BA English Literature and Film

On this programme, you explore two great literary traditions with a long history of cultural connections. Why study this course? The study of English Literature provides not only a rewarding challenge and active pleasure, but also the foundation of a critical and cultural awareness that will remain with you for life. We share our expertise and make you part of our research culture. Third-year modules allow you to do hands-on work in manuscript studies, scholarly editing and book history with acknowledged experts. Whether you study children's literature or contemporary American fiction, you become part of the conversation about how English Studies is developing. We take pride in our teaching, and we are delighted to know that our students recognise this through our consistently high National Student Survey scores. Studying film at Reading is an opportunity to mix theory with practice in a dynamic Department that has been leading its field for over four decades. Our BA in English Literature and Film offers the chance to study two complementary media, the written word and film, and be able to explore the inter-connections between the two. The Department of English Literature and the Department of Film, Theatre and Television have been leaders in their fields for a long time: English Literature was one of the first university departments to teach American and Canadian authors like Margaret Atwood, and the Department of Film, Theatre and Television pioneered the study of film in UK higher education. Our students are active in all areas of university life, and bring the skills they learn in the classroom to their extra-curricular activities, such as the student newspaper and campus radio and television stations. The Department of Film, Theatre and Television is housed in the Minghella Building, which was custom-built with the needs of our students in mind. You will study film in forms as diverse as contemporary Hollywood to world cinema, from the emergence of film in the nineteenth century to new forms of digital entertainment in the twenty-first. The Department of English Literature offers modules in literature from the middle ages to contemporary and creative writing. We have research expertise in traditional subjects (such as Victorian fiction, or Renaissance drama, for example), in less traditional fields (such as Children’s Literature, and publishing studies), and in emerging fields, such as the study of Black British Fiction. At Reading, we believe in small-group teaching and are convinced of the importance of seminar discussion to the study of the Arts and Humanities: you will have time to discuss your ideas with tutors and other students. After the course As a Reading graduate you will enter the job market with well-developed skills of oral communication, critical analysis, research and writing, together with a high level of cultural literacy and critical sophistication. This is an attractive profile: Reading graduates in English Literature and Film have taken up jobs in television, film, theatre, publishing, public relations and advertising, journalism, education (primary, secondary and tertiary), travel and tourism, events planning, retail management and a variety of communication fields. Our graduates include: theatre directors, actors and playwrights; film producers and directors; special effects artists and cinematographers; radio producers and presenters; freelancers (including researchers and producers), as well as many independent television companies; drama therapists; teachers and university lecturers; arts council strategy officers; advertisers, journalists and public relations executives. Recent employers include the BBC, ITV, the Telegraph, Vogue, Oxford University Press, Waterstones, Cisco (the software company) and the Royal Mint, as well as local authorities and schools.