Latin/Scottish Literature
Latin and Scottish literature is a combination that spans two very different literary traditions connected by geography and historical circumstance. Latin was the language of the Roman Empire and of subsequent European scholarship, theology, and literature for more than a millennium after the fall of Rome, and it remains the foundational language for understanding the classical and medieval literary heritage from which so much of European culture derives. Scottish literature encompasses writing in English, Scots, and Gaelic from the medieval period to the present, representing a national tradition that is both deeply rooted in the specific landscape and history of Scotland and connected to broader European and world literary currents.
Studying them together offers an unusual perspective on both the classical inheritance and the distinctly Scottish contribution to literature.
At the University of Glasgow, this programme is delivered part time, making it accessible to students with other commitments, and it includes a year abroad. You will read Latin texts from across the classical and post-classical tradition, including poetry, drama, oratory, and historical writing, developing both linguistic proficiency and the critical understanding to interpret these works within their historical and cultural contexts. Alongside this, you will engage with Scottish literary works from different periods and in different languages, developing an appreciation of a national tradition that is richer and more varied than is often recognised.
Graduates develop skills in linguistic analysis, close reading, historical contextualisation, and literary criticism that are valued in publishing, education, heritage, translation, academia, and the cultural sector. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in classics, Scottish literature, or comparative literature, and the combination of ancient and modern literary expertise is a distinctive intellectual foundation for research and professional work in the humanities.