History of Art and English Literature MA (Hons)

This joint honours programme permits you the opportunity to study the history of art and English literature in equal depth. History of art will introduce you to art from different periods and world cultures. You will learn how, and for whom, works of art were made, as well as situating artworks within visual and material culture more broadly. You will explore the meanings of works of art and visual culture and the ways they continue to be interpreted. In Years 3 and 4 you will have the opportunity to specialise in particular aspects of the field, as well as developing independent research projects and a dissertation. In Year 3 you will also have the opportunity to study abroad, if you wish. In English literature, you will study literature written in English from all major periods in history, from medieval to postmodern. You will explore in depth a range of individual works and authors, and the historical contexts in which works of literature were created. You will learn to compare different writing styles and genres. You will also study the evolution of literary thinking and how literary works have been interpreted in different ways over time. You will find that the subjects in this programme are complementary, since many ideas and movements are shared across the visual arts and literature, in particular historical periods. Both subjects benefit from shared methodologies and historical contexts.