About the School
Nottingham’s School of English is staffed by vibrant, international academics with a wide range of teaching and research experience. Our staff and students work side-by-side to explore a wide range of topics around the use of English, both in literature and in everyday language.
We have ambitious expansion plans to meet our teaching and research needs. Our academic staff come from across the globe, including the UK, Canada and the US, and bring with them a wealth of experience and expertise. Research areas within the School include various types of applied linguistics, systemic functional linguistics, 19th-Century literature, British, Canadian and American literatures, computer-mediated communication, metaphor studies, discourse analysis and creative writing.
As well as collaborating with their counterparts in the
UK and
China, our staff also work closely with colleagues based elsewhere in the faculty, particularly specialists in English language education and literary, film, TV and cultural studies in the
School of Education and the
School of Modern Languages and Cultures. We have strong links with the Malaysian literary community and students will benefit from the opportunity to attend public talks, readings and literary festivals.
What is English?
English is a fascinating and wide-reaching subject which enables you to investigate how language shapes, and is shaped by, the dynamic environments in which it is used. English covers a range of areas and texts. Literature study may concentrate on relating works totheir historical and social context or wider questions of artistic meaning.
Language and applied linguistics study includes psychological and cognitive approaches, while creative writing will develop your writing skills and insight into the process of writing – it will train you incultural, literary and linguistic theories, enabling you to develop the high-level creative and analytical skills needed for international interactions, whether academic or professional.
How will I study?
You will take a combination of compulsory and optional modules, which are taught in weekly seminars and combine traditional lecture-style content with small group discussions, case studies and presentations. In your first year, you can expect around 12 scheduled contact hours aweek and you will spend a significant amount of time each week in independent study.
Staff offer individual and small group consultations and encourage you to seek their advice and feedback on your work. You will be assessed using a combination of individual research-based essays, portfolios,exams, oral presentations and occasional group work.
Career prospects
The creative, analytical and communication skills developed during an
English degree will equip you for the changing demands of the 21st-century workplace. English graduates have a range of career choices open to them. Just a fewinclude advertising, banking, broadcasting, business, communications, the creative industries, government service, human resources, journalism, law, lecturing, management, marketing, public relations, publishing,research and teaching. Some students may choose to undertake postgraduate study or teacher training.