Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in History and English Literature

at University of Hertfordshire - De Havilland Campus United Kingdom

Intended for graduates of the biological and biosciences, this course provides specialist knowledge of molecular biology and biotechnology. This exciting and fast-moving area of bioscience is having an enormous impact on biotechnology. Analysis and manipulation of genes and genomes have provided the foundation for the development of new diagnostic methods, biological drugs and improved enzymes and proteins. New vaccines, synthetic antibodies and improved crops have also benefitted from advances in molecular biotechnology.

Why choose this course?

• You’ll be taught by expert university lecturers and researchers, many having extensive research experience in academic, pharmaceutical, industrial and biotechnology sectors.
• Benefit from innovative guest lectures, delivered by leading researchers in the biotechnology industry.
• Immerse yourself in our modern Science Building. We offer exceptional facilities for you to practice the latest techniques in QPCR and genome editing and molecular cloning. Use our laboratories for DNA analysis, Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics.
• Graduates will be equipped to gain employment in a wide range of roles in the Biotechnology industry or further postgraduate study in the bioscience field.
• We adopt a blended learning approach to teaching, focussing on problem-based scenarios so you can develop strong critical analysis skills. You’ll have substantial exposure to practical techniques and guaranteed laboratory-based research projects.
• We offer extended 12-month research projects for successfully interviewed candidates.

Perhaps you're interested in Criminal Justice and Criminology, but haven't found the course which feels right for you? Our Criminology and Criminal Justice programme offers cutting-edge modules such as Terrorism and Criminology, Policing and Society, Gender and Crime, War Crimes, Drugs, Crime and Criminology and Imprisonment and Justice, allowing you to explore a range of the most pressing social issues of today.

Throughout the degree, you will begin to understand that Criminology is the study of the anatomy of a crime, specifically its causes, consequences and costs. Criminal justice, on the other hand, refers to established systems for dealing with crime, specifically detection of crime, detaining of criminals, and criminal prosecution and punishment.

If you wish to pursue career opportunities in criminal justice, you will study the different components of criminal justice, and if you're interested in pursuing a career as a criminologist, you will study the behaviour patterns, backgrounds, and sociological trends of criminals.While both fields are different, criminologists and criminal justice professionals work together in the criminal justice system to thwart crime.

On the course, you will:

• Investigate the nature of crime and criminality and develop an understanding of the various issues, debates, and approaches within the criminal justice system and criminology 
• Engage with a range of current issues and debates on some of the most pressing social issues, such as national security, drug policy and the sex trade
• Examine how and why offenders should be punished and explore how society defines and manages crime
• Be taught research-informed course content so that they develop the skills to carry out their own criminological research, together with a range of other transferable skills
• Engage with important Criminal Justice contacts – we have close professional relationships with the Hertfordshire Constabulary, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, Herts Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (HACRO) and Answers Investigation
• Be taught by internationally-recognised experts in criminology and draw on their expertise in Criminal Justice Process, Criminology, and Academic skills in Criminology
• Learn the concepts, theories and methods they need to understand the realities of crime and control and the practical skills that will allow them to participate in the criminal justice process

At Hertfordshire Law School, we recognise that while you are studying with us, you will want to develop professionally and increase your confidence. That's why we offer a range of co-curricular activities, including; Debating, Forensic Psychology, and Restorative Justice to help you improve the skills needed for a great career in Criminal Justice and Criminology.

We want to give you the best possible start to your career! We offer a broad range of careers events throughout the year, including speed careers networking, and guest speakers from a wide range of employers. It's no wonder 93.8% of Hertfordshire Law School graduates are in employment or further study within six months of graduating.*

Our Criminology degree is also significantly enhanced by expert research-informed and practitioner-led teaching to ensure you are academically supported. You'll also be part of a community which offers significant pastoral and careers support along the way, thanks to our dedicated student support tutors, cohort tutors and programme leaders, student mentors and careers tutors.

All three of our model design courses share the same First Year, giving you an excellent introduction to model making, prop making, sculpture and special effects. Building on this foundation, you’ll focus on developing your artistic and technical skills to produce models, animatronics and other effects. You’ll also gain hands on experience of the specialist equipment used to produce rain, fire, smoke, wind and snow, and learn about the safe use of pyrotechnics.

In Second Year, you will acquire an understanding of special effects design and receive a thorough grounding in the practical aspects of this. You will be able to combine your artistic and technical skills to produce animatronics, action props, models and special effects.

In your Final Year, you’ll work on major projects and create a professional portfolio to impress employers. Throughout your studies you’ll use a mix of traditional techniques and modern technology. This course is accredited by Creative Skillset, reflecting the highest standard of teaching and facilities.

• Combine your artistic and technical skills to produce animatronics, action props, models and special effects.
• Gain ‘hands on’ experience of special effects equipment used to produce, rain, fire, smoke, wind and snow etc. and learn about the safe use of pyrotechnics.
• Use of traditional workshop machinery and cutting-edge technologies, plus access to specialist industry standard facilities for animatronics, model making and prop making.
• Close contacts with industry, which provide outstanding work experience opportunities and collaborative projects.
• High graduate employment rates for Special Effects students. 
• The only Creative Skillset Tick accredited Model and Special Effects course in the UK.

Philosophy explores and challenges the assumptions that frame the way we think, act and see the world around us.

Here at Hertfordshire, you won’t just be learning about philosophers and understanding their theories, you’ll be doing rigorous and creative thinking of your own. Our internationally regarded academics will help you learn to address the arguments of others, to understand and engage with them so that you can arrive at your own conclusions and create your own original work.

All our lecturers are active researchers, so you’ll share the excitement of doing original work in a supportive and highly-rated academic community. Our Philosophy team is in the top 15 in the Guardian League Table 2019 and rates as one of the 100 best Philosophy departments worldwide in the 2017 QS rankings.

On this course no prior knowledge of philosophy is assumed, although students with Religious Studies A-level may be familiar with topics such as ethics, mind, knowledge and reality. In your first year you’ll explore new dimensions to these topics and consider questions about the meaning of life. You’ll also study social and political philosophy, the central concern of which is the best way of organising society. A first-year module on the philosophy of film and literature takes you beyond the mainstream. Studying fiction and films such as Back to the Future allows you to address the assumption that anything is possible in fiction and consider to what extent that is true.

In your second year you’ll be able to delve deeper into areas such as philosophy of art and philosophy of mind. A module on virtues, vices and ethics focuses on specific virtues, such as forgiveness, hope or love, from both a secular and religious point of view and examines what it means to live a good life. 

In your final year you can pursue your own research interests through a dissertation. Recent topics have included the ethical issues of playing video games, the nature of the imagination, environmental philosophy and the obligations of the state, and a proposed solution to the paradox of the liar. You’ll also build on previous specialisms to explore in more depth philosophers such as Nietzsche or Wittgenstein, feminist or political philosophy, contemporary moral philosophy, or the philosophy of psychology.

• An exceptional academic team, conducting internationally renowned research
• A flexible programme of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting
• The opportunity to write a dissertation on a topic about which you are passionate
• CV-building potential through extra-curricular activities

Study with a top History department and be taught from the cutting edge of historical research. Learn to think and write imaginatively about the past with our colleagues in Creative Writing.

Our BA History and/with Creative Writing gives you the opportunity to study two subjects that will help you to hone the investigative skills of the historian, while developing your writing style.

Through our diverse and inclusive History curriculum you will learn about an array of cultures and identities. What links our work is our focus on people’s history and everyday lives. This is represented strongly in our first year program, which will
give you an insight into the making of the modern world through exploration of faith, magic and medicine, campaigns for freedom and equality, Africa and the world, and America from Hamilton to Trump.

Throughout your degree, the common link between the two disciplines will be your analysis and interpretation of texts. As historians you will learn to analyse historical documents and debates among historians, while in Creative Writing you’ll explore
published texts, breaking them down to examine writing techniques.

The art of writing, honed over the course of your Creative Writing studies, will benefit you in the final year of History if you choose to write a dissertation. This extended piece of work will grow out of a topic that interests you. There is also the option in Creative Writing of workshopping an idea, which, by the time you graduate, will have developed into a solid piece of work that you can continue working on or submit for publication. Maybe one of your history modules will inspire you to write a historical novel!

We give you: 

• An exceptional History team, conducting world-leading research (REF 2014), and a team of published writers guiding students in Creative Writing,
• Stimulating, innovative courses - our History students reported almost 94% overall satisfaction with their course (2018 National Student Survey)
• A flexible program of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting and the scope to write a History dissertation on a topic about which you are passionate
• The prospect of graduating with a solid piece of work that could be further developed or submitted for publication
• CV-building potential through work placements and extra-curricular activities

Do you have a story to tell, or have you always wanted to be a writer? Perhaps you want to learn how to be a critical reader or gain a greater understanding of the craft of writing.

Studying English Literature and Creative Writing with us will help you find your voice, whether as a poet, playwright, novelist or scholar of literature.
This joint course combines the study of literature with the practice of creative writing. Studying literature will give you a greater understanding of how literary texts work, while this improved critical insight will help you put principles into practice in your own creative writing.

We offer a stimulating and supportive place in which to explore your ideas, hone your craft and understand literary texts. Our creative writing modules are taught by lecturers who are themselves award-winning practitioners and who bridge the gap between creative and academic approaches to literature. They include our poetry lecturer Wayne Holloway-Smith, winner of the Poetry Society’s Geoffrey Dearmer Prize and Seamus Heaney Prize nominee.

Over the three years you can choose specialist creative writing modules in poetry, creative non-fiction, drama, short story writing and prose fiction. Those specialisms are reflected in our English Literature modules, which range from children’s and young adult literature to film adaptations and work written in English from all over the world.

By the time you graduate, you will have a polished piece of work which has the potential for publication. Recent successes for our students include short stories published in Bandit and AnotherLenz magazines and poetry published in Rising and international magazine Poetry London.

In your first year, an underpinning core module, Becoming a Writer, will introduce you to genres and forms and examine the universalities of dialogue, plot and language. A second core module, Identity and Contemporary Writing, introduces you to some of the most exciting new writing as a model for your own work, while an optional module enables you to specialise in writing for the screen.
The practicalities of getting published or working in literary publishing are explored in a creative writing module in your second year taught by a former editor of Granta, the renowned magazine of new writing. For your final year your particular creative interest can be channelled into a long piece of writing, which can be poetry, prose or drama.

• This BEng Honours degree course in Aerospace Engineering with Pilot Studies places is a particular emphasis on the flying qualities from a pilot's point of view;
• You will get the opportunity to gain a UK National Private Pilot's Licence whilst doing your degree;
• The flying is offered locally at an attractively discounted rate.
• Our BEng Aerospace Systems Engineering with Pilot Studies students have previously completed work placement years at companies including: Rockwell, Eads Astrium, and MBDA
• Recent Aerospace Engineering graduates have gone on to work at organisations including The Royal Air Force, Martin-Baker Aircraft Company, and Chester Hall Precision Engineering

This unique course gives you the flexibility to pursue an engineering career designing aircraft from a pilot’s perspective, or to take the first step to become a commercial pilot. The compulsory flying element is mainly in the Fourth Year and is provided by a nationally recognised flight centre either in the UK or the US. There are additional fees for this, but with at an attractively discounted rate compared to other flight centres. There are also opportunities to fly in the First and Second Years as an extracurricular activity, including the chance to use various flight simulators.

More about the course

The aerospace industry is increasingly in need of Systems Engineers with the skills to integrate modern communication systems with conventional aerospace systems to enhance aircraft performance.  This variation to our Aerospace Systems Engineering degree can be the first step for those wishing to become professional pilots.  It combines the multidisciplinary nature of the Aerospace Systems Engineering degree with pilot studies to a National Private Pilot’s Licence level and beyond. 

The compulsory flying experience is mainly in the Fourth Year, provided locally by a nationally recognised flight centre either in the UK or the USA. There are additional fees for this, but with an attractively discounted rate compared to other flight centres. There are also opportunities to do some flying in the First and Second Years as an extracurricular activity, including use of various flight simulators.

This new award in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence builds on existing research and teaching expertise in the School of Engineering and Computer Science and addresses a growing demand by government and employers for graduates with this range of knowledge and skills. The award is structured with a strong emphasis on practical work to build your skills and confidence in the usage and application of contemporary Robotics and AI technologies. You will learn the elements needed to build robots, from simple electronic circuitry, software engineering and control, to high-level robot intelligence and will learn how to develop robotic systems and bring the learning to life.

• Digital Media Arts provides an opportunity to study one or more digital specialisms including video, kinetics, animation, sound, games, photography, social and interactive media.
• Experiment and explore emerging technologies and develop innovative and effective combinations of practices and media.
• Develop high-level skills in your chosen specialisms or areas of interest supported by expert tutors.
• Project-based work where the emphasis is on the creative, informed application of new technologies and devices to produce compelling user experiences.
• You will be able to produce a substantial self-initiated digital media project supported by excellent resources and expertise

Digital Media are everywhere in the modern world, affecting all aspects of our lives, our work, leisure and social and personal relationships. The MA Digital Media Arts award allows students to gain practical experience and knowledge of the ways that a range of contemporary digital media are produced and used, both alone and in combination. Working in one or more specialisms which can include video, kinetics, animation, games, photography, social and interactive media, students are encouraged to experiment with combinations of media through digital ‘sketches’ and then, through developing more extended works informed by their individual interests, to pursue a substantial, practical enquiry into an original creative application of digital media in a major project.

Students typically explore areas such as interactive advertising, responsive objects and environments, networked information and social-media systems, interactive video, live performance technology and digital art installations.

Information technology includes many aspects of computer science, but with more focus on the computer technology needs of people and organisations. The subject includes software development and acquisition, but also operations, support and systems administration. This course has a particular emphasis on the application of computer technology to businesses: the modelling and design of systems and data, the design of databases, how to enhance the user experience, and how to ensure software solutions meet clients’ needs. You also have the option to gain Oracle DBA certification. Thanks to the nature of this degree, you’ll develop the broad skills many employers are looking for while keeping your career options open.

• Choose this course with an emphasis on the application and deployment of computing in organisations such as businesses, or change to one of the others in our flexible programme.
• Be taught by highly qualified staff, most with a PhD or other advanced degree plus research, teaching, or professional experience.
• Be part of a highly regarded well established computer science department with excellent facilities, a strong research background, and links to business and industry.
• Prepare yourself for a career in the IT sector through a mix of academic, professional and practical study, with opportunities for industry certifications and a paid placement year. Previous students have worked placements at companies including GSK, Xerox, and BT?.
• Recent graduates from Computer Science have gone on to work at amazing organisations including Sega Europe, NHS, and Lloyds Bank.