History of Art/Scottish Literature

History of art and Scottish literature is a combination that offers a distinctive and richly Scottish perspective on two of the humanities' most rewarding disciplines. History of art seeks to understand how and why paintings, sculptures, buildings, and works of design in a variety of media come to look the way they do, developing skills in visual analysis, contextual interpretation, and art historical research. Scottish literature engages with the literary tradition of Scotland in all its complexity, encompassing writing in English, Scots, and Gaelic from the medieval period to the contemporary.

At the University of Glasgow, you will study both disciplines in genuine depth, drawing on the university's outstanding resources in art history and Scottish literary scholarship. The art history strand develops your ability to look carefully, to situate visual works in their historical and cultural contexts, and to engage with the major theoretical debates in the discipline. The Scottish literature strand introduces you to the distinctive voices, forms, and preoccupations of Scottish writing, from the medieval makars and the Enlightenment to the modern renaissance and contemporary authors, exploring the ways in which place, language, and national identity shape literary culture.

The programme is offered part time and includes a year abroad, which places you in a different cultural and academic environment and broadens your perspective on both art history and literary studies. Further study options include postgraduate degrees in art history, Scottish literature, and museum and curatorial practice.

Graduates go on to careers in museums, galleries, heritage organisations, publishing, education, arts administration, journalism, and cultural policy. The combination of visual and literary intelligence is valued in a range of creative and cultural professions.