FACULTY OF ARTS

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The Faculty of Arts offers you a wide range of subjects to study. You can take one subject  as a Single Honours programme or combine two subjects on a Joint Honours programme where you study 50% of each subject. Some of the subjects available will be familiar to you from your school studies, however, entering university is also the opportunity to broaden your knowledge and to look at combinations of subjects which are exciting, challenging and possibly completely new to you. To look at the full range of subject areas available, please follow the link to the undergraduate prospectus.  If you have any queries concerning the courses within the Faculty, particularly about the course entry requirements, please contact our Admissions and Recuritment Team.

Read the profiles of some of our students currently taking programmes.

Studying Arts at University

Studying arts and humanities subjects at university is quite different from what you may have experienced at school, especially in a research-intensive university like Bristol.  We aim to introduce you to the most exciting developments in your discipline, and to give you experience of the process of research; especially in your final year, you will spend much of your time in small seminar groups discussing the latest perspectives on the subject with acknowledged experts.  Our programmes are designed to train you in the intellectual and technical skills required for research in the arts and humanities; not because we want to turn all our students into academics, but because these skills will enable you to understand and appreciate your subject fully — and because the ability to research and analyse problems can always be transferred to other contexts, and so is essential training for whatever you choose to do when you leave university.

The most striking difference between school and university is that you will have far fewer timetabled classes, and apparently acres of free time. This is because you are expected to spend most of your time working independently, researching topics and developing your own ideas; whereas scientists and engineers spend many hours in laboratories, for arts students the Library is the laboratory. Student workloads in the Arts Faculty are calculated on the basis of an average of 40 hours per week over the 30 weeks of the academic year.  Part of this workload is made up of lectures, classes and other formal contact time, typically around 6-8 hours per week during each Teaching Block; it will be more for those studying languages or practice-based subjects, and tends to be less in the later years of the programme as students are expected to be doing more independent work.  The bulk of the workload is made up of preparation for class (normally around 3-4 hours per contact hour) and work on assessment tasks (e.g. researching and writing coursework, revising for exams).

There has been some national controversy about the apparent lack of 'contact hours' in university courses; you can find more detailed responses from the Bristol perspective to some of the questions that have been asked in the Contact Hours Q&A.

Careers

Choosing to study an arts or humanities course will give you the opportunity to acquire many transferable skills which employers value highly. You can enter a diverse range of occupations which may or may not be specifically linked to the subject you choose to study for your degree. Arts and humanities subjects can also lead you into further study opportunities.

Many students who study arts or humanities based subject are driven by their interest and commitment to the subject. It is important to choose a subject which you like as you will be studying the subject for at least 3 or 4 years towards obtaining your degree.

Skills you will acquire throughout your arts and humanities courses will vary according to subject, but the key skills which are common to these subject areas are: