English and Hispanic Studies BA

at University of Warwick

In your first year, you will take language classes designed to develop your knowledge and understanding of written and spoken Spanish (either Modern Spanish Language 1 or Modern Spanish Language 1 Beginners). You will also take a core module (Modes of Reading) which focuses on questions of approach, critical practice, and reading strategies.

You will choose one additional module in Hispanic Studies which will provide you with the foundation to study further aspects of Hispanic culture in the later stages of your degree (either Language, Text and Identity in the Hispanic World or Icons and Representations of the Hispanic World).

You will additionally choose one English module in your first year, from a list of three: Epic into Novel; Medieval to Renaissance Literature; and Modern World Literatures.

Year One
Modern Spanish Language 1
Do you have A level or an equivalent in Spanish and want to consolidate, extend and refine your skills? This module will equip you with sound grammatical and linguistic foundations, with the aim of increasing your confidence in reading, listening, speaking and writing in Spanish. You'll use authentic resources in a variety of media from around the Hispanic world, including books, articles, newspapers, television, music, and podcasts, as well as taking part in our virtual language exchange with students at the Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá, Colombia, a fantastic way to expand your linguistic and intercultural skills outside the classroom. During the module, you will develop their skills through a combination of classroom sessions, guided learning activities and appropriate self-study resources. Weekly classes will cover reading, language in use, grammar and functional aspects of Spanish such as translation, extended writing and oral expression, which are reinforced through complementary activities on Moodle, our multimedia VLE.

or

Modern Spanish Language for Beginners
As a beginner in the acquisition of the Spanish language, you’ll gain a keen grammatical awareness, a sound understanding of cultures and societies across the Hispanic world, and most of all, confidence in reading, listening, speaking and writing in Spanish. Using authentic resources, including newspapers, television and radio, you are expected to end your first year able to sustain everyday conversations in Spanish, read authentic texts, follow TV extracts and write at an intermediate level in Spanish. You'll also work on basic translations to and from Spanish as a means of consolidating your knowledge.

Modes of Reading
What is a reader? How is our understanding and perception of a text formed? What does it mean to think critically when we read? This module allows you to explore these questions by putting a spotlight on the question of critical thinking in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. By studying a series of literary texts in relation to some of the most influential literary and cultural theorists of the last hundred years, you will take your own position on everything from Marxism, queer and feminist theory to ecocriticism and postcolonial critique.

Choose one option in English:
Epic into Novel
Tracking the transition from the epics of the ancient world to the novels of modernity, this module introduces you to some of the most influential and formative works of world literature. You will study central texts of the classical world, such as Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid; the ancient Indian epic The Mahābhārata; Milton’s Paradise Lost; as well as novels like Henry Fielding’s bawdy comedy Tom Jones and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o’s novel of decolonising Kenya, A Grain of Wheat. Reading across history and cultures, between languages and genres, you will develop the skills to analyse narrative, character, and style.

or

Medieval and Early Modern Literature
Taking you from the mythical court of King Arthur to the real world of ambition, intrigue, and danger in the courts of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, this module introduces you to early literature written in a range of genres (romance, epic, fabliau) and poetic forms. You will study texts like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Thomas More’s Utopia, Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, and Shakespeare’s sonnets to explore some of the period’s highest ideals—‘trawthe’ or integrity—as well as some of humanity’s darkest impulses: greed, deception, revenge, and desire.

or

Modern World Literatures
This module introduces you to the defining concerns, styles, and contexts of modern world literature from 1789 to the present. You will encounter concepts like Romanticism, modernity, gothic, and postcolonialism through novels, short stories, poetry, and drama from revolutionary France to Meiji era Japan, industrial Britain to the decolonizing Caribbean. Your reading might include Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein, Lu Xun’s story of China in transition 'Diary of a Madman', or Clarice Lispector’s haunting meditation on life in Rio de Janeiro The Hour of the Star.

And one option in Hispanic Studies:

Language, Text and Identity in the Hispanic World
How has the Spanish language travelled around the world and what happens when it co-exists with other languages? How do writers use language to explore identity, and what happens when they work between two (or more) languages? What skills do we need as readers to interpret the nuances of texts that travel between languages? This module will equip you with an understanding of the cultural and sociolinguistic diversity of the Hispanic world, and a strong grounding in the literary and cultural analysis of texts that address this diversity.

or

Icons and Representations of the Hispanic World
Have you ever wondered where the familiar stereotypes of Spain and Latin America come from? How have they circulated and been received at different times and in different places? And how have Spaniards and Latin Americans represented themselves to travellers, tourists, artists, and even invaders? The module will introduce you to a wide range of written and visual representations of the Hispanic world, and some of its most influential and iconic cultural figures. We investigate topics which, in different ways, pose important questions about studying other languages and cultures.

Intermediate Year
Modern Spanish Language 2
On this module, you'll extend your competence in Spanish. You'll deepen your understanding of advanced grammatical and linguistic structures, increase the range and sophistication of your vocabulary, and refine your use of register in authentic spoken and written discourse. You'll use resources from a variety of media from around the Hispanic world, and take part in our virtual language exchange, where you will have the opportunity to work online with students in Spain and Latin America. At the end of the course, you should have sufficient mastery to discuss different topics, report on your independent reading and support your opinions with solid arguments.

or

Modern Spanish Language 2 (Post-beginners)
This module for students who started as beginners follows the first year module HP102 and seeks to consolidate the language skills gained in students’ first year of study. The aim of this module is to further extend and refine competence in modern Spanish. It covers the main linguistic skills (oral, aural, reading and writing), and seeks to promote the continued acquisition of grammatical awareness and essential communicative competences. At the end of the course, you will be able to understand discourse about concrete and abstract topics, to give presentations about different subjects, to report on the results of your independent reading and research, and to state your point of view and support it with solid arguments.

A selection of optional modules in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures (30 credits) and in English and Comparative Literary Studies (60 credits)

Final Year
Modern Spanish Language 3
This module will consolidate your linguistic skills acquired in the intermediate year and extend them through translation, writing, reading, speaking and listening activities. A range of assessments will be offered for students to track and reflect on their progress through the provision of regular feedback. Students will also be provided with complementary autonomous learning and grammar activities and directed to appropriate activities for self-study in order to develop independent learning strategies.

The aim of this module is to refine fluency in spoken and written Spanish, working towards a C2 standard of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Emphasis will be placed on sophisticated translation and writing, as well as oral and comprehension skills, using an appropriate range of complex linguistic structures, vocabulary, register and style.

A selection of optional modules in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures and in English and Comparative Literary Studies

See the optional modules for BA Hispanic Studies
Optional modules

• Nature and Modernity in Latin America
• Climate Fictions in the Hispanic World
• Illusion and Reality, Doubt and Deceit: The Baroque Obsession with Uncertainty
• Postmodernism and Popular Culture in Latin America
• Love, Death, and Desire in the Golden Age
• Journeys and Cityscapes in Latin American Film
• Screening Spain: Spanish Film in Context.
• Memory and the Spanish Civil War: Virtual Approaches to a Contested Past
• The Disappeared: Literature and Culture from Chile and Argentina
• Gender and Translation in the Hispanic World: Translating Women Writers
• Knowing Women: Gender, Education and Power in Hispanic Writing

See the optional modules for BA English Literature
Optional modules

• American Horror Story
• The English Nineteenth century Novel
• Literature, Environment, Ecology
• US Writing and Culture, 1780-1920
• Romantic and Victorian Poetry
• Queering the Literary Landscape
• Devolutionary British Fiction
• Ecopoetics
• Shakespeare and Selected Dramatists of his Time
• Crime Fiction
• Alternative Lifeworlds Fiction
• Literature and Empire
• Jane Austen in Theory
• Early Modern Drama
• Women and Writing
• The Classical Tradition

All applicants, regardless of their visa requirements, are required to show that their ability to understand and express themselves in both written and spoken English is sufficiently high for them to derive full benefit from their degree course. The level of competence required depends on what type of degree you wish to study. Many applicants can demonstrate this through a satisfactory level of achievement in, for example, GCSE English Language or the English courses within the International Baccalaureate.

Applicants whose academic qualifications meet the University’s admissions requirements, but whose English language qualifications are not accepted as equivalent, may be offered a place at Warwick conditional on an acceptable English language qualification being achieved before they join the University. A number of English language tests are accepted; some of the most frequently offered ones are detailed below.

Please note that certain English tests (including IELTS and PTE) must be taken within two years and one month prior to the start of your course at Warwick. Applicants whose tests fall outside this timescale will need to retake a suitable English language test.

Applicants who require a visa to study in the UK may, depending on the circumstances, be asked to provide evidence of a secure English language test (e.g. IELTS for UKVI (Academic)), rather than an examination (such as International Baccalaureate English) due to the visa requirements set by the UK government.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS (2022 Entry)

If you do not meet the English Language Requirements for your course in full, you may still be eligible for the course on condition of:

• Meeting the English Language Requirements for our Pre-sessional English course, and
• Successfully completing the Pre-sessional English course

Please use the table below to find the relevant band for the course(s) in which you are interested. You can sort the table by clicking on the heading of the column you wish to sort by.

If you are an overseas or EU student enrolling in 2022, your annual tuition fees will be as follows:

• Band 1 – £22,280 per year (classroom-based courses, including Humanities and most Social Science courses)
• Band 2 – £28,410 per year (laboratory-based courses, plus Theatre and Performance Studies, Economics, and courses provided by Warwick Business School, with exceptions)

Fees for 2023 entry have not been set. We will publish updated information here as soon as it becomes available, so please check back for updates about 2023 fee rates before you apply.

Warwick Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarship 2022

We believe there should be no barrier to talent. That's why we are committed to offering a scholarship that makes it easier for gifted, ambitious international learners to pursue their academic interests at one of the UK's most prestigious universities. This new scheme will offer international fee-paying students 250 tuition fee discounts ranging from full fees to awards of £13,000 to £2,000 for the full duration of your Undergraduate degree course.

A languages degree will equip you with skills applicable to a wide variety of different jobs and career paths. Our students often go on to careers using their languages after graduation. They also develop transferrable communicative and analytical skills that are highly sought after by employers.

Graduates from Modern Language courses have gone on to work for employers including:

• Amazon
• British Airways
• Civil Service
• Grayce Consulting
• HM Revenue and Customs
• HSBC
• Ipsos Mori
• Lidl
• NBC Universal
• Save the Children International
• The Department for International Trade

They have pursued careers such as:

• Business and financial project management professionals
• Chartered and certified accountants
• Financial accounts managers
• Human resources and industrial relations officers
• Management consultants and business analysts
• Public services associate professionals
• Teachers and other educational professionals