English Literature/History of Art

English literature and history of art is a combination that explores the two great traditions of humanistic inquiry into creative expression, one concerned with language and narrative, the other with image, object, and visual form. English literature asks how writers use language to create meaning, emotion, and cultural significance, and how literary traditions have developed and changed across time and place. History of art asks how visual artists, from ancient sculptors to contemporary painters and photographers, have created works that document, challenge, and illuminate the world, and how those works have been understood by different audiences across history.

The two disciplines share a deep concern with the relationship between form and meaning, and each enriches the study of the other.

At the University of Glasgow, this part-time programme allows you to explore all aspects of literature in English from early modern to postmodern, benefiting from expertise in a wide range of areas including American, Irish, and postcolonial literatures, critical theory, creative writing, and the relationship between literature and other arts, media, and science. Alongside this, you will develop your understanding of visual culture across periods and traditions, learning to read images and objects with the same critical attention you bring to literary texts. A year abroad is available, giving you the opportunity to encounter different literary and artistic traditions in an international educational context.

Graduates of this combination pursue careers in galleries and museums, publishing, arts journalism and criticism, cultural heritage, education, arts administration, broadcasting, and the creative and cultural industries more broadly. The combination of close reading skills, cultural breadth, and analytical rigour that English and art history develops is valued across many professional contexts. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in literature, art history, museum studies, or related cultural fields, and some pursue academic careers in research and teaching.