English Literature

English literature is the sustained study of written texts as cultural, aesthetic and historical phenomena, asking how language creates meaning, how narrative shapes experience, and how literature reflects and influences the societies from which it emerges. It is a discipline that ranges from the medieval to the contemporary, from the canonical to the experimental, and from the local to the global, and it develops in you a sophisticated relationship with reading, interpretation and the written word.

At the University of Westminster this part-time programme engages you with a wide variety of texts, from the established canonical works of Shakespeare, Austen and Dickens through to queer fiction, graphic novels and new forms of digital content, alongside other cultural forms including film, museum collections and art. You will become a sophisticated reader of texts in their broader cultural contexts, developing the ability to place literary works within historical, political and social frameworks that illuminate what they do and how they do it. The programme also develops your skills in research, critical and creative reading, and academic writing.

English literature graduates are valued across a wide range of professional fields precisely because of the communication, analytical and interpretive skills the degree cultivates. Careers in publishing, journalism, education, communications, public relations, arts administration, the civil service and the creative industries all draw on these capabilities. The programme's breadth across traditional and contemporary forms, and its inclusion of cultural works beyond the written page, gives Westminster graduates a particularly wide frame of reference.

Postgraduate study in English, creative writing, cultural studies or publishing is a natural further route for those who wish to deepen their expertise.