Department of English

English is a versatile and expanding discipline that has evolved over the years often through interaction with other fields such as philosophy, comparative literature, drama, and more recently, with film and media studies. It instils in its students the capacity to think with clarity, imagination and self-awareness about texts of many kinds. A successful degree programme in English should therefore not only develop expertise in the analysis and evaluation of literature but also encourage the art of communication, the ability to organise diverse information and the wish to understand complex ideas.

One of the oldest English departments in the country, King’s has particular strengths in urban, gender, post-colonial and performance studies. English at King’s today is characterised by an exceptionally wide range of international research activities that are reflected at all levels of its teaching programme.

The Department of English prides itself not only on the range and diversity of the modules it offers, but also on the diversity of the approaches it employs, from contemporary theory to close textual examination and historical scholarship.