Curious about studying English Studies and Film & Media - BA (Hons)at University of Stirling? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Stirling Campus
Full Time
Sep 2027
4 Year
Texts are all around us – from books and magazines to TV, email and the internet. The ability to analyse them and their often subtle meanings is a skill that can open doors in a wide range of professional fields. English Studies at the University of Stirling offers you the perfect chance to dedicate yourself to reading and enjoying a range of great novels, plays and poems from across the world. Your own creative writing can form part of this degree, too – as we believe it aids your understanding of literary style and technique and develops your imagination. You’ll also have the opportunity to take a range of language-based courses which will inform your understanding and appreciation of literary texts. These are just some of the factors that make our BA a little different from other English courses.
This module introduces students to the study of English literature at undergraduate level by focusing on reading and analysing different genres of literature, including poetry, fiction and drama from Chaucer to the present day. The course has an overarching emphasis on how genres change and develop over time, and how literary texts respond to each other: it will also consider genre itself as a complex and contested area. It thus introduces students to one of the key approaches approaches to literature upon which they will be able to build during the rest of their degree.
This module introduces you to different approaches to literary studies, within a broadly theoretical context. We will be exploring the concept of literary theory and considering how different theoretical positions can shape our responses to literary texts. We will encounter a range of fascinating novels, short stories, non-fiction, poems and drama, from Shakespeare to the present day.
This module introduces students to key themes in media studies through the discussion of specific issues in film, television, and streaming industries. The module introduces University-level research and study skills, familiarising students with key types of readings, discussions, and assessments. For students on the Film & Media degree, this module also serves to build a context for the four semesters of core modules which cover textual analysis, theory and audiences, and it provides underlying knowledge for students who go on to take production modules later in their degrees.
Lectures on this module provide students with the necessary tools to analyse moving image texts, drawing on examples from film and television. Each of the initial weeks of the module explore different elements of film form including camerawork, editing, mise-en-sc?, cinematography and sound. Lectures and seminars draw on a range of examples to encourage students to develop a variety of techniques in the analysis of these different formal elements. These foundational weeks are then followed by case studies at the end of the module on specific filmic examples.
As this module deals with innovations in media technologies, cultures and practices, the exact focus of the syllabus is likely to be subject to updates annually.
The overall purpose of this module is to introduce students to the concept of technical innovation in literary studies, within a broadly historical context. The module is structured around the concept of revolutions, both literal and literary, and covers a broad historical sweep, from the Peasants? Revolt to the present day, and will focus on understanding literary and historical context as integral to the understanding of literary texts. The module will build on the close reading and theoretical skills obtained in ENGU901 and ENGU902.
The course aims to introduce students to a range of theoretical approaches to film and television, to provide students with opportunities to engage in the systematic analysis of film and television texts, and to develop students? methods of film and television analysis and their awareness of methodological questions
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to: Demonstrate an understanding of a range of different ways in which media audiences have been conceptualised in various kinds of discussion and planning around media use. Demonstrate an understanding of some of the different ways in which audiences have been conceptualised in relevant media disciplines (which may include film studies, television studies, journalism, communications and media studies). Demonstrate a basic understanding of a range of methodological approaches to the study of media audiences. Evaluate different methodological approaches to the study of media audiences and identify appropriate methods for exploring specific research questions in this area.
Is history just another text? To what extent is literature history? How do the stories we tell about ourselves alter the material facts of our lives? This core module sets out to explore these questions by studying aspects of Scottish literature, history, and identity since the defining moment of the Union of the English and the Scottish Parliaments in 1707. Writing and History: Scotland and Empire examines the pressures that produced some of Scotland?s finest writing in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, partly opposed to and partly in step with the concept of Great Britain. It deals with the competing narratives, the contradictory accounts, and the exchanges between centralising and marginalising forces raised by this experience.
This module will provide you with the technical tools and vocabulary to describe in detail how language choices produce particular effects, create meanings and convey ideologies in literary texts. Alongside the acquisition of skills, the module will encourage you to reflect on what it is that makes texts literary, as well as broader debates about the benefits and limitations of stylistic analysis. Whilst the module will be largely focused on stylistic analysis, you will also learn the role of context in a literary stylistic approach.
This module is an introduction to literary theory, and it invites you to question what we think we?re doing as readers, writers and critics. It will both sharpen your existing skills and open you to a whole new set of questions and debates, ranging across a wide terrain of fresh and sometimes challenging ideas. Where does ?meaning? come from? How does a literary text represent the world? What difference does difference (class, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality) make to our reading of texts and cultural practices? Why are some texts valued more than others? The module introduces a selection of the most influential movements in literary and cultural theory of the past century, from the seminal linguistic theories of Saussure, to the readerly prohibitions of the New Criticism, and intense cultural debates sparked by figures such as Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, and Judith Butler. We will also consider some of the practical implications of theory for literary analysis and interpretation. You will need to engage closely with the primary theoretical texts in The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. You will be taught by experts who research in this area.
Students will have only optional modules in this year.
The module aims to strengthen students' dissertations, by focussing on the key skills needed for effective writing and research, including: skills in written English; using library, archive and IT resources, distinguishing and choosing appropriate methodological approaches to research, considering ethical and legal issues such as plagiarism or the use of questionnaires, formulating a research proposal, writing a literature review and a research proposal.
On successful completion of this module, you should be able to: Design and pursue an original research project focused on a well-defined area of film, media or journalism studies of your interest. Demonstrate knowledge of the relevant academic literature and, where relevant, contemporary debates about the media through the development of a robust theoretical framework and critical discussion. Set youe own work schedule, develop independent time-management skills, and negotiate deadlines and action points throughout the supervision process. Produce an extended piece of academic research that is written to high standards of scholarship, is fully referenced and presented in the approved format.
In this triple credit dissertation level module, students will work as individuals to create short video and audio factual productions. They will develop research and production skills in creating material which can have impact on an audience. Guests from the media industry will be involved in sessions, and the module is designed to be relevant to the current broadcasting landscape.
The Final Year Project involves the writing of a substantial dissertation, the culmination of the various Honours degree programmes offered by the Division of Literature and Languages (English Studies).
On successful completion of the module, you should be able to: Design and pursue an original 60 minute standalone screenwriting project focused on a well defined area of film or other screen media in which you have a particular interest. Demonstrate knowledge of the relevant literature and, where relevant, contemporary debates about screenwriting through the development of a robust theoretical framework and critical discussion. You will complete a reflexive portfolio outlining the development and design of scenes, characters, and acts dependent on budget and format constraints. You will critically reflect on the challenges of story design across a range of genres and formats. You will set your own work schedule, develop independent time management skills, and negotiate deadlines and action points throughout the supervision process. Produce a 60 minute standalone screenplay that is written to high standards, alongside a reflexive portfolio reflecting on relevant scholarship, which is fully referenced and presented in the approved format.
Accommodation(Based on the range of costs for a self-catered room in university halls of residence. Includes cost of electricity and wi-fi.)360.20 to 795.48 (Monthly expenditure)
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