English Joint Honours

In 1821 Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote that ‘poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world’. A century on, Ezra Pound described artists as the ‘antennae of the race’. Literature is provocative, challenging, unsettling and transformational; it exposes us to new perspectives and undermines existing certainties. At the University of Derby, we believe that the study of literature should do this too.

This degree will change the way that you think: you will encounter a wide range of literature from across the globe, studied in the context of perspective-altering theories concerning identity, desire, cultural politics and the nature of reality itself
You will explore fascinating aspects of the subject, including classical myth, the evolution of fantasy, the representation of crime, the legacy of Empire, cultural politics, existentialist writing, blasphemy and censorship
The course equips you with the skills and knowledge you need for excellent career prospects in fields ranging from teaching, journalism and publishing to arts administration
You can benefit from work-based learning projects, study visits to cultural and heritage institutions, as well as lectures and seminars conducted by guest speakers
Our assessment strategy is designed to produce confident, articulate and independent graduates. As well as essays, you will be assessed on your participation in seminars and your ability to lead them
We also place great emphasis on developing your research skills, providing options to produce conference papers and independent projects in the second and third year
There is the opportunity to study for a semester in one of our American partner universities