English and Creative Writing and History
English, creative writing, and history is a combination that rewards students who are passionate about language, story, and the forces that have shaped human experience over time. English literature develops your capacity to read texts with attention and insight, to understand how meaning is constructed, and to engage with the cultural and intellectual traditions that have shaped writing in English across centuries. Creative writing adds a practitioner's perspective, asking you not just to interpret texts but to make them, developing your own voice and craft across a range of forms.
History provides the third dimension, situating literature and writing within the social, political, and material conditions that produce them.
This four-year, full-time programme at the University of Strathclyde leads to a Master of Arts with Honours, the standard Scottish undergraduate degree. The approach to English and creative writing is designed to be intellectually ambitious while remaining genuinely accessible, giving you a comprehensive understanding of English literature as a foundation for creative work. You will study literary history and criticism alongside the practice of writing in poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and other forms, and your historical study will develop contextual understanding that enriches both your reading and your own work.
Graduates of this three-subject combination are well prepared for careers in publishing, journalism, education, arts administration, broadcasting, copywriting, and the wider creative industries. The research, analytical, and communication skills developed across all three disciplines are broadly applicable, and the creative writing element adds practical capacity that many employers in content-driven roles value highly. Many graduates also pursue postgraduate study in creative writing, literary studies, or history, and the combination provides a strong foundation for academic research or for professional development in the cultural sector.