English and History

English and history have been natural companions in university education for a long time, because they share a fundamental concern with understanding human experience through the interpretation of texts. Literature is itself a form of historical evidence, and historical consciousness is essential to reading literature well: a poem, novel or play is shaped by its moment of production in ways that require historical knowledge to understand. Conversely, the close reading and interpretive skills that literary study develops make historians better readers of primary sources.

The two disciplines support and enrich each other at every level.

At the University of Nottingham, this three-year full-time degree allows you to develop real competence in both areas. You will engage with literature across periods and genres, developing skills of close reading, critical interpretation and sustained written argument, while also studying history across a range of periods, geographies and themes, learning to work with primary sources, evaluate competing historiographical interpretations, and construct your own well-evidenced accounts of the past. Nottingham has strong research traditions in both subjects, and the degree benefits from teaching closely connected to current scholarship.

Both disciplines place writing and research at their centre. You will write extensively, develop your capacity for independent inquiry, and build the ability to construct clear, precise and persuasive arguments. Seminars and discussion are important parts of the learning experience in both areas, developing your ability to engage critically with others' ideas and to defend your own.

Graduates from English and history degrees move into a wide range of careers: education, publishing, journalism, archiving and heritage, the civil service, law, public policy, the cultural sector, business and the third sector. The combination of rigorous analytical training and strong written communication that both disciplines develop is valued across many areas of professional life, and postgraduate study in either subject or in related fields is a common pathway.