Comparative Literature/Economics

Comparative literature and economics is an unusual but intellectually rewarding combination, uniting a discipline concerned with the imaginative representation of human experience across cultures with one that analyses the material conditions of economic life. Comparative literature examines texts from different languages, traditions, and periods, asking what is shared and what is distinctive in how human beings use narrative, poetry, and drama to make sense of their world. Economics brings rigorous theoretical and quantitative tools to the analysis of markets, growth, inequality, and policy.

Together they develop exceptional analytical range, moving between interpretation and argument, between cultural sensitivity and quantitative reasoning.

At the University of Glasgow, this four-year full-time programme draws on strong departments in both fields, with a typical entry tariff of 232 points reflecting the academic standard the university expects. You will engage with literature from a range of languages and cultures, developing comparative reading skills and critical frameworks drawn from literary theory and cultural analysis, while also studying economic theory, microeconomics, macroeconomics, and quantitative methods. The programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study at a partner institution overseas and to deepen your engagement with another cultural and economic context.

The combination produces graduates who are comfortable with both qualitative and quantitative analysis, who can think about culture and economy in relation to one another, and who bring distinctive breadth to whatever professional setting they enter. Careers span journalism, publishing, international finance, consulting, cultural policy, development economics, the civil service, and academia. The degree is also a strong platform for postgraduate study in either literature or economics.