As much as this defeats the blog’s title, the life of a joint honours student cannot be characterised by a ‘typical day’. In fact, that’s what makes it so interesting! Joint honours degrees are a perfect choice if you are passionate about two (or more) areas of study and want to keep your options open. As a final year English with Film Studies student, I hope this blog provides some insight into the experience of being a joint honours student.
My course involves a 75/25 timetable split between English and Film Studies, unlike the 50/50 or equal split that comes with the joint honours programmes that have an ‘and’ rather than a ‘with’ in the course title (such as English and History or PPE). The English with Film Studies classes consist of lectures, seminars and screenings. For example, Thursday mornings begin at 9:00am with my Conspiracy Fictions seminar. Seminars are largely discussion-based and also involve group work; my most recent seminar involved a group discussion on what it means to call an event a ‘conspiracy’. Early starts can be tiring, but seminars are engaging and a great opportunity to share your thoughts on the readings in a non-judgemental environment.
I usually follow up this seminar with a coffee break in the Quad and a trip to the Maughan Library (just a ten-minute walk from Strand Campus) to work on my English dissertation and the readings for my Global Cult Cinema module. The prospect of a Joint honours degree can be daunting but switching between the two subjects is now second nature and first year prepares students with the skills to tackle both disciplines. My dissertation on post-truth media encompasses both disciplines and the independent study gives me more freedom in structuring my time for study, work and seeing friends from both sides of the course (another benefit to studying a joint honours!).
After having lunch at the fantastic Shack café in the Students’ Union, afternoons begin with either a film screening for Global Cult Cinema or a class for my optional Japanese language module which all King’s students can sign up for (as if two subjects wasn’t enough already!). Depending on the module, screenings cover a range of films and are a nice change from seminars and lectures and are a great way to end the day. Variety is the spice of life, as they say!
I hope you have enjoyed this brief insight into the daily life of a joint honours student!
Read more:
If you enjoyed this, you might like Georgia’s post on why she chose to study a joint honours degree.
Click here to learn more about the Joint Honours degrees at King’s College London.
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