Drama & English Literature – (B.A.)

Students who wish to continue the study of literary forms other than Drama might consider this joint course, where they can have a choice of studying the two subjects together in a variety of flexible permutations. Students may therefore take Drama as their 'major' subject (up to 80 credits in any one year) with English as their 'minor' subject (40 credits), or vice versa; or they may study the two subjects equally (60/60 credits). However, students taking Drama and English in the 40/80 combination with a minor in Drama do not have access to practical course units in any year. It should also be noted that, should you wish to do a PGCE secondary course in English and Drama after your degree, you may experience difficulty if you have done a 80/40 degree with Drama as the major subject. This is because some institutions (but by no means all) will only take students who have completed 50% of their studies in English.

The course aims to:
produce students capable of independently evaluating and engaging creatively and critically with performance and, as appropriate, capable of developing technical and artistic skills, critical analysis and argument for themselves (DDP Benchmark p.7);
provide students with a knowledge and understanding and some experience of drama and performance as cultural process and artistic discourse, through the study of theatre and media history, text, dramatic theory and performance practice;
offer substantial opportunities to pursue, in parallel, the study of English Literature from the Medieval to the Modern period;
approach the two subjects as discrete but complementary areas of study;
facilitate and support the development of students' learning skills, critical perception and dramatic imagination;
provide students with coherent programmes that reflect the diversity of expertise within, and available to, the subject areas of Drama and English and American Studies;to foster independent learning, evaluation and research;
foster a knowledge, understanding and, where appropriate, experience through outreach activities, of the contribution drama can make to the local community;
equip students with the necessary critical tools and relevant practice to begin to make a worthwhile contribution to contemporary theatre, film, television or related fields.