BA (Honours) in Arts and Humanities (Creative Writing) Open University

The degree starts by developing your understanding of the world we live in through a variety of perspectives, periods and subjects – including creative writing. You’ll then take two specialist creative writing modules, exploring a range of approaches to writing. You will develop your writing skills in several genres including fiction; poetry; life writing; and scriptwriting for film, radio and stage. Through being supported to develop your own pieces of writing, and by engagement with the module materials, you will develop important skills in complex argument and critical commentary.

Alongside your study of creative writing, you can also study a second specialism from art history, classical studies, English language, history, modern languages, music, philosophy and religious studies. This will entitle you to include both subjects in the name of your degree, or complete your degree with modules chosen from a wide range of options.

Key features of the course

• Specialise in creative writing within a broad and flexible arts and humanities degree
• Develop and reflect on your own writing practice
• Have the opportunity to develop a project based on independent study
• Develop a range of skills that will be valuable in the workplace and to further study

Accessibility

We make all our qualifications as accessible as possible and have a comprehensive range of services to support all our students. The BA (Honours) Arts and Humanities uses a variety of study materials and has the following elements:

• studying a mixture of printed and online material – online learning resources may include websites, audio/video media clips, and interactive activities such as online quizzes
• finding external/third party material online
• working in a group with other students
• working with specialist reading material such as works of art and musical manuscripts
• using specialist software (for example the Sibelius music writing package)
• using and/or producing diagrams and screenshots

This qualification develops your learning in four main areas:

• Knowledge and understanding
• Cognitive skills
• Practical and professional skills
• Key skills

The level and depth of your learning gradually increases as you work through the qualification. You’ll be supported throughout by the OU’s unique style of teaching and assessment – which includes a personal tutor to guide and comment on your work; top quality course texts; elearning resources like podcasts, interactive media and online materials; tutorial groups and community forums.

Course details

This degree has three stages, each comprising 120 credits.

• You’ll start Stage 1 with a broad introduction to the arts and humanities followed by up to two modules chosen from a variety of subjects.
• Next, at Stages 2 and 3, you'll specialise in creative writing in combination with either a second specialism in arts and humanities or study modules from across the arts and humanities curriculum.