BA - English as a major
Major, Second Major, Supporting
If you’re fascinated by the history and creative activities of humankind and how this shapes societies and our future, then a Bachelor of Arts (BA) is for you. Our graduates are in demand for their flexible skills, practical outlook and depth of understanding they bring to their roles.
English at Waikato prepares you for what employers want – a trained mind and the ability to understand and creatively solve problems with words. You'll grow your appreciation for major literary works and a love for the English language.
- Anthropology
- Economics
- Education and Society
- Environmental Planning
- Geography
- History
- Human Development
- International Languages and Cultures
- Law
- Linguistics
- Music
- Māori and Indigenous Studies
- Māori Language/Te Reo Māori
- Pacific and Indigenous Studies
- Philosophy
- Political Science
- Population Studies
- Psychology
- Screen and Media Studies
- Social Policy
- Sociology
- Theatre Studies
- Writing Studies
Apply to enrol
Key information
Years: | 3 |
---|---|
Points: | 360 |
Start Dates: | Trimester A (March) and Trimester B (July) |
Estimated Fees* (Domestic): | $6,591 - $7,608 per year |
Estimated Fees* (International): | $29,425 - $38,305 per year |
Entry Requirements: | Undergraduate International |
Area of Study: | |
*Tuition fees shown are indicative only and may change. There are additional fees and charges related to enrolment please see the Table of Fees and Charges for more information. You will be sent an enrolment agreement which will confirm your fees. |
Career opportunities
- Creative Writer
- Editor
- Freelance Writer
- Journalist
- Librarian
- Marketing Executive
- Public Relations Executive
Degree Planner
Degree planner — BA in English
For a list of papers for level 200 and level 300 study options, please see the degree planner footnotes.
Year 1
One from List A
Field of the Degree
100 level
Field of the Degree
100 level
Elective
Elective
Year 2
Any 200 level
ENGLI or WRITE paper
Any 200 level
ENGLI or WRITE paper
Any 200 level
ENGLI or WRITE paper
One from List B
Field of the Degree
200 level
Elective
Elective
Elective
Year 3
Any 300 level
ENGLI paper
Any 300 level
ENGLI paper
Any 300 level
ENGLI paper
Any 300 level
ENGLI paper or WRITE300
One from List C
Elective
Elective
Elective
- Major
- Compulsory
- Elective
BA Papers
Lists A, B and C
List A: Academic Foundations
- ARTSC103 Rights and Reasons
- ARTSC105 Language in Context
- ENSLA103 Undergraduate Research Writing for ESL Students
- ENSLA202 Oral Skills for Academic English
List B: Cultural Perspectives
Any Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies paper, or- ANTHY101 Exploring Cultures: Introduction to Anthropology
- ANTHY102 Exploring Cultures: Aotearoa and the Pacific
- ANTHY201 Patriots, Racists, and Foreigners: Ethnicity and Identity in Global Perspective
- DSIGN252 Cultural Perspectives for Design
- EDUCA200 Te Hononga Tangata
- ENGLI200 Global Fictions
- GEOGY219 Māori Lands and Communities
- INTLC221 Understanding East Asia
- INTLC225 The French-speaking World from Astérix to Zombies
- LINGS203 Language, Society and Culture
- Any MAORI paper
- Any PACIS paper
List C: Work-Integrated Learning
- ALPSS301 Work-integrated learning - Placements
- ALPSS363 The Impact Lab
- ARTSW300 Arts and Cultural Festivals
- ARTSW301 Professional Practice in the Arts (prerequisites ARTSC110 - so open to all BA students)
- ARTSW302 Work-Related Project in the Arts (prerequisites ARTSC110 - so open to all BA students)
- LEGAL306 Dispute Resolution (BA Law students)
- LINGS301 Research Apprenticeship
- MEDIA307 Professional Studio Production
- POLCY318 Global Environmental Politics and Policy
- POPST300 Population Studies Work-Related Project
- PSYCH301 Psychology Research Assistantship
- SOCSC301 Work-Integrated Learning - Work-Related Project
- WRITE396 Writing Studies Work Placement
*Please consult our Student Advisors for the correct work-integrated learning paper.
Subject to approval
Papers
Papers available within English
English is about language, history and culture. It is about art and aesthetics, meaning and value. At the University of Waikato, papers are drawn from literatures written in English since Medieval times, and from all major English-speaking cultures, especially from the United Kingdom, North America, Australia, the Pacific and New Zealand. English is the home of the University's programme in Writing Studies.
English is available as a first major for the Bachelor of Arts (BA). English may also be taken as a second major or minor in other undergraduate degrees, subject to approval of the Division in which the student is enrolled.
To complete English as a single major for the BA, students must gain 135 points in papers listed for English, including at least 45 points at 200 level and at least 60 points at 300 level. At least 105 points must be gained from ENGLI-coded papers.
To complete English as part of a double major for the BA and other undergraduate degrees, students must gain 120 points including 90 points above 100 level, and 45 points above 200 level.
To complete a minor in English, students must complete 60 points from the papers listed for the English major, including at least 30 points above 100 level.
Students considering graduate study in English are advised to include a range of modern and historical papers in English in their undergraduate programme of study.
100 Level
Code | Paper Title | Points | Occurrence / Location |
---|---|---|---|
ENGLI100 | Telling the Story | 15.0 | 24A (Hamilton) |
This paper examines the deep stories which are at the core of the English literary tradition and the wider Western canon, using picturebooks, fairytales, popular film, detective fiction and short stories. | |||
ENGLI101 | Adapting Stories | 15.0 | 24B (Hamilton) |
This paper explores the art of adaptation, examining the process of transformation that occurs when creative artists reimagine and retell stories in new ways and new media. |
200 Level
Code | Paper Title | Points | Occurrence / Location |
---|---|---|---|
ENGLI200 | Global Fictions | 15.0 | 24A (Hamilton) |
This paper examines literary responses to the contemporary world. We will study international writing that grapples with issues associated with gender, race, technology, terrorism, and climate change. | |||
ENGLI201 | Utopias and Dystopias | 15.0 | 24B (Hamilton) |
This paper provides an introduction to utopian and dystopian writing and the way in which literature gives voice to the dreams and fears of humanity. | |||
ENGLI202 | Shakespeare's Worlds | 15.0 | 24C (Hamilton) |
This paper explores Shakespeare's worlds in performance and in print, examining his plays and poems in the context of the dynamic cultural outputs from many other Renaissance artists. | |||
WRITE201 | Food Writing | 15.0 | 24A (Hamilton) |
This paper uses writing about food, including recipes, memoirs, restaurant reviews and researched food writing, as the primary materials in a learning experience with an intensive applied writing focus. | |||
WRITE202 | Creative Writing: Voice and Image | 15.0 | 24B (Hamilton) |
This course explores the basic elements of imaginative writing - image and voice - concentrating the student's attention on the central writing practices of 'seeing' and 'saying.' | |||
WRITE203 | Creative Writing: Inspiring Work | 15.0 | 24G (Hamilton) |
This intensive, workshop-based paper, taught by award-winning novelist Catherine Chidgey, examines the concept of inspiration as it applies to creative writing. Students will consider historical theories of artistic inspiration as well as the methods of practising writers. Thematic lectures around the central topic will address rit... | |||
WRITE205 | Writing for the Screen | 15.0 | 24A (Hamilton) |
This paper explores foundational concepts in writing for the screen and develops practical skills in the application of these concepts during workshop sessions. The paper is organised around four main topic areas: world-making, characters, structures, and scenes/sequences. Students will produce a portfolio of writing, including pro... |
300 Level
Code | Paper Title | Points | Occurrence / Location |
---|---|---|---|
ALPSS390 | Directed Study | 15.0 | 24X (Hamilton) |
This paper allows students from the Division of Arts, Law, Psychology, and Social Sciences to undertake research on a specific topic related to their major or minor under the guidance of academic staff. | |||
ENGLI300 | Theory Matters | 15.0 | 24B (Hamilton) |
This paper reads primary literary texts through a range of theories of literature, for example, historicist approaches, deconstruction/post-structuralism, gender studies, psychoanalysis, and theories of narrative and representation. | |||
ENGLI301 | Genre Studies: Challenging Forms | 15.0 | 24A (Hamilton) |
This paper is an intensive study of specific literary forms such as tragedy, poetry, travel writing, autobiography, and crime writing. The focus will vary from year to year. | |||
ENGLI302 | Modernisms | 15.0 | 24A (Hamilton) |
This paper explores canonical modernist texts of Europe and North America. It also examines exciting new developments in transnational modernisms that broaden the temporal, geographical and stylistic scope of modernism. | |||
ENGLI303 | Looking Back: Reading Now | 15.0 | 24A (Hamilton) |
This paper explores the dynamic relationship between contemporary readers and the reception of historical literary texts. | |||
WRITE300 | Creative Writing: Creative Non-fiction | 15.0 | 24B (Hamilton) |
This course explores the key elements of creative non-fiction writing, engaging with a variety of non-fiction texts including memoir, biography, the personal/lyric essay, and auto/biographical meta-fiction. |
500 Level
Code | Paper Title | Points | Occurrence / Location |
---|---|---|---|
ALPSS500 | Academic & Professional Research & Writing | 30.0 | 24A (Online), 24B (Online) & 24C (Online) |
In this course, students will gain the skills and confidence to seamlessly transition from study to work. This course works to enhance the 'skills for the future' identified by the World Economic Forum (2020), in order to produce resilient, creative students with strong analytic and critical thinking skills. | |||
ALPSS590 | Directed Study | 30.0 | 24X (Hamilton) |
This paper allows students from the Division of Arts, Law, Psychology and Social Sciences to undertake research on a specific topic related to their major under the guidance of academic staff. | |||
ALPSS591 | Research Project | 30.0 | 24X (Hamilton) & 24X (Tauranga) |
A research report on the findings of a theoretical or empirical or practice-led investigation (up to 12,500 words maximum). | |||
ALPSS592 | Dissertation | 60.0 | 24X (Hamilton) & 24X (Tauranga) |
A research report on the findings of a theoretical or empirical or practice-led investigation (up to 25,000 words maximum). | |||
ENGLI509 | The Literature of Trauma | 30.0 | 24B (Hamilton) |
This paper explores the relationship between memory, suffering and writing in the literature of war, the Holocaust, physical trauma and mental illness. | |||
ENGLI531 | Literature and Medicine | 30.0 | 24A (Hamilton) |
This paper explores literature's engagement with the body and mind, mapping out the arts' responses to medical advances from the 1850s to the present. We will study public and literary reactions to such things as germs, vaccinations, nervous disorders, cancer, and tuberculosis. | |||
ENGLI593 | English Thesis | 90.0 | 24X (Hamilton) |
An externally examined piece of written work that reports on the findings of supervised research. | |||
WRITE546 | Creative Writing: Writing and Embodiment | 30.0 | 24A (Hamilton) |
A writing-intensive paper focused on the ways in which 'embodiment' is key in generating vital characters, shaping dramatic narratives, and crafting resonant sentences aware of the sensory impact of language. |
800 Level
Code | Paper Title | Points | Occurrence / Location |
---|---|---|---|
ENGLI800 | English MPhil Thesis | 120.0 | 24X (Hamilton) |
No description available. |
900 Level
Code | Paper Title | Points | Occurrence / Location |
---|---|---|---|
ENGLI900 | English PhD Thesis | 120.0 | 24I (Hamilton), 24J (Hamilton), 24K (Hamilton) & 24X (Hamilton) |
No description available. |
Scholarships and prizes
Visit our Scholarship Finder for information about possible scholarships
Subject Requirements
For more information about subject requirements, please refer to the Catalogue of Papers for the most up to date information. If you have any questions and need more advice contact one of our friendly student advisors phone:
Contacts
School of Arts
Phone: 0800 800 145 or +64 7 838 4922
General and Undergraduate Email Enquiries: [email protected]
Graduate and Postgraduate Email Enquiries: [email protected]