Major
English and Theatre Studies
What will I study?
Overview
Your course structure
The Bachelor of Arts requires the successful completion of 24 subjects (300-points), including at least one major. Most students study eight subjects each year (usually four subjects in each semester) for three years full-time, or the part-time equivalent.
Most Arts majors require 100 points of study (usually eight subjects) for attainment. This means out of your 300-point program, you have the opportunity to achieve two majors in your course. You will also complete breadth studies and other complimentary Arts subjects.
Completing your major
If you are taking English and Theatre Studies as a major, you must complete:
- One level 1 elective subject
- Arts Discovery
- 37.5 points (usually three subjects) of level 2 elective subjects
- 25 points (usually two subjects) of level 3 elective subjects
- Compulsory Capstone subject ENGL30052 English, Theatre & Contemporary Culture
If you are taking English and Theatre Studies as a minor, you must complete:
- One level 1 elective Subject
- Arts Discovery
- 25 points (usually two subjects) of level 2 elective subjects
- 25 points (usually two subjects) of level 3 elective subjects
Breadth studies
Breadth is a unique feature of the Melbourne curriculum. It gives you the chance to explore subjects outside of arts, developing new perspectives and learning to collaborate with others who have different strengths and interests — just as you will in your future career.
Some of our students use breadth to explore creative interests or topics they have always been curious about. Others used breadth to improve their career prospects by complementing their major with a language, communication skills or business expertise.
Jack Cao
Jack Cao is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English and Theatre Studies.
Many of the insights I have gained through studying English and Theatre Studies are ethical and political. Serious engagement with radical literary thought has made me re-examine my entire value system.
Fiction is not a form of escapism, as it is sometimes perceived in popular culture. Rather, it is interesting for precisely the opposite reason: it unveils the unconscious desires of people. When I want to understand a society, I turn to the art that it produces: it tells us what contemporary metrics of ‘standard of living’ cannot – how does it relate to its history and what does it want the future to look like?
Some of my heroes are artists, philosophers and critical theorists. Some of the stuff I’ve read in my course is truly jaw-dropping but it is basically incomprehensible for the most of the population. It would be nice to share some of that thought and aesthetic abstraction with everyone in an accessible form for a broader audience.
I got guaranteed entry into the JD and I initially saw studying the BA as a means to an end. Now, I have really grown to love literature – it is no longer a means to an end but an end in itself. I feel extremely lucky to wake up every morning with unshakeable belief that literature is what I want to pursue in life.
Explore this major
Explore the subjects you could choose as part of this major.