Many of the basic concepts underlying Western society were expressed for the first time in ancient Greek or Latin. Together with English, they are the language of many highly influential literary works.Studying English Literature and Classics helps you to understand the modern world, as well as shedding light on the past.This programme aims to develop your critical, analytic, linguistic and creative skills by engaging with a broad range of texts and a variety of approaches to reading. By enhancing your literary and critical faculties, the programme prepares you to contribute to a society in which an understanding of texts of all kinds is crucially important. Classics is the study of the languages and literatures of the ancient Greeks and Romans. During your programme you will explore the highly influential scholarship and literature of the classical world that gave rise to Western society. You will acquire an understanding of the cultural contexts of all major periods of English literature from the late Middle Ages to the present, and a detailed knowledge of a specific topic or set of texts within each period. You will also study a set of specific research-led subjects offered by staff and selected on the basis of your own interests.