University of Aberdeen

University of Aberdeen

Master of Arts in English and History of Art

The Master of Arts in English and History of Art in Language and Culture Studies is offered by University of Aberdeen.

Program Length: 4 YEARS.

Master of Arts in English and History of Art offered by the University of Aberdeen

English and History of Art at Aberdeen combines all the advantages of the UK’s second most highly-rated research hub for English literature, language and creative writing, with the study of the art of all literary periods at Scotland’s top-rated university. You will examine buildings, sculptures, drawings, paintings, prints, decorative and industrial arts – and gain the skills to draw up a range of exciting career options.


Aberdeen is a leading centre for the study of literature, language and creative writing, rated second in the UK for its research output. You will study poetry and prose through the dynamic relationship between author, reader and literary text, covering every period from Chaucer to contemporary English, Scottish, Irish, European and American writing and the cultural and critical impact of powerful and controversial modern works. You will be inspired by enthusiastic teachers and researchers, themselves acclaimed authors and poets and be encouraged to develop your own creative writing skills.

You will complement this with extensive specialised knowledge of the history of painting, sculpture, architecture and the decorative arts in Europe and North America from the Middle Ages to the present day. You will study in buildings centuries old, yet with the most modern teaching and technology, inspired by teachers and researchers whose specialist areas range from Pictish art, Medieval architecture, Italian Baroque painting, early modern prints and Scottish and British painting from the 17th to 20th centuries.

Your specialist skills make you ideally placed to enter the art gallery and museum sectors, arts education, publishing and journalism, or fine art conservation. The transferable skills that you will gain, including teamwork, time management, personal initiative, and highly developed enquiry, analytical and presentational skills are ideally suited to a range of careers.

What you'll study

Year 1
Compulsory Courses

Academic Writing for Divinity, History & Philosophy (AW1007)
Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (PD1002)
Acts of Reading (EL1009)
Introduction to Art History (HA1004)
Controversial Classics (EL1513)
Modern Art (HA1508)

Optional Courses
Select further courses of choice to make up 120 credit points.

Year 2
Compulsory Courses
Encounters with Shakespeare (EL2011)
Object Lessons: Ten Works in Context (HA2012)
The Tragedy of Knowledge (EL2512)
Art Matters: Materials and Techniques (HA2511)

Optional Courses
Select further courses of choice to make up 120 credit points.

Year 3
Compulsory Courses
Critical Perspectives in Art History (HA3079)

Optional Courses
Select a total of two courses from the following groups, each from a different group:

Medieval/Renaissance

EL30DQ: Knights, Virgins and Viragos, Chaucer and Medieval Writing
EL30CP: Page and Stage: Renaissance Writings 1500-1640
EL35EJ: Writing Revolt: Literature and Politics in the 17th Century

Romantic/Victorian

EL3009: American Innovation
EL35XR: Romanticism
EL30QA: Sympathy for the Devil: Scottish Short Stories
EL35SB: Britain and the 19th Century World
EL35VB: Bildungsroman to Alien Invasion

Contemporary/Modern

EL35KN: Haunted Texts
EL30FF: Modernism: Make it New
EL30UT: Art and Atrocity: Representations of Violence and Trauma
EL35UT: Art and Atrocity: Representations of Violence and Trauma

Plus one course from the following:

EL35WC: Queer Times
EL35YB: Creative Writing: Creativity and Craft
EL35EH: Classical Epic
CE3594: Dangerous Liaisons: Love, Sex and Romance in the Celtic West and Old North
EL30VC: Fallen Women and Self-Made Men
Plus, select a further 30 credit points from level 3 History of Art courses.

Year 4
Compulsory Courses
Fieldwork 2 (HA408A)

Optional Courses
Select one of the following dissertation options:

English Dissertation (EL4502)
History of Art Dissertation (HA4588)
Select further credit points from level 4 courses in English and History of Art to gain 60 credits in each discipline.



Locations where you can study Master of Arts in English and History of Art en University of Aberdeen


Get Instant Information about the University

By clicking “Get Information Now,” I hereby authorize onlinemasters.co.uk, their dependents, subcontractors, or associates to contact me in regards to education proposals offered by universities in the United Kingdom.