Why study BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing transcript

00:00

Doing English, you're not just looking at books, you're looking at history, at politics, at legal implications, even economics and a little bit of anthropology thrown in. All of this when you're doing a degree that's English or English and Creative Writing.

Course Leader of English, Devon Campbell-Hall is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera. Upbeat music plays in the background.

0:13:00

At the open day one of the lectures was very like, 'nope anyone can do English as long as you've got the passion for it, as long as you've got the heart for it, you are going to do well here', and I think that's sort of what ultimately swayed me to Solent, it was...the quality of the lecturers is outstanding and the support you get is phenomenal.

Student of English, Jordan Band is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

0:29:11

Everything together, reading lists, the people, like, our lecturers are absolutely brilliant and they help us in any way possible with essays and other dissertations. So I'm loving everything about this.

Student of English, Marina Agostinho Lopes is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

0:41:17

They all very like, know their craft and they're very enthusiastic and enthusiasm - you absorb that and it comes and it just comes out of you as well.

Student of English, Miles Heron, is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

0:49:05

They're all very encouraging and they bring lots of new ideas and they do challenge a lot of what you think.

Student of English, Evan Godfrey, is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

0:55:16

The best thing about the course is the change in attitude from school, where in school, it was very much like, it was either the teacher's way or the wrong way basically.

Student of English, Miles Heron, is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

1:03:19

And so it gives you confidence to come up with your own ideas and to share those ideas with other people and it sort of breeds an environment very much of mutual respect.

Student of English, Jordan Band is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

1:13:11

We're marrying together, of course the academic, we're marrying that very elegantly I think with the practical and with the creative, so our students are not just learning about academic theory and about literary and cultural theory and about the texts under consideration, but they're they're learning ways of practically making sense of those tools and those ideas, to use them to positively inform their own practice.

Course Leader of English, Devon Campbell-Hall is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

1:38:02

We've published a book here at Solent like, with the english department, we published a book and it was amazing like, I learned how to publish, I learned how to edit, I learned how to proofread - things like that I feel like I would never learn if I wasn't here, so I've appreciated that a lot.

Student of English, Katerina Tselikou is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

1:53:03

We have loads of writing exercises, we can write novels, short stories, we did we did screenwriting, which I didn't know I would love as much as I as I do now I've been writing a script for a long time now and I loved it.

Student of English, Marina Agostinho Lopes is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

2:08:20

When students study English at Solent, we have modules that are particularly designed to tap into employability skills, so and those are built into all three levels of our degree.

Senior Lecturer of English, Carolyn Cummings-Osmond Lopes is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

2:20:13

It kind of just gives you, like, okay here's a copywriting job, here's what copywriting is - it's how you get that job, this is how much it pays you - it's like showing you the actual logistics of how to get there and what you'll have to do to get there. It kind of helps me put my plan into more of like concrete terms, rather than just, 'oh wouldn't it be nice if I did this'.

Student of English, Miles Heron Lopes is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

2:39:23

What I find about the students who are graduating with English degrees, particularly from our program, with English and Creative Writing here at Solent, is they leave with a sort of enthusiasm and a proactivity, a determination in their nature. Employers who have taken on our students for graduate jobs, have told me that when they see a Solent English student, graduate coming along, they know they're going to be determined they're going to hit the ground running, they're going to be able to step into a situation and immediately find their feet more quickly than others.

Course Leader of English, Devon Campbell-Hall is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

2:39:23

So we also work with external community groups. This publication was for the Black Heritage Association in Southampton and students learnt how to write biographies and life writing, by going out and interviewing people and taking down their stories. They also produced a publication called the journal of the pandemic year, where they liaised with people from all around the world of all different backgrounds, ages, occupations, to document their experience of living through the pandemic, and this increases confidence massively and gives them real world experience.

Lecturer of English, Eden Sharp is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

3:43:11

I can go in a publishing house and show, 'look I've done this and I've done that', and I know how to publish and I know how to proofread and I know how manuscripts work, and I think I have the experience and the knowledge now in my last year of studies to go onwards and probably build my my career in the future.

Student of English, Katerina Tselikou is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

4:00:00

I am more confident, I have some fantastic friends hopefully for life. I've got the skills I need and I've got lecturers who are brilliant in their academic space but I know I can contact for help when I need it. You get so much from coming here.

Student of English, Jordan Band is stood in the Spark building at Solent University talking to camera.

4:15:17

Upbeat music plays, then fades out. Cuts to graphic of animated colourful graphic, that fades down, and Solent University logo fades up as well as text, www.solent.ac.uk. [Video ends]