Arts and Law Pathway

Summary

The College of Arts and Law has over 5,000 students from the UK and across the world. It is a vibrant, international community with excellent facilities, a supportive learning environment, internationally recognised teaching and research, and exciting initiatives in new fields of study.

The College is at the forefront of research and innovation and from September 2012 the multi-million pound Bramall Music Hall will open its doors. The state-of-the-art music facility will provide a 450-seat auditorium for music, opera, drama and prestigious lecture and rehearsal space, practice rooms and recording resources.

The College’s access to cutting-edge geotechnical imaging equipment assisted in the discovery of evidence of two previously unknown pits positioned on celestial alignment at Stonehenge. The project highlights the advances in technology that our students have access to.

The Department of Modern Languages has a strong tradition of research and interdisciplinary study and offers a breadth of language tuition from French to Mandarin. You can pursue your studies across a range of cultural, literary, historical and socio-political perspectives.

All our programmes develop skills, competence and knowledge that will stand you in good stead in your future career. Our students learn to research, analyse and prioritise large amounts of complex information efficiently. The college’s graduates become enquiry-based learners that develop self-management skills that employers look for. Our graduates progress into careers in human resources, publishing and business, amongst others. We can also count amongst our past students a novelist, journalist, and chairs of statutory commissions.

The Arts and Law Pathway will lead you towards an undergraduate degree in one of the following six schools:

  • Archaeology and Antiquity (Institute of)
  • Birmingham Law School
  • English, Drama and American & Canadian Studies
  • History and Cultures
  • Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music
  • Philosophy, Theology and Religion

See the Arts and Law Pathway progression table (PDF - 152KB) for more information about the undergraduate degrees available for a Foundation Academy student choosing this pathway and the compulsory and optional modules to undertake.

Key facts

Duration: 4 years

Start date: September 2012 (Check to see if this course is receiving applications for September 2012)

Entry requirements

Contact details

If you have any questions, please contact us at:

Email: foundation-academy@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0)121 414 9292

How to apply

Apply through the Birmingham Foundation Academy application process

Fees and funding

The Birmingham Foundation Academy Package

The cost of the Birmingham Foundation Academy Package for 2012–2013 is £20,300.

This includes:

  • One years tuition fees: £12,500
  • Fully catered, ensuite, single accommodation, for one year: £7,000
  • Books and all classroom equipment: £800

Please note: this is an all-inclusive package.

Programme overview

Arts and Law Pathway modules

Compulsory modules  Credits
English and Study Skills for Academic Purposes (Term 1)   20
English and Study Skills for Specific Academic Purposes (Term 2)   20
Optional modules  
The European Heritage   20
The Country and the City   20
Colonial Encounters   20
Digital Humanities   20

You may also take 20 credits from modules offered by other pathways, subject to availability and timetabling.
You must take modules totalling 120 credits over the academic year.

Module descriptions

English and Study Skills for Academic Purposes and English and Study Skills for Specific Academic Purposes modules are detailed here.

The European Heritage

In this module you will learn about the history of the classical and Christian traditions that underlie European civilisation, as well as some of the most significant artistic and literary works that these traditions have inspired. You will examine the development of European society, culture and its philosophical and religious underpinnings in the Classical, Renaissance and Modern eras, focusing on key ideas and artefacts as examples.

The Country and the City

In this module you will be learning about industrialisation, the rise of the modern city, and its subsequent interaction with a rural – or environmental – discourse. You will engage with such topics as industrialisation, with particular emphasis on the city of Birmingham, the representation of provincial and metropolitan life in French and English literature, the development of a pastoral movement in the late 19th century, and the practice of contemporary environmental law.

Colonial Encounters

Here you will be looking at the overseas expansion of European powers and the legacies of imperialism. Initial sessions will establish a chronological and thematic outline, exploring the roles of slavery and anti-slavery in the establishment of empire, governance and violence in the maintenance of empire, and the role of anti-colonial nationalism in ending imperial rule. Later, you will encounter key concepts in the study of colonial encounter and its cultural legacies. You will explore orientalism, postcolonialism and hybridity through sessions on the representation of colonised peoples in metropolitan cultures (exhibitions, literature, ethnography and film), postcolonial challenges to these ways of knowing ‘the other’, and the place of English as a global language.

Digital Humanities

In this module you study the use of computers and other modern technologies in the production and analysis of texts, music and historical and archaeological reconstructions, as well as the digital impact on wider concepts of ‘heritage’. You will learn about current research at Birmingham in this area in a weekly lecture, and discuss theoretical issues and concepts in the seminar; then in a practical workshop/lab session you will be part of a group working on projects such as producing a virtual gallery or edition. After completion of the module, you will know about the relevance of digital technology for the humanities, will have an idea of the state of cutting-edge research, and will be able to do practical work through an understanding of file formats for text, images, and sound, mark-up languages (XML) and basic web technology.

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