BA (Honours) in Literature with Law in Colchester United Kingdom | University of Essex

This bachelor's degree program offers an interdisciplinary approach combining literary studies and legal studies. Students will cultivate critical thinking, reflection, creativity, and analytical abilities that bridge both fields. The BA in Literature with Law delivers comprehensive education in these complementary disciplines, fostering essential skills in analysis, critical reflection, and creative problem-solving. The program also encourages students to examine law's role in society and its connections to literary works. In legal practice, case facts and truths often emerge through written documents, narratives, and storytelling techniques.

The curriculum investigates these narrative structures by examining literary forms and storytelling methods. When analyzing literature, legal perspectives can provide valuable insights, particularly when studying novels dealing with property inheritance, criminal acts, justice systems, and punishment. The program demonstrates how legal principles and statutes can inform literary interpretation, leading to fresh perspectives on texts.

Key subjects from both Law and Literature will be addressed, including fictional portrayals of criminal acts, justice systems, ethical dilemmas, incarceration experiences, and writings about conflict and displacement.

Core components feature an interdisciplinary Law and Literature course taught by faculty teams, along with an extensive year-long research project where students choose their own legal-literary topic with guidance from an advisor.

Essex University has particular strengths in commercial law, public law, and human rights law. Our law department ranks 3rd in the UK for research impact (THE research power measure, REF2021) and holds the 47th position globally for Law in THE World University Rankings by Subject 2023.