English - Irish Writing and Film

Course details

The MA in Irish Writing and Film will introduce you to an exceptionally rich body of cultural texts whose breadth and persity continues to generate scholarly debate. With expert guidance, you will discover the historical and cultural contexts that inform Irish culture up to the present day, and engage in debate on a wide range of issues. You will read key texts from the eighteenth century to the present and be encouraged to engage with some of the most influential critical and theoretical models currently being applied in the analysis of Irish literature and film. You will also develop independent research in the field under the expert guidance of our academics, many of whom are themselves authors of important studies of Irish culture.

Course Details

The MA in Irish Writing and Film is made up of five taught modules (Part I) and a dissertation (Part II), which together form 90 credits.

Writers studied include Jonathan Swift, Edmund Burke, Maria Edgeworth, Gerald Griffin, Thomas Moore, James Clarence Mangan, Sheridan Le Fanu, James Joyce, W.B. Yeats, Elizabeth Bowen, Samuel Beckett, Flann O’Brien, Kate O’Brien, Daniel Corkery, Seán Ó Faoláin, Frank O’Connor, Brian Friel, John McGahern, Seamus Deane, Éilis Ní Dhuibhne, Anne Enright and Colm Tóibín. Classic Irish films such as Man of Aran and This Other Eden are studied alongside more recent texts, while you will also engage with the work of such notable new Irish filmmakers as Lenny Abrahamson.

Taught Element

The subject modules and the Literary Research Skills module comprise the taught element of the MA and run from October to March. The subject modules introduce students to the specific thematic area of their choice. The Literary Research Skills module aims to equip MA students for the development and implementation of their research strategy through the acquisition of a range of research skills.

Research Element

Dissertation: the dissertation will be written between March and the end of September, and will be submitted in October. It will be supervised by a member(s) of staff, after consultation and agreement, and will be 15,000 to 17,000 words. Supervision will take place between March and the end of September.

Part I

• EN6009 Contemporary Literary Research: Skills, Methods and Strategies (10 credits)
• EN6047 Irish Culture: Colonial, Postcolonial Transnational (10 credits)
• EN6048 Gender and Sexuality (10 credits)
• EN6049 Gothic to Modernism (10 credits)
• EN6050 Space and Place in Irish Writing and Film (10 credits)

Part II

• EN6017 Dissertation (40 credits)

Detailed Entry Requirements

To be considered for admission to an MA programme within the School of English, an applicant will normally possess a primary degree result of Second Class Honours Grade 1 (2H1) level or higher or equivalent qualification in English or a cognate subject. All candidates must satisfy a Selection Committee who may request applicants to provide letters of reference.

For North American students a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 is expected.

All applicants whose first language is not English are required to sit either an IELTS test or a recognised equivalent test. The minimum requirement is an IELTS score of 6.5, with no inpidual section lower than 5.5.

The selection committee for the MA in the Department of English, University College Cork also attaches strong importance to the additional special supplementary oline questions and the online 500 word personal statement for the CKE28AdditionalQuestions (108kB)

Course Practicalities

The course involves a combination of seminars, information sessions, directed study, consultation, presentations, self-directed study and associated reading and research. You will undertake independent research for your dissertation in close consultation with your supervisor.

Assessment

Continuous assessment of written assignments, in-class assignments, seminar participation and presentation, research journal, literature and IT review, and research presentation.