English Literature/Scottish History
English literature and Scottish history is a pairing that brings together two disciplines with a deep and specific relationship. Scottish history provides a richly particular narrative of a nation with its own legal traditions, religious history, cultural distinctiveness, and complex relationship to Britain, Europe, and the wider world. English literature, studied with the breadth that Glasgow's programme commands, spans early modern texts to postmodern fiction, with strength in American, Irish, and postcolonial literatures as well as critical theory, creative writing, and the intersections of literature with other arts, media, and science.
Taken together, they develop a historically grounded and textually sophisticated mind.
At the University of Glasgow this programme is studied on a part-time basis, allowing you to engage with both disciplines at a pace that suits your wider circumstances. The degree includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to pursue your studies in a different intellectual and cultural environment. You will explore Scottish history across its full chronological and thematic range, from the medieval period to the present, and you will develop deep skills in literary reading and critical interpretation across the breadth of English-language writing.
The combination rewards those who are interested in how stories and histories inform and complicate each other.
You will develop close-reading skills, historical research and analysis, critical writing, and the capacity to engage with complex ideas across disciplinary boundaries. These are capabilities of lasting value in research, communication, education, and the cultural sector.
Graduates pursue careers in education, journalism, publishing, heritage and museums, broadcasting, creative writing, cultural policy, and the public sector. Postgraduate study in Scottish history, English literature, archival studies, cultural studies, or creative writing is a natural continuation for those who want to specialise further.