The joint honours degree in English Literature and Archaeology provides you with the opportunity of specialising in two university honours subjects. Many students find joint honours both stimulating and rewarding as they observe both similarities and differences between the two subjects.

English literature at Cardiff offers access to the whole span of English literature, from the Anglo-Saxon period to the 21st century. Nor is the curriculum restricted to the printed word – we are intrigued by the connections between literature and film, art, music, history, language, and popular culture, and our teaching reflects these interests.

Archaeology addresses big questions about the human past for much of which no written record is available. Archaeology at Cardiff concentrates on the British Isles, Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, including Egypt.

You will learn with staff who undertake cutting-edge research on all periods from early human origins to the recent past. You will also benefit from our state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratories, dedicated geophysical and surveying equipment and a range of sophisticated equipment for the analysis of artefacts.

Distinctive features

The distinctive features of the course include:

• teaching across the whole chronological and geographical span of English literature, from the Anglo-Saxon period to the 21st century
• a reputation for theoretically informed reading, bringing texts from all periods into dialogue with contemporary concerns about gender, identity, sexuality, nationality, race, the body, the environment, and digital technology
• a strong tradition in creative writing, taught by writers making their mark on today’s culture
• close contacts with local historical sites such as St Fagans National History Museum, Caerleon and Caerwent – allowing additional links with archaeology as an academic discipline
• the opportunity to go on an excavation or archaeological placement at the end of year two and year three, organised and funded by Archaeology at Cardiff.