Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework
English Literature and History
BA (Hons)
- Course type
- Combined Honours
- Duration of study
- 3 years/ 4 years with International Year
- Location
- Keele University campus
- Subject area / School
- School of Humanities
- UCAS code
- QV31
Course overview
English and History at Keele achieved 94% student satisfaction in the 2015 National Student Survey. Our research in History is among the best in the UK, rated highly for research impact in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework.
Key facts
Course content
Great novels, poems, plays or short stories do not come out of nowhere. They are shaped by and reflect the historical and social circumstances of the times in which they were written and in many cases they make vital contributions to our understanding of those times. Keele has a strong tradition of studying literary texts within their historical contexts and this programme provides the perfect combination if you want to deepen your understanding of the times in which works of literature were produced.
History at Keele has internationally recognised expertise in world history from 400AD to the present day and English has strengths in medieval literature, early modern literature, eighteenth and nineteenth century British and American literature, modernism, and post-war and contemporary literature.
Course structure
Our degree courses are organised into modules. Each module is usually a self-contained unit of study and each is usually assessed separately with the award of credits on the basis of 1 credit = 10 hours of student effort. An outline of the structure of the programme is provided in the tables below.
There are three types of module delivered as part of this programme. They are:
- Compulsory modules: a module that you are required to study on this course;
- Optional modules: these allow you some limited choice of what to study from a list of modules;
- Elective modules: a free choice of modules that count towards the overall credit requirement but not the number of subject-related credits.
History - A summary of the total credit requirements per year is as follows, with a minimum of 90 subject credits (compulsory plus optional) required for each year across both of your Principal Subjects.
Year 1 (Level 4)
English Literature Year 1 (Level 4)
In Year 1 (Level 4), Combined Honours students take one compulsory module in each semester, plus one optional module, giving a minimum total of 45 credits in English modules. Students can choose to take further modules, which can but need not include English Literature optional modules.
|
Compulsory modules |
Credits |
Optional modules |
Credits |
|
Reading Literature |
15 |
Telling Tales |
15 |
|
Composition |
15 |
Starting Out: An Introduction to American Literature |
15 |
|
New York, New York |
15 |
||
|
Poetry through Practice |
15 |
||
|
Playing Parts |
15 |
||
|
Fiction through Practice |
15 |
||
|
Transatlantic Gothic |
15 |
History Year 1 (Level 4)
|
Compulsory modules |
Credits |
Optional modules |
Credits |
|
Defining Moments in History, c.1000-2000 |
30 |
Modern History |
15 |
|
|
History, Media and Memory |
15 |
|
|
Medieval Europe |
15 |
||
|
Princes and Peoples: European History c. 1490-1700 |
15 |
||
|
Anglo-Saxon England |
15 |
||
|
American Past (AMS-coded) |
15 |
Year 2 (Level 5)
English Literature Year 2 (Level 5)
In Year 2 (Level 5), Combined Honours students take a minimum of 45 credits in English Literature approved optional modules. Students can choose further modules, which can but need not include English Literature optional modules.
|
Optional modules |
Credits |
|
Romanticisms, 1780-1830 |
15 |
|
Writing Genre and Mode |
15 |
|
Victorian Performances |
15 |
|
Twentieth-Century British Fiction and Poetry |
15 |
|
Revolution and Restoration |
15 |
|
Medieval Literature |
15 |
|
The Renaissance: Shakespeare and Beyond |
15 |
|
Creative Writing: Poetry and Prose |
15 |
History Year 2 (Level 5)
|
Compulsory modules |
Credits |
Optional modules |
Credits |
|
Sources and Debates |
15 |
State & Empire in Britain, c.1530- c.1720 |
15 |
|
Castle and Cloister in Medieval Europe, c. 900-1250 |
15 |
||
|
Right-Wing Movements in Interwar-Europe 1918-1938 |
15 |
||
|
Imperialism & Empire |
15 |
||
|
Power in the Modern World |
15 |
||
|
Natural Cultures: Humans and their Environments since 1700 |
15 |
||
|
The History of the Camp: From the GULAG to The Jungle |
15 |
||
|
New World in Chains1 |
15 |
||
|
History of the US in C201 |
15 |
1 These modules have a module code starting ‘AMS-‘
Year 3 (Level 6)
English Literature Year 3 (Level 6)
In Year 3 (Level 6), students take either the English Literature Dissertation module, Creative Writing portfolio (or the dissertation module in their other subject), studied in both semesters and worth 30 credits. Students can choose further modules, which can but need not include English Literature optional modules.
|
Optional modules |
Credits |
Optional modules |
Credits |
|
Dissertation in English Literature (ISP) |
30 |
Film Noir |
15 |
|
Creative Writing Portfolio (ISP) |
30 |
Freedom and Death |
15 |
|
Literature and Society |
15 |
Wild Woods and Wide Worlds: British and American Children’s Fiction |
15 |
|
Postcolonial and World Literature in English |
15 |
Shakespearean Stages |
15 |
|
Contemporary British Fiction |
15 |
Writing at the Borders |
15 |
|
Shakespeare on Film: Adaptation and Appropriation |
15 |
Modernist Manifestos and Magazines |
15 |
|
Sex, Scandal and Society: Eighteenth- Century Writing |
15 |
High Culture: Drink, Drugs, and the American Dream |
15 |
|
The Alcohol Question |
15 |
Words and Pictures: The Contemporary American Graphic Novel |
15 |
|
Writingscapes |
15 |
That womb where you imprison’d were: Pregnancy, Childbirth and Maternity in the Early Modern Period |
15 |
|
Gender and Power in Restoration Literature |
15 |
||
|
Postmodernism: Fiction, Film and Theory |
15 |
||
|
The Canadian Metropolis |
15 |
||
|
Modernist Manifestos and Magazines |
15 |
History Year 3 (Level 6)
|
Compulsory modules |
Credits |
Optional modules |
Credits |
|
None |
Dissertation |
30 |
|
|
The English Civil War, c.1640-46 |
15 |
||
|
Health, illness and Medicine 1628-1808 |
15 |
||
|
Urban Lives in Modern Europe 1890-1914 |
15 |
||
|
Religion, Rebellion and the Raj |
15 |
||
|
Gender and Sexuality in Georgian Britain |
15 |
||
|
The Making of Middle Britain: A Northumbrian Nativity |
15 |
||
|
Doctors and medicine 1808-1886 |
15 |
||
|
The Making of Contemporary Africa, I |
15 |
||
|
Negotiating Nationalisms |
15 |
||
|
Crisis, Conflict and Commerce 1 |
15 |
||
|
Spirituality and Social Change in the Eleventh Century, I |
15 |
||
|
Urban Lives in Modern Europe, 1914-1939 |
15 |
||
|
Crisis, Rupture and Opportunity: German ‘Modernity’, 1900-1933 I |
15 |
||
|
Eyes on the Prize: The Struggle for Civil Rights in America (AMS-coded) |
15 |
||
|
Violence and Power in Civil War America (AMS-coded) |
15 |
||
|
The whole United States is southern! The Modern South and America (AMS-coded) |
15 |
||
|
Violence and Power in Antebellum America (AMS-coded) |
15 |
If you choose to specialise in English Literature in your final year you will study the following modules:
|
Compulsory modules |
Credits |
Optional modules |
Credits |
|
Dissertation in English Literature |
30 |
Creative Writing Portfolio |
30 |
|
Literature and Society |
15 |
Film Noir |
15 |
|
Wild Woods and Wide Words: British and American Children’s Fiction |
15 |
||
|
Optional modules |
Credits |
Words and Pictures |
15 |
|
Lyric Poetry Writing at the Borders |
15 |
The Canadian Metropolis |
15 |
|
Gender and Power in Restoration Literature |
15 |
High Culture: Drink, Drugs, and the American Dream |
15 |
|
Postcolonial and World Literature in English |
15 |
||
|
Contemporary British Fiction |
15 |
Writingscapes |
15 |
|
That womb where you imprison’d were: Pregnancy, Childbirth and Maternity in the Early Modern Period |
15 |
||
|
Shakespeare on Film: Adaptation and Appropriation |
15 |
||
|
The Alcohol Question |
15 |
||
|
Shakespearean Stages |
15 |
||
|
Sex, Scandal and Society: Eighteenth- Century Writing |
15 |
||
|
Modernist Manifestos and Magazines |
15 |
Students may choose to study elective modules which are offered as part of other programmes in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and across the University. These include:
- Modules in other subjects closely related to English Literature such as American Studies, Film Studies or History.
- Modules in other subjects in which they may have a particular interest such as Media, Culture and Creative Practice.
- Modules designed to help students for whom it is not their first language to improve their use of English for Academic Purposes.
- Modern foreign languages modules at different levels in French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese (Mandarin).
- Free standing modules related to the development of graduate attributes, student volunteering, and studying abroad as part of the University’s exchange programme.
If you choose to specialise in History in your final year you may study the following modules:
Year 3 (Level 6)
|
Compulsory modules |
Credits |
Optional modules |
Credits |
|
Dissertation |
30 |
The English Civil War, c.1640-46 |
15 |
|
Health, illness and Medicine 1628-1808 |
15 |
||
|
Urban Lives in Modern Europe 1890-1914 |
15 |
||
|
Religion, Rebellion and the Raj |
15 |
||
|
Gender and Sexuality in Georgian Britain |
15 |
||
|
The Making of Middle Britain: A Northumbrian Nativity |
15 |
||
|
Doctors and medicine 1808-1886 |
15 |
||
|
The Making of Contemporary Africa, I |
15 |
||
|
Negotiating Nationalisms |
15 |
||
|
Crisis, Conflict and Commerce 1 |
15 |
||
|
Spirituality and Social Change in the Eleventh Century, I |
15 |
||
|
Urban Lives in Modern Europe, 1914-1939 |
15 |
||
|
Crisis, Rupture and Opportunity: German ‘Modernity’, 1900-1933 I |
15 |
||
|
Eyes on the Prize: The Struggle for Civil Rights in America (AMS) |
15 |
||
|
Violence and Power in Civil War America (AMS) |
15 |
||
|
The whole United States is southern! The Modern South and America (AMS) |
15 |
||
|
Violence and Power in Antebellum America (AMS) |
15 |
Students may choose to study elective modules which are offered as part of other programmes in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and across the University. These include:
- Modules in other subjects closely related to History such as English Literature or Politics.
- Modules in other subjects in which they may have a particular interest such as Criminology or Film Studies.
- Modules designed to help students for whom it is not their first language to improve their use of English for Academic Purposes.
- Modern foreign languages modules at different levels in French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese (Mandarin).
- Free standing modules related to the development of graduate attributes, student volunteering, and studying abroad as part of the University’s exchange programme.
For further information on the content of modules currently offered, including the list of elective modules, please visit: www.keele.ac.uk/recordsandexams/az
Our Course Information Documents (CIDs) are designed to give you all of the details you need to make an informed decision about what and where to study.
Next Steps
Entry requirements
The entry grades outlined in this section indicate the likely offer or range of offers which would be made to candidates along with any subject specific requirements. This is for general information only. Keele University reserves the right to vary offer conditions depending upon a candidate’s application. Read more about our undergraduate entry requirements for United Kingdom, European Union and International students.
A Level requirements
- A Level requirement BBB/ABC
- A level English Language, English Literature, English Literature and Language combined or Drama and Theatre Studies (AQA)
GCSE requirements
- English at C (or 4)
BTEC
- BTEC requirements DDM
- To include a BTEC level 3 qualification in Performing Arts or Advanced Practice in Early Years Education.
International Baccalaureate
- 32 points to include Higher Level English at 6 or above.
Access to HE Diploma requirements
- Obtain Access to HE Diploma with 122 UCAS Tariff points including a minimum of 15 L evel 3 credits at Distinction.
- You must have taken sufficient English credits, please contact us for advice.
Next Steps
Fees and funding
Going to university can be a daunting as well as an exciting experience. It can be difficult to understand the true costs of being a student, as well as the financial support that is available to help you meet those costs.
We can help you to manage your funds, create a budget and ensure that you receive any funding for which you may be eligible. We also offer financial support such as the Keele University Hardship Fund and emergency loans.
For more information visit our money, advice and guidance section.
Next Steps
Career prospects
Our graduates have gone on to work in teaching, journalism, media, the civil service, the heritage and museum sector, local government and management.
Around a quarter of our graduates go on to take higher degrees and the degree opens the doors to many other higher education opportunities with many choosing to stay at Keele.
Next Steps
English Literature
Students and academic staff talk about the range of undergraduate options