Latin/Scottish Literature

Latin and Scottish literature is an unusual but deeply coherent combination, bringing together the language and literature of ancient Rome with the distinctive literary tradition of Scotland from the medieval period to the present. Both traditions are rich, technically demanding and historically significant: Latin literature shaped the intellectual culture of Europe for two millennia and continues to resonate in contemporary writing and thought; Scottish literature encompasses works in English, Scots and Gaelic that engage with questions of identity, nation, landscape and language that remain alive and contested today. At the University of Glasgow, this four-year full-time degree includes a year abroad, and a typical entry tariff of around 200 points reflects the academic demands of the programme.

In the Latin strand, you will read Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Cicero, Tacitus and other major authors in the original, developing the philological precision and historical understanding that classical study demands. You will also engage with Roman political and social history, philosophy, religion and art, developing a broad understanding of the culture from which the texts emerged. The Scottish literature component spans from medieval Gaelic poetry and the makars through the Enlightenment, the Romantic period and the Scottish Renaissance to contemporary fiction and poetry, asking what makes Scottish literature distinctive and how it has engaged with universal human questions through distinctively Scottish forms and contexts.

Graduates pursue careers in education, academia, heritage, publishing, journalism, arts administration and archival work. The combination of classical rigour and deep Scottish literary knowledge is particularly valued in institutions engaged with both the ancient and the national literary heritage. Many graduates proceed to postgraduate study in classics, Scottish literature or teacher training, building on the exceptional depth of reading and analysis the degree develops.