Studying

HaSS Cornwall are experts at interdisciplinary teaching! We believe that combining foundational, expert subject knowledge with grounded teaching is key to stimulating interest and motivation for learning.

HaSS Cornwall graduates are change-agents, they understand and are motivated by pressing social, environmental and economic issues around justice and coexistence. Our department is leading sector wide innovations around inclusive learning and student co-creation and we prioritise supporting 'future skills' graduates will need in life beyond Higher Education.

Read more from Deborah Johnson

Deborah Johnson

Director of Education and Student Experience and Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations

Within HaSS Cornwall, as part of our mission, we deliver unique and engaging programmes that prepare our graduates to make a positive impact in the world when they leave us. Our education programmes are the product of collaborations within our department’s core disciplines of English Literature, History, Law, Modern Languages, Environmental Humanities, and Political Science as well as with our colleagues in the Department of Sustainable Futures, Exeter Business School and the Department of Earth and Environmental Science.

Our priority is to design and deliver an excellent learning experience that is sustainable for our students, staff, and the environment. We work to encourage and support active and inquiry-led learning, from the first day our students’ join us here at the University of Exeter in Cornwall through to the day that we proudly watch them graduate.

We are passionate and engaged educators who are proud of the diverse, supportive learning community we are working to build here, in collaboration with our students.

Why study Humanities and Social Sciences?

Degree level study of Humanities and Social Sciences across Environmental Humanities, History, Law, Languages and Politics, brings with it numerous benefits in the development of yourself, your future career and the world around you. Below we’ve listed some of the key benefits and motivations for choosing these fields of study:

Passion and interest: The degree subject you choose should be something you fell passionately about and have a deep interest in. Pursuing a Humanities or Social Science degree in Cornwall will indulge your intellectual curiosity and explore fascinating topics.
Understanding human society: Humanities and Social Science study in Cornwall provides insights into the complexities of human behaviour, culture, and society. By studying these disciplines, you will gain a deeper understanding of how societies function, how historical events shape the present, and how individuals and communities interact and evolve.
Personal growth: Our programmes encourage introspection, self-awareness, and critical thinking. As you engage with various perspectives and ideas, you will gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your place in the world.
Communication and Expression: Pursuing a degree in Humanities and Social Sciences enhances your communication and expression skills. Effective communication is a valuable skill in virtually any profession and essential for building strong relationships.
Developing Empathy and Cultural Awareness: Humanities and Social Sciences expose you to diverse cultures, histories, and belief systems. This exposure fosters empathy and cultural awareness, helping you become more open-minded and appreciative of different perspectives.
Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: Our programmes promote critical thinking and analytical skills, enabling you to examine complex issues, assess evidence, and develop well-reasoned arguments. These skills are not only valuable in academia but also highly sought after in the professional world.
Advocacy and Social Impact: With a degree in these fields, you can better understand societal issues and advocate for positive change. Many individuals in humanities and social sciences go on to work in NGOs, nonprofits, government agencies, or other organizations dedicated to addressing social challenges.
Creativity and Innovation: Our subjects nurture creativity and imaginative thinking. Whether through writing, art, or other forms of expression, we encourage innovation and original thought in our students.
Interdisciplinary Opportunities: Our unique ability to deliver interdisciplinary programs that combine humanities and social sciences with other disciplines, allows you to explore diverse interests and develop a well-rounded skill set.
Contributing to a Better World: Through research, analysis, and understanding of societal issues, graduates from HaSS Cornwall contribute to creating a more inclusive, equitable, and just society.
Lifelong Learning: Studying humanities and social sciences instils a passion for lifelong learning. The knowledge and skills acquired during your degree can be applied and expanded upon throughout your personal and professional life.

Studying in Cornwall

Studying at the Penryn Campus you will have the time of your life – which is exactly what university is all about! There is nowhere more beautiful than Cornwall on a bright, sunny day, and the county offers no shortage of footpaths, parks, gardens, and beaches for you to enjoy. Penryn and Falmouth are vibrant communities with a range of activities taking place around the year: from Oyster Festivals to Shanty Shouts, Tall Ships Regattas to a range of award-winning restaurants and bars.

Cornwall has a strong community feel and one of the most unique cultures in the UK. A significant number of local cultural activities that happen in Cornwall throughout the year such as maritime and history festivals, including HaSS Cornwall’s own St Piran’s Celebration and Cornish Culture Day. You could even join a Celtic language group!

Cornwall is a distinctive, multifaceted, and illuminating setting for students to explore societies, cultures, and justice in the past, present, and future. It is – and historically has been - at the cutting-edge of many of the challenges we face in terms of environment, culture, and society. As a department, we use that regional context to help us inform our teaching and research, allowing students to see these real-world issues close-up.

Beyond studying, those who enjoy water sports (including surfing, kayaking, snorkelling, swimming, paddle-boarding and more) can take advantage of Falmouth Bay and the local rivers as well as the nearby sea. Nine of the county’s beaches (Polzeath, Porthmeor, Carbis Bay, Widemouth Bay, Porthtowan, Portreath, Crooklets, Trevone Bay and Falmouth’s own Gyllyngvase) have been awarded the coveted Blue Flag status in 2023 – an international designation recognising quality of the water and local facilities.

There are also several beautiful gardens and historic landmarks within a few miles of campus, as well as a vast array of museums and other places of interest for you to explore.

Find out more about studying on the Penryn Campus.

Our campus

Our Penryn Campus offers a welcoming atmosphere where it’s easy to make new friends and where staff and students know each other well. It is situated in the environmentally beautiful setting of west Cornwall. The stunning campus buildings offer the very best in learning and teaching facilities, with lecture theatres and seminar rooms equipped with the latest technologies. The campus is shared with the University of Falmouth, which creates a vibrant mixture of students from science, engineering, humanities, and arts backgrounds, both on campus and in the local area.

Situated in the lively coastal community of Penryn, near Falmouth (Cornwall), with coast and countryside on the doorstep, a vibrant social atmosphere and beautiful natural resources, our historic and beautiful campus is a multiple Green Flag winner.

As “the Russell Group’s best kept secret”, the Penryn Campus offer a unique blend of interdisciplinary teaching based on our core specialist strengths in a setting and atmosphere that will help you to thrive as an individual.

Find out more about studying on the Penryn Campus.

Careers

Studying Law, Politics, History, Environmental Humanities and Languages can offer a wide range of career benefits, as these fields provide valuable skills and knowledge that are applicable across various professions. The skills and knowledge acquired through studying Humanities and Social Sciences can open doors to diverse and rewarding career paths. The ability to understand and engage with people, analyse complex issues, and communicate effectively are highly valued in the job market across various sectors. Here are some of the key career benefits to studying Humanities and Social Sciences:

Critical Thinking and Analytical Skills: Our degree programmes foster critical thinking abilities, enabling graduates to analyse complex problems, evaluate evidence, and make informed decisions. These skills are highly sought after in many industries and professions.
Effective Communication: Humanities and Social Science graduates develop strong communication skills, both in writing and verbally. Clear and persuasive communication is essential in virtually every career, from marketing and public relations to law and education.
Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: Understanding human behaviour and societal dynamics enhances empathy and emotional intelligence. This is beneficial in professions like counselling, human resources, business, healthcare, and social work.
Research and Data Analysis: Our research is at the core of our degree programmes. The methodologies and analysis skills this exposes our students to are valuable in fields such as market research, policy analysis, academia, and data-driven decision-making roles.
Cultural Awareness and Diversity: HaSS Cornwall graduates gain a broad understanding of different cultures and perspectives, which is advantageous in international business, diplomacy, hospitality, and any career involving diverse populations.
Problem-Solving and Innovation: Our degree programmes in Cornwall encourage creative thinking and problem-solving, which are valuable assets in entrepreneurship, marketing, product development, and other innovative fields.
Interdisciplinary Skills: Our combination of specialist core knowledge and interdisciplinary learning, allows graduates to integrate knowledge from various subjects. This adaptability is valuable in all fast-changing industries.
Public Policy and Government: A background in social sciences can lead to careers in public policy analysis, government administration, and advocacy, where understanding social issues is critical.
Education and Teaching: Graduates can pursue careers in teaching and education, sharing their knowledge and passion for the humanities or social sciences with future generations.
Journalism and Media: Humanities graduates often excel in journalism and media-related careers due to their strong writing skills and critical thinking abilities.
Humanitarian and Nonprofit Work: Our graduates often find fulfilling careers in nonprofit organizations, humanitarian work, and community development, where they can make a positive impact on society.
Law and Criminal Justice: A background in humanities and social sciences – particularly our innovative LLB Law with Business can be beneficial for careers in law, criminal justice, and legal research., as well as the wider business profession.
Environmental and Sustainability Careers: Many of our programmes have an environmental focus. This can contribute to careers related to environmental sustainability, urban planning, and environmental policy-making.
Market Research and Consumer Behaviour: Understanding human behaviour is valuable in careers related to market research, consumer behaviour analysis, and advertising.
Arts and Culture: Our graduates have pursued careers in arts management, museum curation, publishing, and other cultural industries.

Find out more about how the University of Exeter will support your career development

Undergraduate

Languages are an important part of what we do as a department. Programmes across the Penryn Campus can be taken with proficiencies in Mandarin Chinese, French and Spanish. Courses in Cornwall can also be taken with proficiencies in Law and Environmental Law pathways by passing 60 credits across your degree.

Undergraduate Programmes

Postgraduate Research

As a hub for interdisciplinary research and teaching across Humanities and the Social Sciences, a key part of HaSS Cornwall’s ethos is to help develop the careers of early career researchers (ECRs) and post graduate research students (PGRs) by supporting them to undertake a holistic approach to their research, develop a broad range of skills, and to pursue impactful careers.

Kensa Broadhurst, Institute of Cornish Studies

This summer, HaSS Cornwall supported PhD candidate Kensa Broadhurst to visit the Venice International University to attend a course on Linguistic Landscapes linked to the subject of her thesis on the Cornish language.

"I spent the last week of June at a summer school at Venice International University (VIU). VIU was founded in 1995 and is a consortium of 20 universities from around the world, including Exeter. The campus is on the island of San Servolo in the lagoon, lying between the main historic centre of Venice and the Lido. VIU was founded to create interdisciplinary academic and research programmes uniting researchers and students from across continents, specialisms, cultures, and languages.

The course I attended was called ‘Linguistic Landscapes: Using Signs and Symbols to Translate Cities.’ The students ranged from final year undergraduates to PhD students, and came from all over Europe, South Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Linguistic Landscape (LL) research is a relatively new field which has grown since the turn of the century. Alongside lectures on aspects of LL research and the new directions this is beginning to take such as Soundscapes and Smellscapes, we also had the opportunity to share our own research interests and links to LL and make valuable contacts with others working in the general fields of linguistics and the humanities more widely.

I’m off to VIU again in September for a PhD academy course – I can’t wait to go back! Do look at the VIU website and keep an eye out for the call for applications to the courses on offer. Applications usually have to submitted about six months before the course and there is funding support available. I would like to thank the HASS Faculty at Penryn for funding my course fees for the summer school I have just attended."

Dr Walker Zupp, Creative Writing

Dr Walker Zupp recently defended his PhD viva and completed his doctorate in Creative Writing

In Marjorie Perloff’s excellent 1996 publication, Wittgenstein’s Ladder, she described some of Thomas Bernhard’s novels as being “Wittgenstein fictions”. Seeing as she didn’t expand on this fascinating idea, Zupp dedicated his Doctorate in Creative Writing to the subject, and subsequently produced a novel of Wittgenstein Fiction - Nakadai (Montag Press, 2022) - which was picked up by a publisher. Zupp’s critical thesis focused on three contemporary Western novels that fit the description of Wittgenstein Fiction, as he developed it. Correction (1975) by Thomas Bernhard, The World As I Found It (1985) by Bruce Duffy, and Wittgenstein Jr. (2014) by Lars Iyer. The conclusions he reached about these novels, and about the genre more widely, were that Wittgenstein Fiction could constitute,

a genre whose use of an intellectual epic form simultaneously evades and satirizes the empirical world;
a creative non-fiction genre in which conflict arises from that necessary disharmony between the author’s forms of life and empirical reality;
or a genre which uses minimalist forms to create satires of contemporary universities and research institutions.

With all this in mind, Zupp’s Ph.D. was a significant contribution to our understanding of literature post-1945, as it defined an important selection of novels that both satirized and sought to emulate the life and work of Ludwig Wittgenstein, probably the most compelling philosopher of the 20th Century.

Amy Shakespeare, History

Amy Shakespeare is an Arts and Humanities Research Council funded PhD Student with the South West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership. Her supervisory team are based at the University of Exeter and Bath Spa University. Her research explores how museums in the UK can take a more proactive and anticolonial approach to repatriation (the return of ancestors and belongings) – with a focus on case studies of belongings that have returned home to North American Indigenous nations. She is also looking at the legacy of repatriation for museum practice and how and why museums interpret repatriation for the public.

Amy is a museum professional and consultant with over a decade’s worth of experience at organisations such as the National Trust, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Royal Cornwall Museum and the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. During her career she founded the international Museums Immersive Network, was shortlisted for two Women in Tech Excellence Awards, and was recognised as one of Cornwall’s 30 Under 30 in 2021. Amy was also one of the Clore Emerging Leaders in 2019. She has served on the boards of the South West Federation of Museums and Art Galleries, Kids in Museums, and is currently the Repatriation Officer for the Museum Ethnographers Group.

In February 2023, Amy was awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council grant under their International Placement Scheme to complete a Smithsonian Research Fellowship. For three months, she was based in the Repatriation Department of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. During this time, she was supervised and mentored by their Repatriation Manager, Jackie Swift. Amy went to compare their approach to repatriation with the UK museum sector’s and to see what the UK might be able to learn. During her time there, she shadowed and supported consultations and repatriations, learning from the highly experienced team.

Amy also had the opportunity to join the White House Council on Native American Affairs Subcommittee on International Repatriation and their international partners’ meetings. Following on from her involvement in this, and encouragement from her Smithsonian Supervisor, she is now working to launch a new online resource for Indigenous Nations to help them to understand the different European countries’ contexts, laws, policies, and cultures that shape and inform their approach to repatriation. This resource aims to support the opening of global networks, sharing the information with the people who need it, so that more international repatriation can happen, and more ancestors and belongings can return home.