Programme Specifications

Programme summary

1. Programme Aims

• to provide an encouraging and stimulating environment in which students can develop their creative writing;
• to provide students with a grounding in all the major genres of writing, including scriptwriting, radio writing, prose writing and poetry;
• to develop students’ writing skills in these genres, and particularly in their chosen genre of writing;
• to develop students’ critical skills and self-critical skills;
• to give students the opportunity to mix critical and creative writing in new ways;
• to develop students’ research skills, particularly with reference to the kinds of research demanded by creative writing;
• to develop students’ knowledge of contemporary trends in writing and in the writing marketplace.

2. Relevant subject benchmark statements and other external and internal reference points used to inform programme outcomes:

• The Benchmark Statements for English and for Drama
• Framework for High Education Qualifications (FHEQ)

3. Programme Learning Outcomes

3.1 Knowledge and Understanding

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the research methods relevant to the production of original creative works;
• contemporary developments in creative writing;
• the usefulness of workshops to develop creative skills;
• key characteristics of the writing industries.

3.2 Skills and other attributes

a. Subject-specific cognitive skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to

• demonstrate an awareness of generic conventions;
• develop a qualitative framework through which to judge their own and others’ work;
• understand how to make use of academic research in creative writing;
• understand how to produce writing in a structured and consistent way.

b. Subject-specific practical skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to

• demonstrate a capacity to provide constructive feedback on other writers’ work;
• demonstrate an enhanced ability to produce good writing in their chosen genre or genres;
• develop the ability to write self-reflexively about their own work;
• assess the connections between their own work and the current state of the literary marketplace.

c. Key transferable skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to

• retrieve relevant information from both electronic and hard-copy sources and evaluate such sources;
• demonstrate well-developed skills in communicating to an audience, both orally and on paper;
• demonstrate well-developed writing and inter-personal communication skills;
• deliver required work to a given brief, format, length and deadline.

4. Programme structure

4.1     To be eligible for consideration for these awards, students must obtain appropriate credit from the following compulsory and optional modules.           

 4.2       The subjects for the Dissertation module (EAP018) must be approved in advance by the Programme Leader or nominee, and dissertations must be submitted by a specified date in the first half of September. The dissertation should be a maximum of 15,000 words in length.

5. Criteria for Progression and Degree Award

5.1      In order to be eligible for the award, candidates must satisfy the requirements specified in Regulation XXI.

5.2      Students will normally be permitted to proceed to the Dissertation module (EAP018) only after successfully accumulating 120 credit units.

5.3      Students taking the Dissertation module may also be required to take an oral examination on the work submitted.

5.4      In accordance with Regulation XXI, candidates who have the right of reassessment in a module will be offered an opportunity to be reassessed in the University’s special assessment period.

6. Relative Weighting of Parts of the Programme for the purposes of Final Degree Classification

Programme summary

1. Programme Aims

• to provide an intellectually stimulating environment and an academic context in which critical analysis of written texts is valued;
• to provide students with a comprehensive introduction to current thinking and debate in the key areas of literary and linguistic studies;
• to enable students to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of language and literature through specialist study and research;
• to develop students’ skills and competences in the full range of research methods and techniques relevant to the investigation of language and literature;
• to enhance students’ ability to question existing theories and research findings on the basis of a thorough knowledge and understanding of relevant theoretical frameworks and research methods;
• to enable students to appreciate alternative models, perspectives and procedures within literary and language studies;
• to require students to demonstrate their command of relevant concepts, theories and methods by undertaking a series of coursework assignments, and devising and executing a sustained piece of original writing on a topic of their choice to be presented in their dissertation;
• to enhance students’ career and employment opportunities on graduating.

2. Relevant subject benchmark statements and other external and internal reference points used to inform programme outcomes:

• The Benchmark Statement for English
• Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ)

3. Programme Learning Outcomes

3.1 Knowledge and Understanding

On successful completion of the programme, students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding in the following areas: 

• the major traditions, theories and frameworks of inquiry relevant to the analysis of texts;
• contemporary debates on appropriate frameworks and theories;
• the cultural and socio-historical contexts in which texts are produced and read;
• the multi-faced nature of the discipline and its relationship to other disciplines and forms of knowledge.

3.2 Skills and other attributes

a. Subject-specific cognitive skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to:

• demonstrate an awareness of generic conventions;
• employ bibliographic skills appropriate to the discipline, including accurate citation of texts and scholarly conventions of presentation;
• apply and adapt conceptual frameworks to literary texts;
• understand how different social and cultural contexts affect the nature of language and meaning.

b. Subject-specific practical skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to

• demonstrate a capacity to develop appropriate strategies to address ideas or themes in self-chosen projects;
• engage with and evaluate major philosophies and doctrines and the impact these have on texts;
• analyse new and emerging trends in the study of English;
• assess the relevance of current critical thinking to the interpretation of texts. 

c. Key transferable skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to

• retrieve information from both electronic and hard-copy sources and critically evaluate these sources;
• comprehend and develop intricate ideas in an open-ended way;
• demonstrate well-developed writing and interpersonal communication skills;
• deliver required work to a given brief, format, length and deadline.

4. Programme structure

4.1     To be eligible for consideration for these awards, students must obtain appropriate credit from the following compulsory and optional modules.

           Compulsory modules account for a total of 80 credits to 130 credits, depending on Pathway. Other credits should be chosen from the list of optional modules so as to bring the total number of credits to 180. 

Negotiated Pathway

Students are permitted to register for the Negotiated Pathway, and select, with guidance from the Programme Tutor, a combination of modules that is not available on any other Pathway, but which has academic coherence. (Please see table overleaf for list of modules.)

Students on the Negotiated Pathway are not permitted to study more than one asterisked* module per semester.

Modern and Contemporary Pathway

Students will study 100 credits of compulsory modules, with a further 50 credits to be chosen from a selected list of optional modules (20 credits in semester 1 and 30 credits in semester 2). The remaining 30 credits can be chosen either from the selected list of optional modules for this Pathway, or from a wider list of optional modules (see table for Negotiated Pathway). 

 American Pathway

Students will study 100 credits of compulsory modules, with a further 50 credits to be chosen from a selected list of optional modules (20 credits in semester 1 and 30 credits in semester 2). The remaining 30 credits can be chosen either from the selected list of optional modules for this Pathway, or from a wider list of optional modules (see table for Negotiated Pathway). 

 Victorian Pathway

Students will study 100 credits of compulsory modules, with a further 50 credits to be chosen from a selected list of optional modules (20 credits in semester 1 and 30 credits in semester 2). The remaining 30 credits can be chosen either from the selected list of optional modules for this Pathway, or from a wider list of optional modules (see table for Negotiated Pathway). 

Early-Modern Writing Pathway

Students will study 120 credits of compulsory modules, with a further 30 credits to be chosen from a selected list of optional modules. The remaining 30 credits can be chosen either from the selected list of optional modules for this Pathway, or from a wider list of optional modules (see table for Negotiated Pathway). 

Creative Writing Pathway

Students will study 130 credits of compulsory modules, with a further 50 credits to be chosen from a list of optional modules (20 credits in semester 1 and 30 credits in semester 2 -- see table for Negotiated Pathway). 

*Please note that you cannot study both Perspectives in semester 1 and Writers and the Writing Industries in semester 2; you can only choose a maximum of one of these modules. 

4.2       The subjects for the Dissertation module (EAP018) must be approved in advance by the Programme Leader or nominee, and dissertations must be submitted by a specified date in the first half of September. The dissertation should be a maximum of 15,000 words in length.

5. Criteria for Progression and Degree Award

5.1      In order to be eligible for the award, candidates must satisfy the requirements of Regulation XXI.

5.2      Students will normally be permitted to proceed to the Dissertation module (EAP018) only after successfully accumulating 120 credit units. 

5.3      Students taking the Dissertation module may also be required to take an oral examination on the work submitted. 

5.4      In accordance with Regulation XXI, candidates who have the right of reassessment in a module will be offered an opportunity to be reassessed in the University’s special assessment period.

6. Relative Weighting of Parts of the Programme for the purposes of Final Degree Classification

Programme summary

1. Programme Aims

• to integrate academic theory and practical work;
• to develop students’ skills and competences in the full range of research methods and techniques relevant to the investigation of the dramatic process;
• to explore and analyse the effect theories have on performance and the performative body;
• to combine different media (writing, performance, computer-generated image, graphics, audio, photography, video);
• to mix live and virtual (computer-generated) performance work and explore body-mind limits;
• to participate in group work and experiment with various performance methodologies.

The overall aim of the course is to improve understanding of the importance of performance in terms of how it is used, presented and interpreted, and how this may affect the mediation and communication of personal/collective narratives.

2. Relevant subject benchmark statements and other external and internal reference points used to inform programme outcomes:

• The Benchmark Statement for Dance, Drama and Performance
• Framework for High Education Qualifications (FHEQ)

3. Programme Learning Outcomes

3.1 Knowledge and Understanding

On successful completion of the programme, students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• traditional and contemporary critical perspectives on performance;
• major contemporary debates about appropriate frameworks and theories;
• processes by which performance is created, realised and managed;
• processes through which performance is documented and interpreted.

3.2 Skills and other attributes

a. Subject-specific cognitive skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to:

• cogently present ideas in a number of forms;
• employ bibliographical skills appropriate to the discipline, including accurate citation of texts and scholarly conventions of presentation;
• assess and appraise their own and others’ professional practice;
• understand how to research and develop theories and practice in performance.

b. Subject-specific practical skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to:

• demonstrate a capacity to develop appropriate strategies to address ideas or themes in self-chosen projects;
• read, analyse, document and interpret performance;
• produce creative work for the entertainment and related industries;
• manage their own projects through to successful production/completion.

c. Key transferable skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to:

• retrieve information from both electronic and hard-copy sources and critically evaluate these sources;
• comprehend and develop intricate ideas in an open-ended way;
• demonstrate well-developed writing and interpersonal communication skills;
• deliver required work to a given brief, format, length and deadline.

4. Programme structure

4.1     To be eligible for consideration for these awards, students must obtain appropriate credit from the following compulsory and optional modules. 

4.2       The subjects for the Dissertation module (EAP018) must be approved in advance by the Programme Leader or nominee, and dissertations must be submitted by a specified date in the first half of September. The dissertation should be a maximum of 15,000 words in length.

5. Criteria for Progression and Degree Award

5.1      In order to be eligible for the award, candidates must satisfy the requirements of Regulation XXI.

5.2      Students will normally be permitted to proceed to the Dissertation module (EAP018) only after successfully accumulating 120 credit units.

5.3      Students taking the Dissertation module may also be required to take an oral examination on the work submitted.

5.4      In accordance with Regulation XXI, candidates who have the right of reassessment in a module will be offered an opportunity to be reassessed in the University’s special assessment period.

6. Relative Weighting of Parts of the Programme for the purposes of Final Degree Classification

Programme summary

1. Programme Aims

• to integrate academic theory and practical work;
• to develop students’ skills and competences in the full range of research methods and techniques relevant to the investigation of the dramatic process;
• to explore and analyse the effect theories have on performance and the performative body;
• to combine different media (writing, performance, computer-generated image, graphics, audio, photography, video);
• to mix live and virtual (computer-generated) performance work and explore body-mind limits;
• to participate in group work and experiment with various performance methodologies.

The overall aim of the course is to improve understanding of the importance of performance in terms of how it is used, presented and interpreted, and how this may affect the mediation and communication of personal/collective narratives.

2. Relevant subject benchmark statements and other external and internal reference points used to inform programme outcomes:

• The Benchmark Statement for Dance, Drama and Performance
• Framework for High Education Qualifications (FHEQ)

3. Programme Learning Outcomes

3.1 Knowledge and Understanding

On successful completion of the programme, students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• traditional and contemporary critical perspectives on performance;
• major contemporary debates about appropriate frameworks and theories;
• processes by which performance is created, realised and managed;
• processes through which performance is documented and interpreted.

3.2 Skills and other attributes

a. Subject-specific cognitive skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to:

• cogently present ideas in a number of forms;
• employ bibliographical skills appropriate to the discipline, including accurate citation of texts and scholarly conventions of presentation;
• assess and appraise their own and others’ professional practice;
• understand how to research and develop theories and practice in performance.

b. Subject-specific practical skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to:

• demonstrate a capacity to develop appropriate strategies to address ideas or themes in self-chosen projects;
• read, analyse, document and interpret performance;
• produce creative work for the entertainment and related industries;
• manage their own projects through to successful production/completion.

c. Key transferable skills:

On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to:

• retrieve information from both electronic and hard-copy sources and critically evaluate these sources;
• comprehend and develop intricate ideas in an open-ended way;
• demonstrate well-developed writing and interpersonal communication skills;
• deliver required work to a given brief, format, length and deadline.

4. Programme structure

4.1     To be eligible for consideration for these awards, students must obtain appropriate credit from the following compulsory and optional modules. 

4.2       The subjects for the Dissertation module (EAP018) must be approved in advance by the Programme Leader or nominee, and dissertations must be submitted by a specified date in the first half of September. The dissertation should be a maximum of 15,000 words in length.

5. Criteria for Progression and Degree Award

5.1      In order to be eligible for the award, candidates must satisfy the requirements of Regulation XXI.

5.2      Students will normally be permitted to proceed to the Dissertation module (EAP018) only after successfully accumulating 120 credit units.

5.3      Students taking the Dissertation module may also be required to take an oral examination on the work submitted.

5.4      In accordance with Regulation XXI, candidates who have the right of reassessment in a module will be offered an opportunity to be reassessed in the University’s special assessment period.

6. Relative Weighting of Parts of the Programme for the purposes of Final Degree Classification