English and History of Art

English and history of art is a combination for students who want to engage seriously with two of the most important modes through which human beings make and communicate meaning: language and image. English trains you to read literary texts with precision and care, to understand how narrative, form, and rhetoric work, and to write and argue with clarity and force. History of art teaches you to look at images and objects with the same analytical attention, situating visual works in their historical, cultural, and social contexts and asking how art is produced, circulated, and interpreted across time.

The two disciplines develop complementary skills and illuminate each other constantly.

At the University of Leeds this three-year full-time programme gives you the chance to develop understanding of literature in English from the medieval period to the present day alongside an awareness of how art is produced and perceived and how both have changed over time. You will work across periods, genres, and media in both subjects, developing the close reading and analytical skills that each discipline rewards, alongside the ability to produce well-structured, well-evidenced written arguments. A sandwich year and a year abroad are included in the programme, and a work placement is built in, giving you professional experience and an international perspective alongside your studies.

Graduates from English and history of art go on to a wide range of careers. Galleries, museums, auction houses, arts journalism, curatorial practice, and heritage work are common destinations in the art world. Publishing, journalism, broadcasting, teaching, and the civil service are equally well-trodden paths from the English side.

The combination of visual and textual literacy and strong writing skills is valued across a broad range of professional contexts, and many graduates also continue to postgraduate study in literature, art history, or cultural studies.