Refine your critical skills and nurture your thinking about film and literature. Explore cinema and other media through cultural analysis, the impact of changes in technology and aesthetics, and cinema as a creative outlet, to discover how film developed in the modern world.

Film at Essex equips you with the theoretical and background knowledge to understand the dynamics of global cinemas. Plus, combining your studies with Literature gives you an understanding of how to engage with media across comparative contexts. We introduce you to some of the most significant works of literature and film which have sparked movements or represented a crucial conceptual or aesthetic turn, giving you keen insights into the far-reaching influences of these media.

You'll have a range of optional modules to choose from, and you could choose topics such as:

American film authors

Film and propaganda

World cinema

Narrative and film

Documentary film

Psychoanalytic theory

Shakespeare

British romanticism

European literature

Writing of the American South

The Western in literature and film

You also have the opportunity to take practical options in the second year, to develop your production skills and knowledge of the filmmaking process. From initial concept to research methods, addressing legal and consent requirements, filming, and editing, these options can give you an insider knowledge of what it means to work behind the camera.

A typical timetable involves a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar or a two-hour seminar for each module every week, but there are variations in place depending on the module.

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.

Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.

If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university

Placement year

When you arrive at Essex, you can decide whether you would like to combine your course with a placement year. You will be responsible for finding your placement, but with support and guidance provided by both your department and our Employability and Careers Centre.

If you complete a placement year you'll only pay 20% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for