Course description
Programme
The MA in Bibliography and Textual Studies is designed so that students will both pursue their studies at a general level and also specialise in a specific subject. The course can be taken either full or part-time. Full-time students complete the course within nine months by taking five modules, four of them will be over one term, one extending over both terms.
Research Methods
An introduction to the issues involved in and the techniques of literary research
Bibliography and Palaeography
An introduction to the tools of research. Including the compilation of primary and secondary bibliographies and the available tools, both print and electronic, principles of bibilographical description, and the study of manuscripts from the medieval to the modern period.
Theories of Textual Criticism
An overview of the assumptions and practiss that have informed the development of the discipline of textual criticism.
Electronic Resources and Textual Criticism
A detailed examination of potential for computer use in textual scholarship.
Textual Studies
A double module extending over two terms. Students will examine the practical application of textual scholarship in a variety of topis and then explore their own specific research interests within a programme that is shaped around those interests.
Teaching/assessment
Full-time students will attend three sessions a week, for two terms, in the form of two-hour seminars. In addition, there will be various lectures and seminars by visiting scholars as well as colloquia. All students will be expected to attend these. The format of all seminars will involve regular student contributions, including book reports and seminar papers, initially delivered orally, but subsequently handed in appropriate written form, as well as other essay assignments of varying length. Part-time students may take the degree over two or three years after consultation with and approval of the Director of the CTS.
