Bachelor of Letters

Bachelor of Letters, usually abbreviated to B.Litt., from the Latin Baccalaureatus Litterarum, is a second undergraduate university degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional or academic development. This area of study may have been touched on in a prior undergraduate degree but not studied in depth, or may never have been formally taught to the student. The degree is less often awarded now than in previous centuries, and is, at the current time, only awarded by two universities in Australia.

United Kingdom

The degree was awarded by the University of Oxford and a small number of other universities, including the University of Birmingham. It was still available at Oxford in 1977 though it has since been replaced by the more research-based Master of Letters.^[1][2]

United States

In the late 19th century the degree was awarded at the University of Michigan.^[3] During the early years, Marywood University, formerly a women's college, offered the degree.^[4]

Australia

Although the BLitt was once awarded by many Australian universities, the degree is now only awarded by Monash University as an arts-based degree exclusively for university graduates, and until recently the University of Western Australia. The BLitt was once offered by the Australian National University, Deakin University and the University of Melbourne.^[5][6]

Notes