English Literature and Film & Theatre

English literature, film, and theatre together form a rich triangle of related disciplines, each concerned with the making and interpretation of stories, characters, and cultural meaning, but pursuing these questions through different media and with different critical tools. English literature develops the skills of close textual reading and the ability to situate writing in historical and cultural contexts. Film studies brings those skills to bear on the moving image, attending to how cinematography, editing, sound, and narrative combine to produce meaning.

Theatre studies examines live performance, the peculiarity of drama as both text and event, and the traditions of staging, acting, and directing that shape theatrical experience. The combination gives you a genuinely interdisciplinary understanding of how culture is made across different artistic forms.

At the University of Reading, this three-year full-time programme includes a sandwich year with work placement, a year abroad, and work placement opportunities throughout, making it one of the most practically enriched arts programmes available. The sandwich year gives you the opportunity to gain extended professional experience in a context relevant to your interests, whether in publishing, broadcasting, arts administration, film production, theatre, or education. The year abroad adds an international dimension, giving you the chance to study literature, film, and theatre from a different national and cultural perspective.

Reading has particular strengths in all three disciplines, and the programme reflects the university's commitment to rigorous intellectual enquiry combined with practical career preparation.

Graduates work in publishing, journalism, broadcasting, film and television production, theatre, arts administration, education, public relations, and cultural policy. The combination of analytical skills, creative knowledge, and practical experience from the placement and year abroad prepares graduates for the full range of careers in the cultural and creative sectors, as well as for postgraduate study in English, film, or theatre.