The BA in English Literature and History enables you to combine a study of the past and English literature. Many students find joint honours both stimulating and rewarding as they observe both similarities and differences between the two subjects.

This course aims to develop your knowledge and critical understanding of the political, social, economic, and cultural structures of past societies with the study of a separate academic discipline, and to cultivate intellectual skills such as the ability to assess evidence critically, to evaluate different interpretations of the evidence, to construct arguments on the basis of evidence, and to express opinions cogently in speech and in writing.

History covers the period from the fall of the Roman Empire to the present day. There is a balance between modules covering specific historical periods and thematic modules that examine broad social and cultural topics, such as warfare, gender, religion, art, medicine and science.

Within English literature, you are free to follow a traditional programme covering multiple periods and genres or to build a more distinctive mix of modules combining literary study with analysis of other cultural forms.

The degree provides the training necessary for students who wish to study either discipline at postgraduate level, and a valuable range of intellectual and transferable skills for students who wish to enter other professions.

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.