Courses and structure

What you study

Credits and levels of learning

An undergraduate honours degree is made up of 360 credits – 120 at Level 4, 120 at Level 5 and 120 at Level 6. If you are a full-time student, you will usually take Level 4 courses in the first year, Level 5 in the second, and Level 6 courses in your final year. A standard course is worth 30 credits. Some programmes also contain 15-credit half courses or can be made up of higher-value parts, such as a dissertation or a Major Project.

Level 4

You take the following four courses:

• Concepts and Methods in History
• One other first year 30 credit History course
• Explorations in English Literature

The course covers selected texts of classical, medieval, Renaissance and modern literature, including epic, romance, tragedy, lyric, satire and the novel.

Principal texts might typically include Homer, The Odyssey; Sophocles, Antigone; Shakespeare, Hamlet; selected poems of Donne, Milton, Pope, Blake, Coleridge; Austen, Emma; Ibsen, A Doll’s House; Woolf, To the Lighthouse; Achebe, Things Fall Apart.

Assessment by: three-hour written paper, two non- assessed coursework essays are also required.

• Approaches to Text

The course introduces you to essential concepts in modern literary studies, including properties of literary language; convention and genre; prosody and poetic forms; narrative voice and structure; texts in performance and larger questions of interpretation.

Principal texts might typically include M. Montgomery et al, Ways of Reading; Shelley, Frankenstein; Shakespeare, The Tempest; Heaney, North.

Assessment by: portfolio of three essays totalling 6,000-8,000-words.

Level 5

You take:

• One English/History interdisciplinary 30 credit course
• 30 credits of History courses
• One English Period course worth 30 credits
• The fourth course may be either 30 credits of History courses or a 30 credit English course

Find out more about the History courses that may be available to you.

Level 6

You take:

• The Interdisciplinary Project
• One English Period course
• Two additional courses (60 credits of History courses; or 30 credits of History courses and a 30 credit Related study course; or 30 credits of History courses and one 30 credit English course)

Skills and careers

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. Additionally, Goldsmiths is in the top three higher education institutions for highest-paid jobs for both History undergraduates.

• Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths
• Our alumni

About the departments

About the Department of English and Comparative Literature

The Department of English and Comparative Literature (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 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.

A full list of our staff and their research interests.

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 sta
• 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.
• Our degree in English and Comparative Literature and departmental links including those with Theatre and Performance, History, and Media and Communications enrich our teaching and research.
• Postgraduate degrees present a range of opportunities for you to continue your study of English at that level: MAs in Creative and Life Writing; Comparative Literary Studies; Sociocultural Linguistics* plus MRes, MPhil and PhD research degrees.
• 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. If you’d like further information please visit www.gold.ac.uk/opendays.

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.

About the Department of History

About the Department of History

The Department of History provides a distinctive and intellectually challenging environment for undergraduate study with internationally renowned scholars and a flourishing research culture. We foster enthusiasm for the study of history by focusing on encounters and exploration, ideas and identities.

Our emphasis on encounters addresses the interplay of religious, political and cultural differences across time and place. We use innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to encourage the exploration of issues, controversies, and themes, rather than chronological periods. By examining the development of ideas and identities, we draw upon the past to illuminate the conflicts and challenges of modern life.

History at Goldsmiths nurtures intellectual curiosity and independent critical thinking. We offer flexible and challenging programmes of study at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, featuring carefully developed teaching informed by cutting- edge research. The geographical range of our courses includes Asia, Africa, Eastern and Western Europe.

Our graduates have gone on to pursue careers in commerce and industry, central and local government, research and teaching, museums and galleries, law, journalism and the media.

Different areas of specialisation at teaching and research levels include:

• Modern Italian labour history and politics
• Early modern Germany, especially urban and religious history
• Modern history of the Balkans
• 20th century British and Irish history
• Early modern religion, ideas, politics, and popular culture
• Medieval history, gender power politics, crusades and ethnicity
• Social and cultural history of contemporary southern Africa
• Nineteenth century British dress, death, poverty, gender, philanthropy
• Cultural history of the early modern Mediterranean, Venice and its empire, early modern visual culture
• Various aspects of the history of Asian medicine and interactions between medicine and religion

Topics studied include:

• Medieval Monsters: Foreigners and Other Oddities in the Medieval Imagination
• The Crusades
• Heresy, the Occult and the Millennium in early modern Europe
• Early modern European philosophy
• Visual and material culture in early modern Europe
• London’s history through literature
• Gender in text and history
• Lived histories: Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries
• Italy since 1870
• France since 1870: fascism, communism and democracy
• Germany since 1870: nationalism versus democracy
• Nationalism, democracy and dictatorship in 20th century Eastern Europe
• Yugoslavia: history and disintegration
• Health, healing and illness in Africa
• The British military in the First World War

Why study History at Goldsmiths?

• You will be part of a friendly, supportive department, with a flourishing research culture and internationally renowned staff to support you throughout your studies;
• We offer a wide range of interesting, flexible courses and programmes, and take an innovative approach to the study of history;
• Departmental links, including those with Anthropology, English, and Politics, reflect our commitment to a strong interdisciplinary approach that enriches our teaching and research;
• As an undergraduate at the University of London you will have access to other University of London facilities and college libraries, including the Senate House Library, one of the best university libraries in the country;
• You have the option to take one Group 2 course (second year) and your Special Subject (third year) at another institution within the University of London, giving you the maximum scope to pursue your historical interests as well as the opportunity to widen your experience of London;
• You will have access to an extensive programme of departmental seminars, which include guest speakers from the wider academic community;
• Goldsmiths’ campus is situated in a vibrant area of London with great transport links – only 15 minutes from the city centre, with all the facilities and attractions London is famous for.

Teaching

Courses are delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars and workshops. Our staff are drawn from a wide range of professional and educational backgrounds, which provides a diverse and rewarding educational experience and creates a broad research profile. Further information on staff is available on page 26.

Open days

We welcome prospective students, and their families and supporters, to our Open Days, which showcase all the university departments and the programmes they offer, as well as general information on student life and learning at Goldsmiths.

These are held three times a year in the spring, summer and autumn and also enable visitors to tour Goldsmiths’ campus and its extensive facilities. Find out dates and book your place online.

Applicant days

The department also holds applicant days in early December, mid-February and late March. These are for prospective students holding an offer to study either single honours in history or one of our joint degree programmes.

Applicant days give you the chance to see Goldsmiths and the department, meet staff and students, and hear and participate in sample lectures, as well as to ask questions about the degree programmes and courses, student accommodation and finance. Please contact history@gold.ac.uk for more information.

Peter Galloway Prize for History

Two £500 prizes are donated each year by Dr Peter Galloway, a graduate of the Department. The prizes are awarded to the first and second year History or joint degree students who achieve the highest overall average grade in their respective year. Find out more about the Peter Galloway Prize and other awards.

Student profiles

"As a Jamaican national I grew up in an environment saturated with mystery and doubt concerning written history.

As young children we are constantly advised to question what we read in books. It was this initial advice that ignited my curiosity and now it has become a very relevant characteristic because in both of my courses, we are required to be cautious and to read between the lines.

I can honestly say that attending Goldsmiths is by far one of the most important decisions in my life."

Jodiann, BA English & History