English is a global language. Good skills in English can open doors for you in today’s as well as tomorrow’s society – and in local, national and international contexts. Good skills in English are also often an advantage when you apply for a job and in your everyday professional life. A good knowledge of English is also necessary if you want to read many of the programmes at university, because an increasing number of courses are given in English and use course books written in English. English is also the language of business in contemporary Sweden and can be seen as a necessity in jobs that focus on, for example, communication, tourism, hotel and restaurant work, marketing, international organisations and multi-national companies. Of course, English can be studied for other reasons as well. You could be interested in the development and multifaceted history of the English language, or in its grammatical structure. Perhaps you are curious about the use of the language in fiction from the different cultures of the English-speaking world, or about the interplay of culture and society. All these aspects of the English language and its applications are a part of what we call English Studies.
The Department of Humanities offers the following undergraduate-level courses each comprising one term of full-time study (or two terms of part-time study):
English BA (A) and the continuation courses English BA (B) and English BA (C)
Basic Level Education (first cycle)
English BA (A), which is the first course that you can take, consists of language proficiency training, grammatical analysis, and studies in culture and society and a selection of contemporary works of literature from different English-speaking countries.
English BA (B) is the first continuation course. It includes a general linguistic overview of the English language in society, explores literature and culture from a historical and history of ideas perspective, and helps you further develop your language skills.
In the course English BA (C) you will continue to develop the skills you acquired in the previous two courses. Your knowledge of literature and linguistics will develop through studies in various areas of the two subfields. The second half of the course is devoted to the writing of an academic essay.
Besides these courses, a number of 7.5-credit courses that focus on particular skills are offered. At the undergraduate level, you can take courses in language proficiency, business writing, and technical English.
Education at Advanced Level (second cycle)
Master’s Program in English Studies
The aim of the Master’s Program is to help the student gain knowledge and theoretical insights within the field of Humanities, as they apply to English Studies. The program has five components: a course that focuses on the development of the English language and of the Humanities in England, advanced-level linguistics and literary courses with relevant theoretical and methodological perspectives, an elective course, and the writing of an academic essay.
Education at Graduate Level (third cycle)
The general aims of the doctoral program in English are to provide the doctoral student with a deeper and broader knowledge in the subject of English, to further sharpen the students’ command of scholarly approaches and methodology, and to foster the skills required to write a doctoral dissertation of high quality. In order to achieve this goal, the doctoral students should be able to demonstrate a wide knowledge of research in the subject of English and its adjacent disciplines, be able to negotiate approaches to issues relevant to their research, and apply such skills and knowledge that will enable them to independently carry out research and to some extent participate in the scholarly discourse in their field.
Upon completion of the doctoral program, which leads to a Ph.D. degree in English, you will have earned a total of 240 ECTS credits. Of these, 90 ECTS are earned through course work and 150 ECTS through the completion of a doctoral thesis in English within the fields of linguistics, literary studies, or didactics.
There is also a course in oral and written proficiency available at the graduate level.