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Literature and Society English

Literature and Society

Studying English literature at VU Amsterdam means engaging with both canonical and marginalized texts from the Early Modern period to the present—alongside linguistics and the broader literary field.

You’ll discover how language works, evolves, and can be used effectively, while practical experience in creative writing and exploring the roles within the publishing industry will shed light on what happens “behind the scenes” of literary production. You’ll also examine how new technologies, including AI, are transforming language, creativity, and the production of literature. Studying literature in this wider context will allow you to explore how it is a dynamic force that informs critical thinking, cultural understanding, and imaginative engagement with the world around you.

You'll be reading about one novel a week and reflecting on your reading through short writing assignments, long-form essays, and oral presentations. And you'll study in small groups, with plenty of personal attention: in each class you’ll study with approximately 20 other students.

Most of our graduates continue on to a master’s programme in Literature, Journalism, Education, or Media Studies. Yet the knowledge and skills that you acquire in our BA are also practical and immediately applicable. They are highly sought after by employers in a wide array of sectors, including in the cultural and publishing industries as well as in teaching and academia. That is where most of our alumni are making an impact on the world.

This study starts 1 september.

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1st year
2nd year
3rd

The first year

You will engage in various reading techniques, research methods and learn to write English at an academic level. You will get an overview of the major literary movements and dive into the wide range of classic literature, from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" (including the movie) to Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," and unravel that text from fifteen different theoretical perspectives. You will read books by American and British writers such as Chaucer, Austen, Conrad and from other English-speaking countries, for example, by the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie.

Courses

English Language Test
Literary Theory 1: Key Concepts and Traditions
Literature, Culture and Society
Genre and Literary Analysis
Academic English Grammar
Academic English Writing
Academic Skills 1
Academic Skills 2
Creative Writing
Literature and Globalization
Academic Orientation 1
Academic Orientation 2
Life Writing
Text Production, Translation, and Editing
Shakespeare on Film

This year's complete course schedule can be found in the Studyguide.

The second year

In this year you will receive a historical overview of literature, ranging from Renaissance texts to the present. You examine different genres and countries of origin and investigate why, for example, novels and poems have a certain status and comic books and fan fiction do not. You will learn to be a creative writer yourself, get to work with different writing styles and become acquainted with the process of editing and publishing. One of your projects will be creating a literary magazine, together with your fellow students.

Courses

Global English
19th century Travel Writing
20th and 21st century American Literature
Philosophy CIS-L&S-MKDA
Early Modern Literature and Ecocriticism
Cultural History
Creative Writing and the Publishing Industry
20th and 21st century British Literature
The Novel in the 18th century
Literary Theory 2: Research Frameworks
Career Orientation

This year's complete course schedule can be found in the Studyguide.

The third year

The third year is all about your specialization. You can study in an English-speaking country for five months, choose a minor from another bachelor's program or intern at a publishing house, bookstore or other literary organization. In the second semester you will write your bachelor thesis on a topic related to one of the two specializations: English Literature in a changing world or English literature in a visual culture.

Courses

Bachelor Thesis Literature and Society English
Literature in a Changing World 1
Literature in a Visual Culture 1
Literature in a Changing World 2
Literature in a Visual Culture 2
Writing and AI

This year's complete course schedule can be found in the Studyguide.

1st year
The first year

You will engage in various reading techniques, research methods and learn to write English at an academic level. You will get an overview of the major literary movements and dive into the wide range of classic literature, from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" (including the movie) to Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," and unravel that text from fifteen different theoretical perspectives. You will read books by American and British writers such as Chaucer, Austen, Conrad and from other English-speaking countries, for example, by the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie.

Courses
English Language Test

Literary Theory 1: Key Concepts and Traditions

Literature, Culture and Society

Genre and Literary Analysis

Academic English Grammar

Academic English Writing

Academic Skills 1

Academic Skills 2

Creative Writing

Literature and Globalization

Academic Orientation 1

Academic Orientation 2

Life Writing

Text Production, Translation, and Editing

Shakespeare on Film

This year's complete course schedule can be found in the Studyguide.
2nd year
The second year

In this year you will receive a historical overview of literature, ranging from Renaissance texts to the present. You examine different genres and countries of origin and investigate why, for example, novels and poems have a certain status and comic books and fan fiction do not. You will learn to be a creative writer yourself, get to work with different writing styles and become acquainted with the process of editing and publishing. One of your projects will be creating a literary magazine, together with your fellow students.

Courses
Global English

19th century Travel Writing

20th and 21st century American Literature

Philosophy CIS-L&S-MKDA

Early Modern Literature and Ecocriticism

Cultural History

Creative Writing and the Publishing Industry

20th and 21st century British Literature

The Novel in the 18th century

Literary Theory 2: Research Frameworks

Career Orientation

This year's complete course schedule can be found in the Studyguide.
3rd
The third year

The third year is all about your specialization. You can study in an English-speaking country for five months, choose a minor from another bachelor's program or intern at a publishing house, bookstore or other literary organization. In the second semester you will write your bachelor thesis on a topic related to one of the two specializations: English Literature in a changing world or English literature in a visual culture.

Courses
Bachelor Thesis Literature and Society English

Literature in a Changing World 1

Literature in a Visual Culture 1

Literature in a Changing World 2

Literature in a Visual Culture 2

Writing and AI

This year's complete course schedule can be found in the Studyguide.

After a bachelor’s track of Literature and Society, you can specialise by following a master’s programme. When you graduate as a literary expert, you could work as an editor, translator, publisher, researcher or teacher. Your employers could be in Government, NGOs, schools, literary events companies or even: your own freelance business.

Discover your future prospects

Student in a square with other people in the background

Literature and Society English