BA (Hons) English and Comparative Literature (Including Placement Year)

Our BA English and Comparative Literature offers a unique opportunity to explore English literature alongside writings from across the globe, both in English and in translation. You deepen your knowledge of literary traditions and movements across a variety of genres in order to develop your skills as a reader and to sharpen your critical intelligence. You cover topics including: US and Caribbean Literature, Modern Literature, Petrarch and the English Imagination and The Victorians. There is also the opportunity to benefit from seminars, lectures and events from all the disciplines available in the department, including film studies, drama and theatre studies, creative writing and journalism.Essex has nurtured a long tradition of distinguished writers whose work has shaped literature as we know it today, from past giants such as the American poets Robert Lowell and Ted Berrigan, to contemporary writers such as mythographer and novelist Dame Marina Warner, and Booker Prize-winner Ben Okri.You spend your third year on a placement gaining relevant work experience within an external business or organisation, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry.