Program Overview
Students undertaking English and History at Queen’s explore literature, language and history in the widest possible sense. From the earliest writings in Anglo-Saxon to contemporary Irish, British, and ‘global’ literatures; from the origins of ancient Greece and Rome to modern Irish, European, American and Chinese history, students study English in its linguistic, historical and ideological circumstances and in History can choose modules that focus on gender, social and cultural history, colonial history, politics, religious and economic change.
English and History Degree highlights
English Studies at Queen’s has an extraordinary heritage, as represented by its globally esteemed writers, such as Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney and T.S. Eliot Prize recipients Paul Muldoon and Ciaran Carson, among others.
Global Opportunities
English at Queen’s offers a range of Study Abroad opportunities, from the Erasmus programme with a range of European partners, to the chance to study at a number of partner institutions in the United States.
We welcome applications from European students who would like to attend Queen’s under the Erasmus programme. This programme enables students who are already enrolled at a university in Europe to take time out from their own institution and spend either one semester or a full academic year at Queen’s.
Additionally, the Study Abroad programme is particularly popular with students from North America, Canada and Australia.
https://www.qub.ac.uk/International/International-students/Studyabroad/StudyAbroad/
Industry Links
We regularly consult and develop links with a large number of employers including, for example, BBC Northern Ireland as part of our work-based learning initiatives. Several History modules include links with local collaborative partners, which provide students with opportunities to network with experts in the field or to gain experience of particular industries prior to graduation.
Internships have also been developed to allow students the opportunity to carry out work experience in history-related fields.
World Class Facilities
Top Ranking: English at Queen’s has been placed in the QS World University Rankings top 100 English departments in the world for 2019 with History placed in top 150 History departments in the world for 2019. Research-led Teaching: the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) confirmed that both English and History at Queen’s are producing world-leading or internationally excellent research, placing Queen’s in the top 10 of UK history departments.
Internationally Renowned Experts
Professor Mark Burnett is a leading scholar of the place of Shakespeare in the contemporary arts and is director of the Kenneth Branagh Archive.
Dr Marilina Cesario is an expert on Anglo-Saxon science and collaborates widely with astrophysicists in reassessing our understanding of pre-modern scientific thinking
Professor Philip McGowan is President of the European Association for American Studies (2016-2020) and sits on the Executive Board of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society.
Dr Edel Lamb is an international expert on early modern child theatre companies and is currently developing a project on theatre rivalry and riots in Shakespeare’s London
Dr Gail McConnell explores the interface of literature and voice in her role as co-director of the AHRC-funded ‘Listening to Voices: Creative Disruptions with the Hearing Voices Network’ project
Dr Alex Murray’s monograph on the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben (2010) has been translated into Turkish, Japanese and Chinese and his latest book Landscapes of Decadence: Literature and Place at the Fin de Siècle appeared in 2016 from Cambridge University Press.
Professor Glenn Patterson is the Rooney Prize and Betty Trask Prize-winning author of ten novels. He writes regularly for BBC Radio Three and Four, The Guardian and has made a number of documentaries for Irish and British television. His co-authored screenplay for Good Vibrations was nominated for a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.
Nick Laird, the Seamus Heaney Professor of Poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre, is a recipient of the Betty Trask and Eric Gregory Awards, whose most recent collection is Feel Free (Faber, 2018). He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books.
Student Experience
From Personal Tutors to peer mentoring, we work closely with students to ensure they are supported at every stage of their degree.
A thriving cultural scene organised by our undergraduate and postgraduate communities, from the English Society and Poetry and Pints to the Lifeboat and the Yellow Nib, makes studying English at Queen’s a unique proposition.
https://www.facebook.com/QubEnglishSociety
With Degree-Plus, students have the opportunity to burnish their academic achievements with employment-facing placements and projects
https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/degreeplus/
Students can work with our visiting Fulbright Scholars, leading US academics who spend a semester at Queen’s each year. The National Student Survey results show consistent student satisfaction with the English and History programme and university experience.
“On starting English Literature degree in 2015, I never thought that I'd be dreading final year just for the fact I wouldn't be a part of English at Queen’s anymore. I've had the chance to study such a breadth of prose, poetry and drama across all sorts of periods under some of the most fantastic lecturers. Probably my favourite aspect of studying at Queen's is the community and friends that I've made within English. From being able to attend my lecturers' research seminars to peer mentoring first years, it feels like a (fantastically literary) family and I feel I couldn't have made a better choice.”
Micheal McCann
BA English and Creative Writing Graduate (2018)
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Course content
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