About the Degree

The BA programme is offered jointly by the Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures and the Department of the English Language and ELT Methodology (UAJD).

We welcome applicants with a strong command of written and spoken English who have a keen interest in the fields of literature in English, cultures of the English-speaking world and English language/linguistics. The programme aims to equip students with a broad foundation in each of these fields, as well as providing them with opportunities to develop their interests in specific areas. In the Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures core courses are designed to guide students through the main periods of English and American Literature, significant issues in British and American culture and history, and to develop foundational skills in literary interpretation, academic writing, research and presentations.

Instruction is mixed format, ranging from large lectures to small group seminars that facilitate discussion, close reading of specific texts and individual attention from the instructor if needed.

Forms of Study

• Single Subject Study:
  Single Subject students are enrolled only in the English and American Studies BA programme.

• Joint-Subject Study:
  Joint-Subject students are enrolled in English and American Studies AND another subject within the Faculty of Arts. They must pass entrance exams in both subjects. At the conclusion of their studies they must choose a thesis topic in one of their two subjects of study.

General Structure

The degree is structured around three main areas:

1. Literatures on the British Isles; British, Irish and Commonwealth Cultural Studies
2. American and Canadian Literature and Cultural Studies
3. English Language and Linguistics run by the Department of the English Language and ELT Methodology.

Literatures on the British Isles; British, Irish and Commonwealth Cultural Studies
The core of the BA programme is a three-semester lecture with seminars which provide an introduction to the development of the literature and relevant cultural background to the following principal topics: English Drama to the Restoration, the Rise of the Novel, the Period of Romanticism, the Victorian Novel, Modernism and Contemporary Literature. The course is complemented by one-semester lecture on medieval literature and culture on the British Isles and a seminar on the same topic for Single Subject students. The lecture Introduction in British and American Studies (one semester ) discusses selected modern concepts of culture, multiculturalism, ethnicity, nation and cultural region, cultural diversity of the English-speaking countries and the relation between literature and communication technologies (writing, printing press and modern media). Another one-semester course (mandatory for single subject students, optional for double-subject students) is the introduction to the history of theoretical thought on literature and art from the antiquity to the modern age. Single Subject students must also attend a course on modern British history.

American and Canadian Literature and Cultural Studies
The core of the BA American Literature programme consists of a three-semester lecture and seminar devoted to American literature from the colonial period to the present. The central topics are Colonial Literature, American Romanticism and Transcendentalism, Main Trends in Later Nineteenth-century Poetry, Humour and Satire in Later Nineteenth-century Fiction, Realism, Naturalism and Other Developments in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-century Fiction, Modernism, The Writing of the Expatriates, Southern Literature, The War Novel, The Development of Twentieth-century Drama, African American and Contemporary Literature, including Postmodern Tendencies and Literary Activities of Varied Ethnic Groups. Seminars focus on historical traditions and cultural trends, literary techniques, and artistic expression. Single Subject students must also attend a course on modern U.S. history.

English Language and Linguistics
The introductory course in the BA linguistics programme covers selected topics on English linguistics: varieties of English, genetic and structural classification of English, British vs. American English, inflectional and derivational morphology, syntax, lexical semantics, lexicography, phonetics/phonology, accentology and graphology. Subsequent courses in morphology and syntax focus on the grammatical categories of parts of speech, and on simple, compound, and complex sentences, again on a contrastive basis. All three courses are composed of a lecture and a seminar. The history of the English language (two semesters) rounds out this programme. This course is a survey of the development of English through three stages: the Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English periods. For full information please refer to UAJD WEBSITE

In addition, in the first year of study students must take mandatory courses in:

• English Skills in Cultural Communication (two-semester seminar)
• Introduction to Literary Studies (two-semester seminar for all plus two-semester lecture for Single Subject Students)

These courses function as prerequisites for courses in the second and third years of study. Without the appropriate credits for these courses students will be unable to continue with their studies at the Department.

Additionally, Single Subject students must select 4 elective courses, worth in total 9 credits, and offered within the Department in the following modules:

1. Literatures on the British Isles
2. American and Canadian Literatures
3. Intercultural Studies
4. English Language and ELT

These courses are offered as optional to Joint-Subject students (subject to capacity).

Both Single and Joint-Subject students have the opportunity to take optional seminars offered within the Department as well as within the University.

All students in the programme must fulfil credit requirements in Academic Skills and a Foreign Language.

The BA Degree is concluded by the BA final exam and the BA thesis.

Duration

The BA programme is normally three years (i.e. six semesters of instruction) in duration for full time students. Students may also apply to study abroad for a semester or two as part of the Erasmus programme. However, as courses and credits are not exactly equivalent, this may result in necessary prolongation of the BA programme by one or two terms.

Graduate Profile

Although a BA in English and American Studies is clearly not a vocational degree, graduates of our programme have many valuable skills for today’s job market. In addition to excellent skills in spoken and written English, analytic, critical and creative thinking, our graduates have experience in doing research, translating, public speaking, computer literacy and extensive contact with native speakers, as well as being equipped with a broad knowledge of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures and English language linguistics.