Across the academy globally, dialogues between those studying literary and digital art forms are reshaping how we understand, and work with, narrative and storytelling. As part of a wider commitment to nurturing these discussions, Royal Holloway is now offering a BA in English and Digital Arts. 

This exciting new degree will develop your awareness of the particular characteristics of narrative in literary and digital contexts. You will investigate narrative practices and devices in a variety of domains, gaining a theoretical and practical training in what narrative is what it can be in new media. From more traditional and historical narratives through to early internet storytelling and digital arts to contemporary narratives in interactive media and virtual reality, you’ll study the ways in which digital life and writing affect and transform each other.

Students entering work in the creative industries are best-placed to innovate in fields such as video game design, online publishing and broadcasting, animation and video and audio production, if they can first draw on a rigorous and robust sense of how different narratives operate. 

In year one of the degree, you will sharpen your knowledge of the structures and effects of different storytelling in classes taught by experts across the English and Media Arts departments. By year two, you will have developed a conceptual framework and vocabulary for discussing narrative in a range of contexts, and in your third year you will gain hands-on experience in producing your own media. The basis for all of this innovative work will be your deep thinking about how literature and the digital arts are in mutually-nourishing relation.  

Choosing English and Digital Arts at Royal Holloway will give you the critical and theoretical skills to understand storytelling and its histories and futures – meaning you will be well equipped to pursue roles across many creative industries. You’ll gain knowledge of industry standard tools used in digital storytelling and creative production, along with impeccable academic writing skills – all of which will give you advantages in the employability market, ensuring you possess the talents that employers are looking for.