Philosophy and English BA (Hons)

at University of Sussex

Program structure

Year 1 Core modules

Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to
explore the topics that interest you most.

Autumn teaching

• Acts of Writing 1

• Critical Approaches 1

• Reason and Argument

Spring teaching

• Acts of Writing 2

• Critical Approaches 2

• Early Modern Philosophy

Year 2 Options

You choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

Autumn teaching

• Ancient Philosophy

• Epistemology

• Feminist Philosophy

• Inner Worlds: Literature, 800-1750

• Kant

• Outer Worlds: Literature, 800-1750

• Philosophy of Mind

• Reading Post-Colonial Texts

• Science and Literature

• The Art of Short Fiction

• The Novel

• The Politics of Children's Literature

• Word & Image

Spring teaching

• Aesthetics

• Contemporary Literature and Culture

• Humans and Animals

• Literature, Politics and Culture in Postwar Britain

• Lyric Poetry

• Modernisms

• Phenomenology

• Philosophy of Language

• Philosophy of Race & Racialisation

• Philosophy of Science

• Romance

• Romanticism

• Sense and Sexuality: Women and Writing in the Eighteenth Century

• Staging the Renaissance: Shakespeare

• Writing Poetry

Year 3 Options

You choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

Autumn teaching

• Capital Culture: Money, Commerce and Writing

• Ethics

• Islam, Literature and the 'West'

• Islamic Philosophy

• Metaphysics

• Modern European Philosophy

• Posthuman/Premodern

• Special Author: Samuel Beckett

• Special Author: Virginia Woolf

• Special Author: William Blake

• Technologies of Capture: Photography and Nineteenth Century Literature

• Wollstonecraft and After: Gender, Writing and the Public Sphere

• Writing Race, Gender, and the Social: Experiments Beyond Representation

Spring teaching

• Championing Literacy Placement

• Class, Culture and Contemporary Writing

• Crisis, Revolution, Modernity

• Decolonisation, Pedagogy and Praxis in the Global South

• Dissertation (ENGLISH)

• Gender, Race and Society in Early Modern Drama

• Novel Theory

• Queer Literatures

• School Placement Project

• Themes in Analytic Philosophy

• Themes in Language, Truth and Literature

• Themes in Post-Kantian Philosophy

• Themes in Social and Political Philosophy

International Baccalaureate

Typical offer    

30 -32 points overall from the full IB Diploma.

Subjects    

Higher Level subjects must include English.

European Baccalaureate

Typical offer    

Overall result of at least 75% to 77%.

Additional requirements    

Successful applicants will need to achieve a final mark of at least 8/10 in English.

Other international qualifications

India

Typical offer    

Standard XII results

• 80% from ISC Indian School certificate of Education (CISCE)  

• 80% from SSC All India Senior School Certificate Examination (CBSE)

• 80% HSC Higher Secondary Certificate ( Maharashtra )

Additional requirements    

You will need to demonstrate high levels of ability in literature. (80%)

English language requirements

IELTS (Academic)

6.0 overall, including at least 5.5 in each component

Home students: £9,250 per year

Channel Islands and Isle of Man students: £9,250 per year

International students: £18,500 per year

By taking a Philosophy and English degree at Sussex, you develop key skills in communication, research and critical thinking. You are prepared for a range of jobs including careers in the Civil Service, government, the media or the arts.

Outside the classroom, you can join our Philosophy Society where you:

• get involved in philosophical debates

• attend talks by visiting speakers

• network with other philosophy students.