the joint honours ba history and english literature course allows students to explore the richness of english literature alongside the great variety of human history around the world.

in the first year, core history modules will explore people, politics, and revolution – finding out how people struggled for power in past societies – and the culture and concepts those societies developed. students will be taught the skills they need to study and research history through an individual project of their choice.

in the english literature modules, students will read more of authors and genres that they may already know (from tragedy to gothic, from shakespeare and dickens to plath and beckett). but they will also encounter aspects of literary studies that may be less familiar to them, from children’s literature to publishing studies and the history of the book. as students progress through their degree, module choices become more diverse and specialised: students can do archive work on studying manuscripts, or look at the politics of literature in writing global justice. 

students can study abroad for a term in their second year at one of the university's partner institutions, including those in europe, the usa, and australia. the university also offers all students the chance to learn a modern language alongside their core subjects.

placements are a prominent feature of this degree course and are highly encouraged. through reading's links with the careers centre, students can source potential employers and help with cvs and letters of application. staff in the history department also have close links with the university’s institute of education, museum of english rural life (merl) and special collections (archives), and with external organizations such as cliveden house,