History/English Literature

History and English literature is one of the classic humanities combinations, joining two disciplines that share a commitment to reading carefully, thinking critically, and writing persuasively about the human world. History asks how societies and events developed over time, working with primary sources, archival evidence, and the competing interpretations of historians to construct well-grounded accounts of the past. English literature brings the tools of literary criticism to bear on written texts, asking how language, form, narrative, and style work, and what literary works reveal about the cultures that produced them and the readers who engage with them.

The two disciplines illuminate each other: literary texts are historical documents as well as works of art, and historical understanding deepens and contextualises literary reading.

At Aberystwyth University in Wales, this three-year full-time programme develops your abilities in both disciplines, with teaching that reflects the university's particular strengths in Welsh and British history and in English and Welsh literatures. You will move between seminar discussion of texts and historical sources, archival research, and critical essay writing, building skills in analysis and argument that are central to both subjects. Aberystwyth's location in mid-Wales gives it a distinctive character, and the university's bilingual environment, where Welsh is an official language of instruction and daily life, adds an additional dimension to the study of literature and history in a national context.

Graduates of history and English literature programmes work in education, journalism, heritage and museums, publishing, the civil service, broadcasting, and the law. The analytical and communication skills the combination develops are valued across a very wide range of professional contexts, and the degree provides an excellent foundation for postgraduate study in history, English, or related humanities disciplines.