History and English Literature, BA (Hons)

Our joint honours BA in History and English Literature enables students to delve into the depth of English literature while examining the diverse tapestry of human history. At the University of Reading, ranked among the top 125 globally for Arts and Humanities (Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2024), you can explore a millennium of historical topics across regions like Europe, Africa, America, South Asia, and the Middle East. Course options span from the Crusades and Cold War Berlin to Medieval Magic and the Rwanda Crisis. In English literature, you'll engage with familiar authors and genres—such as Shakespeare, Dickens, Plath, and Beckett—while discovering new areas like children's literature, publishing studies, and the history of the book. Our faculty's research covers medieval poetry to contemporary fiction.Core modules include Perspectives in History, Making History and You: Practices and Responsibilities, Theory and Practice of Writing, Poetry in English, and a dissertation in either History or English Literature. These have been provisionally approved for 2025/26, subject to final university confirmation, with potential changes. Optional modules may not be available to all, and updated details will be released in summer 2024. For more information, visit the programme page or our website for course structure details.

The following modules have been approved in principle for delivery in 2025/26. Please note that as part of our current curriculum improvement process, all modules require final University approval and may be subject to change. Core modules for this course: Perspectives in History; Making History and You: Practices and Responsibilities; Theory and Practice of Writing; Poetry in English; Dissertation in History or the Dissertation in English Literature The University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. Further information about the content of final approved modules will be available in the summer of 2024. We suggest that you regularly revisit our course page during this time to ensure you have the most up-to-date information regarding the modules offered on this programme. Check our website for more details about the course structure.