English Literature and History

English literature and history are disciplines that speak closely to one another. Literature is itself a historical document, shaped by the conditions of its moment and in turn shaping how people understand their world. History, read well, is a form of narrative and interpretation, asking the same questions about evidence, voice, and meaning that literary study addresses.

Together, the two subjects develop a powerful capacity to read closely, think critically, and understand human experience across time and place.

At Newcastle University, this three-year programme develops your skills in both disciplines simultaneously. You will study literature from across a broad historical range, engaging with canonical and less familiar texts from different periods, genres, and cultural traditions, and learning to situate them within their historical and social contexts. In history, you will work with primary sources, engage with historiographical debates, and develop the skills of archival research and analytical writing that define the discipline at its best.

The two subjects reinforce each other throughout, and the programme encourages you to draw connections between literary and historical modes of understanding rather than keeping them in separate boxes.

This full-time programme includes a sandwich year with both a work placement and a year abroad, giving you an exceptionally rich set of experiences to draw on alongside your academic study. The year abroad broadens your intellectual and personal horizons, while the work placement develops professional skills and real-world connections. Graduates from English literature and history programmes go on to careers in publishing, journalism, education, law, the heritage and museum sector, public policy, the civil service, and the broader creative and cultural industries.

The combination of close reading, historical reasoning, and strong written communication that you develop is among the most genuinely transferable skill sets that a humanities degree produces. Further study at postgraduate level in English, history, or related disciplines is also a well-established route.