English Literature and History of Art (joint honours)

Our joint honours course allows you to pursue your own areas of interest within English Literature and History of Art whilst also providing you with a solid foundation in both disciplines and a range of personal and professional skills which will serve as a springboard for your future career development. The programme is carefully designed to enable you to gradually develop your knowledge and skills and become autonomous, effective and independent learners.

English Literature offers you the opportunity to study British and world literatures through a model of progressive specialisation that teaches advanced literary critical skills in the context of periodised, thematised, formal and theoretical modules. The History of Art course at Brookes emphasises the first-hand study of artworks and buildings, with most modules including visits to sites in Oxford or London.

In your first year, you’ll build the core skills and understanding you need for undergraduate literary studies, for example how to investigate sources or effectively present your arguments. You’ll develop the competencies and concepts needed for History of Art while studying an exciting range of material, from Renaissance paintings and buildings to modern British art and museums.

In your second year, you’ll broaden and deepen your knowledge of literature in relation to movements and cultures past and present. You will be able to focus more deeply on specific art historical periods, and have the option of going on a residential field trip (usually to Paris).

In your final year, you’ll have the freedom to focus on what you care about most, including your dissertation subject. You can explore literary topics like urbanisation, utopian societies, artificial intelligence, sustainability or even witchcraft. You can study any one of a wide range of art historical topics. You will be able to explore the profession of curating and put on your own exhibition.