English and Sustainable Development

English and Sustainable Development is a pairing that might not be immediately obvious, but it addresses a genuinely important set of questions. Literature has long been concerned with the human relationship to the natural world: from pastoral poetry and Romantic nature writing to the emerging genre of climate fiction and the rich tradition of nature writing that continues to develop, writers have grappled with what it means to live on and with a damaged planet. Sustainable development, meanwhile, has increasingly turned to narrative, rhetoric and cultural analysis to understand how stories shape environmental attitudes and policy.

The combination illuminates both disciplines.

At the University of St Andrews, the four-year MA (Hons) programme develops your ability to read texts closely across a range of genres and historical eras, attending to the ideas, human values and historical forces that have shaped literature. You will learn to consider what writing says about how people have understood and related to the natural world, how language and narrative construct environmental meaning, and how literary and cultural analysis can contribute to understanding the sustainability challenges we face. The sustainable development strand provides rigorous training in environmental science, development economics, environmental politics and the policy frameworks through which societies attempt to address ecological crises.

The degree includes a year abroad, which gives you the opportunity to study both subjects in a different cultural and environmental context.

Graduates move into careers in environmental communications, sustainability policy, journalism, publishing, education, NGOs and the third sector. The combination of critical writing skills and environmental knowledge is valuable in organisations that need to communicate complex issues to public audiences. Postgraduate study in English, environmental humanities, sustainability or creative writing is a natural continuation.