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English and Philosophy

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We live in a world of increasingly serious disagreements about the aims and values which should inform human life. Philosophical reflection has consequently become more and more essential to the assessment of human culture. However, university philosophy often tends these days to be a very specialised, technical subject which it can sometimes be hard to connect to other disciplines. The Philosophy Joint Honours and Minor Degrees at Royal Holloway are therefore specifically designed to give you access to key ideas and debates that are relevant to the other subjects studied. But this is a two-way street: just as studying philosophy will deepen your understanding of, say, the classical world, contemporary politics, literature and science, those subjects will in turn broaden your appreciation of why philosophical questioning is so important today.

Philosophy Joint Honours Degree
Philosophy Minor Degree

With a Philosophy Joint Honours Degree you take two units of Philosophy each academic year. In other words, your time is divided equally between Philosophy and the subject you combine it with. To obtain a Joint Honours degree, Philosophy can be combined with the following subjects: Ancient History, Classical Studies, Comparative Literature and Culture, Drama, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Music, Politics and International Relations.

With a Philosophy Minor Degree you take 1 unit of Philosophy each academic year (this might be one 1-unit course, or two, half-unit courses). Since you take four units per year to get an honours degree, a Minor in Philosophy is equivalent to a quarter of your degree. The Philosophy Minor is open to students studying Classics (including Classical Studies and Ancient History), Drama, English, Media Arts, Modern Languages and Music, and also Maths, Physics, and Politics and International Relations.

Year 1

In the first year of your degree, in the Department of English, you will study the full unit (both terms), EN1107 Reorienting the Novel, and the half units EN1011 Thinking as a Critic (Term 1) and EN1112 Introducing English Poetry (Term 2).

Students must also take the equivalent of two units in Philosophy, as specified by the Philosophy Department.

Year 2

In their second year, students must take EN2324: Debates in Literary and Critical Theory. We normally recommend that students also take one of the following: EN2010: Renaissance; EN2212: Victorian Literature; EN2325: Modernist Literature. Students must also take the equivalent of two units in Philosophy, as specified by the Philosophy Department.

For a full range of course options in the English Department, please see Current Course Options.

N.B. In either their second or third year, students must take one half unit focusing on literature from before 1780 (i.e. Medieval or Renaissance, but excluding Shakespeare).

Year 3

In their third year, students must take one unit from the following: Special Author Project; Special Topic; Dissertation. In their third year, students must also choose the equivalent of one third-year unit from the English Department and one third-year unit in Philosophy, as negotiated with the Philosophy Department .

For a full range of Special Author Projects and Special Topics in the English Department, as well as a list of full- and half-unit third year options, please see the Current Course Options.

N.B. In either their second or third year, students must take one half unit focusing on literature from before 1780 (i.e. Medieval or Renaissance, but excluding Shakespeare).