Courses and structure

The degree leads to a BA (Hons) in Drama & English or English & Drama. You study a range of literatures in English, including courses focusing on pre-1800 literature. You also study theatre and other performance media and cover aspects of theatre history, performance theory and approaches to production.

In the first year, for example, this will include some practical experience of producing theatre in the Drama Production: Summer Projects. In the third year, you will take a two-term course in Dramaturgy, analysing texts and live performances, and adapting work from other media for the stage.

All students take the equivalent of twelve 30-credit courses to make up 360 credits, and the programme can be studied through two pathways: Drama or English. These pathways diverge at the end of the second year. You choose the pathway of the final year by the end of the autumn term of the second year, although you will be asked to give a provisional indication of your choice when enrolling.

Year 1 English courses

Explorations in Literature (30 credits)
This course introduces a wide range of works covering the major literary genres and embodying significant interventions or influences in the history of literature.

The emphasis is on reading primary texts and discovering (or rediscovering) writers and cultures so that you will be able to make informed choices among more specialised courses later in your degree.

Introduction to Poetry (15 credits)
This course subdivides into two five-week sections, on ‘practice’ and ‘close readings’. The first concentrates on pivotal and innovative figures and movements in poetry from the early modern period to the present day, and the second explores fundamental issues in poetry through the lens of individual poems. Both sections are presented with the support of the department’s creative practitioners.

Introduction to the Short Story (15 credits)
This course introduces you to the short story form and to samples of tales from a range of literary traditions and historical periods. In particular, you are presented with examples of the importance and development of the short-story genre within different national traditions. You will discuss the relationship between oral and written narrative form and study classical sub-genres such as the ‘tale of terror’.

Year 1 Drama courses

See descriptions of first year courses here.

Please note: in the summer term of the first year, students following this programme take Drama Production: Summer Projects (English and Drama). This course (15 credits) enables English and Drama students to explore their critical skills in a performance practice context, focusing on design, stage management and direction.

Year 2 & 3 Drama courses

See descriptions for year 2 & 3 courses here.

Please note that options are likely to change from year to year, depending on staff availability and research interests.

*The Department of English and Comparative Literature (ECL) administers the English courses. Please note that 15-credit courses in English are only available in the third year.

Skills and careers

Department of English & Comparative Literature (ECL)

Our degrees open up a wide range of careers by developing critical and analytical skills, proficiency in assessing evidence, the clear expression of ideas, and the ability to bring together insights from a range of subjects – all of which are attractive to a variety of employers.

You learn to solve problems, to think critically and creatively, and to communicate with clarity. Our graduates have a good employment record: professions include publishing, journalism, PR, teaching, advertising, civil service, business and industry, European Union private sector management and personnel work, and the media.

According to data collated by Unistats, the definitive UK university guide and part of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), Goldsmiths’ English undergraduate students attain the highest-paid jobs upon graduation.

Department of Theatre & Performance

Skills

We offer you the opportunity to become an articulate, critical, independent and self-initiating member of the cultural community by developing a range of transferable skills, including the ability to:

• work practically as an individual and in groups;
• analyse personal practice in relation to theoretical models;
• research and present complex information;
• present ideas and analysis in a variety of formats';
• document and record ideas and information;
• take responsibility for your own ideas and respond creatively to the ideas of others;
• work to a deadline;
• share work responsibly;
• communicate and write clearly;
• practise self-discipline.

Careers

When you graduate you might, like many of our students, go on to work in the theatre or related media, in publishing, administration, programming, project management, development work, marketing and publicity, management or technical production. 

You will possess a range of skills that will equip you for a variety of careers related to live as well as recorded performance, with developed abilities in creative and critical thinking and ‘making-it-happen’ confidence, e.g. conceptualising ideas, research, organisation, teamwork, communication, self-management, and presentation.

You may choose undertake further specialist training to work as a teacher or arts therapist, or go on to higher level academic study.

Further information

• Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths
• Our alumni

About the departments

Department of English & Comparative Literature (ECL)

ECL, with its rich research base, large student community, and proximity to the resources of the capital, offers a particularly lively environment for undergraduate study.

We combine the wide-ranging research interests of our staff in English, European and American literatures. You will therefore benefit from a stimulating context for the study of literatures, linguistics, literary theory and creative writing.

Our staff come from a variety of cultural backgrounds – and, with their diverse research interests, they are ideally equipped to help you develop your own interests whether they lie in American, British, Caribbean, Irish, French, Spanish, German or Postcolonial literatures.

One of Goldsmiths’ major strengths is the way in which our departments (and smaller centres and units) co-operate to offer new perspectives and insights on each other’s subjects – this is the case, for example, with English and Drama (to which both the ECL and Theatre and Performance Departments contribute) and Media and Modern Literature (taught jointly by ECL and the Department of Media and Communications).

In the last Research Assessment Exercise, 65% of the research/writing produced by the academic staff in ECL was judged to be of 3* or 4* standard, which means that our research publications have been judged to meet international standards of excellence. Furthermore, selective reviews of our programmes continue to produce a clear ‘vote of confidence’ in the teaching provision in ECL.

You’ll find a list of our staff and their research interests here.

Key features

• We are large enough to provide a wide range of courses and specialists but small enough to let you get to know other students and staff.
• Degree programmes are structured to give you a broad foundation in literature/cultural studies, and the opportunity to study the topics that interest you.
• A diverse range of courses from which to select, such as The Art of the Novel; Shakespeare; The Emergence of Modern America: American Literature 1890-1940; Oedipus: Myths, Tragedies and Theories; Studies in Literature and Film; Postcolonial Literatures in English, alongside courses exploring every period of writing in English.
• Every student has a personal tutor to provide advice and support.
• Our strengths include 20th-century literature, creative writing, European literatures, 18th-century literature, Renaissance literature, socio-linguistics, Romanticism, American literature, Caribbean writing, postcolonial writing and literary theory.
• Each year the Department runs a series of special lectures/readings for the benefit of its students. In the Richard Hoggart Lectures in Literature, major international writers and critics present and talk about their work; they have included: Harold Pinter, Doris Lessing, Seamus Heaney, Alan Bennett, Will Self and Germaine Greer.
• The Department is making increasing use of learn.gold – Goldsmiths’ resource for on-line learning.
• You can also use the University of London Library, which has over one million volumes, over 5,000 learned journals, a number of special collections, plus slides and music recordings.

See for yourself

If you’re thinking of studying at Goldsmiths, we recommend you come and visit us to have a look around. Our Open Days are ideal opportunities to find out more about what Goldsmiths can offer you.

The Department of English and Comparative Literature also runs Applicant Days in the Spring Term for applicants who have received an offer of a place or an interview.

The Department of Theatre & Performance

The Department of Theatre and Performance at Goldsmiths is a dynamic, outward-looking, research-active learning environment that offers you a balanced mix of theoretical and practical work.

Our focus is intercultural and interdisciplinary, while our syllabus combines practical projects, engagement with theories of performance and culture, and the study of theatre histories.

One of the most distinctive features of the department is the space and time dedicated to exploring theatre making hands-on in a student-centred approach.

The Department’s dedicated spaces include: three studios (two black, one white); a thrust-stage theatre seating about 200; scenic, props and wardrobe facilities; and an open access media studio. There's also up-to-date equipment for the design and operation of light, sound and video.

Staff

There are 13 full-time academic members of staff, five technicians, and four administrative staff.

A pool of distinguished visiting tutors brings a range of academic as well as performance and production skills from the profession into the department’s work.

Staff research interests include: theories of acting and systems of actor training, physical theatres, scenography, European theatres, Asian theatres, African and Afro-Caribbean theatres, contemporary Black British writing, women writers and practitioners, theatre education, socially engaged practice, interculturalism, Shakespeare, Irish drama, gay theatre, performance and health, musical theatre, theatre writing, dramaturgy and translation and Live Art.

Find out more about our staff and their current research interests and projects.

Why choose Drama and Theatre Arts at Goldsmiths?

• Our syllabus enables you to develop a broad practical and intellectual understanding of the field, and pursue a specialised area of interest as you develop through the three years of study.
• We are research-active in both the production of theoretical texts, professional production and projects, and this invigorates all our teaching.
• Our international reputation brings students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels from all over of the world to the Department, creating a diverse cultural context in which to learn and practice.
• By the third year, every student is able to pursue their interests in considerable depth both in performance approaches in theatre making projects and written dissertation topics that are proposed by the student.
• We are only 15 minutes by train from Charing Cross and its nearby theatres and galleries, and even closer to the South Bank arts complex. Students also benefit from our active relationships with a range of professional venues and organisations in south-east London.
• We have live working relationships with many theatres, arts organisations, networks and media companies in the UK and internationally, some of whose representatives work as visiting tutors on our courses.
• Our location and reputation enable us to draw on internationally distinguished scholars and practitioners to supplement our curriculum with a range of extra-mural events.
• There is a well-equipped book and video library on site and extensive computing facilities. You also have access to the library facilities of the University of London and the range of specialist libraries, museums and collections scattered throughout the capital.

Student profiles

"Studying both English and Drama you get the best of both worlds; it means you can choose from a wide range of courses within the degree that contrast but occasionally overlap and inform each other. English and Drama students experience a range of approaches: theoretical, practical, historical and literary. I may begin the day with a class on late-Elizabethan sonnets but in the afternoon I’m working in the studios on a devised piece inspired by German Expressionism. So far the degree has been consistently stimulating and surprising.

I came to look around Goldsmiths at an Open Day from which I left impressed, but what really sold it to me was the train journey back into central London. I realised that if I chose Goldsmiths I would be studying in such close proximity to London’s theatres and arts venues. For instance, it’s just fifteen minutes away from National Theatre, Young Vic, Old Vic, BFI and Southbank Centre. For a Drama student this is crucial and in my first year I would make use of my student card and go to the theatre three to four times a week

You don’t get lost at Goldsmiths; it’s quite a small campus, but what I mean is you don’t feel lost in a large mechanical operation. Very simply tutors remember your names. Just the other day I bumped into a tutor who took a brilliant class last year but I hadn’t seen her since, she asked me how I was getting on and remembered an essay I had written."

Harry Davies, BA English & Drama

"Studying at Goldsmiths has been an amazing experience. As one of the few London universities which offer my course, I chose Goldsmiths because of its important reputation in the field of art and humanities.

I thoroughly enjoy studying English and Drama and the wide variety of modules to choose from. The lecturers are helpful and vastly experienced and the students come from all different backgrounds.

I have been able to grow as a person through my experiences at Goldsmiths and the people that I have met here have helped me learn more about myself and given me ideas about what I want to do in the future."

Zahra, BA English & Drama

"The courses I took as part of my degree in English and Drama were flexible enough for me to get a solid foundation in both subjects and, in my second and third years, to focus on particular areas that especially interested me.

Tutors in both departments are incredibly passionate about their chosen fields and because Goldsmiths is a research college students benefit hugely from being in such a cutting-edge learning environment."

Miles, BA English & Drama