COURSE CURRICULUM

This combined English Literature and Art History course at Sussex provides students with a broad and interdisciplinary understanding of culture, texts, and visual expression. In the first year, students develop foundational knowledge through core modules such as Burning to Read, Stories of Art: Shaping Art, Sights and Sites, and World-Making Before Globalisation, establishing critical and analytical skills in both disciplines. In the second year, students continue with core modules and an international study trip focused on Art and the City, while choosing from a wide range of options that explore literature, philosophy, postcolonial texts, short fiction, global modernisms, and material culture. These modules encourage critical engagement with diverse historical periods, artistic movements, and literary traditions. In the third year, students complete a dissertation in either Art History or English Literature and select from a wide variety of advanced modules covering topics such as contemporary writing, posthuman studies, serial fictions, decolonial literature, visual culture, and photography. The program emphasizes practical, hands-on experience alongside critical analysis, providing opportunities for projects, placements, and engagement with cultural institutions. Graduates leave with a versatile skillset, including critical thinking, research, creative analysis, and communication, preparing them for careers in cultural, creative, and academic fields, as well as positions that require interdisciplinary knowledge of literature and visual culture.