What You Need to Know About a Joint-Honours Arts and Humanities Degree

by Alexander

After four years at King’s studying French and Philosophy, there are a few things about studying a joint honours arts and humanities degree that I wish I’d known all those years ago! Find out here the top things I wish I’d known when I started out.

1. It’s not just one against the other.

Many of the joint honours Arts and Humanities programmes at King’s look like a combination of two subjects that you study on their own. Perhaps it’s French and Philosophy, or History and International Relations, and so it might be easy to think that you won’t get a chance to see how these two subjects interact.

Whilst it is true that you won’t spend your degree studying how your subjects interact, there are plenty of opportunities to combine your passions. For example, I was able to take modules in the French department that looked at recent French philosophy, whilst a Philosophy module allowed me to closely study a medieval French novel. And even though you might go your entire degree without your subjects ever converging, the opportunities on offer within joint honours programmes at King’s mean that you can take your degree in almost any direction you like!

2. You still have the chance to venture outside of your degree area.

Some people pick joint honours as they don’t want to commit to just one subject. But what happens if you want to do more than two? One option is to study the BA Liberal Arts, which offers the chance for you to study several Arts and Humanities subjects. Another option, however, is to study modules from outside of your department as part of your degree. For example, in my second year I got to study music performance, with my grade from that counting towards my final degree. Some people even choose to take language classes from the Modern Languages Centre as part of their degree, so no matter your programme you can still experience the best of what King’s has to offer.

3. Make your degree stand out to employers.

No matter what combination you choose, people will always be interested in the why. Perhaps you chose Classical Studies and Comparative Literature after reading the Odyssey, or your interest in Latin America lead you to study History and Spanish with a year abroad in Chile. Either way, joint honours programmes will make you stand out amongst the crowd, and the skills that you learn by combining your interests will make you stand out to employers.

4. It’s the best way to make friends!

One of the best things about studying two subjects was that I got to be a part of two completely separate friendship groups. Lots of people are able to make friends with others on their programmes as everyone is united by their passion for the subjects they are studying. So why make new best friends on your single honours course when you could do it twice on a joint honours programme? It really is a no-brainer!