance students’ experience of the literary texts they are reading.
Our Staff
English Literature tutors are all well-qualified and active in research and scholarship in their respective areas of specialism: students benefit from their expertise and enthusiasm. We are keen to make students feel involved in the subject and its modules and aim to foster a lively atmosphere of engagement and debate.