BA English Studies

About this course

English studies is the academic discipline concerned with the close reading, critical analysis, and historical contextualisation of texts. It encompasses literature from poetry and drama to the novel and non-fiction, and it develops the skills to read carefully, think critically about language and meaning, and write with precision and effect. These are among the most transferable skills a university education can produce, and they underpin effective practice in virtually every field that involves communication, argument, or the interpretation of complex material. At Teesside University, this part-time programme allows you to develop these skills at a pace suited to your other commitments. You will apply close reading techniques to a wide range of texts and voices, exploring novels, poetry, and drama across different periods and traditions. The programme develops your understanding of the methods and frameworks that literary criticism uses, encouraging you to engage with texts both analytically and creatively. You will deepen your capacity as a reader and writer, developing a more refined sense of how language works and what effects it can produce. The critical approaches you encounter will draw on a range of theoretical and historical perspectives, helping you to situate texts in their contexts and to understand how meaning is made, contested, and transformed over time. Teesside's part-time structure makes the degree accessible to mature students, working adults, and those who need to manage their study time around other responsibilities. Graduates from English studies programmes go on to careers in education, journalism, publishing, communications, marketing, the civil service, arts management, and writing. The analytical and written skills the degree develops are genuinely versatile. The programme also provides a strong foundation for postgraduate study in English literature, creative writing, or related humanities disciplines.

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