BA (Hons) English with Psychology
- UCAS code: Q3C8
- Mode of study: Full time
- Duration: 3 years
- Entry requirements 2013: 240-300 points from 3 A levels or equivalent, to include 100 points from A level English.
- Please see details of the range of other qualifications that will also be considered on the 'Entry Requirements' tab below. Please do contact us for advice on other qualifications that aren't listed here.
Find out more:
Tel: +44 (0)23 9284 8299
Email: humanities.admissions@port.ac.uk
Department: School of Social, Historical and Literary Studies
Course overview
This course brings together the study of English literature with psychology and is designed to provide you with the opportunity to major in English literature and take a variety of psychology units. You will not need a science A level or a background in statistics to study psychology, although there will be some exposure to these elements.
While they are both distinctive established academic subjects in their own right, the study of English and psychology have some crucial areas in common, which make taking them together an exciting and rewarding experience.
Literature has always been valued for its ability to represent the complexities of the human mind and behaviour in imaginative ways. Psychology provides a theoretical framework for understanding such elements in a way that can inform responses to cultural production, such as English literature.
More precisely, you can study English units that focus on topics relevant to the study of psychology, such as realist fiction, madness and literature and psychoanalysis, and psychology units that can help you make sense of the way literature dramatises aspects of human identity.
Placements
This course allows you to take the Learning From Experience (LiFE) option, which lets you earn credits toward your degree for work / research placements, volunteer roles or internships undertaken alongside your studies. The option gives you the opportunity to enhance your employability skills, to reflect on the ways in which you've done so, and to learn to express this to potential employers.
Why study at Portsmouth?
The English Department is based in the School of Social, Historical and Literary Studies at Milldam and has an excellent reputation as a dynamic and innovative centre for teaching and research. The English staff are specialists in a wide range of literatures and critical approaches, and run courses that are diverse, imaginative and intellectually challenging.
At the last Teaching Quality Inspection we scored very highly, putting us in the 'premier league' of English degrees taught in this country. All of our teaching staff hold postgraduate qualifications in teaching and learning in higher education, and all are also keen researchers who have published widely in their specialist areas.
Our courses are notable for their emphasis on the study of English literature in a historical and cultural context, and their coverage of a diversity of genres and forms in contemporary English writing. The Department provides a high standard of support to its students, but also fosters individual choice and independent learning.
In feedback, students repeatedly praise the high quality of teaching and the commitment of individual tutors within the English subject area.
While we fully expect that you will enjoy your time at Portsmouth, we also recognise that at the end of the course you will need to get a job. To help you with this transition, the course also includes a careers management unit, which will help you market yourself to prospective employers, hone your presentation skills and put together a viable CV.
It will also help you research the job market and understand application procedures.
Please note that you cannot transfer to BSc (Hons) Psychology and that this is not a British Psychological Society (BPS) conferred degree award.
We welcome applicants with many different sorts of qualifications who can demonstrate evidence of competence to succeed on our programmes. We particularly welcome applications from mature students over the age of 21 and/or applicants who have an Access qualification or equivalent.
Course content
Year one
- Literary History
- Literary Theory
- Key Ideas in Human and Animal Behaviour
- Psychology of Everday Life
- Introduction to Narrative
- Introduction to Poetry
Year two
- Literary History 2
- Options including:
- Eighteenth Century and Romantic Literature
- Early Modern Drama
- American Literature
- Nation and Travel
- Victorian Literature and Visual Culture
- Biological and Cognitive Psychology
- Social and Developmental Psychology
- Individual Differences and Psychometrics
- Literary Prizes and Public Acclaim
- Shakespearean History
- Crime Writing
- Languages (University Wide Option)
- Learning from Experience
Year three
- Dissertation (English Literature) (40)
- Options including:
- Early Modern Literature and the Bible
- Englightenment: Literature, Culture & Modernity
- Magical Realism
- Postmodern Historical Fiction
- War and Fascism
- Tracing Borders: Women & Writing 1890-1940
- Twentieth Century Avant-Garde Fiction
- Friendship, Community and Identity in C17th Poetry
- Charles Dickens
- European Literary Decadence
- Consuming Fictions: Food and Appetite in Victorian Culture
- Holocaust Literatures
- US Masculinities
- (Re)writing Revenge on the Early Modern Stage
- Language and Communication
- Introduction to Forensic Psychology
- Issues in Clinical and Health Psychology
Please note that whilst a range of options will be offered, there will inevitably be some variation in the availability of individual units at any given time.
Teaching and assessment
Our teaching approach involves lectures, seminars, tutorials and workshops. You will be expected to participate fully in group discussions and projects, as well as develop and apply word processing and presentation skills.
As making sure you have a supportive learning environment is important to us, you will have a personal tutor assigned to you as part of the study skills and careers research management programmes. All staff also have office hours and are often available at short notice. In your final year you will be assigned a personal supervisor to help plan and produce your dissertation project.
We use a range of assessment methods including coursework essays, close textual analysis, presentations and a dissertation.
Career prospects
Studying English is a great preparation for a career in publishing, the media, teaching or research. Portsmouth English graduates enjoy a wide range of career pathways including television script writing, journalism, public relations, web design and postgraduate study.
While studying English with psychology is clearly a great foundation for a career in the arts, the sophisticated analytical and presentational skills you will gain are also highly valued by a range of non degree-specific graduate employers. Given this, our English graduates also enter a diverse range of non degree-specific pathways, including human resource management and information services work.
Facilities and features
Over the last four years the University has substantially invested in our teaching facilities. We have multimedia audiovisual facilities in our lecture rooms, dedicated IT teaching facilities, quiet areas for you to work in and a café.
The School also has its own resources area with dedicated staff who can assist you with film and documentary video resources, film viewing facilities, video-editing and audio equipment.