Contemporary Britain Courses
The Contemporary Britain half course units offer international students (both native speakers and non-native speakers) opportunities to better understand how arts and humanities subjects are studied at first year undergraduate level in a British university. At the same time, the topics studied will help students gain an understanding of culture and society in the UK during the post-war period.
Classes follow the typical weekly lecture and seminar format and the courses follow a theme-based approach, with two or three main themes covered during the term. Students are expected to critically engage with diverse texts: for the Arts courses these might include novels, short stories, poems and films, as well as secondary texts such as academic journal articles; for the Social Sciences these will include textbooks, documentaries, government papers and journalistic articles. Students are expected to make a significant contribution in class and thus contribute to their own, as well as their fellow students’ learning. Self-directed, and directed work done outside of class time, forms a central element of this course, and students should expect to do at least 10 hours of independent work per week.
Assessments comprise of a written coursework essay (60%), an assessed short presentation/seminar discussion) 30%, plus weekly online study tasks (10%).
Course descriptions
See a list of course descriptions here
Students whose first language is English are requested to consult with the Programme Leader, Dr Jan Kosecki, before enrolling.
Please note
If you have a disability which you feel your tutor needs to be aware of, or you require special access arrangements, please email: CeDAS@royalholloway.ac.uk in order for us to discuss with you any arrangements which need to be made to ensure that you can fully participate in your chosen course.
"..I gained a better insight of British culture. Contemporary Britain for the Arts combines these two things: I can investigate cultural issues and examine British plays, film or novels while improving my skills at Academic English. I think it is a very intelligent way of studying a language: through content, rather than spending hours and hours filling gaps and doing exercises.." Lucia Sanchez