Objectives
The MA English offers you the opportunity to engage with the key debates in the rapidly changing discipline of literary studies. The programme ranges through the literary landscapes of the last 450 years, but is given thematic coherence through its emphasis on the idea of modernity, as it has been defined and debated from the Renaissance (Early Modern) period to the present. The programme is student-centred, enabling you to reflect on your own ideas, arguments, and critical methodologies in a sophisticated, informed and pleasurable way. It will develop your skills in reading and criticism, broaden the range of your reading and increase your understanding of current critical and theoretical debates. The programme provides a varied experience of postgraduate literary study for those wishing to top up a first degree, and offers a foundation of knowledge and skills for those intending to pursue a research degree. A significant number of past students have progressed to doctoral research after completing the MA programme.
Course description
Content
For the MA, you are required to successfully complete the two core modules, Foundations of Literary Scholarship and Reading Modernities, two option modules, and a 15,000 word dissertation.
You are required to successfully complete the two core modules and two option modules for the postgraduate diploma.
Full-time students take Foundations of Literary Scholarship and Reading Modernities in their first semester, and two option modules in the second. Students wishing to complete the MA in 12 months can then submit their dissertation in August; alternatively they can elect to submit in January.
Part-time students take Foundations of Literary Scholarship in the first semester, one option module in the second semester, Reading Modernities in the third semester and another option module in the fourth semester, submitting their dissertation the following December.
Option modules
-An Eligible Trade: Slavery in the 'Long' Eighteenth Century
-New York, New York: Modernity and the City
-Victorians in Europe: Tourists and Cosmopolitans
Teaching and learning
MA classes run late afternoon/early evening on Monday-Thursday in both semesters.
Assessment
Assessment for each taught module is typically by one 4,000-5,000 word essay, and a controlled conditions exercise which may take the form of a short written exam or oral presentation.
During the second semester, each student will be allocated a specialist supervisor who will offer guidance in researching and writing the dissertation.
