5.6 Tailoring your degree experience

As a Humanities student, there are many options available that allow you to tailor your degree experience to your own interests, alongside enriching your skillset.

In addition to Study Abroad, below are some of the opportunities available to all Humanities students. Individual subjects also have their own opportunities, so check with your discipline also.

Employment Experience in the UK and Abroad

Modern Languages students have option to work during their compulsory Year Abroad. The University’s Global Employability team can support students in finding a placement, or students can source placements themselves.

Students of other Humanities disciplines can spend a year working, either in the UK or abroad, and have this contribute to degree programme.

Taking modules outside your discipline

Many Humanities students have the option to take a module of up to 30 credits from a discipline outside of their degree programme (see modularity here). One option for the module is to study a language - see below.

Foreign Language credits

Students are able to study one of the range of languages offered by the Foreign Language Centre as part of their degree. This could be included in your degree title as ‘with proficiency in…’

Languages can also be studied at evening classes, not for credit. See the Language Centre for more information.

Humanities in the Workplace

This is a credit bearing module, open to all Streatham-based Humanities students. The module gives students the opportunity to gain work experience in a range of sectors, through work placements.

The College of Humanities has established a Student Research Fund, which is open to all Humanities BA and MA students. The fund provides financial support for students who wish to access specific and unusual resources as part of their independent research for credit bearing modules. The grants are normally up to £100 for Streatham and up to £150 for Penryn students, and can cover travel and the costs of conducting interviews and visiting exhibitions, symposia and similar.

To apply, students must submit a completed application form (prior to the activity in question), and applications will be considered by a small panel. For more information or to apply, please contact the Humanities Student Engagement Officer Annie Salter (email A.Salter@exeter.ac.uk).

Please note that the fund is not intended for dissertation related visits to libraries and archives, as those costs are already covered by the University Library’s ‘Library and Archives Bursary Scheme’.

Research Support Internships

These funded internships partner students with academics to work on a specific project or research activity. The internships are fantastic opportunities for students to gain research, scholarship, and transferrable skills, enhancing their employability.

Digital Humanities Internship

Every year, the Digital Humanities Lab team recruits Humanities undergraduate students to undertake internships with Digital Humanities. Interns gain experience of using the lab’s equipment, support current research, and focus on a particular area of interest.

Grand Challenges

The Grand Challenges project week runs in June, and students choose a project relating to different Grand Challenges. Topic themes range from global security, to fighting fake news, to food security. Project outputs are flexible in form, and can include of blogs, videos, and educational programmes. Grand Challenges also includes optional skills training workshops, covering topics such as negotiating skills and commercial awareness. See here for more information.

Change Agents

As a student, if you have an idea for how to improve the University experience, you can apply to register your idea as a Students as Change Agents project. Past projects include the creation of the Holocaust Memorial Day Conference, and establishing peer-mentoring programmes. Visit the Change Agents site for more information.

University Archives and Museum Placements

The University’s Special Collections and the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum both offer opportunities for Streatham based students to gain work experience amongst the collections. Ideal for students considering a career in these industries, potential tasks are varied and include research, exhibition preparation, and archive sorting. See here for Streatham for information, and here for Penryn information.