Student Handbook - Moodle Book

At Queen Mary, you can study towards a wide variety of degrees. You may also have a lot of choice within particular subjects. There are core and compulsory theoretical modules which must be taken in all of our degrees, and in any language degree there is an obligatory core of language studies. The remainder of the curriculum is made up of optional modules in film, cultural studies, literature, and linguistics. This structure is called ‘modular’. If you find that your academic interests change, you can sometimes change your programme in the course of your studies, provided that you meet the core requirements of the new programme.

We would encourage you to use your choices to extend your range of knowledge and skills.  Do not be afraid of subjects you may not have studied at school, and do not think that a language-based module is aimed simply at improving your language skills. To study literature or film at university is to learn to read books or watch films with care, to think about the picture of the world they give, the reactions they provoke, the ideas they convey or challenge, the way in which they throw light on a society’s culture and history. It also means learning what is specific to the medium: to understand the various visual ‘languages’ employed in cinema or the various forms of writing that can be found in novels, plays, philosophical works, and so on. To study linguistics is to understand how language in general, and particular languages, actually work, as distinct from using them in practice: how languages have changed and are changing over time, how the study of language gives an insight into culture, society, the workings of the human mind. These subjects can all be difficult, but they are not mysterious, and all of them will help you develop your skills of analysis and self-expression in ways that will benefit your career, even if you work in a completely different area.

In making your choice of modules, you have to take account of the requirements of the degree programme you are registered for, and of academic coherence (i.e. the different subjects you study should have some kind of relation to one another). You have an Adviser to help you make appropriate choices.

You are expected to attend all classes, and to pursue your studies outside class during term and vacations. If you have to take a paid job, remember that you are still registered as a full-time student, and must give your studies precedence.