The Philosophy Department is strong in both the analytic and continental traditions and is committed to exploring their interrelations, especially in the area of philosophy and literature. It has a large and flourishing graduate school (which publishes the journal Pli) and a full programme of visiting lectures, seminars and conferences. Distinctive research interests include: rhetoric, phenomenology, hermeneutics, deconstruction, feminism, post-modernism, the transhuman, consciousness and thought, the philosophy and ethics of mental health, Classical philosophy, nineteenth-century philosophy from Kant and Hegel to Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, Bergson, Wittgenstein, Heidegger and Deleuze.

The Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies is committed to generic and comparative as well as period study in literature. It has established strengths in Comparative Literature, Medieval and Early Modern studies, Literature of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, the Romantic Period, Literature and Gender, and Literary and Cultural Production. New areas of focus include colonial and post-colonial literature, women's writing, and creative and expository writing, while the Warwick Writing Programme is the largest and most comprehensive of its type in Europe. The department has helped pioneer interdisciplinary work in philosophy and literature since 1969. Members of the department have edited or contributed to volumes published from the Centre, such as Narrative in Culture, and regularly contribute to the teaching of both the B.A. and M.A. degree courses in Philosophy and Literature. The Centre also works with the department's 'Writers at Warwick' series in sponsoring the visits of writers of international standing to the university.

The Department of French Studies has always had a strong commitment to the study of the broader intellectual context of French literature, with specialisms in periods of French thought and in cultural and literary theory.

The Department of German Studies is primarily concerned with German culture and life in the late 19th and 20th centuries, including the post-war avant-garde. There are also specialist interests in Romantic aesthetics in a philosophical context, and in existentialism. The programme of Writers in Residence brings a writer or critic to Warwick for part of each year; it is currently focussed on contemporary writing by women.

The interests of the Italian Department include a wide range of Italian literature from the Age of Dante to the present, with special focus on Dante himself, on Renaissance literature and humanism, and modern literature (especially narrative and theatre). It also has a special concern with applied linguistics, translation studies and associated methodology.

The Department of Classics and Ancient History spans a wide variety of disciplines and is committed to the study of Classical Civilization as a whole. It has always had strong links with English and Philosophy and a special concern for comparative literature; its Classics Research Group has a long-standing association with the Centre. Research interests include drama, concepts of creativity in the classical tradition, and Plato.

The Humanities Research Centre acts as a research consortium for the Arts Faculty, promoting collaborative and interdisciplinary research in the humanities, through research projects, seminars, conferences, special lectures and publications. The Centre for Research in Philosophy and Literature and the Humanities Research Centre cooperate in organising conferences and interdepartmental research seminars.

The Centre also has links with other departments and research centres such as Sociology, History of Art, Centre for the Study of Women and Gender, Film and Television Studies, School of Law, Social Theory Centre and the Centre for Cultural Policy Studies.