Department of Communication and Culture
Find out more about our department.
Welcome
Welcome to the Department of Communication and Culture. We are an innovative and forward-looking department of scholars working across areas of English language, English literature, applied linguistics, and history. We are also home to the Research Centre for the Humanities (REACH), the Aston Archives, and the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics (AIFL), renowned for its world-leading research.
I look forward to welcoming you to Aston.
Marcello Giovanelli
About us
From corpus linguistics to business communication, and from contemporary reading practices to digital humanities, our department specialises in applied research. We have an excellent track record in teaching and an active research culture that emphasises impactful publications and productive collaboration. We also offer a supportive environment for students, taking feedback seriously and nurturing the inquisitive and analytical mindset that scholars of English and history possess.
Our research specialisms are enormously varied. Our staff and students have interests that span centuries, cross cultures and bridge disciplines. Many of our colleagues are internationally renowned authorities in their fields, and our ethos is that teaching and research should complement one another at all levels of academic enquiry.
Our teaching
Our students particularly appreciate the real-world application of our teaching and come away with a strong grounding in their chosen subject which is as theoretical as it is relevant.
They benefit from our wide-ranging expertise and pioneering research, which sits at the heart of our teaching. Most of all, our supportive staff members ensure students have everything they need to graduate with a sense of growth that is both intellectually rewarding and beneficial to their lives beyond education.
Our teaching balances academic rigour with practical, externally-facing applications. Our students go on to secure roles in a wide range of industries, for example law, government, the creative and digital industries, education, marketing, and archival work.
Courses
Undergraduate
| Award | Undergraduate programmes |
|---|---|
| BA (Hons) | English Language |
| BA (Hons) | English Language and Literature |
| BA (Hons) | English and Sociology |
| BA (Hons) | History |
| BSc (Hons) | History and English |
| BSc (Hons) | History and International Relations |
| BSc (Hons) | History and Politics |
We also offer a Foundation Programme in Business and Social Science.
Postgraduate
| Award | Postgraduate programmes |
|---|---|
| MA | English |
| MA | English (Distance Learning) |
| MA | Forensic Linguistics |
| MA | Forensic Linguistics (Distance Learning) |
| MA | TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) |