English Literature is a programme which is rooted in literary analysis but also works at the leading edge of interdisciplinary humanities scholarship. In particular, the programme provides students with insight into the history and theory of literature in English and explores its relationships with other media, engaging key issues of intellectual concern in society, politics, and culture. English Literature is understood in the broadest sense, as a diverse and complex mode of expression that includes works from American, British, Commonwealth, and postcolonial contexts.

Courses designed to explore various periods, genres, themes, and theories are supplemented with regular lectures by visiting scholars. Students develop original hypotheses and test them in their class presentations, research papers, and final thesis.

Studying English Literature at the University of Amsterdam

The University of Amsterdam's (UvA) English Department is an intellectually diverse community of scholars with a long tradition of excellence and innovation dating back nearly one hundred years. The Department's scholarship and teaching covers the full range of English Studies - including British and American literature, English language and linguistics, critical theory, and cultural history. Courses explore the space beyond formal and disciplinary boundaries, together with the overlap between not only various methodologies, theories, historical periods and social spaces, but also between language and literature.