Postgraduate Taught Courses

Information for new students

Taught programmes

(1 Year Full-time; 2 Years Part-time)
The School offers a number of distinct MA programmes:

Entry requirements: Detailed under each MA

The English MA literature programmes aim to increase your knowledge of the key elements that make up the complex nature of English and American literature and culture since the Enlightenment.. The programmes give a wider and deeper understanding of the writers and areas studied, encourage you to probe the theoretical and scholarly issues which you might explore in further research, and offer opportunities to develop your creative writing.

Each MA programme consists of 4 taught modules and a 12-15000 word dissertation or equivalent. Each module is assessed on the basis of a 5-6000 word essay (or its equivalent if you take a Creative writing module). Assuming satisfactory results in your taught modules, you then spend the final third of your MA course writing a dissertation on a topic of your choice. As an alternative to the dissertation, you can choose an editing project, which might involve editing and annotating a manuscript, creating an anthology, or editing and introducing an out-of-print book or work from one of the special collections in the University Library. This new alternative may prove particularly attractive to students considering publishing as a career, or could be the basis for a longer research dissertation at PhD level.

Please note that on most MA programmes you can substitute one module from other MA programmes in the Faculty of Humanities for one of your non-Core English modules (subject to availability).

As a basis for work on your dissertations and advanced research you are also required to take the School and Faculty Research Methods programmes.

NB on availability of modules:

Not all modules listed here will necessarily run every year. Please consult the department for details of availability.