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 Student View.

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

• Textual Encounters: Reading, Writing, Thinking

  How do texts make meaning? How can we understand the relationships between readers, writers, and texts? This module introduces questions crucial to the study of literature and culture through examining reading, writing and thinking as dynamic and dialogic cultural practices. You'll develop the skills necessary to become an effective writer, thinker and critic, enabling you to develop informed responses to texts and ideas in dialogue with others as members of a collaborative intellectual community.

• Stories and Storytelling

  How do stories create and communicate experiences, identities and cultural meaning? How do they work to perpetuate and challenge social structures? On this module you'll study fairy tales, myth, novels, short stories and visual narratives (for example, film, comics and graphic novels, gaming) to discuss these questions. Through reading and guided research you'll identify and pursue your own interests in critical, creative and reflective ways and produce a reading and research 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.

• Understanding Language

  This module introduces the study of language (linguistics) and its main branches of phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. It will enable you to carry out analysis of real language data using different linguistic frameworks. You'll be encouraged to be more critical of your own language ability and to develop and hone communication skills whilst also developing your written work.

• Introduction to Intercultural Communication

  This module explores intercultural communication in a technologically connected world. Through examining communication in national and individual-level communities and groups, you'll investigate how different narratives and positions emerge. You will explore the challenges and opportunities of intercultural communication in a complex, interconnected and inequitable world shaped by technology and other global forces.

• Investigating Language

  This module provides a solid foundation in research methodologies and methods. It will develop your abilities in reading, processing and critically assessing analytical research. It will also build your skills in investigating language and linguistic patterns.

Year 2

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
• Writing for Stage, Radio and Screen
• Media in Practice
• Introduction to Journalism
• Cinema and Society
• 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 allows you to gain professional experience in a relevant workplace environment.

In year 3 you can choose the Community Placement – Theory in Practice placement module, again aimed at building on your work with professional experience. You'll do 30 to 50 hours of voluntary work with a not-for-profit or community organisation, and the placement is assessed and contributes to your degree.

Mia Kurian, graduate

“My placement was with Metropolitan City Church Brighton as their Social Media Manager. I learnt a lot about myself and my interests and the type of career I may want to pursue. I got to try my hand at website design, something I had never done before, and it was a great opportunity for me to expand my creativity. Professionally, I gained a lot of experience that has been extremely useful in my career today. I learnt about creating brand cohesion and creating a brand image from scratch, something I’ve never done before.

"I absolutely loved it. It was an incredible learning experience as well as insightful. It allowed me to learn a lot about myself and the future I want. My placement manager was lovely and supportive and allowed me the freedom to explore my creativity.”

Final year

Modules

• Dissertation

Options*

• Community Placement: Theory 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, Law and the State: The Politics of Force
• Language Policy and Planning
• Analysing Big Data: Quantitative Methods in Language Research
• 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

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2022–23.

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 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.

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