Undergraduate English and Comparative Literature at Goldsmiths

Study
in a friendly
department where
you’ll get to know the
staff and students, but
that’s large enough to
offer you a wide range
of courses and
specialisms
Undergraduate
English and Comparative
Literature at Goldsmiths
2 www.gold.ac.uk/english
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 Choose from eight
undergraduate programmes
 Speak to your personal tutor
throughout your studies and get
advice and feedback on your work
 Keep up with current debates through
the Goldsmiths Writers’ Centre
 Make use of the Goldsmiths and
University of London libraries,
including Senate House
Key features
ECL at Goldsmiths
Visit www.gold.ac.uk/ug/english for full details of our degrees 3
Cervantes. Bukowski. Dostoevsky. At Goldsmiths,
English and Comparative Literature is critical and
creative. From classical literature and linguistics,
to creative writing and contemporary fiction, we

combine a core of modern specialisms with coverage
of literature that goes from the 14th to the 21st
century, so you can do a traditional English degree
with us or a more comparative or creative one.
As a department we’re interested in a field
of enquiry that extends from Old English
literature to newly published writing in English,
French, German, Spanish and Italian. There are
opportunities to learn about film, theatre, and
visual arts, in addition to studying literature
and language. As a result, you can study
texts and films across a variety of periods
and genres. And, because we have specialists
in areas such as American and Caribbean
literature, you’ll get the chance to delve into
subjects you can’t explore elsewhere.
Whether you want to become an
award-winning writer or apply your
studies to another career, you’ll leave
with a University of London degree
that’s as rigorous as it is respected.
Why choose English and Comparative
Literature at Goldsmiths?
We’re engaged. As a student here you can
get involved in a cultural sphere beyond your
studies. Stay in touch with current debates
through our dedicated Writers’ Centre, the
Goldsmiths Prize for boldly original fiction,
and our popular speaker series, which has
featured guests including Doris Lessing, Alan

Bennett, Ian McEwan and Sharon Olds.
We’re nurturing. We may be one of the
largest departments in Goldsmiths but
that doesn’t mean you won’t get personal
support. Take advantage of our personal
tutor system, learn from an approachable
team of academic staff and become part
of the student-run English Society.
We’re vibrant. As one of the first
departments in the UK to offer creative
writing, you’ll learn from renowned
contemporary writers and be part of a hub
of literary excellence – our graduates have
gone on to win prestigious awards from
the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature to the
Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year.

4 www.gold.ac.uk/english
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Watch our film at
vimeo.com/
goldsmiths/
english
If you want to boost your academic profile
and progress to the BA English degree:
Integrated Degree in English
(including Foundation Year)
1 year full-time (Foundation) followed by
3 years full-time (undergraduate degree)
www.gold.ac.uk/ug/

integrated-degree-english
This is a four-year degree at Goldsmiths.
The foundation year takes an overview
approach to literary history, and includes
components in Renaissance studies, 18th-
century literature, Victorian literature and
modernism. Novels, plays and poetry will
be studied, and a variety of approaches
to literary criticism are discussed and
critically assessed. You also learn study
skills, and critically evaluate your own work
in individual tutorials. If you successfully
achieve the progression requirements of
the foundation year, you can continue with
the full-time three-year BA (Hons) English.
Visit www.gold.ac.uk/ug/english for full details of our degrees 5
Our degrees
BA (Hons) English
3 years full-time or 4-6 years part-time
www.gold.ac.uk/ug/ba-english
Our English degree gives you the opportunity
to develop the critical and verbal skills needed
for a confident, effective reading of literary
and non-literary texts. It develops your core
skills in analytical and imaginative reading and
writing, and is structured to give you a broad
foundation in literary and cultural studies, as
well as the opportunity to study the topics
that really interest you. Course options offer
an historical view of writing in English, and

let you specialise in areas including thematic
and genre-based approaches to literature,
comparative analysis, and literary theory.
Our staff have diverse cultural backgrounds
and research areas, so are ideally placed to
offer you insights as you develop your own
interests in American, British, European, Irish,
Caribbean or other literatures in English.
BA (Hons) English & American Literature
3 years full-time or 4-6 years part-time
www.gold.ac.uk/ug/
ba-english-american-literature
This dedicated degree gives you the
opportunity to read across a varied range
of literary and critical works from both sides
of the Atlantic. You’ll be able to examine
American literary and cultural contexts, the
formation of an American literary aesthetic
from Puritan times to the present day,
and the critical concepts and ideologies
that shape the American nation. You will
cultivate an understanding of the main
cultural, historical and political concepts
underpinning America and its literatures, and
be introduced to selected works spanning
literary history from Homer to the present day.
Our graduates have an excellent
employment record – 100% of last year’s
graduates were in work or further study
six months after finishing the degree.

BA (Hons) English & Comparative Literature
3 years full-time
www.gold.ac.uk/ug/
ba-english-comparative-literature
Enabling you to study literature and culture
across linguistic and national boundaries,
this degree offers you the opportunity
to read a generous range of works within
a comparative context. Over the course
of the three years you’ll read and discuss
works spanning literary culture from
Homer to the present day. You will
be introduced to the study of themes,
genres and movements across national
literatures, and the relationship between
literature and other disciplines. You
will have the opportunity to look at the
arts during three major periods – the
Baroque, Romanticism and modernism,
and examine cross-national influences
in a variety of genres and media.
BA (Hons) English with Creative Writing
3 years full-time
www.gold.ac.uk/ug/
ba-english-creative-writing
This prestigious degree promotes your
intellectual curiosity and creativity by
combining the study of English literature
with the practice of creative writing. It will
develop your analytical and critical abilities

as well as your imaginative skills. You will
study compulsory and option courses
from a wide range offered, while each year
taking a creative writing course. These
creative writing workshops specialise in
prose fiction or poetry, and are designed to
develop your knowledge while laying the
foundations of your writing practice. They
are taught by practitioners and active
researchers, so you will have access to
experts and you will be interacting within
a community of writers who will be
supporting the development of your work.
6 www.gold.ac.uk/english
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BA (Hons) English & Drama/Drama & English
3 years full-time
www.gold.ac.uk/ug/ba-english-drama
This degree brings insights from a range of
perspectives to develop your analytical and
imaginative skills. You’ll develop an awareness
of literary-historical contexts and of
relationships between theatrical texts and
other literary genres. It can be studied through
two pathways: Drama or English, depending
on which you decide will be your main focus.
These pathways diverge at the end of the
second year, so for the first two years of the
degree all students have a similar choice of
courses. In your first year, literature courses

focus on poetry, the literature of the Victorian
period and classic texts from Homer to
Margaret Atwood. You also study theatre
history, performance theory and approaches
to production. The second and third years
offer greater flexibility, with an excitingly
varied choice of literature and drama courses.
BA (Hons) English & History
3 years full-time or 4-6 years part-time
www.gold.ac.uk/ug/ba-english-history
This degree familiarises you with thematic and
genre-based approaches to literature, verbal
analysis and literary theory. Throughout the
degree you will be introduced to the skills
of the historian, encouraging you to analyse
societies and their structures in a way that
will inform and complement your literary
studies. You’ll also have the opportunity
to apply your academic skills within the
workplace, through our History at Work
scheme. Our staff come from a variety of
cultural backgrounds and, with their diverse
research specialities, they’ll be able to help you
develop your own interests. Interdisciplinary
courses draw together standard historical
sources with literature, film, and the visual
arts, and help you develop a wide range
of skills that are attractive to employers.
BA (Hons) English Language & Literature*
3 years full-time or 4-6 years part-time

www.gold.ac.uk/ug/
ba-english-language-literature
This degree, new for 2013, will give you an
in-depth understanding of the English
language based on critical study and analysis
of a wide range of literary and non-literary
genres, including print and digital media.
You will become familiar with historical,
geographical, socio-cultural and situational
language variation, and develop a critical
understanding of how language can be
used as a resource to project identities and
to shape representations of reality. At the
same time, the programme offers a broad
foundation in literary studies, including
thematic and genre-based approaches
to literature, comparative analysis, and
literary theory.
*New programme: subject to validation
BA (Hons) Media & English
3 years full-time
www.gold.ac.uk/ug/ba-media-english
This degree allows you to explore critical
perspectives in literature and media alongside
each other while developing your skills in
creative writing (script and short story) and
editing. The degree will stimulate and develop
your critical faculties and at the same time
help you improve as a creative writer (film,
tv, radio, print and new media). You’ll follow

thematic and research interests that bear on
your own original writing, and be taught by
leading scholars and researchers in Media
and Communications, and English and
Comparative Literature. The creative writing
course each year, which is taught by working
screenwriters, fiction writers, radio dramatists
and editors, will develop your script and prose
editorial skills, and you will graduate with
a portfolio of creative writing project work.
Our degrees continued
Visit www.gold.ac.uk/ug/english for full details of our degrees 7
Your future: skills and careers
A degree in English opens up a wide range of careers
by developing critical and analytical skills, proficiency
in assessing evidence, the clear expression of ideas,
and the ability to bring together insights from a range
of subjects. You also learn to solve problems, to think
creatively, and to communicate with clarity – all of
which are attractive to a variety of employers.
According to data collated by Unistats, the
definitive UK university guide and part of the
Higher Education Funding Council for England
(HEFCE), Goldsmiths’ English undergraduate
students go on to attain the highest-paid
jobs of English graduates in the UK.
Where do ECL graduates work?
English graduates go on to work in a very
varied selection of careers, including:
• Journalism

• Editing
• Writing
• Advertising
• Marketing and public relations
• Teaching (schools and higher education)
• Events management
• Information management
• Archivism
How Goldsmiths equips you
for the world of work
Everything we do at Goldsmiths is committed
to preparing our students for life beyond
study. You’ll develop independent thinking
and real-world skills, which employers are
looking for when recruiting graduates. And
we nurture creative talent and dynamic
thought, and a commitment to being at the
forefront of your chosen field, whatever
that may be. Our Careers Service offers
support, guidance and practical advice
on how to take your first steps to finding
a job and having the career you want. .
Graduate insight
Ben, graduated in 2008 with
a BA in English & Drama
“Every university is formative but not all are
supportive. Goldsmiths is. I directed my first
play in my third year and it was only through
Goldsmiths awards and fellow students that I
was able to this. Since then, I’ve written and

directed many different things but I wouldn’t
have were it not for the confidence, skills, and
people that Goldsmiths gave me. This year,
I’ve written opera for the Welsh National
Opera. I never thought I’d write opera but
Goldsmiths challenged me to try new things
and, through a combination of perseverance
and luck I was asked to work for the Welsh
National Opera as a writer-in-residence.”
Contact us
See www.gold.ac.uk/ug/
english for full details of our
degrees. If you need more
information, please email

To find out more about us, go
to www.gold.ac.uk/ecl
or email
Student insight
Alex
“I could probably only describe
the atmosphere here to be a fusion of
eccentricity and libertarian expression.
If you want to be an individual then there
is nowhere that will encourage you more.
When I looked at my course it appeared to
endorse this notion of diversity and has
given me a freedom to choose what I
learn. Goldsmiths is as beguiling
as the people that come here.”

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