Course allows students to study English and media studies as distinct but integrated subjects; the degree encourages students to understand how the 2 subject areas complement one another, sharing critical and theoretical approaches to written and visual texts and an emphasis on analysis and close reading; as a combined subject media studies focuses on the academic analysis of the media in their political and social contexts; the aim is to encourage students to reflect on how the media operate as a set of symbolic practices and as institutions, and to develop a critical understanding of the production of media in a contemporary global context; the English component of the degree is taught as an academic subject, with an emphasis on theoretical and critical perspectives; the focus of study is literature from 1750 to the present day; in the 1st year all students take a course in literary criticism: this unit facilitates students� understanding of the academic, theoretical and creative aspects of criticism; 2nd and 3rd year units focus on specific literary periods or on an aspect of literary production such as twentieth-century modernism, or post-modern fiction in English; the English component of the degree includes the study of drama as text and performance, and takes advantage of �live� literary performances and relevant plays in performance in London.