English and Literary Studies major

Studying English Literary Studies enriches students' understanding of major literary, cinematic and theatrical forms from English-speaking cultures across the globe by allowing students to explore many areas of reading, writing and performance. This major includes units in the literary history of Britain, America, Australia and postcolonial societies; creative writing and theatre; popular culture and film; and critical theory. The emphasis is on developing an understanding of how we communicate and of diverse forms of representation across time, culture and media.

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) interpret texts produced in varied cultural and historical contexts with sensitivity to the generic dimensions, intertextual significance, and formal qualities of those texts; (2) evaluate and make use of critical scholarship in the discipline of English Literary Studies; (3) clearly express ideas, examples and arguments in appropriate written and oral forms; (4) deploy skills of critical analysis and independent critical reasoning; and (5) work effectively as a member of a collaborative group.

Broadening guidelines

All students studying towards a Bachelor's Degree at UWA are required to Broaden their studies by completing a minimum of four units (24 points) of study outside their degree specific major. Broadening is your opportunity to explore other areas of interest, investigate new disciplines and knowledge paradigms and to shape your degree to suit your own aspirations and interests. Many of you will be able to undertake more than this minimum amount of broadening study and we encourage you to do so if this suits your aspirations. Over the next few months you will find here some broadening suggestions related to your degree-specific major. While we know that many students value guidance of this sort, these are only suggestions and students should not lose sight of the opportunity to explore that is afforded by your Broadening Choices. Advice can also be sought from your Allocated Student Advising Office.

English and Literary Studies can be taken as a degree-specific major in the following degree courses:

BP001 Bachelor of Arts
BH005 Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours)

Overview of unit sequence

English and Literary Studies is a degree-specific single major comprising:

  • two Level 1 units
  • two Level 2 units
  • four Level 3 units
Key to availability of units:
S1 = Semester 1; S2 = Semester 2; N/A = not available in 2021

Note: Units that are indicated as N/A may be available in 2022 or 2023.

Level 1

Degree-specific major units
Take unit(s) to the value of 12 points:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S2 ENGL1000 Global Literatures
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil.
S1 ENGL1002 Literary Classics
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil.
S1 ENGL1401 Narrative in the Digital Age
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
ENGL1112 Screen Cultures/Print Cultures
S2 ENGL1501 Reading Creatively/Writing Creatively
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil.
S1 ENGL1902 Reading Bodies
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
GEND1902 Reading Bodies

Level 2

Degree-specific major units
Take unit(s) to the value of 12 points:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S2 ENGL2200 Jane Austen and her Legacy
Prerequisites:
any Level 1 English unit
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil.
S2 ENGL2210 Cinema Classics
Prerequisites:
Nil
Co-requisites:
Nil
Incompatibility:
Nil
S2 ENGL2215 Modernism and the Avant-garde
Prerequisites:
any Level 1 English unit
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
ENGL3605 Modernism
S1 ENGL2401 Netflicks: Cinema and Long-form Television
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
ENGL2217 Reading Film
S1 ENGL2501 Creative Writing: Theory and Practice
Prerequisites:
24 points of study
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil
S1 ENGL2604 Romanticism and Revolution
Prerequisites:
any Level 1 English unit
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil.

Level 3

Degree-specific major units
Take unit(s) to the value of 24 points:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S2 ENGL3001 Poetry and Poetics
Prerequisites:
any Level 2 ENGL unit
or
EURO2209 Utopias, Imagination and Modernity in European Culture
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
ENGL2240 Cold Fire Poetry and Poetic Language
S2 ENGL3200 Writing the Environment
Prerequisites:
any level 1
or
level 2 ENGL unit
or
HIST1901 Environmental History
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil.
S2 ENGL3300 Australian Literature: Classic and Popular
Prerequisites:
any Level 2 ENGL unit
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
ENGL2702 Australian Literature: Classic and Popular
N/A ENGL3502 Making Theatre and Performance
Prerequisites:
Any Level 2 unit in the Bachelor of Arts,
or
permission of the unit coordinator
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil.
N/A ENGL3601 Reading the Middle Ages
Prerequisites:
any Level 2 unit in English and Cultural Studies
or
MEMS2001 Classical Traditions and Transformations in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil.
S1 ENGL3602 Shakespeare: Page, Stage, Screen
Prerequisites:
any Level 2 ENGL unit
or
MEMS2001 Classical Traditions and Transformations in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
or
EURO2209 Utopias, Imagination and Modernity in European Culture
or
LAWS2018 Law Literature
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
ENGL2234 Shakespeare at the Movies
S1 ENGL3604 Victorian Dreams and the Technological World
Prerequisites:
any Level 2 ENGL unit
or
EURO2209 Utopias, Imagination and Modernity in European Culture
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
ENGL2223 Victorian Ideologies
S1 ENGL3801 Advanced Literary Theory
Prerequisites:
Any Level 2 ENGL unit
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
ENGL2291 Reading Theory

Choosing your degree-specific major

General degrees

You must satisfy the requirements of a degree-specific major before you complete your course. The flexible structure of an undergraduate course allows you to try out a number of different subjects to see what interests you before nominating your degree-specific major. You have the choice to either nominate your degree-specific major when you first enrol in the course or delay nominating it until your second year.

To plan the first year of your study without nominating a degree-specific major, you are advised to choose units that will pave the way to two or more degree-specific majors that are of interest to you. For examples of the choice of units available in first year, search the first-year study plans .

To fully understand the structure of an undergraduate course, read the course structure information and the Undergraduate Degree Course Rules.

The following example illustrates how the English and Literary Studies degree-specific major can be included in the Bachelor of Arts course.

There are more choices open to you. For more examples, search the study plans .

Specialised degrees – Bachelor of Advanced Computer Science (Honours), Bachelor of Automation and Robotics, Bachelor of Environmental Design, Bachelor of Music

You must satisfy the requirements of the degree-specific major in your degree before you complete your course.

Bachelor of Philosophy, Politics and Economics

This comprehensive degree does not require you to choose a degree-specific major.

Choosing a second major

You also have the option to choose a second major from those available in the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Design Only available to re-enrolling students. and Bachelor of Science courses, giving you the opportunity to pursue your interests no matter how different they are.

For more examples of combinations of majors, search the study plans .