Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Philosophy and Creative Writing (with Sandwich Year)

at University of Hertfordshire - De Havilland Campus United Kingdom

Literature can offer new perspectives on familiar themes, as well as open doors to unfamiliar ideas and cultures which are temporally or spatially remote from your own. It is an ideal source for philosophical reflection, exploring and challenging the assumptions that frame the way we think, act and see the world around us.

Our BA Philosophy and English Literature degree encourages you to expand your imaginative capacities and to critically reflect on possibilities for how the world could be, by engaging with a wide variety of perspectives. You will gain skills in understanding how to read and interpret in context, and in how to formulate your own arguments, to arrive at your own conclusions.

In your first year, you might choose to study international and American literature or revisit Shakespeare and consider his cultural relevance today through fictional, cinematic and TV adaptations. In Philosophy, you might explore questions which lie at the heart of much literature, such as whether anything can give meaning to life, and whether our striving to achieve anything of significance is ultimately futile, even ridiculous. The philosophy of film and literature module addresses the assumption that anything is possible in fiction and considers the extent to which that is true.

All our English Literature and Philosophy 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.

In your second year, you’ll focus on period-based literature from the Renaissance onwards and gain an understanding of literary history, from Elizabethan verse and drama, via Augustan poetry and the emergence of the novel in the 18th century, to the radical transformations of the Victorian age, and the emergence of modernity in the 20th century. In Philosophy, you’ll choose from a variety of topics, which includes a module on the nature of art, expression and representation (in literary as well as visual art), and modules on influential texts in philosophy, such as Plato’s Republic.

The final year allows for even more opportunity to tailor your degree to reflect your own interests. On the literature side, themed options include children’s literature, young adult fiction, Renaissance tragedy, 21 st century American literature, European crime fiction, literary adaptations and the culture of print in the 18th century. A wide variety of Philosophy modules are available, including modules on feminist philosophy, the nature of language and meaning, and a module on Nietzsche, who is well-known for his literary style.

• A flexible programme of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting
• An exceptional academic team, conducting internationally renowned research
• Stimulating, innovative courses that allow you to make rewarding connections between two disciplines
• CV-building potential through work placements and extra-curricular activities

MSc International Business is an innovative flagship programme designed to help you build a strong understanding of the way organisations operate globally, and help develop specialist skills that enable you to work effectively across national borders.

The programme gives you the opportunity to explore international business from a number of perspectives, including economics, finance, strategy, marketing, management, human resource, and supply chain. There will also be the opportunity to conduct an independent major research project in your area of interest.

Throughout the programme, you will gain a unique combination of skills sought after by employers all over the world. These include communication, numeracy, graphics, team-working, cross-cultural awareness, reflective learning and the ability to critically analyse complex business challenges to reach considered creative solutions.

You will also build a strong network of international contacts – some will become their close friends and a few may even become their future business partners.

This course gives you the broad-ranging skills to support the development of automotive products. It blends practical study in workshops and well- equipped labs (such as computer simulation, design, vehicle technology, production and manufacture) with management and business studies modules. A particular focus is on group work, which will enable you to develop your team-working skills and improve your employability. You’ll also have the unique opportunity to work with engineering students in designing, building and racing a Formula Student race car.

This BSc Honours degree course in Automotive Technology with Management is part of a suite of automotive related courses

• Our BSc Automotive Technology with Management students have previously completed work placement years at companies including: Nissan and Triumph Motorcycles
• Graduates highly employable in wide range of firms from Formula One to major motor manufacturers
• Involvement in Formula Student Competition from year 1, if you wish
• Recent Automotive Technology graduates have gone on to work at organisations including: Nissan, Dyson, and Bentley Motors
• You do not need an A-level in Mathematics or Physics to gain entry to this course, you simply need the correct UCAS points and your enthusiasm for the subject.

Top up your two-year Foundation degree or diploma and join the Final Year of our information technology course. Alternatively, you can join the Second Year if you prefer. This course will allow you to choose from a variety of options, many with a technology and software development focus, that will give you a broad range of technical skills and knowledge. You’ll also work on a substantial practical project and enhance your general transferable skills.

If you already have a good HND or Foundation degree in Computer Studies or Software Engineering or an equivalent qualification, these two courses allow you to progress to a BSc (Hons) Computer Science or Information Technology degree through one year of extra study.

The MSc Sustainable Planning is delivered in the Ebenezer Howard School of Planning, reflecting our unique location in the county which houses the world’s first garden cities and our focus on exploring the contemporary planning implications of this placemaking patrimony.

Planning plays a key role to play in improving the condition of life in our towns, cities and rural areas. Towns and cities themselves impact on global sustainability and can play a very influential role in tackling global environmental, social and economic problems.

The breadth of material covered will give you the skills you need in order to meet contemporary sustainability challenges in planning cities and rural areas. The planning system provides one of the most sophisticated mechanisms for regulating environmental change, global environmental, social and economic problems and implementing sustainability principles.

You’ll benefit from a wide range of modules, from Planning Law, Policy and Practice to Sustainable Energy and Urban Design and Conservation. You'll choose between three pathways: MSc Sustainable Planning, MSc Sustainable Planning and Environmental Management and MSc Sustainable Planning and Transport.

This program offers you opportunities to gain valuable skills in a much needed and fast changing professional area and makes you highly employable in a diverse range of disciplines which will allow you to contribute to the creation of more sustainable urban environments.

It is an exciting time to study Human Geography at the University of Hertfordshire, as space and place has become locally, regionally, nationally and supra-nationally contested throughout the world, as resources like water dwindle, and populations increase and move.

At the University of Hertfordshire, we specialise in better understanding how new sustainable and resilient urban spaces are created, making good use of the world's first Garden City and the country's first New Town on our doorstep.

We are also fascinated by issues of governance, exclusion, vulnerability and resistance amongst diverse communities, both in the UK and abroad, with researchers working on these topics in Poland and India. We also have research and teaching staff focusing on future mobilities, particularly in the south-east, where commuting issues and congestion are so topical.

Other key features of our course include:

• A focus into migration pathways and gateway towns with staff expertise in the Polish diaspora.
• We have dedicated GIS suites that help us to map and analyse these phenomena.
• Field work is a key aspect of the study of Human Geography at UH and we are ideally placed to look at development, economic regeneration and community transition in North London and its satellite towns, plus issues around the Green Belt.
• You can study the course over 4 years by including an industrial placement or a year studying at one of our many overseas partners.
• Our teaching team are dedicated and personable, and we treasure our informal, 'family' reputation and sense of community. Our staff know our students, and our regular small-group tutorials in first and second years set us apart from many larger departments.

As a learning disabilities nurse, you’ll have the challenging yet rewarding job of caring for people with a range of special needs. This pre-registration course gives you the knowledge, skills and attitudes to enhance a person’s health and wellbeing, and improve or maintain a range of complex developmental, physical, psychological and mental health needs. You’ll work in partnership with people with learning disabilities, their families, carers and other health and social care professionals. Ultimately, you’ll help people with learning disabilities to live a life that’s as fulfilling as possible. As with our other nursing courses, you’ll take a variety of clinical work placements.

The Learning Disability Nursing degree pathway offers students the opportunity to take up the challenge of ensuring that the health care needs of people with learning disabilities are addressed using using a holistic approach, both within mainstream and specialist services.

• Enhance the person's health and well-being.
• Improve or maintain a range of complex developmental, physical, psychological and mental health needs.
• Work in partnership with people with a learning disability, their families / carers and other health and social care professionals.
• Reduce barriers to disability and promote social inclusion.
• Support people with a learning disability to achieve a life which is as fulfilling as possible by maintaining their rights, choice and independence.

Explore the fundamental theories of physics and gain the skills to understand the world in terms of forces and particles in small or complex systems. During this fascinating course you’ll learn to comprehend everything from the streamlined shape of dolphins to the quantum encryption of messages. The course is informed by our internationally excellent and world- leading physics research, which covers areas such as the microphysics of air quality, atmospheric physics, light scattering, quantum optics and mathematical physics. You’ll also have the option of spending a year working in industry or at a research institution. Study abroad opportunities are available at universities in Europe, Australia and the USA.

• Our degree lets you study the fundamental theories behind Physics and their application to modern-day research and technology. We will take you from the knowledge that you have gained in your school or college studies right the way to the most up-to-date developments.
• During your second and third years you begin to specialise in experimental physics or more theoretical and mathematical concepts. You can choose from a range of options in your final year, including Nonlinear Systems, Rocket Performance and Propulsion, Physics of Stars, Nonlinear Systems, Partial Differential Equations, Dynamics and Geometry, Further Numerical Methods or Quantum Computing.
• You will also carry out a final year investigative project in a cutting-edge area of Physics research. You will be closely supervised and guided by one of our experienced researchers in the Centre for Atmospheric & Instrumentation Research. Previous projects have included designing a calibration system for airborne ice sensors, modelling the behaviour of soliton waves in the oceans, and examining quantum dynamics using topological methods.
• If you are continuing on our MPhys programme it is possible to extend your project into your MPhys year. We also have an innovative strand of industrial projects supported by the Institute of Physics that give you direct experience of working in industrial research.

Many exciting opportunities await the graduate with an LLM in IT Law and Policy. Graduates with specialist knowledge of IT law and policy are in high demand in this fast-moving and swiftly growing sector.

You will study two compulsory modules – International Electronic Communications Law and Emerging Technologies and Law – in combination with two further modules of your choice from a wide range of options. This will give you a solid grounding on which to build with further specialisations, and you can tailor your course specifically according to your desired career path.

The International Electronic Communications Law module explores the existing legal framework around the electronic communications sector in the UK and Europe. It also examines emerging areas such as cloud computing, net neutrality and surveillance, along with questions relating to spectrum management. Changes to European law are also investigated.

In the Emerging Technologies and Law module you will study a range of internet and emerging technologies law and policy principles. You will also consider consumer protection online and the rules relating to digital marketing, distance selling and e-payment, as well as the legal requirements for online company presence and advertising. The module also offers the exciting opportunity to examine in depth any emerging legal issue in the area of the internet and emerging technology.

Why choose this course?

This highly relevant, contemporary course will provide you with the knowledge and understanding you need to work within the exciting, dynamic technology sector. Taught by specialists in their fields and continually updated and underpinned by the latest research and practice, you can be sure that you will graduate with up-to-date knowledge and skills to thrive in your chosen career.

Innovative, practical teaching methods are designed to develop your intellectual, transferable, interpersonal and practical skills. These skills, in combination with the knowledge and critical understanding you will receive of the history and current and emerging developments within the sector, will ensure that you are very attractive to potential employers!

In addition to your study modules, the University’s co-curricular programme offers a wide range of options that will further enhance your skills.

• Each student on the programme has their own studio space within the shared MA Art studio area. You will be able to work alongside fellow students in Photography, Fine Art, Contemporary Textiles and Contemporary Crafts, as well as students across the School.
• The School has excellent facilities accessible to all students – darkrooms, print and textiles studio, 3d workshops (including glass, ceramics, jewellery, 3d printing), equipment loan store, and computer suites.
• All the teaching staff are creative practitioners/artists who have national or international standing and expertise. Invited speakers, artists/creatives, curators and theorists, also add to the creative mix. The teaching staff are passionate about the work we make and the work you make!

MA Contemporary Textiles is an award within the PG Art Programme at the School of Creative Arts. Within the postgraduate programme there is strong emphasis on professional practice and the real-world applications of art and design. You will develop key research skills and gain a good understanding of the work of other practitioners in your field.

Contemporary textiles has emerged as an innovative area of practice for artists, designers and makers, testing the boundaries of more traditional areas of art practice. This course gives you the opportunity to explore areas such as textiles and new materials, textiles and performance, and the connections between contemporary textiles, fashion and interior design. It provides students with an environment that encourages individuality and explores the breadth and diversity of contemporary textile practice. Students employ a wide range of traditional and innovative methods and techniques and through research and experimentation, build on skills already established to develop the personal identity of their practice.

The aim of the postgraduate programme is to equip you with the skills, knowledge and understanding required to practice at an advanced level, to foster your creativity and enhance your employment opportunities. You will work alongside artists and designers who are involved with a wide variety of media and forms. Induction, seminars and social events for students and staff mean that you will be part of a friendly and supportive postgraduate community, which also includes film makers, musicians and professionals working in new media. 

Recent practitioners in contemporary textiles have explored performance-based work and film and lens-based media, combined textiles with digital media, and, as one of eight MAs, this course is well placed to help you question conventions and challenge the boundaries of contemporary textile practice. Our staff are experienced in research and professional practice, and you will also benefit from contributions from visiting artists, makers, curators and involvement with our international exhibitions programme.