Undergraduate student in a tutorial with an academic

English and Philosophy BA

University Park Campus, Nottingham, UK

Course overview

English and Philosophy both explore and explain human existence. The great themes of literature and debates about language run together with the big issues of philosophy:

  • what are the struggles, conflicts, and challenges of human life?
  • how should we navigate the social, moral, and personal struggles that make up the drama of living?

 

Philosophy

You'll explore traditional topics such as ethics and philosophy of mind alongside emerging areas like environmental and social philosophy.

 

English

We cover the full range of English - language, literature, linguistics and drama from Old English to the present day

Indicative modules

Mandatory

Year 1

Reasoning, Argument, and Logic

Mandatory

Year 1

Mind, Knowledge, and Ethics

Optional

Year 1

Metaphysics, Science, and Language

Optional

Year 1

Philosophy of Religions

Optional

Year 1

Philosophy and the Contemporary World

Optional

Year 1

Gender, Justice, and Society

Optional

Year 1

History of Philosophy: Ancient to Modern

Optional

Year 1

Drama, Theatre, Performance

Optional

Year 1

Studying Language

Optional

Year 1

Studying Literature

Optional

Year 1

Beginnings of English

Optional

Year 2

The Nature of Meaning

Optional

Year 2

Freedom and Obligation

Optional

Year 2

Mind and Consciousness

Optional

Year 2

Knowledge and Justification

Optional

Year 2

Normative Ethics

Optional

Year 2

Being, Becoming and Reality

Optional

Year 2

Topics in Asian Philosophy

Optional

Year 2

Social Philosophy

Optional

Year 2

Philosophy of Art

Optional

Year 2

Continental Philosophy

Optional

Year 2

Intermediate Logic

Optional

Year 2

An Introduction to Metaethics

Optional

Year 2

Buddhism and the World

Optional

Year 2

Space, Time and Motion

Optional

Year 2

Islamic Theology and Philosophy

Optional

Year 2

From Talking Horses to Romantic Revolutionaries: Literature 1700-1830

Optional

Year 2

Literature and Popular Culture

Optional

Year 2

Modern and Contemporary Literature

Optional

Year 2

Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Page

Optional

Year 2

Victorian and Fin de Siècle Literature: 1830-1910

Optional

Year 2

Language in Society

Optional

Year 2

Language Development

Optional

Year 2

Literary Linguistics

Optional

Year 2

The Psychology of Bilingualism and Language Learning

Optional

Year 2

Chaucer and his Contemporaries

Optional

Year 2

Ice and Fire: Myths and Heroes of the North

Optional

Year 2

Old English: Reflection and Lament

Optional

Year 2

Names and Identities

Optional

Year 2

Shakespeare and Contemporaries on the Stage

Optional

Year 2

From Stanislavski to Contemporary Performance

Optional

Year 2

Twentieth-Century Plays

Optional

Year 2

Employing the Arts

Optional

Year 2

Arts Work Placement Module

Optional

Year 3

Dissertation in Philosophy

Optional

Year 3

Communicating Philosophy

Optional

Year 3

Marx

Optional

Year 3

Environmental Ethics

Optional

Year 3

Advanced Logic

Optional

Year 3

Philosophy and Mortality

Optional

Year 3

Play, Games and Recreation

Optional

Year 3

Knowledge, Ignorance and Democracy

Optional

Year 3

Dirty Talk: Feminist Philosophy of Language

Optional

Year 3

Buddhist Philosophy

Optional

Year 3

Buddhism in the world

Optional

Year 3

Mind, Psychology and Mental Health

Optional

Year 3

Equality

Optional

Year 3

Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence

Optional

Year 3

Authenticity and Existentialism

Optional

Year 3

Advanced Topics in Aesthetics

Optional

Year 3

Songs and Sonnets: Lyric poetry from Medieval Manuscript to Shakespeare and Donne

Optional

Year 3

Single-Author Study

Optional

Year 3

Reformation and Revolution: Early Modern literature and drama 1588-1688

Optional

Year 3

Modern Irish Literature and Drama

Optional

Year 3

Contemporary British Fiction

Optional

Year 3

Making Something Happen: Poetry and Politics

Optional

Year 3

One and Unequal: World Literatures in English

Optional

Year 3

The Self and the World: Writing in the Long Eighteenth Century

Optional

Year 3

The Gothic Tradition

Optional

Year 3

Advanced Stylistics

Optional

Year 3

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Optional

Year 3

Language and Feminism

Optional

Year 3

Language and the Mind

Optional

Year 3

Discourse and Power: Health and Business Communication

Optional

Year 3

English Place-Names

Optional

Year 3

Dreaming the Middle Ages: Visionary Poetry in Scotland and England

Optional

Year 3

The Viking Mind

Optional

Year 3

Changing Stages: Theatre Industry and Theatre Art

Optional

Year 3

Theatre Making

Optional

Year 3

English Dissertation: Full Year

Optional

Year 3

Project-based dissertation

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About modules

The above is a sample of the typical modules we offer, but is not intended to be construed or relied on as a definitive list of what might be available in any given year. This content was last updated on Wednesday 8 January 2025. Due to timetabling availability, there may be restrictions on some module combinations.

Trent Building in sunshine  June 2nd 2020 by Lisa Gilligan-Lee

The lecturers are always really happy to engage with you on any topic you think is relevant and have a really in depth discussion. 

William Phillips

English and Philosophy BA

Course data

English and Philosophy at University of Nottingham, the

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Open Day June 2022