Overview
English and Psychology each have their own theoretical underpinning and academic conventions and the study of both disciplines provides a valuable opportunity to develop more versatile skills and perspectives as well as an appreciation of interdisciplinary connections. Applying ideas from one discipline should also enhance the student’s understanding and enjoyment of the other. Combining the study of two subjects is both challenging and rewarding, increasingly appealing to self-motivated, independent-minded students who are intellectually and vocationally ambitious.
Content and Modules
First year modules:
English - Introduction to the Study of Drama, Approaches to Fiction, Reading Poetry.
Psychology - Foundations of Biological-Cognitive Psychology, Foundations of Social-Developmental Psychology, Social Science Research Skills.
Second year modules:
English - Weird Fiction: The Gothic Genre 1760-1847, Late-Victorian Literature, Challenging Shakespeare, Research Methods (Compulsory for English Major students and joint honours students intending to do and English dissertation)
Psychology - Biological and Cognitive Psychology, Social and Developmental Psychology, Quantitative Data in Social Science, Qqualitative Data in Social Science (Compulsory for Psychology Major students and joint honours students intending to do a Psychology dissertation)
Third year modules:
English - Modernism and the City, Writing Rebellion: Literature 1956-70, Contemporary Fiction.
Psychology - Abnormal Psychology, Emotions, Personality and Intelligence, Lifespan Developmental Psychology.
Undergraduate Dissertation - 40 credits.
Note
UCS Bury St Edmunds reserves the right to withdraw optional module choices within each discipline at levels five and six. Optional choices in appropriate subject-designated modules may be also available at UCS Ipswich.
Further Information
Teaching, learning and assessment
The course team have a commitment to high quality teaching and learning. They use a range of different assessment strategies to assess and facilitate student learning and include: unseen examinations; seen, open-book or take-away examinations; essays and reports; critical reviews, book reviews, workshop reports, analytical exercises; individual or group presentations; a dissertation, computer-based assessments and informed discussion and debate via module seminars and blogs.
After the course
Graduates of combined honours degrees have the advantage of a broader academic viewpoint, having developed valuable transferable skills as well as sound knowledge of English and Psychology, providing excellent preparation for a wide range of careers. Graduates are now far more likely to change jobs during their working life, so having two areas of expertise and skills can pay dividends. Employers are increasingly prioritising the need for people who have a range of subject knowledge and skills and are not necessarily looking for a particular discipline. As English is a recognised National Curriculum subject, a popular career route is in teaching after Post-graduate training.