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About Us

Our Faculty of Arts and Humanities consists of six departments and one school: the Department of Classics and Ancient History, English Studies, History, Music, Philosophy, Theology and Religion and School of Modern Languages and Cultures.

It also provides Liberal Arts programmes, and one teaching centre, the Centre for Foreign Language Study. The Faculty is the base for 19 research centres, including the Centres for Visual Arts and Culture, Nineteenth-Century Studies, Humanities Engaging Science and Society, Catholic Studies, Classical Reception, Culture and Ecology and Poetry and Poetics. Many of its staff are members of the Institute for Medical Humanities and the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies.
Find out more about Our Staff
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Our Vision

To provide leadership in the Arts and Humanities nationally and internationally; enriching, shaping and transforming lives.

 

Our Mission

To nurture thoughtful, critical and engaged citizens for a rapidly changing and complex world. We provide tools for analysis, interpretation and expression, tools to discuss and compare models of human life and flourishing, tools for imagining the future.

We do this through engaging in the study of the languages, arts, cultures, philosophies and texts that have shaped our world. Crucially, we open up new perspectives through attending to difference – to different times and places, to different cultures, and to different ways of thinking and seeing – in order to ask difficult questions of the past and present alike and to enable productive and innovative ways of imagining the future.
Find out about Our Research
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Explore our Departments

View our Departments below:

Classics and Ancient History

Our degrees offer both academic rigour and an outstanding student experience with a diverse and exciting intellectual community.
Plaque outside the Classics and Ancient History building

English Studies

One of the few university English departments in the world who teach and research in literature from the early medieval period to the present day.
Students in English Language Centre

History

Staff and students are part of a vibrant learning community, set within the magnificent location of Durham's World Heritage Site.
Student walking outside the Department of History

Liberal Arts

Liberal Arts gives you the opportunity to design your own degree. You can study two, three, or four subjects, in and beyond the Arts and Humanities.
Durham river and Cathedral view

Modern Languages and Cultures

Our Department consists of Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hispanic Studies, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and the Centre for Foreign Language Study.
Year Abroad photography competition by MLAC

Music

We strive to provide innovative, research-led teaching to help our students achieve their full potential as creative musicians and scholars.
Gospel Choir Concert with Sir Thomas Allen in Durham Cathedral

Philosophy

For us, philosophy is a joint enterprise, a subject that one makes progress in through conversation, collaboration, and community.
Group of people discussing philosophy books

Theology and Religion

The Department of Theology and Religion at Durham was founded in 1832 and has established an international reputation.
Autumn leaves outside Abbey House in Durham

 

 

Transformative Humanities

Transformative Humanities harnesses the effectiveness and power of humanities research and education to link across fields and sectors enriching, shaping, and transforming lives.

Find out more about the Transformative Humanities
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Faculty of Arts and Humanities on LinkedIn

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