An introduction

Glasgow's Department of English Language was founded in 1948, and was incorporated in the confederal School of English and Scottish Language and Literature in 1996.  It currently has around 750 undergraduate students, including 100 at Honours in any given year, and a postgraduate population of about 30.

There are currently 10 permanent members of staff in the department, as well as externally funded Research Fellows, Research Assistants and Graduate Teaching Assistants. Several distinguished former members of staff continue to play important roles in the department's life, and we also benefit from the input of Honorary Research Fellows from other institutions.  

There is a strong and long-established tradition of research and teaching in English Language at Glasgow; distinguished scholars in the field who have worked here in the past include Ritchie Girvan, Norman Davis and M.L.Samuels.  The established Chair of English Language is currently held by Professor Graham Caie FEA, FRSA, FRSE.  The Head of Department is Professor John B. Corbett, MA, PhD.  Follow the 'Staff' link on the left to find out more about current staff members' range of research and teaching interests.

The School of English and Scottish Language and Literature was delighted with our excellent results in RAE 2008.  Not only did we return the largest number of active researchers in Scotland -- we submitted all our staff -- and the third largest in the UK, but 70% of our research was rated as either "world-leading" (35%) or"internationally excellent" (35%).  Using various measures of research achievement, we are ranked between third and eighth in the UK.  This result demonstrates our status as a major institution for the study of English and Scottish language and literature, and builds on our achievement of a 5*-rating in RAE 2001.

The School has long been renowned for the quality of its teaching, with 87% of students satisfied in the National Student Survey of 2008.  In the most recent externally-validated review of its programme of teaching, learning and assessment (DPTLA) in 2009, the department of English Language at Glasgow was commended for its enthusiasm for teaching and research "as complementary components of academic life", its "inclusive attitude to students which has stimulated their appetite for learning", its "commitment to student support at the level of the individual student", and its "relaxed and friendly atmosphere which students at all levels find liberating and enabling".

The Department boasts a range of funded research projects, with support from (e.g.) the British Academy, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Leverhulme Trust.