English Language and Creative Writing BA(Hons)

Course structure

Full-time students have 10–11 hours contact time a week in lectures, seminars and workshops, but you are also expected to carry out independent study. Part-time study is possible and can be tailored to suit individual needs.

There are placement opportunities available in the second year as well as field trips to theatres, museums, schools, retirement villages and other community organisations. You are also welcome to study abroad after your second year.

Our courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis in order to make sure that what you learn with us is relevant and that your course enables you to develop appropriate skills. When you apply to study with us, we will inform you of any new developments in your chosen programme through our applicant portal.

Chloe Price explains how the English Language and Creative Writing BA(Hons) has positively challenged her, the support she’s had from staff and how she has found living in Brighton

Year 1

Modules

• Practices of Reading and Writing

  In this module you will build on and identify skills and techniques essential to the study and expression of writing, focusing through close reading on writerly techniques to apply to your own critical and creative practices.

  Practical workshops on reading and writing skills will be supplemented by creative workshops and master classes led by professional writers, enabling you to develop confidence with your reading and writing processes and develop research and presentation skills through individual and collaborative work.

• Narrative and Narratives

  This module acts as a bridge from your earlier experiences of reading narrative texts and will encourage you to reflect on those early experiences. You will be introduced to a variety of narrative texts and genres (including early forms such as fairy-tales and myths) and to key issues in narrative theory. The module offers you an awareness of narrative as central to being human and allows you scope to explore narratives in creative and personal as well as critic always in a journal.

• Storying The Self

  This module will introduce you to practices of storying the self in writing and digital media. Through creating a first person story combining audio script, music and still image, you will engage with the expressive complexities of autobiographical representation. The module will also give you the creative writing tools to experiment with storying the self in a variety of written genre.

• The Structure and Grammar of English

  On this module you'll develop your understanding of the basic structure/grammar of English and develop your awareness of how different choices of forms of spoken and written English might affect meaning.

• Text Design: Genre and Style

  This module will provide you with the tools of analysis required to explore and discuss texts from a stylistic perspective. It will enable you to distinguish text types through an analysis of linguistic features and will allow you to explore the stylistic choices made by authors. It will also help you develop your own ability to construct effective written and spoken texts.

• Perspectives on the History of English Language

  In this module you will trace the development of the English language from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present, by looking selectively at major social and historical influences on language change.

Year 2

You can also choose option modules from across our humanities and arts subjects.

At the end of your second year you will have the opportunity to study abroad for a year.

Modules

• Creative Writing: Process and Craft
• Research and Practice
• Image and Text: The Language of Comics and Graphic Novels
• Power and Persuasion

Options*

• Studying Travel Writing
• Twentieth-century Literary Experiments
• Queer Writing
• Literature in Practice
• Literature and Art History
• American Literature 1850–1945
• Multilingualism
• Sign Language Linguistics
• Regional Englishes
• Writing for Stage, Radio and Screen
• Media in Practice
• Introduction to Journalism
• Television Studio Production
• Photography: From Painting with Light to Zeros and Ones
• Documentary Filmmaking: Theory and Practice
• Contested Stories

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Placements 

In your second year you can choose the Literature in Practice or Media in Practice placement module which will allow you to gain professional experience in a relevant workplace environment. Students undertake a placement with local publishers, radio stations, social media marketing departments, PR firms, charities etc.

 In year 3 you can choose the Community Placement – Theory in Practice placement module to further build on your work with professional experience.

Final year

Modules

• Dissertation
• Final Year Conference

Options*

• Community Engagement in Practice
• Russian Literature and Culture: The Golden Age and Beyond
• (Re)viewing Shakespeare
• Apocalypse, Utopia and Dystopia
• Literature and Philosophy
• Post-war American Literature
• Women's Writing and Feminist Theory
• Restoration Drama
• Adaptations
• Creative Writing Project
• Goths: Texts and Contexts
• Victorian Sexualities
• Brighton Rocks
• Writing the Contemporary
• Postcolonial Literatures
• European Literatures and Film
• Culture Wars: Revisiting the Great Divide
• Language, Culture and Ideology
• World Englishes
• Language of Gender and Sexuality
• Language in the Law
• Language Policy and Planning
• Conversation Analysis
• Approaches to Analysing Discourse
• English Language Teaching
• Public Journalism
• Popular Culture: Europe and Beyond
• From Script to Screen
• Images of War
• The Autobiography and the Screen
• Media Ethics and Conflict

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Watch students talking about their experiences of the Community Placement module.

Meet the team

Dr Jess Moriarty

Jess Moriarty researches in the field of teaching writing practice, especially in auto-ethnographical academic writing and in creative writing with undergraduates.

She graduated with an MA in Creative Writing in 2002 and joined the University of Brighton soon after. Jess's doctorate looked at how to make academic writing more personal and creative and included a play based on her autobiographical and researched experiences with academic life. She won a Teaching Excellence award for her workshops with undergraduates.

Jess is the co-founder of Work Write Live, which provides a range of writing short courses and volunteering opportunities for students across arts and humanities to develop the vocational and academic skills they are acquiring on their degree programme. You can read more about Jess on her staff profile.

Dr Craig Jordan-Baker

Dr Craig Jordan-Baker is a writer, critic and academic. He is a senior lecturer and joint course leader for English Literature and Creative Writing BA(Hons). He studied creative writing before receiving his PhD in Philosophy in 2013.

Craig has been teaching creative writing since 2006 and joined the University of Brighton in 2016. He has been nominated for teaching awards several times and most recently, he was a winner of the 2018 Excellence in Facilitating and Empowering Learning Award.

Craig’s drama has been widely performed, and his writing widely published. His work has been nominated for awards and he has received funding from the Arts Council. He has worked with several museums and received commissions from The National Archives and The Booth Museum of Natural History. You can read more about Craig on his staff profile.

Dr Jess Moriarty

International requirements and visas

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visas and immigration advice

Course fees

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included in the fee, while studying a course in the School of Humanities are listed here.

• For a number of courses you will have the opportunity to attend field trips and off-site visits. These are optional and are not required to pass your course but under normal circumstances we would expect a budget of approximately £150 per year will cover the costs of particular trips. The amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken.
• You will have access to computers and necessary software, however many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.
• In most cases coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes and should budget up to £150 per year for printing.
• Course books are available from the university but you may wish to budget up to £200 to buy your own copies

You can chat with our enquiries team through the Stay in touch panel at the end of this page if you require further information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2020–21.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

Local area

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Falmer campus