It seems everyone has something to say about Essex, but how accurate is this opinion?  A new video about the University, “So you think you know Essex?”, challenges the Essex stereotype to demonstrate how Essex provides a unique experience of living and learning, with research-led teaching by world-class academics at one of the UK’s top ten institutions for research excellence.

If you cannot see this video, you can watch it on our Vimeo channel.

The Essex stereotype has also been examined by Dr Pamela Cox, from the Department of Sociology, in a BBC news article entitled ‘Is this really what Essex is about?’. She explains: "To me Essex is vibrant, it is about movement, energy and enterprise. It is about mobility, both social and physical. People came here to improve themselves, build a better life and that is still the same today... People have a soft spot for Essex too. The nastiness no longer exists."

Read Dr Cox’s full article

In addition, Dr James Canton, from our Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, has also been challenging the Essex stereotype. His book, Out of Essex: Re-Imagining a Literary Landscape, provides an antidote to TV shows like The Only Way is Essex. He shows how the county of Essex is about amazing landscapes which have inspired some of England's finest writing, tracking the paths of literary figures who have ventured into wilder parts of Essex, including Shakespeare, Defoe, John Clare, Joseph Conrad, H G Wells and Arthur Ransome.

If you cannot see this video, you can watch it on our Vimeo channel.